Apologies for the lapse in postings these last few weeks, but I haven't been here. I had a number of appointments around the country -- and being out of the nine-to-five grind for the first time since college, I decided to put some miles on the car.
It was my first fully cross-country driving trip (at least that I remember; I am told the family drove to California back when I was, to use Neil Gaiman's line, still "gainfully employed as a fetus"). With the craziness in the airports and so many stops to make, it seemed like the thing to do... and it turned out to be a lot of fun, with no unexpected mishaps. Engine temp never moved a hair off cool even in the 104-degree weather Montana had (thank you, General Motors) -- even as I saw helicopters going over the interstate carrying water to forest fires! (Cue up the Lindsey Buckingham -- some images from the road, now...)
There were a number of stops, including Portland, where I visited with Dustin Weaver and my editors at Dark Horse. Actually getting to walk through a script in person with Dustin was new for us both -- I'll be interested to see how that issue differs from the others. Reminds me of the days when the writers and the artists were in the same room. Yes, we can ask questions on the phone or online, but nothing beats actually saying, "y'see, Zayne should be going like this when he says this!"
Pleasure stops included the Black Hills of South Dakota, before they caught fire. I liked Deadwood a lot -- played cards a bit in Saloon No. 10, where my luck was only marginally better than that of Wild Bill. Also checked out the Midnight Star, the saloon Kevin Costner owns, which is full of his own memorabilia.
And later in Oregon I caught up with a friend from high school who's helping to run a golf course -- my first golfing experience that wasn't on a driving range or a course with windmills. I did about as expected, and it only got worse. "No, that doesn't say 25 on the front nine. That says 25 on the ninth hole!"
Anyway. I'm beginning to get back into the swing of things here, and things should be clicking smoothly again soon. To the best of my knowledge Knights #18 will be out on Wednesday -- I already have my sample copy -- and I should be able to post about that and get some other updates online soon. Tally-ho...