PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

FIRST AND FOREMOST... we pause momentarily to wish Tommy Hancock well. He is facing surgery tomorrow to address his cardiac issues.




Now then, I'm working on Chapter 18 Take 2 of ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON; after my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader sent me back the original draft of that chapter with her review notes.

That has sparked a couple of new ideas, so now I'm uncertain if Chapter 19 or 20 will be the last one after all.

Meanwhile, a friendly reminder that my latest creative effort: "The Sound of Obedience" within GHOST BOY, VOLUME 2 is now available from Airship 27 in both print and e-book formats.

Better get back to writing now.
See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
27 September, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

FIRST AND FOREMOST...

Ghost Boy, Volume 2 has just been released by Airship 27!

Featuring the creative talents of Terry Alexander, J.Walt Layne, Erik Franklin, interior artist Gary Kato, cover artist Zachary Brunner, and yours truly!

This is the project that I was INVITED to participate in by Captain Ron Fortier and Loyal Airman Rob Davis. It was a pleasure to work with them, and I have already been invited back to contribute future Ghost Boy adventures!

For those who came in late concerning the character, here's a brief recap from the press release concerning the book...

It is the mid-60s and the U.S. is in thick of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and Red China. The country’s greatest asset is Ghost Boy, a young genius with amazing supernatural powers, and his eight foot tall steel and chrome robot, Pops. Ripped from the pages of Jigsaw Comics, Ghost Boy returns in this collection of four brand new adventures.

In a couple of weeks, I will be doing a BACK STORY post with the background details concerning my tale, "The Sound of Obedience".

The book is already available in print from Amazon, and the Kindle edition is coming soon!

MEANWHILE...
Chapter 18 of ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON is now in the hands of my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader for review. Barring anything unseen, I am working on Chapter 19 right now, which should conclude the novel.
Please remember that the overall manuscript will still have to be reviewed in its entirety to make sure it flows like a seamless whole before submitting it to the publisher, so we're still looking at a 2016 release date on the book.

AND FINALLY...

Airship 27 is still foreseeing an October release on LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION: THE TOMMY HANCOCK BENEFIT ANTHOLOGY.
63 writers and 30 artists have joined their creative talents to help an ailing friend and his family pay his medical expenses and other bills.

Each tale will have 1 illustration accompanying it, and the latest word is that the last of the art is all that's left on the production end of things.
More details soon.

Meanwhile, I better get back to writing.
See you around the Internet!
Lee Houston, Junior
20 September, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

So, how are things on the writing front this week?

First and foremost, I have to go over the galley PDF/proof for that Ghost Boy story I was invited to write earlier this year for Airship 27!

Alpha

Secondly,Chapter 17 to (PROJECT) ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON is done as far as both my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader and myself are concerned.
I am working on Chapter 18 now, and doubt the manuscript will go past Chapter 19, but that remains to be seen.
It will definitely be a 2016 release, for after I complete the first (fifth?, based upon the progress report history on this blog) draft of the manuscript, I definitely want to give it a final pass in its entirety before submitting the novel to make sure all the individual chapters that I have poured over and poured over read as a coherent whole.


Third(ly?), Airship 27 now has an October estimate for a release date on the Tommy Hancock benefit anthology LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION and has asked all the contributors to post the flyer below wherever possible, so consider it done Captain Ron Fortier!
64 writers and 38 artists are involved in this work, and will be well worth your purchase and reading time when it comes out, with all proceeds going to Tommy and his family to help cover his medical expenses.

Fourth, I've been thinking about my agenda after ALPHA 2 is completely finished. Despite having already written a couple so far this year, I still have the two short stories I originally promised to write this year. Think I finally have a plot for a Sherlock Holmes story worthy of the great detective to submit to Airship 27 once it's written, and I still have that other tale that unfortunately I still cannot discuss in public.
Yet.
Hate to be a tease, but a promise is a promise.

Thankfully, neither project has an actual deadline attached to them, so I'm not late by any stretch of the imagination. One thing I have done in my writing career that I am extremely proud of is that I have never missed a deadline (to date) and I'm not about to start now if I can help it.

Have also started mulling over ideas for whatever will become HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: BOOK 3; but that project will probably be a 2016 start, after ALPHA 2 and the two short stories.

Better get back to writing now.
See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
13 September, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 5, 2015

Hope everyone in America is enjoying the Labor Day weekend, and if you are reading this blog somewhere else, that your day wasn't too bad.

Cover by Terry Pavlet

Right now, I am waiting for my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader to review my third revision of Chapter 17 to ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON while Nancy Hansen is busy hitting the self promotion trail for her new novel JEZEBEL JOHNSTON: DEVIL'S HANDMAID.

It's a great book and the first pirate novel for both Nancy AND Airship 27, with interior illustrations by Rob Davis, but far from the last, for Nancy is working on Jezebel 2!

Meanwhile, I am well into Chapter 18 of a projected 19 chapters. Following this blog will give you all the whys and wherefores concerning how I feel about writing in general, and ALPHA 2 specifically, so I won't repeat myself again.

With that in mind, I better get back to writing.
See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
6 September, 2015