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[David Bird]

Feb 24:

It's been kind of a fraught work
week, with one thing and another.

IGNITION CITY's now officially pushed
back from summer, as we can't
find an artist to fit it.

I cracked the last problem with
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS, but, again, I
don't have the faintest idea who's
going to draw that.

DESOLATION JONES is on a short
pause: after talking with Scott
Dunbier, we've decided to try and
push it monthly after all, so there's
going to be a bit of a gap, and then
a monthly march to the arc's
finishing line.

PLANETARY's coda will be done when
it's done -- it's part-written right
now, but it's not a priority while
I'm wrangling some other unrelated
crises that I'm not mentioning here
yet. Work crises, I mean.

I've got a stack of stuff here that
I don't have time to develop, ideas
just screaming at me: that which was
called WINTER but which is now
probably called DEADSPOTS, GUN
ONE, SEVERED...

BLACK SUMMER, which I haven't
really talked about yet, went through
a dramatic format change the other
week that is still eating my brain.

It's going to be a long night. I'll
probably be in and out of the Engine
from 10pm, we should do another
Saturday Night Open Mic there...

[David Bird]

Feb 25:

The back-cover quotes so far:


“Crooked Little Vein is perfect Warren Ellis -- ruthless,
unforgiving, and oddly beautifully bitterly human. Plus
it’s packed with all my favorite references: porn theories,
Alan Alda, seventy-one year old serial killers, and an
alternate U.S. Constitution bound in alien skin. Get
ready for a wonderful kick in the teeth that’ll make you
lick your bloody lip with masochistic joy.”

— Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Fate


“I think this book ate my soul. Warren Ellis has mapped
out the psycho-sexual underbelly of America with a
foreigner’s clarity and a lunatic’s glee. Funny, inventive
and blithely appalling, this book is Dante on paint fumes.”

— Joss Whedon, creator, writer and director of the Buffy
the Vampire Slayer series


“Warren Ellis writes like a bi-polar Raymond Chandler.
Crooked Little Vein injects at least two welcome elements
into the tired, clogged mystery field: a a little death and a
little life. It's also funny enough to make you shit standing.”

- Kinky Friedman, author of Ten Little New Yorkers

Guys, I know who Kinky Friedman IS. I just don't KNOW him.
Think before type, eh?

-- W

[David Bird]

Feb 26:

* Y'know, if Ellen Degeneres is
presenting the Oscars these days,
I figure we're less than five years
away from Ze Frank presenting the
Oscars. Which I'd watch.

* Martin Scorcese got his "fuck me,
are you still here?" Oscar for
remaking a Korean crime flick. Since
he's had a hard-on for Oscar for
some thirty years, I suppose it's
nice for him. But it still seems a bit
sad to me.

* I skimmed the NYCC coverage
before bed last night. I'm finding I
quite like not being part of the mad
rush of convention announcements.
Especially given what they are. I
seem to be suffering from this
staggering fucking indifference to
the current medium of late. I
downloaded a DCP pack of scanned
comics the other night (yeah, go
on, sue me), and even the stuff
like SOLITARIA (on Praxis Comics),
that was clearly trying for something
at least different, wasn't doing it for
me.

* I'll be back ahead of Ben on FELL
in a couple of weeks, and I'm
honestly thinking about doing
another FELL-format book simply
because no-one else (but Matt)
seems to be.

* I have a lot of stuff lined up at
Avatar. This year, I want to
completely change people's
expectations of that publisher.

* San Diego is still five months
away. And I'm getting The Fear.
Five months away and my schedule
looks full already.

[David Bird]

Mar 6:

People start to bug me if I don't
write these things, now.

Today is all new project stuff.

DOKTOR SLEEPLESS is now up on its
feet, because it was time to write
something about the science-fictional
world we live in, and also time to
write something about a Mad
Scientist. This has been gestating
a long time, ever since I saw that
some of my short fiction I was
writing as warm-ups were sort of
connecting together and painting a
picture. Also, this is a comic that
will be shadowed by a wiki.

Also, I'm making good on a couple of
old promises, or trying to: one
company has a pitch called
DEADSPOTS and I'm rewriting
something called SALLY PATHOGEN
for another.

CRECY is laid out to the halfway
mark, which means it's in very very
detailed note form to page 22.
"Notes" means I lay down most of
the dialogue and rough descriptions,
and then I go back and turn all that
into full script, which forces/fools me
into a second draft of sorts. I'm
keeping the artist about four pages
behind me so I can adjust for him as
we go.

I'm also into a pitch I'm writing for
Marvel, for a book to replace
NEXTWAVE. Because it's important
that Marvel have books that get
cancelled after 12 issues.

Something I didn't know: NEWUNIVERSAL
#2 sold out of its print run too, and
had to be reprinted. Also, it turns
out that sales on #2 went up from
#1 *without* counting the variant
cover it apparently was solicited with.
Given that it's barely a superhero
book, and is written as science
fiction, that's kind of odd.

Also working on something called
FREAKANGELS, which you'll hear
a lot more about in the summer, I
think.

Busy times. But people need more
comics to read, right?

[David Bird]

Mar 7:

Cover design and a page of art:
http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=3884


More and bigger art:
http://www.the-engine.net/forum/index.php?webtag=ENGINE&msg=7195.1



-- W

[misac]

I'm also into a pitch I'm writing for
Marvel, for a book to replace
NEXTWAVE. Because it's important
that Marvel have books that get
cancelled after 12 issues.

Haha! I wonder what it is.

[David Bird]

Maybe he'll write as a 12 issue arc, then he doesn't have to worry.

[David Bird]

Mar 14:

People are complaining about the
silence again, would you believe.

Finished the last draft of DEAD
CHANNEL last night. I remain
pessimistic about its chances at this
point, but it's been a learning
experience.

I am informed that at San Diego,
on the Friday, I will be signing copies
of CROOKED LITTLE VEIN for
William Morrow from 2pm to 6pm.
Obviously, I'll collect up all my
appearances into emails closer to
the time, but it's now confirmed that
I will be doing a long signing for the
novel on the Friday afternoon.

I don't think details have been
firmed up, but I'm also told I'll be
doing one of my infamously
interminable talks+Q&A sessions
on the Saturday night. If it's anything
like the last two, it'll run way past
midnight -- and, being California,
it'll be done without benefit of
cigarettes. Bah.

FELL #8 is done, by the way, and
I'm into #9, which is eating my
brain already. Orders on the TPB,
FERAL CITY, were surprisingly strong
-- I think it was like 10000 for the
paperback and 2000 for the hardback.

No updates on PLANETARY. We're
working.

[David Bird]

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=3918

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9983

-- W

[David Bird]

Mar 19:

This'll probably be the only Signal
this week, barring PR links and
newsflashes.

We got an artist for IGNITION CITY.
Tonight I'm assembling JONES
scripts from pieces -- we took a
short hiatus so we can start bringing
the book in monthly. PLANETARY
epilogue is in the form of a pile of
notes that I need to time. Having
to edit DOKTOR SLEEPLESS at the
layout level, as I'm working with a
new artist who also doesn't speak
English, and miscommunications
always crop up in that situation.
Raulo, the CRECY artist, has done me
an astonishing wraparound cover
for #1 -- I should leak the pencils,
it's glorious. NEWUNIVERSAL 8 is
going off to Marvel today, as is a
new THUNDERBOLTS. FELL 9 is also
in pieces, as I'm having to decide
what to cut and what to trim, I can
tell by looking at the notes that I'm
eight pages over. DEADSPOTS #1
is just getting polish and colour --
"colour" is when the bones are all
there but the dialogue's a bit flat,
I just go back in and add livelier
dialogue. FREAKANGELS has an
artist now, and I'm waiting to see
early pages before locking the new
episode to see how well he's caught
the postdiluvian steampunk vibe.

And I've got a new Marvel project
I've been sitting on the pitch for
for two weeks now, because it's not
quite right yet and I may not be
able to use the property name I
want.

Nurse!

[David Bird]

Only one post this week?

Oops, meant to send this earlier:

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:
Conceive, if you will, an image of topless Lee Adama fucking
a leaping shark with a Cylon cock. And the Cylon cock has
the words I AM SAUL TIGH scratched into its side.

ROME:
The important lesson that ROME teaches us is that all
women lie, cheat, manipulate, despoil, kill and betray, and
it is best simply to strangle them and throw them in the pond.

PRIMEVAL:
Nice finish. The "disappearing cast member" was a bit
clunky, but the other twists upon twists were actually
beautifully handled. Didn't see one of them coming at all.

STUDIO 60:
...and STAY out.

24:
Nah. This season started out strong, with a dose of The
Crazy, but... no. 24 was never long on logic, but it's
collapsed in on itself at this point.

MOONLIGHT MILE:
Current anime, around on fansub. Partway through the
first ep, and it's not bad -- but I'm a sucker for space
exploration stories.

[David Bird]

Mar 25:

The New:

http://www.the-engine.net/forum/discussion.php?webtag=ENGINE&msg=7578.1

http://www.the-engine.net/forum/messages.php?webtag=ENGINE&msg=7575.1

http://www.the-engine.net/forum/messages.php?webtag=ENGINE&msg=7574.1

also - BLACK SUMMER:

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=106098

http://www.avatarpress.com/2007/03/20/mark-sweeney-talks-black-summer/


###

[David Bird]

Mar 26:

* Listening to the main title from CHILDREN OF DUNE, by
Brian Tyler, again and again. I may have a sickness.

* This, even though I had to buy it on iTunes, which I
fucking loathe.

* But I refused to buy it on CD because I am currently
refusing to buy CDs. I tell people it's because I'm
experimenting with digital consumption. The truth is
that my office and much of the rest of the house is
filled with CDs and I can't fit any more in so I'm buying
everything on mp3 instead.

* I am also offended that I had to buy the new Love Is
All on iTunes and the new Bees on fucking 7Digital,
which is DRM *and" WMA. Emusic needs a fucking
slap.

* And I couldn't find a working pay-download of
Grinderman AT ALL. And so a friend ripped it for me.
And it turns out that I absolutely bloody hate it.

* I don't "get" Twitter yet. I suspect this is because I
have no friends.

* "Plasmonics" is an actual word.

* Yet another BLACK SUMMER interview:
http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/004014387.cfm

* Jean Snow and I have both mentioned this online:
http://www.pdf-mags.com/
The return of the PDF magazine. Not that it ever really went
away, but it seems like design energy online has tipped back
to it from the Flash-based magazine.

* More later.

--W

* The new Panda Bear has some fine moments. But I'm
mostly doing a lot of re-listening: Burial, Nic Endo,
Mephistosystem, Fennesz/Sakamoto, The Fall, Moongoat.
The new Explosions In The Sky isn't quite growing on me yet.
Ponytail's "All Together Now", off KAMEHAHA, is all
the right kinds of dissonant and clashy for my mood of
late.

* In re: The Bees -- the song you're looking for is "Who
Cares What The Question Is?" , which comes out of
a particular strain of stepping British pub rhythm & blues.

* Also, The Black Lips' "Not A Problem." And the new
Robin Guthrie, CONTINENTAL, isn't as good as Imperial.

* Buying DRM-free mp3s from
http://www.emusic.com
http://www.bleep.com/
http://www.roughtradedigital.com/

* I usually put one or two mp3s a week up on
warrenellis.com under the general
::currently listening
rubric. I also link the stuff I find on Myspace and elsewhere
up there under the same standing head. I get add requests
from bands on MySpace constantly, and try to listen to as
many of them as possible.

* These days, the only places you'll find me online are
http://www.warrenellis.com
and
http://www.the-engine.net/forum/
and
http://www.myspace.com/warrenellis
and
http://warren-ellis.livejournal.com/
and
http://www.last.fm/user/warrenellis/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrenellis/
###

-- W

"The only places"?

[David Bird]

Mar 27:

* I haven't been using this thing for weeks, and now the
ideas have built up in my head until the seams are
stretching, and I need the pressure valve:

* Zooblog: combination of groupblog and slowchat.
Limited but large authorship -- get a dozen people in,
twenty, thirty, and have everyone post tumblelog-
style. A conversation with the outside web and with
itself. With an international team, it'd be the blog
you never dared close the window on.

* I have about a dozen domain names in my head
which I haven't bothered registering because I won't
have the time to do anything with them.

* I deleted my comicspace account. It just turned into
One More Page I Have To Check Every Day, and I
got no benefit out of it -- it was impossible to check
every one of the bulletins I received from people every
day.

[David Bird]

For the last ten months I have been keeping this thread up to date and it is the second most read thread at the Outhouse, but... I don't know if I am going to continue. Anyone want to pick up the job?