Briefly, I finished the script for the new volume of Gear School yesterday. Today I gave it a light polish and sent it off to my editor. Put that one into the done column.

Next up, one of the many proposals I want to complete. I’ve got to drum up some more business.

After more than a month’s absence (during which I was reveling in the arrival of my son), I am now back and writing. Writing the script for Gear School, Mark II, and back writing this blog.

One of the more interesting things I’ve seen on the Internet in the last little while: Warren Ellis points out that IEEE Spectrum online has an issue devoted to The Singularity. Mr. Ellis then goes on to offer an interesting refutation to same. Both make for good reading.

It’s good to be back.

I’ll be signing this Saturday as part of the nation-wide Free Comic Book Day festivities. Here are the details:

Danger Zone
Saturday, May 3, 10-3
1071 Commercial St SE
Salem, OR 97302
503-364-7980

I may not be there for the whole event, so if you want to see me, call ahead to make sure I’m there, or come early.

If you’re in Salem on Saturday, come by and say “hi.”

Looking to our past for this post rather than our future. Wired.com has a story about a newly built Babbage difference engine commissioned by Nathan Myhrvold (he of  Micrsoft) and donated to the Computer History Museum.  It’s a beautiful peice of machinery. I wonder when the home version will be available.

So, no one (like, say my editor) bothered to tell me, but apparently Dark Horse Comics have solicited a collection of the first six issues worth of their Myspace DHP material. This means, of course, that my eight-page Gear School story will be in print! I claim victory.

In addition to eight pages worth of goodness from me, there’s also much comic love from the likes of Mike Mignola, Eric Powell and Joss Whedon, among others.

Man, I am totally stoked.

Just to keep everyone up to date:

Over the weekend, I did the page-by-page breakdown for Gear School, Mark II. Writing the script should now be (theoretically) easier. Wish me luck.

I have received word from everyone to whom I sent the Gear School outline: The word is “go.”

I would like very much to have this script written before the arrival of my son on the 28th of April, so I think I’m going to  need to put my head down and really focus. That could mean a scarcity of posts here for a little while. Again.

This sort of reminds me of writing the script for the first volume, actually. In that case, I had about a month to write the script before I got married and went off on my honeymoon. I manged it with a couple of days to spare. Maybe I’ll manage t this time, too.

Wish me luck.

Despite the quickly approaching arrival of the Sprout, I am still planning on making some appearances in support of my comics. Here’s what’s in the hopper as of this moment:

Portland Comic Book Show
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Memorial Coliseum
Portland, OR, 97227
Show website
I’m a featured guest at this show — the first ever I’ve been invited to attend, so it should be fun.

Free Comic Book Day
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Danger Zone Comics
1326 State Street
Salem, OR, 97301
(503) 364-7980
I’ll be giving away copies of the Arcana FCBD comic (which has a new 100 Girls story in it) and selling a slew of other stuff for your reading edification.

Comic Con International
Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27, 2008
Preview night Wednesday, July 23, 2008
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, CA 92101
Show website
The big daddy of comics conventions; this will be my tenth year attending and the first where I actually get a table. Come down and say hi to me (and my collaborator Todd, too!) and buy me a drink. I’ll need one.

My being at the first two shows is dependent on my wife not being in labor on those dates, but I’m going to do my damnedest to be there.

After many too many days, I sent the full outline of the next Gear School story to all involved. Now I wait to see how everyone likes it and whether any changes will be required. For what it’s worth, I like it quite a bit.

And, in a completely unrelated topic: This site get’s it’s fair share of spam in the comments section (which is never seen by you, the reader, because I moderate all the comments). Most of the spam messages are of a, you know, adult nature. But today the site got a comment that was just too good to be true:

“unawardableness avenaceous berried smothering resecrete quasijudicial stenocoriasis actinic.”

It’s like some kind of magical incantation. One can almost tease some meaning from the words. Almost. Anyway, this stuff just pleases me sometimes.

I returned a signed copy of Gear School, Mark II, contract this week and I am hip-deep in writing the full, extended plot outline. The book feels more and more real everyday.

And, in other news, Dark Horse announced on Friday that they have entered into a three-year production and distribution deal with Universal Pictures. You can read the press release here. Now I know that everyone with a comic currently at Dark Horse is dreaming of movie deals, and I am no different. I can see a live-action Gear School starring Abigail Breslin as Teresa and a handsome unknown called Adam Gallardo as Captain Tsing. But if we went with that cast, we’d have to play up the romance between Captain Tsing and Jessica Biel’s Major Wheeling….