The July Ramble at ArmadilloCon

As I write this I’m just a few days away from heading to Austin, Texas for one of my favorite events of the year, ArmadilloCon. “DilloCon” is second longest running science fiction convention in Texas (this year marks its 37th event) , known for its emphasis on literary science fiction. This year will be my seventh time at the event and, as usual, I’ll be participating in panels, doing a reading, and for this year only, rolling out my “History of the Illustrated 007” show.

My full ArmadilloCon schedule is as follows:

Friday 24th

• Nothing specific scheduled but I’ll be hanging out and visiting with friends.

Saturday 25th

• 12:00 Noon  – Signing
• 4:00pm – “The History of the Illustrated 007” presentation.
• 6:00pm – Reading (probably from the latest Allan Quatermain story that I’m currently working on).
• 10:00pm – Panel – Comic Books on TV

Sunday 26th

• 12:00 Noon – Panel – The Year of Back To The Future II
• 2:00pm – Panel – Blogging and Podcasting

As a reminder, for more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

BOOK NEWS

For those who may not have seen the news on my various social media channels, I’m please to announce that the new Asian Pulp anthology from ProSe Press, which features the debut of my new character, the Lotus Ronin, is now on sale.

SHORT STORIES

Feedback on  Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol 7. that includes my story “The Case of the Rotten Corpse,” continues to be very positive.  – Thanks to anyone whose picked up a copy over the last few months

Coming Soon

Rick Ruby: The latest volume of stories featuring 1930s New York based P.I. Rick Ruby is in production. No information on a release date yet.

Allan Quartermain: Stones of Blood: I’m currently still writing new short-story featuring the classic jungle adventurer in a tale that takes him from the streets of London to the battlefields of the First Boer War. More on this one as it develops.

THE LEXICON PROJECTS

James Bond Lexicon: A Guide to the Worlds of 007: The manuscript for our upcoming James Bond Lexicon is with the fine folks at Hasslein Books for copy-editing. If things stick to schedule we are aiming for publication around the end of September or early October.

You can keep up with the latest James Bond news at the book’s tumblr and twitter accounts.

Meanwhile work continues on our  U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon project, “The Lexicon Affair” – look for more updates on this soon.

You can keep up with the latest U.N.C.L.E. project news at the book’s tumblr and twitter accounts.

COMICS

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the script for Issue #11.

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each

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THE FEBRUARY RAMBLE

This is long overdue, but I have eventually got around to committing to producing a monthly update on the status of my various writing projects. The intention is to post a note at the end of each month here on my WordPress site. Let’s see if I can keep that promise.

For more frequent updates, comments, and general observations on life you can follow me on Twitter @alanjporter or on Instagram. For a full list of published work to date check out my website at AlanJPorter.com

SHORT STORIES

OUT NOW – Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol 7. – This ongoing anthology series features new traditional style mysteries for the Great detective to solve. Volume 7 was just published and includes my story “The Case of the Rotten Corpse,” which takes Holmes out of London to the north of England to investigate the appearance of a mysterious corpse with the help of Manchester’s most successful historical detective.

Coming Soon

• Rick Ruby: The latest volume of stories featuring 1930s New York based P.I. Rick Ruby is in production. No information on a release date yet.
• Lotus Ronin: The new Asian Pulp anthology from prose ProSe Press is in production. I’ve done the final copy edits on the debut tale of my new pulp character, The Lotus Ronin, and am waiting for news on a possible publication date.
• Allan Quartermain: Stones of Blood: I’m currently writing new short-story featuring the classic jungle adventurer in a tale that takes him from the streets of London to the battlefields of the First Boer War. More on this one as it develops.

THE LEXICON PROJECTS

James Bond Lexicon: A Guide to the Worlds of 007: The manuscript for our upcoming James Bond Lexicon has been delivered to the fine folks at Hasslein Books for copy-editing. If things stick to schedule we are aiming for publication around the end of September or early October.

I recently enjoyed joining the crew at the James Bond Radio podcast to chat about the history of James Bond in comics. You can download the podcast, or watch the YouTube version at the James Bond Radio website.

Don’t forget you can keep up with the latest news about the Bond Lexicon and the world of 007 in general at the book’s Tumblr and Twitter accounts

The Lexicon Affair: A Guide to the world of U.N.C.L.E.: Work has started in earnest on The Lexicon Affair, with notes and annotations completed on Season One of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as well as the complete run of the Gold Key spin-off comics from the 1960s. The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. comics have also been completed and work is currently underway on the associated digest magazines and novels.

As we start to ramp up work we’ve also launched new support Tumblr and Twitter accounts for updates on the book’s progress as well as the upcoming new Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie.

Over the last few weeks I also chatted with the new updated Spy Command website about both the Bond and UNCLE Lexicon projects – you can find the interview online here.

COMICS

FORGOTTEN CITY – The second story arc issues (#6-10) are in various stages of production as the Kid Domino team get them ready for uploading to comiXology for digital distribution. I have turned in the detailed page-by-page outline for issues #11-15 that will comprise the third story arc and am looking forward to starting work on the full scripts soon.

Work is also underway on pulling together the first story-arc (issues #1-5) in a trade-paperback for eventual print distribution. In the meantime don’t forget that issues #1 thru 5 are still available as digital downloads at comiXology for just $1.99 each.

On the Road:

You can find me at the following events over the next few months where I’ll be happy to sign books, or just have a fun chat:

• April 19 – Windy City Pulp – Chicago, IL
• April 20-22 – Content Management Strategies conference – Chicago, IL.
• May 9-10 – Artists & Comics Expo (ACE) – Peoria, IL.

Another Year of Scribbling Stuff

Looks like 2013 is going to be another busy year of throwing words on the page. I already have several projects running and a few more lined up for the coming year, and I thought it might be fun to see how they stack up.

Comics:

I have been working on a few CARS scripts for the Disney Publishing folks in Europe that should see print in the monthly CARS magazine at some point this year. Other stories ideas are in for consideration – so fingers crossed that I get to continue to hang out in Radiator Springs for a while longer.

I’m still working on the new science fiction comics series, FORGOTTEN CITY. I have now co-written 4 issues and written another 4 as the series’ solo on-going writer. Issues #9 and #10 are plotted out and next on the to-do list with plans for the story to go as far as issue 25. The publisher is still looking to finalize a distribution deal, so hopefully that will happen in 2013 and the book will be in stores.

There are also a few proposals and pitches sitting out there for different projects with a variety of comics publishers.

Fiction:

2013 promises to be the year of new titles from Airship 27 Productions fiction wise. This coming year should see the publication of The Ruby Files Vol. 2 containing my first short story about 1930s hard-boiled New York detective, Rick Ruby. Also in 2013 look out for The New Adventures of Allan Quatermain featuring my just completed novella “Golden Ivory.”

Short stories scheduled for the rest of the year include one featuring master escapologist Harry Houdini, and a second Rick Ruby escapade.

I’ve also started a new novel, on the “write a page a day” basis to see if I can keep going and get a novel length manuscript done by year’s end. I’m taking a totally different approach to writing this novel – I’ll probably blog more about that later in the year if things keep to schedule.

Non-Fiction:

The major focus this year is to get The James Bond Lexicon finished for the fine folks at Hasslein Books – and I have the Man From U.N.C.L.E. Lexicon lined up after that.

I’ve also had some early discussions about another business book – more on that, if and when it develops.

After listing it all out like that, I guess I am going to be a busy boy – so I guess I should get back to it. Deadlines wait for no man.