From the classic Italian horror film, Zombie

I know I said I was working on a sequel to Elvis Sightings. And I am. But I got distracted by the wonderful world of zombies.

A friend of mine told me about a couple of publishers looking for zombie material so I turned my attention to where I knew I would find fertile ground. Besides, I’ve done zombies once with Resident Evil, I figured I had the zombie patois down. Ngggggg Unnggggggg Guuuuhhhhh. You know.

So I’ve been working on two premises for zombie based stories. One follows a fairly traditional zombiepocalypse scenario, but I think I found an interesting twist on it.

The second, which is the one I really, really like, well, I’m not going to tell you. I think its such a good idea I don’t want you to steal it. Sorry.

As a byproduct of working on these zombie pitches, yet another friend of mine turned me on to Cliffhanger Books and a new short story anthology they’re working on called Paramourtal. A supernatural romance collection that is a play on Paramour and Mortal. I think the title is clever. In fact, I thought it was so clever I immediately turned my attention to crafting a zombie romance to submit.

Why should vampires get all the love?

With “Elvis Sightings” finished, my comic book work complete, and no other projects on my plate, I’m starting work on a new book. Trying to decide between a follow up to “Elvis Sightings,” or something thematically similar. A big part of me wants to break up with Floyd, the protagonist of “Elvis Sightings,” but from a commercial perspective, it might be better to have two books with the character than just one.

I’m also working on a bunch of comic book pitches. Fingers are crossed.

My manuscript is in the hands of an Uber-Agent. She isn’t going to be my agent, but she likes me and is willing to help me line up an agent that might be right for me.

Progress!

Yesterday afternoon I finished my first novel manuscript! Elvis Sightings is a 90,000 word novel about a private investigator who lives his life the way he thinks Elvis would, if Elvis had been a private investigator from Pocatello Idaho named Floyd.

I’m off to San Diego Comic-Con today to promote the Resident Evil comic I did for Wildstorm and to talk to folks in the fiction industry about placing my book with a publisher.

See you there!

Just finished the second draft of my novel! Here’s the pitch…

Floyd is a Lifestyle Elvis. And a Lifestyle Elvis is not an Impersonator. Floyd lives his life the way he thinks Elvis would have wanted him to – which to Floyd means wearing sequined jump suits and a career as a private detective. He’s just rolled into Kresge, Wyoming, where his patron believes Elvis is alive and well and living under the pseudonym Jon Burrows. Floyd barely has time for drink before he’s beaten up by a midget, roped into a search for a playboy town councilman, falls for the town’s bearded lady sheriff, and immersed in a Cold War era Soviet conspiracy to fake the deaths of American celebrities in an attempt to destabilize the proletariate.

But there’s no sign of Burrows or the missing councilman. If Floyd can survive a Viking re-enactment, avoid the billy clubs of mysterious government agents, and prevent the town from being turned into a Dutch themed amusement park, he might just get the bearded girl, save the day, and find Elvis.