And then there were yellow flowers all over the tree outside my office window.

Which is a nice thing to look at in the month of March, but also a garish reminder of just how long it has been since I popped over here and wrote something.

Oh, website, cruel mistress, why do you plague me so?

Why have I ignored you so long?

Many reasons.

The updates:

Recently published titles are MY DEAD BODY, the last Joe Pitt Casebook; SLEEPLESS, a crime story set in a speculative immediate future; and DEATHLOK, an SF adventure comic based on the original Rich Buckler and Doug Moench creation.

My TV projects are both in limbo territory.
The action cop show that I’m not at liberty to discuss was passed over for a pilot shoot, but was not killed outright. Which means that my co-creator and I will do some extra work on the script and get a last gasp shot at a pickup in June/July.
The HBO show based on MYSTIC ARTS is currently in third draft. HBO works on an open development schedule, which means that shows get developed until they are either ready or dead. That said, a writer’s contract dictates how many drafts they can be asked to deliver. There’s not much more to be done on this one before a decision will have to be made. But there is also no rush. The script is in a good place, but I’ve no idea which way the axe will fall. Or when.

I have a couple things pending at Marvel. A two shot mini I scripted a while back is just about out of art and should get announced soon. It’s an evergreen villain story about a guy who never misses him mark
The 12 issue run on a major Marvel title that I have hinted at for some time now is close to having an artist. Yeah! This is going to be another one of those things where issue one doesn’t see the light of day until over well over a year after I wrote issue twelve. Last I heard it was slated to start this fall.

There has been some movie action, but nothing too exciting. CAUGHT STEALING has been optioned again, but the production company holding the option is delaying any kind of announcement until they have a more complete package. This option is based on a screenplay I wrote, and is fronted by an actor who plans on playing Henry Thompson.

The option on the Joe Pitt books expired and I’m back in possession or film and TV rights and thinking about whether or not I want to do anything about that. In any case, don’t expect a Joe Pitt movie any time this decade.

And then there are these crazy book things that people keep talking about.
I’m researching and taking notes for my next novel. Sometime quite soon I’ll be getting serious and start writing page one. I’m doing far more prep than I ever have before. Some of it is active prep, and lots of it is just me not writing. Me not writing involves a lot of me working on other projects, or, ideally, me spending time with my family. But the story is wanting to come out, and I don’t think I can stay away from it much longer.
I’m thinking of this next one as something as a companion to SLEEPLESS. Not set in the same world, but on a similar scale, and written in a similar style. After this one I plan on getting back into a lean noir mode. There’s no strategy to it, just me feeling out what the next story is.

And, yes, I’m still debating the future of this site.
Some kind of radical change is going to be required, but I need a little free mental space to decide what that change will be. In the meantime, I’ll continue to be more absent than present.

Thanks for checking in,

-c