I expect to be finished by this weekend, but as I haven’t written, edited, checked email, or gone to the post office in over a week, I’ll probably be MIA for at least another week or so. Please standby…

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In those same 21 days, I also have to finish a novel (The Lost Level), a novella (Last of the Albatwitches), edit the final five manuscripts of the folks who sent manuscripts (if you didn’t get yours, you’re one of the final five, and I’m basically just waiting to hear back from some possible publishers as to whether or not they’ll take a look at it for you). In addition to all that, I’ve got my fatherly duties to attend to.

This is all a very long-winded way of saying I won’t be around nearly as much. I’ll pretty much be ignoring all email and phone calls, even the important ones. The plus side for you, the reader, is that I’m selling a bunch of stuff from my archives because I don’t feel like moving it. Click here to see the items. I’ll be adding more each day. And yes, there will be some very rare items offered for sale. Some will be expensive. Some won’t. (Note: If you want an item, don’t post here or on other social media. I won’t see it. Instead, inform me the proper way by signing up for the forum and posting a response in the appropriate thread).

See you in 21 days (although I’m sure I’ll check in from time to time…)

That’s me setting up about an hour before last Saturday’s FCBD signing at Comix Connection in York, PA. Although you can’t tell it, I am smiling. 

I’ve been writing professionally for over fifteen years now, and I’ve spent a good chunk of each of those years on the road — book signing tours, convention appearances, speaking engagements, charity events, store openings, store closings, etc. Hell, the majority of Running With The Devil detailed the 2005 summer-long ‘Terminal Cities’ book-signing tour, when I spent three solid months on the road, from Canada to Florida and Seattle to San Diego and everywhere in-between. I’ve done a lot of tours like that.

I’m not going to anymore. I’ve said that before, but then restlessness sets in and I begin to wonder what’s over the horizon. I’ve always been that way. When I was a kid, I’d hop on my BMX Mongoose bike at 8am and my parents wouldn’t see me again until dinnertime. I’ve always been an explorer and a traveler. That was why I joined the Navy, rather than one of the other military branches. And it’s why I’ve always enjoyed touring. It’s fun and exciting to go to new places, and meet new fans and readers, and enjoy good conversations and unfamiliar beers and local cuisine.

But… I’m 45. I’ve got two sons, one of whom graduates college next year and the other of whom starts first grade this August. They are my only responsibilities, other than the responsibility I have to you, my audience, but they are a responsibility I intend to focus more on. Also, to be blunt, gallivanting around the world at 45 is a lot more exhausting than it was at 25 or 35. And since my post-Dorchester heart attack two (or is it three) years ago, I seem to require more sleep at night, and more quiet time to myself. I’ve noticed this during the last four or five conventions I’ve attended as a Guest-of-Honor. Used to be I’d sleep 3 or 4 hours a night at those things, and loved the party scene and hanging out with everybody. I still love those things, but now I sneak out early so I can go to bed and get away from the noise levels. And then I end up feeling guilty about it later.

So expect to see less of me in your town these next few years. Oh, I’ll still make the occasional appearance. I’ll be in New Zealand, for instance, when Dark Hollow starts filming. And I’m slated as a guest at next year’s Scares That Care convention in Williamsburg, VA. BizarroCon is a given since that’s the only time of year I can sit down with my main publisher and hatch plans for the next year. And there’s also KeeneCon in 2014 (but in the case of that last one, you’ll all be traveling to me). And there are conventions I want to attend again in the future — CONvergence, VisionCon, etc.

But they won’t be as many. For example, there are no further appearances slated for this year. Which means I’ll have more time with my sons, and more time for writing (which I haven’t had much of for many, many months now, as evidenced by the number of deadlines which have zipped by my head with a SWOOSHING sound). Indeed, although I’m sad and despondent over the fact that my little guy starts first grade this year, I’m also looking forward to the fact that I’ll be able to return to normal 8-hour writing days — something I haven’t had in the last five years (again, as evidenced by the number of deadlines which have zipped by my head with a SWOOSHING sound).

Hopefully, you can dig that. But I figured y’all ought to know. And it’s not like I’m unavailable. You can talk to me on Twitter and Facebook anytime you want. And since that experiment with Branch was a failure (simply because Branch got rid of the Group Discussion option) I’ve toyed with the idea of bringing back a new forum, but in a way that will prevent the problems that led to the destruction of the previous version. So I did. It’s here, but I’m not going to officially announce it until later in the week. So only the people who read all the way to the bottom of this Blog entry will know about it for right now…

2. Kevin Interdonato, star of the movie Brian Keene’s The Ties That Bind, has a new TV pilot called Dirty Dead Con Man. The production could use your help. Details here.

3. Pal (and occasional collaborator) Mike Oliveri’s award-winning novel, Deadliest of the Species, is now on Kindle for less than three bucks.

4. To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Deadite Press has Shane McKenzie’s new novel on Kindle for 99 cents.

Levi first appeared in Ghost Walk, the sequel to Dark Hollow. His story was then continued in A Gathering of Crows and the novella The Witching Tree. (An alternate reality version of Levi appears in Clickers vs. Zombies). With each subsequent story, Levi seems to get himself into more and more trouble with the forces of both Heaven and Hell as he straddles the uncomfortable line between hero and anti-hero — determined to be a force for good even if he must resort to evil to accomplish those goals. But with the climax of The Witching Tree, and his apparent damnation almost a certainty, many readers have been asking me, “What happens next? How’s he going to get out of this one? And when are we going to find out the rest of his back story?”

Well, today I know those answers. I can tell you a few of them now. You’ll have to wait for the others.

Levi will next appear in a novella called The Last of the Albatwitches, to be published in hardcover as part of this year’s Maelstrom set (which will also include hardcovers of the uncut edition of The Rising and a new novel by F. Paul Wilson and Sarah Pinborough called A Necessary End).

That will lead into an as-yet-untitled novella for Bad Moon Books, the plot of which takes Levi to Cleveland (the only person whom I’ve told the plot to is pre-reader Mark ‘Dezm’ Sylva, and that’s only because he was in the hotel room with me in Cleveland when I got the idea).

That will lead into a third novella, also still untitled, to be published by Cemetery Dance.

Then, all of these will lead into one final novel called Bad Ground, in which Levi goes home, and all of his back story — and his final fate — will be revealed.

***

(And yes, for those of you who don’t buy limited edition hardcovers, I do plan on collecting the four Levi novellas into a book-length volume — but that won’t happen for several years, so if you just can’t wait, The Witching Tree appears in Is There A Demon In You, and copies are still available).

***

Many long-time readers assume that Levi is one of The Seven (a disparate group of characters who will make humanity’s last stand, rumored throughout all of my novels). He isn’t. But his precursor, Nelson LeHorn, is. As well as Frankie from The Rising and City of the Dead. And Teddy Garnett from Earthworm Gods. And Tony Genova (from the Clickers series and various short stories). And The Exit from short stories “I Am An Exit” and “This Is Not An Exit”. So now you know five of the seven.

Today we’re asking you to help get the film into production. And it won’t cost you a dime. We need to show Amazon Studios that there is a demand for this movie. This can be done in two easy clicks of your mouse.

STEP 1: Go to the project’s Amazon Studios page and download the free PDF of the screenplay.

STEP 2: Leave a 4-star or 5-star review.

It’s that easy. Oh, and you might also want to follow the official Twitter or Facebook pages.

And if you haven’t read the novel, it’s available in paperback, Kindle, and Nook.