A big part of it is, I’ve just ended about as concentrated and sustained a busy period as I’ve ever had, which hardly left time for anything else, and the culmination of which was a flurry of computer/electronics magazine articles. But we don’t care about those here. The good stuff:

New novel: I turned in Hellboy: On Earth As It Is In Hell to Pocket Books on time, on 2/7. It should be out in mid-summer or so, and at this point I can’t guarantee the title wouldn’t change, but nobody’s ever brought that up. For those who may have doubts that it’s not really wholly my novel because I’m playing in Mike Mignola’s world, I say read it first, then see if you feel the same way. I didn’t approach it any differently, any less seriously, than any of the others. Just more quickly. I did it in about 4 intensive months, from conception to delivery, although it did prove to be the perfect place for some older ideas I’d had that didn’t have anything to house them. Overall, this was a great lesson in how fast I could work and still be pleased with the outcome … a lesson that will probably carry forward into something that I’ve been planning for quite a while, and want to have done by the end of the year.

Deathgrip reprint: Delirium Books’ (www.deliriumbooks.com) reissue of this one is on track for April. I have the galleys now, still to go over, and have contributed a bit of supplemental material to round it out. An artist named Mike Bohatch did the cover off a general suggestion that I gave, and it’s superb … the cover I wanted first time around on the Dell/Abyss edition. Shane at Delirium told me the other day that there are only 40 (or fewer by now, since it hadn’t even been announced at that point) copies unspoken for, so if you’re interested, hie thee over.

New collection: Nothing’s signed and official yet, but Rich Chizmar and I have agreed over email to do my next collection at Cemetery Dance. Tentative title is The Sacred And Profane.

Mondo Zombie: Anybody remember this? The third and final anthology in the Book of the Dead series? The last hurrah compiled by John Skipp? Been in limbo for the better part of the past decade? Turns out Rich has ended up with that one, too. The signature sheets passed across my table a few weeks ago, which is a very good sign that the book will be out before long. They came from Steve and Melanie Tem, and I relayed them along to Lucy Taylor, who probably sent them to Robert Devereaux (we all live in a row along the Colorado Front Range), and beyond that, I wouldn’t know. I’m just glad to see it happening.

New standalone novelette: Paul Miller of Earthling Publications and I have been talking about a small book in his increasingly impressive line that includes works by Tim Lebbon & Simon Clark, Brian Hopkins, and others. For 2006, probably. At this point, I’m leaning toward making it another installment in the story cycle that ties together “The Alchemy of the Throat,” “The Dripping of Sundered Wineskins,” and “When the Bough Doesn’t Break.”

Best line encountered recently: “I’m hungry enough to eat a scabby-kid’s head.”

And with that, I’m off to do a couple things before taking in the matinee premier of Constantine. Fingers crossed. The Keanu effect, you know.