Novel #4 is finito

Yep, ’tis done.

I got to wax complainant over at Bleeding Cool on the weekend and also set up a temporary website here, with basic info and links, plus some early feedback from the very cool Katy O’Dowd and László Löwenstein (ta, mates!).

While novel #3 (Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?) was all about silver and golden age comic books, a future dystopia and a simple noir/pulp mystery, #4 — currently titled Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth — concerns itself with comic books too… along with a smattering of horror, mystery, domestic abuse, coming-of-age shenanigans, post-punk music, movies, organized religion, witch trials, and the 1980s.

As I say — this left me battle-scarred and I’m not entirely sure we should blame just the ‘80s.

The book was something I threw myself into over the past two and a half months, a beast that ended up cutting sleep ragged and eating into my dreams — hence the celery people and oversized Venus flytraps that have cameo appearances in the yarn. Some of the content (think horror/abuse, while not a significant part of the story) weighed heavy during the writing process, and much as I might admire the protagonist Mina Rapace’s gumption and perseverance, I’m satisfied to have moved on.

This journey was exhausting and a tad close to home.

Still, I got to tinker with tons of references and homages within the context of the story, citing things I love and/or admire that in turn complement the tale. The trick here is to deconstruct names as well as places for clues.

I also think Mina is one of the strongest characters I’ve worked with to date.

More guff soon — but the novel should be out in early 2014, fingers crossed… Just in case there is a single soul reading these postings aside from my evil alter ego (shhh!).

By the way, the image here (above) is for the back cover, by super Japanese artist Sukapon-ta.