Progress Report
Right.
2006 tips over, the sky outside my office window darkens increasingly early, and the thought of swimming in Scottish rivers begins to lose its weekend appeal. Summer, always an uneasy guest in Glasgow, is packing her bags and calling down to reception for the bill. She'll be out of here in a matter of days.
Meanwhile, Black Man (aka Thirteen in the US) is almost done. The imagining is complete, the world of Carl Marsalis and Sevgi Ertekin has solidified, there's less and less place for uncertainty as the plot dictates itself towards a conclusion and the last few twists and chapters lock into place. Matter of weeks now, no more delays. It bears little resemblance to the book I started to write nearly two years ago, but that's okay - it's stronger and more human for the time and the changes.
And beyond the end of Black Man, looms the work in progress that is Land Fit For Heroes. I already have half a dozen chapters for the first of these three fantasy novels, and the end result is looking darker and more noirish by the minute. This, I hope, will be a sword and sorcery tale whose most appropriate soundtrack would be the Rolling Stones singing 'Street Fighting Man'. Hope that sounds as appealing to y'all as it does to me.
In the world of comics, Black Widow volume 2 is now out in graphic novel format, with the pleasingly rhythmic title The Things They Say About Her, but it doesn't look like there'll be a volume 3. My take on Natasha really seems to have been an artefact of limited appeal, but I've had a lot of fun with it, so count myself well satisfied. I've also met a lot of enthusiastic people in the comic-book industry who've expressed interest in a variety of on-going collaborations. Other undeveloped graphic novel projects are sitting around on my desktop at the moment like pre-midnight gremlins, notably a blood-soaked monster epic tentatively titled Gloaming, and a more subtle meditation on crime and magic with the working title Geezer. We'll see if I get round to feeding these gizmos or not...
So - back in the saddle, and back to work. And heartfelt thanks to all those many people out there who've been so supportive over the last few months. You know who you are. I hope the extended wait proves worthwhile.
Cheers
