Progress Report August ’24
So, ahem, a couple of days late on this one. You could, in fact, say a couple of months late, since I missed the last one. Honestly, there just wasn’t a huge amount to report so it hardly seemed worth troubling anyone. But the last couple of months have seen a bit more movement.
The Devils continues to wend its crooked way towards publication – proof reading now all done, and internal art and design continues to develop, along with plans for several special editions via various retailers along with perhaps even some fine press editions in the fullness of time – more on that as I have it. ARCs are now creeping out there to the lucky few. There are actually three different types in the UK – a standard one (below left, with the skull artwork handsomely picked out in gloss), a special one for booksellers, and a special special one (below right with the fancy debossed patterning) for so-called influencers (I don’t know I was born in 1974) that’s limited to only 36 copies. Well, 36 and the one I’ve got, I guess. If you reckon you’re influential enough to qualify you can actually apply to get one over here.
A first draft of the sequel to the Devils crawls forward like a limbless corpse impelled by necromancy. I’m actually, incredibly, more than half way through now, though it’s sketchy as hell. I don’t think I’ve ever had a weaker grip on a book at this point in the process though a) I likely always feel that way then later forget how awful it was, like giving birth, and b) I’m deliberately trying to take a more freeform, scattergun, discovery approach with these books, interrupted as they are by lots of other bits and pieces, then lick em into shape with extensive rewriting and editing once the skeleton is in place. That may work long term (I bloody hope so) but it’s not great for my anxiety as I go. Still if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Right? RIGHT? I remain hopeful I can get a reasonable draft together by may, when the Devils comes out.
I was at Worldcon in Glasgow a couple of weeks back, which is the first English-language con I’ve been to in quite a while. Kind of an exhausting density of stuff crammed into two days but it was great to see some old pros, meet some new ones, crack some terrible jokes on panels, and of course sign some books and chat to some readers. Always strange how you end up seeing certain people over and over and totally miss others who turn out to have been there. By some miracle I did not actually catch Covid, though it seems that everyone else did…
And other non-book projects grind forward also. Various irons in the fire in the film and TV space, but nothing worth talking about at this point. When I can say something, I’ll say something. And hopefully you will hear from me again in the proper couple of months this time…
