Page Title

January 9, 2007

Unhappy New Year

Well, first the bad news.

Omega is on hold. Other projects in the Powys Space:1999 series contain details that
are referred to in Omega, and right now, those other projects haven't been completed,
so rather than leave a bunch of holes in Omega and then go back and fill them in later,
Mateo and I have decided to put off development on Omega. It will be completed at
some point (and it's frustrating to have to wait on it, but the way things are going, it
wouldn't be published in the near future anyway). So, for the folks out there reading this,
sorry to start off the new year with this news. It's been like writing the middle book in a
trilogy and not knowing how the first book ended. Once the other projects are finished,
I'll be able to pick up where I left off.

Now, the good news.

The Resurrection Audiobook is likely to be the next Powys release -- I just don't know
when that will be.

For those of you who attended the workshop we ran out in Portland, OR back in 2003,
you'll be hearing from me at some point to pick up the pieces of the story we were
working on for inclusion in Shepherd Moon. If you attended that workshop and you're
reading this, please email the site so I can get your current email address.

Now, the even better news.

One of the reasons work on Omega is being delayed is because of some other
pressing writing projects, one of which is very exciting to me personally. Mary's Monster
is undergoing a total rewrite. Mateo and I have been discussing this ever since its initial
publication, and now, it's actually happening. For those of you who have copies of
Mary's Monster -- don't lose them! That will be the only edition of the book in that form
that will ever be published most likely (Mateo's still got some copies -- if there's ever
going to be a William Latham collectible, it will be this book).

What's going to change about Mary's Monster? Pretty much everything. The characters
themselves are changing, the plot's going to change to some degree, and from what I've
already finished, it's looking like a much better written novel, one that I'll be happy to
have my name on.

For those of you unfamiliar with its evolution, Mary's Monster started out when I was
nineteen, and then kind of sat dormant until I was nearly thirty. From that perspective, it
reads like two different books, at least to its author. When Mateo decided to publish the
book, the publishing experience itself wasn't a great one -- the printers used a mockup
printout that was never supposed to be the source for the book, and the layout of the
book suffered as a result. Also, as you may already know, artist Joe Tantillo has come
up with an amazing new cover for the book that I think captures the essence of the story
perfectly. The layout of the new edition will be on par with the other Powys releases, and
we're planning on a much wider distribution of this edition, including getting copies out
to reviewers.

Mary's Monster has only been reviewed in a few places, most notably buried.com, which
called it "a very well-thought out, psychological horror novel--and a damn good sequel to
Mary Shelley's classic FRANKENSTEIN." It's still going to be a psychological horror
novel, and it will still hopefully be a good sequel to Frankenstein, but hopefully, it's going
to represent the definitive version of this novel and not the "stitched together" version that
was released as the first Powys book.

If there are things you like or dislike about Mary's Monster (for those who have read it), I'd
love to hear anything you have to say about it, good or bad.

Once Mary's Monster is finished, I can't say that I'll be going right back to Omega --
probably not, unless things change on other Powys books (and note -- Mateo and I are
not mad at each other or anything like that, and he's as eager to read Omega as anyone
else). I have some other writing projects to work on (including my first attempt at
non-fiction).

Anyway, be on the lookout for the Mary's Monster diary on the site. Omega, where I left it,
was reading very, very well -- moving very quickly, with a little bit of scary stuff, some cool
science fiction stuff, some surprises, and one very intense space battle, with more
battles to come. You'll be the first to know once work resumes on that project.

Back To Diary Home...