Planning Ahead, AKA This will Never Happen

It's going to be an interesting year. I say this knowing full well that interesting does not mean set in stone nor vaguely predictable. That's probably a good thing. If I make a serious plan and stick to it I'm taking the easy way, which is no good for anyone. It might be more stable and possibly more lucrative, but gosh that sounds boring. (Please don't mention this to my wife; she likes boring...and lucrative.)

What I do know is that Book 2 of the Wyldes series will be written, but probably not published this year. I'd love for it to hit stores in October, but unless the publisher suddenly wants to rush things, it won't appear until 2014. If you really must have it ASAP, I have two suggestions: 1) buy 20,000 copies of Portlandtown in the next month or two, thereby goosing sales and lighting a fire under the bean counters, or 2) move to Portland, hang out at various brewpubs until you stumble across me, but me a beer, and then subtly ask me what I do for a living. Three beers later you'll be on the Early Bird Reading Team. Go team!

Anyway, Wyldes Book 2, Hollow Mountain (yes, I changed it), is getting clearer in my head every day. Oddly enough the ending is already written. I'll explain that one later. Hopefully the rest of the book will be on paper by the summer.

As to other projects, Other Novel, AKA Pumpkin Eater, is on hold while I focus on Hollow Mountain. I came very close to diving into that one, but story issues kept me from committing. If the Wyldes get on my nerves I may find my way back to it sooner rather than later. If the Wyldes play nice I'll starting writing about ghosts and pumpkins and assorted Halloween silliness this fall. And then there's the play, Zombie Clambake (yes, I'm stealing from myself), which is probably going to be finished in a burst of manic writing sometime in the next couple months, hopefully before I dig into the Wyldes again. If the Hanged Man gets me going before I start scripting I may never get to it. We'll see.

So, there you go; my creative goals, such as they are. Will I stick to them? Eh...maybe. Will they change? Most definitely. Such is the nature of the creative life. Never boring, always hungry.

HomeWord Bound Benefit

Mark your calendars! Friday April 5 I'll be appearing at the 15th Annual HomeWord Bound fundraiser in Tualatin, OR. There's going to be book talking, silent auctioning, author mingling -- all to benefit the Community Partners for Affordable Housing. A bunch of authors are attending including Daniel H. Wilson (Roboapocalypse), Whitney Otto (Eight Girls Taking Pictures), and Rob DeBorde (hey, that's me!). Apparently, my primary duty will be to mingle with the masses, talk zombies, and generally act special. I can do that. Want to come? It ain't cheap ($75), but includes dinner and my lovely company -- a steal at any price!

For more info, you can check out all the details here.