"Completely Cold": THE KEEP #1

IDW's The Keep #1 comes out today. That's cool to me for a couple of reasons. First, it's the fourth comic to come out with "Completely Cold" in the back of it.

I'd be excited even if it weren't though. At the time I read it, F. Paul Wilson's The Keep was the creepiest book I'd ever read. I've been meaning to go back and read it again to see if it holds up, but regardless, it's really cool that Wilson is writing the comics adaptation himself.

And that I'm in the back of the first issue.

So, the updated list of comics that contain "Completely Cold" (with the ones that have already come out grayed out) is:

Shadowplay #1
Metal Gear: Sons of Liberty #0
The Keep #1
Land of the Dead #2
Night Mary #3
CSI: NY -- Bloody Murder #3
Jon Sable, Freelance: Bloodtrail #3
Shaun of the Dead #3
Angel: The Curse #4

FallCon 2005 Post Mortem

I had a great experience at FallCon this weekend.

Due to my misreading the invitation, I was an hour and a half late to the bowling deal Friday night. Fortunately, Grant, Jess, and Darla were still there and I got to hang out with them and treat them to the unforgettable sight of me chair-dancing to "Lady Marmalade" and "YMCA." Not my favorite music, but difficult to sit still to. Grant suggested that next year they should make it karaoke instead of bowling, an idea I wholeheartedly endorse.

We had some food and visited, but weren't in the mood to bowl, so after a while we got out of there and went to Pizza Hut for more food.

Got to the fairgrounds early and set up for the con. Visited with Alex Ness most of the day, picked up a few comics I'd been wanting, bought some art (including a piece by Darla that I'd been lusting after for a while), sold a few copies of Tales from the Inner Sanctum #2, reaffirmed that everyone loves the Cownt and that a comic featuring him would sell like hotcakes. Lots of people "ooh"ed over the preview I had of Three Days the Devil Danced. I expect that it'll sell very well too assuming the price is right.

I also spent some time talking to an artist friend who's going through a rough patch creatively. It was actually a very encouraging conversation for me because of how seriously this person takes his work. It would be easy for him to coast on the success of previous stuff and just do "more of that," but he wants to grow and improve and is struggling to evolve to whatever he's going to become next. I need to take my work that seriously. Myself, never. My work, definitely.

I didn't sell anything on Sunday, but it was a worthwhile time anyway. I bought some more comics and art and visited with more friends, but what made the day was a couple of pieces of cool news that I heard and can't talk about. One involving another artist friend; one involving me. If something comes out of either, I'll rejoice in public, but it's waaaay too soon to do that just yet.

More "Cold" Feedback

Starting to get some more comments on "Completely Cold."

One of the members of Steve Niles's forum gave me a nice quotable review: "It's ten minutes of your life you will not want back."

My friend Shara, who's always been very candid with her comments when she's proofread my stuff, liked it and said that it deserved to be published. You don't know Shara, but that's high praise from her.

And Jason Copland told me it's "excellent" and "very visual," which is cool because I think visually when I'm writing and it's nice to know that translates into images forming in the reader's mind.

Not So "Cold" This Week

No IDW comics coming out this week, so no "Completely Cold."

My Milkshake

More feedback on “Completely Cold:”

“...the monster was freakycool. Mike, your milkshake definitely brings all the boys to the yard.”
--Grant Gould

Thank you, Grant. You're a sick man.

"Buy My Stuff" Confirmed

Just got back from the Source and I was right about the comics with "Completely Cold" in 'em. So run! Go! Buy! Collect Them All!

I like the image IDW put on the header. Wasn't expecting that and it's cool that it ties in with the story.

Buy My Stuff: "Completely Cold." Take Two.

Okay, I've got it figured out for sure this time. Maybe.

My medieval spooky story should be in the back of these comics coming out on Wednesday:

Shadowplay #1
Shaun of the Dead #3
Angel: The Curse #4

Fan Letter Followup

I asked the guy who sent me the letter where he got a copy of Shaun of the Dead #3. He's got a subscription, which means that he gets it before it hits the comics shops. Pretty cool.

Maybe that means that the issue'll be out next week.

First Fan Letter?

Okay, "fan" is too strong a word. "Appreciator" is more accurate, but I like the sound of "fan" better.

Apparently, there are copies of Shaun of the Dead #3 out there, because someone just sent me a message saying that he read "Completely Cold" and enjoyed it. In his words: "You tell some good tales!!!" And he wanted to know where he could find more of my stuff, which was nice to hear. It's also nice that this isn't a person I've talked with a lot before, much less have a relationship with.

I Think I Have This Figured Out

Okay, so "Completely Cold" is in neither Land of the Dead #1 nor Jon Sable #4. Someone else's story is, but I'm pretty sure I know why.

Apparently "Completely Cold" is running in all the IDW books that were solicited for September, not that actually come out this month. Jon Sable, for example, was supposed to be a July book, so it has a the first half of a story that ran in all the other July books. Land of the Dead was solicited for August, so it's got the second half of that story.

So, looking at IDW's solicitations for September, I think I can compile a fairly accurate list of the books that'll have "Completely Cold" in the back:

Shadowplay #1
Metal Gear: Sons of Liberty #0
The Keep #1
Land of the Dead #2
Night Mary #3
CSI: NY -- Bloody Murder #3
Jon Sable, Freelance: Bloodtrail #3
Shaun of the Dead #3
Angel: The Curse #4

Hopefully at least one of those will ship on time or at least before FallCon. Since Three Days the Devil Danced isn't going to be ready by then, I'd like to have something new on my table to show.

Update: I'm going to grey these out as they're released.

Buy My Stuff: "Completely Cold"

This month is supposed to be Michael May month in IDW's prose back-up stories. They're publishing my short story "Completely Cold." I'm not sure if they'll run it in all their books or just the horror ones, but George Romero's Land Of The Dead #1 comes out on Wednesday and I'm betting it's in there.

Jon Sable: Freelance -- Bloodtrail #4 is also coming out, but I'm less certain that it'll have the back-up story. We'll see.

Milestone

I'm really nervous about announcing this for some reason. I think I don't want to jinx it.

But I've signed the paperwork and am going to mail it today, so I think it's safe. And it's not the kind of news that anyone else is going to want to be first to announce.

I just sold my first piece of fiction to IDW. It's a prose short story called "Completely Cold" and it'll appear as a back-up feature to all of their September comics. Especially cool for me is the fact that The Keep #1, which is adapted from one of my all-time favorite horror novels, is coming out that month.

Big sigh. Still nervous.