Progress update

I'm happy to say that Jean-Marc Lofficier, publisher of Black Coat Press and Riviere Blanche, has accepted my short "The Atomos Affair" for La saga de Mme. Atomos (Tome 3). More on Mme. Atomos here (and here, translated into English).

Jean-Marc's request was that "the story needs to deal specifically with an incident in Mme. Atomos' career mentioned by her creator but never developed (a la Sherlock Holmes' 'Giant Rat of Sumatra'), specifically the great East Coast Black Out of November 1965, for which Mme. Atomos is said to be responsible. That must be the core.

Mme. Atomos herself is a female Japanese mad scientist who hates the U.S. because she lost her family in Nagasaki and has sworn revenge, etc. She has the vast technological resources you'd associate with Fu Manchu, Yellow Claw, etc., including a super flying city."

Jean-Marc's other requirement was that there be a crossover. What fun! I couldn't resist.

JM will translate the story into French and it will appear first in the aforementioned Mme. Atomos volume. Then it will appear in the original English in Tales of the Shadowmen, Volume 3: Danse Macabre, currently scheduled for January 2007.

Speaking of TOTS Vol. 3, JM has also accepted my longer story, "Les Levres Rouges." It's third in my ongoing cycle of Doc Ardan stories, and continues to set the stage and put the characters in place for the gothic/pulp novel. The gothic/pulp novel will be set in the early 1970s, and by necessity it will feature a strong female protagonist. (It just struck me today that almost all the stories I've written thus far have strong female characters, usually in a leading role, so I guess it's a good thing that the gothic/pulp novel will as well.)

It won't be necessary to read the Doc Ardan stories in order to understand the gothic/pulp novel, but they will round things out with background information about some off-screen characters, who nonetheless have a strong role in shaping the female lead's character.

Finally, a little over a month ago I mentioned my story "Shadows Over Kunlun" for an air hero anthology. There have since been snags, but nothing fatal. Suffice to say, there will be a single character pulp anthology focusing on an air ace hero, my story is still in it, and hopefully it will come out in late June or early July. More info as soon as I am able. Meantime, keep 'em flying.