Okay, lots of little stuff...

The first in the new series of collectible mugs went on sale on Monday the 15th. This past Monday the 22nd, the black and ringer versions of "The Rainbow-Colored Sheep" T-shirt went on sale. Some other stuff was posted on the release schedue, but I'm not sure what it was. I'll get back to you on that.

I've gone over the "blurbs" for the jacket of Metrognomes...and I loathe the main one. I'm rewriting it to say more about the story and less about the characters. I think that's the direction I want to go.

Lata!

Yesterday The Chronicles of Nightfire, Texas #10 "The Many Burdens of Ray Don" was published in both electronic and print editions exclusive to the Web site. The long-postponed print edition of "The Escapist" was also published. Today the Metrognomes T-shirts were added to the release schedule for June, which will be dubbed the month of Metrognomes-mania!
Looking at how much trouble it is to get art finished on time with the schedule I've been working by, it seems it's time to make some changes. Unfortunately, that means that the next episodes of The Chronicles of Nightfire, Texas will be delayed a bit further. The idea is that once it comes back, there will be no more delays. From now on, I'll be able to give the artists room to have setbacks. I'm going to be writing five months in advance. That is also the reason that The Penny Dreadful debute has been pushed back to September. This will work better for all involved I think. The artists will have time to do what they want with the work they do for me, and I will have time to find alternates when I need them, without having to put off the publication date. So just stick with us for the next few months. It will be worth it. Meanwhile, Metrognomes is right on schedule and should be out next month. I'll schedule a release party and some signings just as soon as my summer schedule with my youth group allows.

Most of the new line of mugs to be released from now until October has been revealed on the Release Schedule page. But if you'd rather not surf all the way to that page, here's the lineup:

• Aries' Cage (May)
• Metrognomes (June)
• Breath (August)
• Night Light (October)
• Worse Than a Gremlin (October)

And a couple more will probably be added as well. This new line is far superior to the previous mugs. I'm especially fond of the Night Light mug design, myself. It's cool.

Today some new additions and changes were made to the Release Schedule. Actually the only change is that Nightfire #10 comes out this month, instead of last month. I'd decided to do the cover art myself, but things got crazy last week when my mom went to the hospital. She went home Monday, though. All is well. I'm getting back on the merchandising bandwagon...Because I love money. Actually, I hate money, but find it ever so useful. To begin with, most of the classic white T-shirts that have been available forever (years?) are being reissued between now and April 2007 as ringers (so cute!) and black T-shirts (so cool!). I've always thought most of them would look better in black, so this is pretty groovy. Come to think of it, you all must have agreed, or you wouldn't have e-mailed me so often saying, "The T-shirts should be black!!!" Well, there ya go. Off the subject altogether, I got a first edition of my great-grandfather's book Through Texas on a Mule in the mail today. They almost couldn't find the package when I went to pick it up at the post office. It's the only first edition I've ever found for sale, though there is a copy at the Dallas downtown library. Second editions are easier to find, but both were only printed 57 years ago. It's a crack-me-up little book. I highly recommend it.