Sunday, September 28, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 27, 2025

 GETTING ALL MY DUCKS IN A ROW.😉



It's been a busy week so let's make sure everything that needed to be done so far has been.

ENTERED SHORT STORY CONTEST?
The publisher's computer system said mine was Entry 37. Contest ends September 30 and winners will be announced sometime in October.

CONTRIBUTED TO A BENEFIT ANTHOLOGY?
This just popped up the other day but all I really had to do was make sure some previously written material was in the proper format for submission to Airship 27.
More details as this project develops.

WORKED ON THE HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE PREQUEL NOVEL?
With needing to take care of the items before this one first, I didn't get as much done this past week as I would have liked to, but at least I did do some writing.

HAVE A SUBTITLE FOR THE NEW PREQUEL NOVEL?
🗆
Unfortunately not yet.
This book will relaunch the series anew, probably as a self publishing effort.
I have considered LAUNCH, since Book 2 will definitely be EARLY DAYS, but there is still plenty of time left before I need to make a (final) decision because I'm only on Chapter 3 of the manuscript at the moment.

ALL THE HOUSEWORK AND OTHER ASSORTED DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSONAL LIFE?
My entire "staff" consists of me, myself and I. Somehow we get the job done when needed. 😎

WRITING TODAY?
🗆
Going back to that now, so take care.
STAY SAFE.
And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior
28 September, 2025


Sunday, September 21, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 20, 2025

 I have briefly paused work on the HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE PREQUEL because there is a
short story contest I want to enter and time is running against me on it.

Just found out about the contest last week and the deadline is September 30, although the contest has been going on since August 1. 😕

Thankfully I only need between 1,000 and 5,000 words so it's not like this will be a long project, but still...

For better or worse I still haven't heard anything regarding that comic book horror story contest I previously entered, but I'll give them until the end of this month before I make an official inquiry because the deadline for entry was the end of August and who knows how many submissions they got.
Besides, there was no formal statement as to when the winners would be announced so for all I know, they could still be on schedule judging and trying to make decisions.

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
21 September, 2025


Sunday, September 14, 2025

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 13, 2025

 SHERLOCK HOLMES and "The Adventure of the Shakespearean Folly" is at Airship 27 waiting for publication and I am hard at work writing that HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE PREQUEL NOVEL. No subtitle yet, but it's still early in the first draft of the manuscript.

The first chapter is completed and I am currently working on the second that sets up the case that will take up the majority of the book as HUGH apprentices with an already established Private Detective so he can earn his own license and go into business for himself.

Obviously there is still a long way to go before I have to make a final decision on whether or not to self publish, but considering there have been no (serious) offers from any existing publisher...
I'm certainly not opposed to taking matters into my own hands because it would be nice to be my own boss for a change, but a final decision on that isn't necessary until around sometime next spring at the earliest.

Now before I conclude this post, a quick shout out and apology to JEFF DEISCHER and everyone else who tried to leave a comment about something on this blog and couldn't.
I have no idea when Google did so, but they've changed the system so now you need some variety of a Google account to leave a message here.
Explains why I haven't gotten many responses to things I've posted recently. 😉
Yet if you don't have a Google account, I'm still accessible on Blue Sky and Facebook.

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
14 September, 2025




Sunday, September 7, 2025

A SERIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT MY WRITING FUTURE

 Although I did write this past week, I am forgoing my regular weekly PROGRESS REPORT in favor of sharing with all the readers and fans out there my thoughts and future plans concerning my writing career.

I've been teasing and talking about it as much as I can for awhile now, but at this point I seriously doubt there will ever be an official, public announcement so here goes.
That MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PENDING that I've often mentioned in recent months?
What was Pro Se Press/Productions is no more.
Kaput. Gone out of business. Permanently closed.
It's dead Jim.
It's no longer pining for the fjords like Monty Python's Norwegian Blue Parrot.

ANYWAY...
Those of us with any connection to the company were notified earlier this Spring on the matter.
I won't get into all the whys, wherefores and other legalities.
It was fun while it lasted.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
If you find an active link to anything Pro Se once published, it's either on the Back Issue Market or they accidentally missed something delisting everything.

In the process, all rights to everything reverted back to their original creators.
In my case, HUGH MONN PRIVATE DETECTIVE, ALPHA the superhero and various short stories are now orphans looking for a new publishing home.
Unfortunately that does not also include the original cover art and logos since other people made them, and I really liked David Russell's art on HUGH and Sean Ali's ALPHA logo.
On the other hand I had originally only wanted to call ALPHA's first book PROJECT ALPHA and not use that as an umbrella title for the entire series.
I guess you've got to take the good with the bad.

SO WHAT NEXT?

While I am open to the option of another publisher if I can find the right one, I am also looking into the possibility of self publishing under my own imprint.
Whichever route I take, I am hoping to have something totally fresh available for everyone to read by this time next year at the latest.

I am starting with HUGH MONN first, because that has the most material to work with.
I am writing a BRAND NEW PREQUEL NOVEL that will set up the entire series anew.
After that I will be incorporating the short stories from the original collection that either had been or were scheduled for publication in Pro Se's Masked Gun Mystery magazine with new material for at least the next two books in the series.
The next novel after that will be a rerelease of what was HUGH's first full length adventure: CATCH A RISING STAR.
Then there will hopefully be a brand new novel before the rerelease of FEMME FATALES.
Afterwards, whether or not there will be another new novel first, I will then finally finish writing what would have been HUGH's fourth novel for Pro Se, had things not gone south when they did.

Please note that when I talk about reviewing what was previously released, I intend to base everything on the original manuscripts and NOT what was actually published.
While my ego is firmly in check as I type this, I do think that I have grown as a writer since HUGH was first published and I did not always agree with some of the edits that my printed material previously experienced along the way.

Yet while HUGH will kick things off, that does not mean he will be the only project I tackle.
There is ALPHA and that SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL that I never found a publisher for.
Plus I still have all those short stories and who knows what else I will come up with along the way?

In any event, I better get back to work on that HUGH PREQUEL now.
Take care.
STAY SAFE!
Have a great week and I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior
7 September, 2025