I’m not all that great at keeping up with announcements, am I? Oh well.

Let’s see… done and up and coming:

Leland handed off 120 pages to Simon & Schuster, the first of his two books for them. I don’t know if I’m allowed to reveal the title yet, so I won’t. But it’s cool!

I finished and handed in a story for the forthcoming Tori Amos anthology from Image. Not only is this a surreal, giddy honor for my inner fangirl (the impact of Tori’s music on my work and psyche can’t be understated, really), the story will be rendered by Carla Speed McNeil.

Oh yeah - and I got to do one of my favorite songs ever. Someone pinch me.

I also handed in a story for an as-yet-unannounced (I think) anthology for SMITH magazine. The artist is a bitchin’ talented newcomer whose work is just perfect for it. The story is a bit of a departure for me in that it’s 100% autobio, something I never would have done without being asked. It required me to dig deep into some very embarrassing writing from 17 some-odd years ago. And yet, I thought it would be a lark! Seriously!

Also, being 100% autobio, it has no shapeshifters in it - which, the way things have been going for yours truly, is a departure.

Also? I now have some serious respect for good autobio.

What else? I haven’t announced every ish of WEIRD TALES that has hit the stands, but the magazine is lookin’ great. Check out the blog and pick up some back issues. Current ish, 347, is out now. Next ish will have a grand 85th anniversary wrap-up, 85 WEIRDEST STORYTELLERS OF THE PAST 85 YEARS, which I’ll be working on. Not to be missed.

Lastly, that’s a new self-portrait from Leland up there, in case it wasn’t bleepin’ obvious. (Which it may not be!)

All my stuff, this time. Lots to announce; I hate stuffing it all into one post like this but I’ve been somewhat lazy about updates. I’ll post reminders as things hit.

SCHEHERAZADE continues, with a new story and new art by my good pal Valerie Reupert. These pages look really good, so check ‘em out (each of these thumbnails links to the appropriate page):

….

Finnish artist Sami Makkonen recently finished up “Yes, Mother,” one of my standalone short stories. It was subsequently picked up by Joe Pruett at Desperado and will be in Negative Burn #13. Huzzah! It’ll also be serialized on Chemset shortly. Here’s a bit:

Do check it out, either in print or on the web. Sami’s art is simply amazing and nothing short of perfect for this. And I’m pretty happy with the writing, too.

Earlier in the year I wrote a short adaptation of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN for editor Chazz DeMoss (Cryptic magazine, a bunch of other stuff) and artist Jason Ho (AGNES QUILL). Here’s a sample page from Jason (check out his Comicspace page for more):

Two more of my stories will be dropping soon, too. Jeff Zornow (you’ll remember him from WEIRD SISTER) and I do a bloody send-up of an obscure Detroit urban legend in Cryptic #5. “The Dog Lady” is one of what I hope will be my many homages to old skool short horror stories and combines my sensibilities with Jeff’s special blend of XXX-TREME splatter/gore. And Leland’s lettering!

I don’t think I mentioned the WEIRD TALES thing, either. I’ll be taking the From the Library interviews to WEIRD TALES, starting with their next issue (June/July, I believe). Don’t worry, there will still be plenty of interviews on Chemset (though there will be different subjects in each venue). First interview in WT will be with Jacqueline Carey. I’m working on a Mike Carey interview now.

Last, and probably the most exciting for me, my prose short piece, “Cooling,” will be in the next issue of the Endicott Studio’s Journal of Mythic Arts. This would be more than enough reason to flap my arms around and scream like Kermit, but even better, it’ll have watercolor illos by Leland and will share space with over-the-top-amazing YA authors like Will Shetterly and Holly Black.

Elton over on MySpace dropped me a note to let me know that RED and WEIRD SISTER got some props over on Ain’t It Cool News today:

“These tales are breezy and short, but carry a heft and heart that makes each panel count. Genco enlists some talented B&W artists to illustrate her words. Both WEIRD SISTER and RED show the emergence of a talented new voice in indie comics.“

Lovely!

Scroll down a little on this page to the indie stuff to see it live.

(click here to see the promo larger)

The Chemistry Set will feature original works by up and coming writer/artist teams:

Vito Delsante and(SCOOBY DOO, THE MERCURY CHRONICLES) Tom Williams (LOLA)
Chris Arrant (NEWSARAMA, Publisher’s Weekly, Tokyopop.com, FOUR STORIES) and Daniel Warner (COCOPIAZO)
Jim Dougan (CRAZY PAPERS) and friends
Neil Kleid (BROWNSVILLE, NINTY CANDLES, URSA MINORS) and Kevin Colden (HOUSE OF TWELVE, RED)

And, of course, Boorman and I.

We go live on August 7th.

That’d be us. As in, all copies of WEIRD SISTER that we brought to SPX were gone by the end of Sunday. Actually, they were half-gone on Friday night. Which had me a little worried, I might add. But it all worked out.

SPX was a blast. Next up, it’s that show you keep hearing about, the brand-spankin’ new New York Comic-Con. We’ve got a table reserved and I have a second anthology up my sleeve, a little number I like to call GHOST TOWN. Because, you know, New York City is just that.

Now all I have to do is write the stories… heh.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table this weekend, whether you bought the book or not. ‘Twas lovely to see everyone.