I've been a little quiet of late, that's because my laptop has died, and while I wait for my new Desktop to be built, I'm sitting in a local cafe writing on my Eee PC. But I have news, and as ever, I want you the public to know. :-)

I'm att a couple of panels at San Diego - the IDW one, the Random House one - and this one, on the Sarurday lunchtime...

Saturday, July 25

1:30-2:30pm: Bram Stoker: Joss Whedon of his Day?     Room 5AB

Panelists: Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt (Dracula: The Un-Dead); Jeanne Stein (The Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles); Chris Marie Green (The Path of Razors); Tony Lee (From The Pages Of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula': Harker); J.F. Lewis (Staked) and Steve Niles (30 Days of Night).

Moderator: Leslie Klinger (The New Annotated Dracula)

Followed by autographing in the Comic-Con Autograph Area...

Bram Stoker: Joss Whedon of his Day?

Saturday         AA1     2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

And yes, I will happily sign Doctor Who comics during this time...

See some of you there?

Well, I've been given the go ahead, so I can finally announce it.

As many of you know, one of my main incomes comes from book adaptations - ie from novel to graphic novel. In the past I've adapted Shadowmancer, Brothers: The Fall Of Lucifer, chunks of The Tizzle Sisters (now The DoppleGanger Chronicles) and of course over the last three years I've been adapting the Anthony Horowitz Raven's Gate series of novels; the first, Ravens Gate is due out later next year as a graphic novel after a variety of delays with the second, Evil Star following on about six months later. And currently I'm adapting the fourth in the series, Necropolis for Walker Books.

But that's not the only one. Because for the last three months I've been working with Hachette Childrens Books and Orchard Books on a different Horowitz project - Horowitz Graphic Horror.

It's a series of four books, each a digest sized graphic novella of about 44 pages, each adapting one of Anthony's short stories. The first in the line, The Phone Goes Dead is already finished and sent off to the artist for the series, my old compadre Daniel Boultwood who'll be taking on pencilling, inking and colouring for the books.

They should be finished scriptwise by the start of August (I'm over halfway through the second of my adaptations, The Hitchhiker as we speak) and the scheduled release for the books should be around September next year. So apart from the Doctor Who comic, with this and Necropolis, my summer workload really has been sponsored by Anthony Horowitz...

There's another adaptation I'm doing at the moment as well, but I'm not allowed to speak about that until it's announced at San Diego...

I forgot to put this up this morning, so hopefully it'll still interest some of you. On Thursday I repeated my previous day's plan of tweeting about writing, although I did write a lot less, and concentrated on answering a couple of questions on conventions ettiquette and suchlike. Anyway, here they are again as one put-together source. Again, these are collected from 140 character info bursts, so expect short and concise sentences most of the time... And I look forward to more anonymous bitching from my shy stalker...

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Okay, as I've had a few people ask some questions, a little more brief talk about comics tonight. :-) First off. @neilkleid is utterly right, nobody wants to see your Magnum Opus. When I was Group Editor of Markosia, 80% of pitches were that. 'It's a 40 issue maxiseries that changes the way you look at the world!' Really? Thats nice. Oh, there's the door. You want to pitch a solid story? Pitch a 5, 6 parter. It's big enough to tell a story and at the same time it's small enough to take a risk.Also, 5 issues makes a nice sized trade book. But why stop there? Don't write it as comics - write it as a Graphic Novel instead. Easier to sell, less risk on a monthly basis, more people less likely to drop off by issue 3. And you can take longer on it.

Most people who want to write 22 pagers do it because they want to write big two spandex, or Vertigo. There's no comic rule saying 22 pages. You want to do a 24 pager? a 16 pager? a 44 pager? Then do it! The only thing stopping your is the cost of the printing. But if you want to work in superhero comics, then 22 pages is probably your benchmark. approx. 128 beats per issue.

I was asked why I think UK comic writers are so good compared to rest of world - and I think there's a simple answer to that. 2000ad. Anyone in the UK who wants to write comics invariably pitches to 2000ad - and their first port of call is called a 'Futureshock', 5 pages, complete story - start, middle, end - with a twist, if not two of them during it. And solid, believable characters. 2000ad is a weekly and has been going for over 30 years. Over 1600 issues. 80% have had these in them - so every idea you have? ALREADY DONE. So you have to think outside the box. And while you do that, you have to work out an engaging story with believable situations. In 5 pages. Alan Moore made these things his bitch. He did some of the most amazing stories. @Al_Ewing is the current king of them in my opinion.

But the point is, the average UK writer pitches half a dozen of these into 2000ad before he gives up or moves on. Or keeps trying. Even six stories, worked out, plotted and scripted to the standards makes you a better compressed story writer. I spent 4 years pitching - from 1989 to 1993. I then stopped for 10 years. But when I restarted, they were the 1st thing I wrote again. short stories teach brevity. You see, if you can write a full story, self contained in 5 pages, imagine what you can do when given 22 pages. Suddenly a whole world can open. And if you can write a whole story in 22 pages - why the hell would you WANT to do a 50 issue magnum opus as your first book?

That said, you can fall into traps. I went from 5 pagers to 144 pagers - and when I wrote Stalag 666 for 2000ad I sometimes forgot the rules. I had the issues to work a slow build up in - but the problem was that four issues of slow build = four boring issues. I should have started with action, which brings me to my last answer for the night. If possible, don't start at the beginning of the story. Start at a point that makes the reader go 'what?' - they have to play catch up as they read the comic. If you start with once upon a time...

ie - what would make you pick up a book more - a starting line that went 'one day Billy went for a walk to the shops' or 'The gun fired'? Grab the interest from the very beginning. I forgot that with Stalag. But it's a fine line because you still NEED that beginning. I've fallen into the habit of starting with a buildup page and then BAM full page splash. It can work. But only if you have something there. Character A brushing his teeth is NOT a full page splash. Someone's head being dropkicked off their body in a shock twist is.

Now. Let's walk away from writing for a moment. Conventions. How should you act when approaching an editor...

1) No editor is going to hire an unknown writer for a gig at a convention. It's almost unheard of. So don't go in with that expectation.
2) No editor is going to read a script you bring. They don't have the time.
3) No editor is going to spend 20 mins discussing your pitch.

If you DO get to meet an editor, you'll be lucky to get a minute, total. This is not a time to pitch. This is a time to establish contact. Introduce yourself, explain what you do & why you'd like to speak further with them, ask if they have time this convention to chat with you. If they do, great. If not, give them your card, and ask if you can email them later in the week. And remember an editor is busy after a con. Do NOT hassle them in the bar, a restaurant or when they're OFF DUTY. You can however say hi, offer to buy them a drink. SDCC three years ago I saw Bob Schreck offer to look at a portfolio in a bar - an hour later he was still stuck there.

If an editor says that your story needs work then it most likely does. listen to what they say. Don't throw a hissy fit and strop off. Editors do not want the best story in the world. They'd LIKE it, but they don't WANT it. What they WANT is a writer who can send in on time. An editor cares about the deadline. He/She needs that book out, no matter what. And they need flexible people who feel the same. You will get more work if you're seen as a go-to-guy who can do quality work on a quick turnaround than if you're a tortured genius. REALLY.

I've pitched editors who have become friends - and have never given me work. But you know what? I'd rather have their friendship. Make sure they think of you, but not in a 'oh god it's him' way. I know a couple of writers who editors have actually hidden from.

RT @MattBadham: I'd really like you guys to talk about how you take the bare bones of an idea and 'put it up on its feet' - I find I always start with the cliffhanger. A simple scene. Its almost a case of I have the problem and then I have to work out the solution - and while i work forwards, I work backwards. So the hero has been thrown out of a plane. Who did this and why? What was the hero doing? How did he get on the plane? WHY did he get on the plane? what was ON the plane? When you work these out - you have a story. The resolution to the falling out of the plane - how he survives is even more fun.

Once I have the bullet points of the story, I'll block it out in Excel. 22 lines, each with a bullet note about what happens on that page. At this point I see where the weak sections of the comic are and I can move things around. I might see logistical errors. I can alter them. As a long term reader, I can envision how a page would look in my head - it's actually how I go to sleep, planning out pages. Very relaxing.

So I have a page plan, and an idea of how the page works, so I'll open Final Draft and script. When done, I have a strange editing regime - I save as an rtf, open it in word, bold the emphasis letters and alter scenes and only THEN do I save as a doc file. That way, if I see the script as a Doc file? I know it's done. And if I need to change the story, I can easily do it in Word.

I've been asked to suggest a book for writers. I'll suggest several, they're all in front of me as I write, every day.

1) Stephen King On Writing - a great lesson on writing - I have his audio of this too. And his bio section is the flip side of fame.
2) Writers On Comic Scriptwriting 1 & 2, top writers talking about how they write comics and got into the biz.
3) The West Wing Scriptbook. AARON SORKIN KNOWS DIALOGUE. Best way to learn is to read his scripts. And finally
4) Lessons From A Lifetime Of Writing -David Morrell. Cheap and easy to pick up on Amazon, and more info to be gleaned in ten pages than all of Robert McKee's Story, which is also there. I also have alan Moore's guide to writing comics, which is an absolute gem of a book, somewhere.

And on that note, I promised this would be briefer than yesterday - so goodnight all!

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Again, I hope that helps!

So, sometime between 12am and 2.30am last night, I couldn't sleep, was working on an adaptation and kinda lost it a little while speaking about writing. I was replying to something that C.B Cebulski had said about people who only want to write for the 'big two'. By twitter, so 140 characters each. And that turned into a long and rambly series of suggestions about writing. Something like seventy tweets in the space of two hours. Many people thanked me for the insights - some stopped following me. More started to follow me. Swings and roundabouts.

But rather than have people have to trawl through it all, I thought I'd stick them in one post and tidy them up a little. That'll make it easier for people to find... Remember, it's an edited together selection of tweets, so it'll be lots of short sentences...

Amusingly, less than three days after I finish my 'He's Only A Writer' column for lack of ideas, I work out an 1,800 word piece through Twitter...

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Something @CBCebulski said a little while back struck a chord - if you're not following him and want to work in comics? You're an idiot. He spoke about DC/Marvel not being 'the industry' - it's true. I make a healthy freelance living and not one gig is currently from them. So if you want to be a writer aim high, but look for all options. Book publishers currently scream out for talented writers for adaptations. Sam Hart and I have done two books for Walker, and the first, OUTLAW has already outsold all my non Marvel / IDW / 2000ad work PUT TOGETHER.

That said, don't just 'make do' - most writers are arrogant sods and got where they are because they believed that they should be there. Yes, talent is important - but if you're talented and a wallflower - then unless you're in a Disney movie, NOBODY WILL NOTICE THIS FACT.

Also, while I'm ranting - You've got no work coming in? Then write something for yourself. A novel. A screenplay. Anything to keep writing. So many people I know dropped off the radar during a dry spell and three years later sit at cons going 'if only I'd carried on...' Writing is a vocation, not a means to fame. It's 1.15am and I'm still writing. Still working. And I'll be starting again tomorrow at 9am. Why? Because I love writing. And to make it in this biz, you HAVE to love it. Because it will eat you up and spit you out. Guaranteed. There are dozens of writers on twitter more talented and famous than me talking about them - follow them. Learn. But right now? It's just me ('them' being the reasons you should / shouldn't write).

Here's a simple question. Why DO you want to write? Why DO you write?

I ask two questions when I do school talks - the first is 'who wants to be a writer when they grow up' - the other is 'who wants to be a FAMOUS writer when they grow up?' You can guarantee the latter always gets double the amount of hands. Why? Because we ALL crave fame. If you want to be a famous writer? Write a novel. Because comic writers are like screenwriters. Think of a recent film. Who starred in it? Now, who directed it? Who wrote it? The chances are you know 1, maybe 2. Only some know the answer to 3. and its the same in comics. Only a select few reach that point where their name is better known than the comic title they write. It shouldn't be your ambition. To write comics, your ambition should be to write stories that make that title comic BETTER THAN ANY OF ITS PREVIOUS EPISODES. If you're not concerned about how great you can make a story, how brilliantly you can craft it, if you're just thinking about the money - then you will never let the story, plot and the whole shebang take priority. Sure, we have bills to pay - but comics isn't a 9-5 job.

If you don't love yourself, you'll hate your work - and it'll show. Be proud of what you write. Always. And always, ALWAYS trust your editor. They're there to make sure you don't screw up. They're like your mum, with the power to fire you.

Ah, @JoshGorfain, remember there's a fine line between healthy arrogance and being a dick. I've managed to do both quite well over the years...

Oh yes - if the idea is there, then work on it, no matter what the time. Because you can guarantee that when you wake up, it'll be gone.

Yes, my first professional gig was a Marvel comic. But before that I spent 15 years as a freeelance writer for TV, newspapers and radio. Everything I learned in that 15 years has helped me in the following 6. Everything I do in comics stems from all of these sources. So - if you want to be a comic writer, great. But learn to be a WRITER as well. Radio taught me dialogue. PR taught me self branding. Why self branding is good? How else are you going to stand out from the other 100 T Shirt wearing wannabe writers? You need that edge. My edge was shirt, tie and waistcoat. Editors knew who I was when I approached. By looking more respectable I also stood out more. Of course, this also meant they knew how to hide from me when they saw me coming - but eggs and omelettes and all that... :-) The edge gets you noticed by the editor. your TALENT keeps you there. Work on one, but perfect the other.

And yes, thanks for noting that for all my words, I'm still not writing for DC/Marvel :) I talk about talent - I never said I WAS talented! If you're following me to learn about writing, I suggest you also follow excellent 2000ad writer@Al_Ewing who is also talking about it...

One important thing just asked, so I'll quickly touch on it. It doesn't matter how great your writing is if you can't write a solid pitch. I'm sure there are people who'll disagree, but if you can't explain succinctly to your editor what you want to do, then you have a problem. Because if they don't understand it , the EiC won't. And then it won't be made. So a great pitch can make a lousy book, but not vice versa. I'm not a great pitch writer. I suck to be honest. But I try to keep it to one page, have the high concept, rough synopsis in paragraph  points and a whole 'why this will work' end note. some people put the moral in. Some people add characters. It's all relative. My Dodge & Twist pitch was one sentence - 'What it Charles Dickens wrote Oceans 11?' - my Doctor Who ongoing pitch was six thousand words.

Ok, I've had people ask about panels and pages. Mike Carey told me once that he sees comics not as 22 pages, but as 128 'beats'. that's 128 'snapshot moments' that fill that months comic, averaging 5 panels a page. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Now, writers vary in their thoughts on this, but I believe that scenes (if possible) should end on a right page turn. So, those beats have to fit that. Which means you might sacrifice some, or add in others. Also, dialogue changes the size of each 'beat'. How you tell the story depends on what you use the beats for. If you write every moment, those beats are used up too fast. Decompression. Too much in each beat though, and you risk having a wordy and confusing mess on the page that will make an artist stab you in the face.

JMS once said something similar to this - James Bond walks down a hotel corridor. He's had a good night, played cards, kissed a girl - he sees his hotel room door is open. Frowning, he pulls his gun out, cocks it and backs against the wall, kicking in the door as he enters the room. It's empty. He looks around until he see the bathroom door is shut. You then cut to a scene where we look at the door from inside the bathroom as Bond kicks in the door, looks directly at the camera (whatever's in the bath) with an expression of shock -

Now. In a film that's what, about twenty seconds, maybe half a minute? In a novel, that's half a page? So... HOW MANY COMIC PAGES?

I ask kids this in my talks - it varies from 2 pages to 4 pages. As they get older, more pages get added. a LOT more. One guy in SDCC two years ago thought about this, paused and then said 'I can do that in 12 pages'. Half the comic on a 20 second scene. Was he wrong? No. Because in comics, everyone's right. His pages would have lots of arty close ups and frozen moments. Mine wouldn't. Would he get work from this 12 page sample? Probably not as much as I would from my page and a half... or @Al_Ewing 's three panels...

Page 1 -1) Bond walks down a corridor. 2) We see the open door. 3) Bond pulls out gun. 4) Inside room - Bond kicks open door. 5) He searches room.

Page 2 - 1) he sees closed door. 2) Inside bathroom, we see Bond kick in door, facing us. 3) Close up of Bond's widening eyes. FIN.

That's how I'd do it. Am I better? No. I'm just different. I leave enough space for the reveal of what he sees. If I even show that there... I remember his explanation (12 page boy) - he started '1) Bond Walking down corridor. 2) Close up of smiling Bond. 3) We see door. 4) We see now frowning Bond. 5) We see a close up of door - the tape has been broken at the bottom. 6) Close up of an angry Bond eye...' That's page 1. He had twelve pages of this. It took three panels, half a page to pull out and cock his gun...

Now. Your writing ability. I see too many people walk away after their first rejection. I spent SEVENTEEN years constantly hassling 2000ad. Everyone is a crap writer when they start. The more you write, the easier it gets. So write. Write about anything. Think of it as a game.You end a level and keep dying, you go back to last saved point, eventually kill the boss - I'll guarantee that later you'll walk that level. And its the same with martial arts, sports, cooking, anything - the more you do it, the better you get. So don't walk away, WRITE.

Never take offense at crits, either. Everyone has the right to an opinion. Unless they send you poo in the post, in which case KILL THEM. But if you can manage it, if you can walk the minefield, writing comics is the best bloody job in the whole wide world. No, REALLY.

Oh, one last thing, I forgot to reply to someone - Editors. They're people too, not servants there to assist your universal comic domination. A good editor becomes a good friend. Treat one bad, and you'll be on their shit list for YEARS. They get hundreds just like you a week, and their job isn't to find someone like you. It is to get a quality book out ON TIME. They'll respect you far more if you do the same.

And if an editor takes more than a month to get back to you? DEAL WITH IT. That's par for the course. Their schedule isnt the same as yours.

They also love it when you buy them anonymous drinks at bars at cons and never bring it up again. So take a big wallet. And on that note - goodnight. :-)

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Hope that helped!

So we went to look at a flat, this weekend.

We're not looking to move until during August as belle_fille1982 doesn't finish her let in Bermondsey until the last week, and mid-June viewings are usually for end of June lettings, but we had an opportunity to see a place where the tenant wasn't moving out until mid August, so we popped along. I was in London anyway this weekend for a variety of reasons, incuding seeing Oliver! with Rowan Atkinson and Burn Gorman on the Friday and  emmav for her birthday on the Saturday - and so on Sunday we looked at a flat. And for the money asked for? No fucking way. The ceiling lights hung from wires, the walls were flaking and damp and it was generally nothing like the letting agent said. The letting agent who not only didn't come with us, but seemingly forgot to tell the tenant we were even coming. It did however cement some things down.

1) We're not looking at anything over £1,000 a month
2) We're not using that letting agent again and
2) We really like Wanstead High Street and the surrounding area, so we'll be looking at the Wanstead / Snaresbrook / South Woodford triangle.

We then went to see The Hangover, which was much fun. I also decided that workload is too hectic to be able to keep writing my He's Only A Writer column, and so this Monday's one is the last for a while, possibly even forever. I'm sure I'll end up doing something else down the line, but the simple fact of not having a deadline this week? Makes me VERY happy.

And of course we have work - currently, to ensure that I'm work free by San Diego (which is in less than five weeks now - I fly out on Tuesday 21st July) I'm averaging thirteen pages a day. Which takes a lot of time and is pretty much unlikely to be hit. But the San Diego deadline is only to ensure a clear plate, I'm totally expecting to be doing what I always do, and that's find myself spending an hour or two a day in the industry lounge, scripting. Which is totally fine. I'd just prefer not to have to. :-)

San Diego is looming up, I'm sharing a room with jimmyaquino and a brief, drive-by rantcomics and things are starting to build. I haven't even started hassling editors for meetings yet, and already I'm possibly doing daily signings, a couple of panels and possibly performing a wedding. But that's not been confirmed.

And so this week - I'm working like a bastard until Saturday with very small windows for getting out of the house - a drink to discuss scripting with yartek tonight, a drink with my old friend Darryl tomorrow, driving range practice with rinkyandmerlin on Thursday and then I drive to Guildford on Saturday to stay the night before I attend the School Librarian's Conference as a guest on the Sunday morning to talk about Outlaw: The Legend Of Robin Hood with Walker Books authors Paul Gravett and Andi Watson. After that it's back to Essex for a BBQ with Tracy's family, and then Monday I'm out and at large in London, so if you're about give me a yell - I might be up for a lunch or afternoon coffee and all that. Tuesday we're spending a day looking around some more flats (and as this is also Tracy's birthday, we can't just do that) followed by a meal and then Phantom Of The Opera, where I've managed us fifth row stalls seats.

And then back Wednesday to continue work until the next weekend...

But I'm still alive. Yee haw.

I'm stupidly busy at the moment, but tomorrow I shall be going down to Brighton and staying the night - not for some early week jolly, but because there will be an important discussion about free speech and the rights of the creator in comics, and as a creator who has harped on a bit about the fact that censorship can sometimes be blinkered, I'm going to go down to add my voice and name to it. As much as my voice and name will do, anyway.

For those who don't know what's going on, here are two links for you to go and read.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/06/05/freedom-of-speech-balloons/

and

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/06/07/are-you-a-criminal-under-uk-law/

The latter is more interesting in relation to Section 49 of the Coroners and Justice Bill, especially the part which says that having comics on your bookshelf that have certain acts, ie "the performance by a person of an act of intercourse or oral sex with or in the presence of a child" can lead to up to three years in prison for the person who owns it. Now, this might make you go 'absolutely. Deviant scum' - but that one vaguely described scene covers moments in Watchmen, Sandman, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V For Vendetta, to say the least. If you own one of them, then a judge having a bad day and being a jobsworth can make your life VERY difficult.

Sure, it might lead to nothing. Sure, the same bill states that technically if the particular panel can be shown as part of a narrative that isn't pornagraphic in nature, then therefore it'll probably be all right. But it's not set in stone. And someone needs to look at this properly while it's in review.

The UK doesn't have a Comic Book Legal Defence Fund - and we don't have a constitutional right to free speech either. Perhaps we need to stand to be counted, before we can push to make changes.

I'll be in Brighton discussing this on Monday night, upstairs at The Cricketers, Black Lion St, Brighton, close to the railway station at 6pm, and this matter will be discussed from 7.30pm onwards by more learned people than I, including David Lloyd and Tim Pilcher...

See some of you there.

I know, a shock - a journal entry. Now May is over and the workload is easier, expect me to start paying you guys a little more attention.

So this weekend I've been on my own - Tracy (akabelle_fille1982) has been off doing family things down South, and I was originally going to be watching a Mets game with fellow Mets fan Ben McCool - but unfortunately due to a variety of reasons, this fell through.

So, around 6pm I spoke to Mark aka (boristhedalek) and we decided that hey, we were going to say damn it to staying in, and we were going to be two men out on the town tonight. We'd party like it was 1889. We'd drink, we'd dance, we'd go to the places we used to go to together. We'd claw back our youth once more.

Of course, while checking if other people were doing anything this Saturday night we discovered that people weren't around due to a) a dinner party, b) a fondue party and c) the fact that they were just 'staying in'.

But we were on a mission now and, deciding that this would be a plan, we arranged to meet at the Subside rock bar around seven to start this awesome night of awesomeness.

The problem was though, that there were about three people at Subside, all scary looking men dressed like rednecks. Checked shirts and trucker hats. Seriously guys, this isn't a good look. We managed about an hour there, during which I chatted to Tracy on the phone, but we decided that no, we needed to go elsewhere. We decided that the Mailbox was a good idea - lots of bars and restaurants there.

This was the point where we realised we'd lost any form of rock street cred, leaving Subside for the wine bar area of Birmingham.

Still, we went to some bar in the Mailbox, I can't remember the name, but I chose it as it had a really good piano player in it - again with the 'really? That's the sort of bar you look for these days?' comments, and we found a seat outside where we could people watch. And it mainly turned into 'scary hen party' watch - some of those people weren't human. Or at least conscious as they walked along. At around 10pm we decided to go grab something to eat, and ended up at the Gourmet Burger Place where we had burgers with Avocados in. This we both agreed was one of the highlights of the evening.

I know, okay?

Undaunted, however - it was 11.15pm at this point, we went back to Subside, paid our £3 to get in (it now past 10.30pm) and looked for any familiar face, any - but there were none. In fact, there were only about another twenty people in from when we had left. And the rednecks were still there. After a drink we left, catching a cab which we split for our respective homes.

Although the night could be classed as a washout, it actually did what it was supposed to. I got to catch up with Mark, we got to have a few beers together and we got to mock the funny looking people. Neither of us were 'out on the pull', and neither of us had any interest in talking to any of the mildy scary women we saw this evening. But for showing the world we still had it, we failed. But then it wasn't a case of failing where we would have once succeeded, it was a case of failing due to apathy in a situation that was no longer the one from our memories. We were happy to sit with a beer and watch the world go by, whereas once upon a time, we'd want to be walking with it. If Subside had been full, we might have actually stayed.

Still feel old, though. :-)

It's apparently the anniversary of the day that Penguin Books released Dracula in 1897, and so to honour that, I thought I'd show a couple of sneak preview pages of my big Vampire based story, where the courageous Harker faces Dracule with his trusty Kukhri knife...

No. Not From The Pages Of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula': Harker. This is the other story I'm writing that involves Vampires. And Werewolves. And Zombies, to be honest. Nazi Zombies, Werewolves and Vampires if we're really going to be pedantic.

Where Evils Dare has been bouncing around for a few years now, but only really got off the ground at the end of last year when Doctor Who artist Stefano Martino agreed to come on board with pencils, inks and colours. We've been doing it around other work, but it's going to be getting more and more exposure as the year goes on. We have a plan, you see.

Anyway. In honour of Bram and his work, I give you two inked and lettered, still unfinished pages of the Special Occult Squadron from Where Evils Dare: The Thin Blood Line, led by Major Helsing and Captain Richard Harker...

As ever, pass it around, let me know what you think...

The trade of Hope Falls has been an up and down story, but today we had the final chapter.

Basically, those of you in the know have already heard that Diamond US cancelled the trade's distribution due to the trade not hitting required levels. Of course, the fact that they did sod all to help the trade was irrelevant and all that, but I'll not go into why I think that some of Diamond are aces and the others don't have a clue right now.

Anyway, the fact of the matter was, Hope Falls was dead. D-E-A-D dead. With no distribution, there was no publication.

However. Harry Markos is one of the coolest men in comics and, at his his own expense I hasten to add, has arranged for the trade to be printed anyway. That's right, Markosia will sell the trade of Hope Falls.

Even better, even though they don't have to, Diamond UK have assured Markosia that they will honour the orders made through UK shops - so if you bought or ordered this book through your store in the UK? That's right, around the end of May, you'll be getting it. Through Diamond UK.

Unfortunately, Diamond US aren't so cool, but there are still ways to get the book. First, I believe that all Amazon orders are going to be filled. Secondly, when the next Haven book comes through, your retailer will be able to order it. Thirdly, you could order it direct from Markosia, or alternatively ask your store to order it.

Hopefully down the line, we'll have a better bookstore distributor getting involved, which means it'll be available in bookstores across the US.

Now, unfortunately this means it won't be available at the Bristol Comic Con, but it will be available at the MCM London Expo, signed by Dan and myself, and more importantly, we're letting Orbital know that the book's back on track and hopefully we'll be back on track signing in their London store on May 16th. More on that tomorrow.

So yes. Spread the word. The little trade that could, still can. Still will. And we're available to everyone.

APRIL 09 - GRAPHIC NOVEL 'SEQUEL' TO DRACULA OUT IN OCTOBER FROM AAM/MARKOSIA

It’s been widely regarded that 2009 is the year of the Vampire, with new books by such luminaries as Guillermo del Toro and Justin Cronin releasing epic trilogies, as well as shows like True Blood and films like Twilight keeping the Vampire myth alive. And in October, the first ever ‘Stoker Family approved’ sequel novel is released - Dracula: The Un-Dead, by Bram Stoker’s Great-Grand Nephew Dacre Stoker and Dracula historian Ian Holt.

But in the world of comic sequels to the classic tale, the world of the Vampire has been quiet of late. That is, until now.

From The Pages Of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’: Harker is a new, original graphic novel from AAM/Markosia that continues Bram Stoker’s classic story in comic format, following the lives of the main characters from the novel, six months on from the Count’s grisly death as they continue to try to piece their lives back together again.

But a ghostly visit from the past informs Jonathan Harker that the legacy of Count Dracula isn’t over, for there was one last bride, the Countess Von Gratz, otherwise known as the Countess Dracule, a Vampire never seen in the classic novel – and she intends to travel to London to reap revenge on the people who killed her late husband, as well as take for her own nefarious means the unborn child of Mina and Jonathan Harker.

And so a new chapter begins, as the surviving heroes from Dracula, Mina and Jonathan Harker, John Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Abraham Van Helsing band together to stop the Countess Dracule, her Gypsy servants, her recently arisen, un-dead assistant Renfield and her three ‘Grooms of Dracule’, Vampire lords who follow her every command.

During this battle Abraham Van Helsing will face his own nightmares including the death of his son to Vampires, and John Seward will gain new ones in the bottom of a pharmaceutical bottle – but none will be as terrible as Mina’s nightmare – for Count Dracula still lives, an ethereal spirit, bound to her by blood and only seen by her as he waits for her son to be born – a son who’s blood is tainted with his own, a host body for his spirit…

Can Jonathan Harker truly kill the spectre of Dracula forever? And where will he be led in a story that visits a variety of locations from the original novel, including London, Exeter, Whitby, Munich and the Borgo Pass?

Written by Tony Lee (Doctor Who, Spider Man, Outlaw: The Legend Of Robin Hood) and drawn by the art partnership of Peter-Davis Douglas and Neil Antwerpen (Starship Troopers), this is the first ever original graphic novel sequel to gain any sort of endorsement by a member of the Stoker family, as Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, the writers of Dracula: The Undead have agreed to write one of the two introductions to the story, the other to be written by noted Dracula and Sherlock Holmes historian Leslie S. Klinger, author of the critically acclaimed The New Annotated Dracula.

‘We are honoured to have people such as Dacre Stoker, Ian Holt and Leslie Klinger involved in our book, if only in a small way.’ Said Harry Markos, publisher of AAM/Markosia. ‘Tony met with Leslie in January, then Dacre and Ian in New York in February, and since then they’ve been incredibly helpful and supportive of our project. With so many ‘sequels’ out there that have no loyalty to the original book, it’s great that a book that does stay faithful to its source material gets such a windfall.’

From The Pages Of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’: Harker is a full colour 112 page original graphic novel, available from AAM/Markosia and all good booksellers from October 2009.

For interviews, press releases and any other information regarding this title or any other AAM/Markosia titles please contact harry@markosia.com

Visit the AAM/Markosia website at www.markosia.com

So, belle_fille1982's redundancy worries are over, she's been kept and her job is safe. Which was the one thing we were waiting on before making a big decision. And now, with that knowledge, I can tell you that I'm moving to London later this year.

Basically Tracy's lease is up at the end of August and either way I was going to be moving out of madwelshwizard's - if she moved here or I moved there we would be moving in together somewhere, and with this confirmation, I'll now be packing my bags and returning 'daaahn saaawwf' to my beloved mother city.

This isn't a goodbye as for close to ten years I've been in Birmingham now, and such a time leaves anchors that you can't just up and away from. The joys of being a writer are that I can effectively work whatever hours I want, so can come back on weekdays to visit when I want - in addition, Tracy loves many of you guys - god knows why - so we'll be coming up on a lot of weekends.

It's sad as I'll miss my bestest ever cat mate rinkyandmerlin, and as she hates London she won't visit us much - but I'll still see her every couple of weeks at Wrestling. Because I'll still be driving up for that! :-)

Anyway, this is months away, and we will be having a drink up beforehand anyway, I just thought I'd let everyone know.

Yeah, apparently it's been announced in this months PREVIEWS, and it's related to a massive Will Ferrell movie... but yes, I am indeed doing a LAND OF THE LOST comic with Sean O'Reilly for Arcana/Universal. And yes, it's scheduled for June...

LAND OF THE LOST #1: Written by Sean O'Reilly & Tony Lee, Art by Various

Rick Marshall, his son Will, and younger daughter Holly are trapped in an alien world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey-people called Pakuni, and aggressive, humanoid/lizard creatures called Sleestak.

The family's struggle to survive and find a way back to their own world continues in this comic book series. Land of the Lost is also a $100 million budget film starring Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel coming from Universal Studios on June 5th!

Now you all know what I was doing when I said I couldn't say why I was on that Universal backlot back in February, when I was in LA...

More news when I can release it.

So today (apart from being April Fools Day) is also New Comics Day in America. Which means that this little beauty is finally out - Captain Action #3, from Moonstone...

Which, apart from having an awesome story in it by Fabian Nicieza and Marv Wolfman, also has the back up story 'Waxwork' in it, not only featuring my first Captain Action world-based story, but also featuring the first ever appearance of Lady Action!

Remember Lady Action? No? Then let me remind you, by going back to New York this past February...