PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JULY 5, 2025

 Sometimes I wonder if I might be overthinking the situation, but it seems to me like trying to write a SHERLOCK HOLMES story worthy of the title character is like trying to solve a used jigsaw puzzle you bought at a flea market without the cover picture and no idea whether or not you have all the pieces to begin with.

In any event, work is proceeding apace on "The Adventure of the Shakespearean Folly", but every day I have to pause at least once to look up some detail about the Victorian Era or information on another related matter.

That is dedication to the writing craft, making sure I've got everything as correct as humanly possible.

The rest is just a question of time, effort and stubbornness.

I'd say I'm approaching, but haven't actually reached the halfway point yet.

Short stories are roughly 15,000 words on average. I haven't even made 10,000 yet, but every time I do get to write adds a little more to the overall manuscript.

Besides telling me that SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA has been proofread and only lacks interior and cover art at this point before publication, Ron Fortier at Airship 27 has inquired how my Holmes work is going, so I know the story has a home when finished.

But to reach that point I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

6 July, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JUNE 28, 2025

 Last week went all to heck, and I'm not talking about just the heatwave.

It seems like anything that could go wrong did, keeping me busier than an anteater at a picnic.

In any event, hopefully this week will be better.

Despite the fact that I've got a doctor's appointment, errands and the Fourth of July with family in the days ahead.

I did get a little additional writing done on SHERLOCK HOLMES "The Adventure of the Shakespearean Folly", but unfortunately little is the operative word here.

In any event, I've got to get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

29 June, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JUNE 21, 2025

 MAN, IS IT HOT OUTSIDE!

And this is just the FIRST day of the projected heatwave!🌞

Holmes immortalized

In any event, staying inside as much as possible and working on my SHERLOCK HOLMES story.

As I've mentioned previously during PROGRESS REPORTS for "The Adventure of the Artful Forger" and "The Adventure of the Unimaginable", crafting a good mystery, let alone one worthy of the Victorian Era's famous Consulting Detective takes a lot of time and effort.

When it's done, hopefully readers will enjoy "The Adventure of the Shakespearean Folly".

Even the casual Holmes fan would baulk if I got a background detail wrong concerning him and/or Doctor Watson, so it's best to do it write/right the first time instead of having to face countless revisions and rewrites later.

In any event, I better get another drink of water before returning to writing.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

22 June, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JUNE 14, 2025

 Have submitted my COMIC BOOK HORROR ANTHOLOGY STORIES. The contest doesn't end until July 31 so it probably won't be until sometime in August at the earliest that I hear something on the subject, thus I have returned to working on SHERLOCK HOLMES: "The Adventure of the Shakespearean Folly".

Still haven't heard any more news on that PENDING MAJOR DEVELOPMENT, but for those of you able to celebrate today...

Lee Houston, Junior

15 June, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JUNE 7, 2025

 It's hard to believe that the year is almost half over and the weather is just now getting decent enough for me to wear both a short sleeve T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Normally I'd already be in Spring/Summer attire by the first week of May at the latest, but this year has been really weird weather wise.

Anyway...

The first of two COMIC BOOK CONTEST ENTRIES is done and I'm working feverishly to complete the second before the Submissions Box opens June 13.

Considering that's a Friday, sounds appropriate for a horror anthology, don't you think?

In any event, after the stories are done and submitted, then I will be returning to SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE ADVENTURE OF THE SHAKESPEAREAN FOLLY unless something else comes up between now and then, but I still haven't heard any new developments on that MAJOR EVENT PENDING as I post this.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

8 June, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING MAY 31, 2025

 I paused to remember writer Peter David and did not post a PROGRESS REPORT last weekend. So there is a bit of catching up to do.

Before the memorial post, I did work on my SHERLOCK HOLMES story but while I am more than a third through the manuscript, I haven't reached the halfway point on it yet because I paused working on that to come up with an entry for a HORROR ANTHOLOGY COMIC BOOK SHORT STORY CONTEST.

I am kicking a couple of ideas around. One of the two I've already written and the other is still in progress.

Which of the two or both (if the rules allow it) I'll submit remains to be seen because the submission door doesn't even open until June 13, which happens to be a Friday this year. Hmmm...

Anyway, Horror isn't really my genre; but if it's one thing I've always wanted to do, it's write for a comic book company.

Unfortunately, the closest I've ever come to realizing that goal is editing the independently produced RAYE KNIGHT: SPELLBOUND for my friend Victoria Pagac.

The rest of the time I've always wound up at start up ventures that never get past the "Wouldn't it be nice if..." stage.

All I can do is produce the best short story possible within 8 pages (maximum) of a comic book and hope for the best.

And for those interested, all has been quiet on the MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PENDING front.

In any event, I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

1 June, 2025

REMEMBERING WRITER PETER DAVID

 Writer Peter David is no longer with us.😢

I have no photographs or convention stories to share.

The only times I was ever in actual communication with the man was exchanging a few posts on his blog and contributing Part 78: And Now For Something Completely Different to his Potato Moon round robin.

However, I was "there" when he discussed his struggles trying to lose weight, for that is a battle I have been fighting too since puberty; and I was also "there" as Peter publicly posted about his life, divorce, second marriage and the birth of their daughter either through the blog or his But I Digress column in the pages of the late, lamented Comics Buyers' Guide.

But above all, like many others, I was a major fan of his writing, both in comics and prose.

His wit, well timed and carefully placed even in dire story situations, was always funny.

Who else, in the middle of a Star Trek adventure, could make a reference to a "receding hare line"?

I still would have loved to see Peter tackle Howard the Duck, but David said that was one headache (an issue he never expanded upon and I never pressed) he didn't need.

Yet Aquaman, Supergirl, Young Justice, the Hulk, Spider-man, X-Factor and many more all benefited from his talents.

His wife Kathleen and his daughters have my deepest condolences.

Lee Houston, Junior

25 May, 2025