It’s been an odd few months since I last drafted an update. There have been lots of changes in my life at work, home and my writing world. This leaves me with a lot of questions about how I would like to grow as a writer after leaving The77 and with the current run of The Trackless Depths ending in a few issues

Trackless depths is continuing for the moment, I’ve just finished drafting part 3. I’ve taken it in a different direction. I know the first part was a gothic sea tale but that genre isn’t immediately open to sequels. So this season I have moved on to a looser, somewhat treasure island feel, with Charlie getting rescued by asian pirates and an island full of phantom-esque conquistadors with a Yokai thrown in.

There is a new major character in play and I’ve given Charlie an older sidekick called Miles (named after my great uncle who was a little bit like Uncle Albert from Only Fools and Horses). He is essentially the color sergeant from Zulu complete with lamb chop sideburns, if that sergeant got kicked out of the army and joined a pirate crew.

What happens after the run, I’m not sure if The77 picks it up again or it finds another home. I know a planned 3 part crime drama with Jeremy Dunn called Police and Thieves is potentially getting culled from The77 (Penned for issue 13) so that may need to find another home. So if you’re a publisher I have a story and artist ready to go.

As for other projects, the “Brewgooders Anthology” celebrating Scottish Comic Book Day will be out shortly. I believe it’s at the printers. In the summer I had the chance to visit the castle at Kirkcaldy with my family that’s featured in the comic and Michael Philp (artist) has done a great job of getting the castle just right. Pro Tip – If you like Trackless, check out Red legs in this anthology

So what’s new on the horizon? Well that’s the difficult bit. Fiscally, I cannot afford (especially with the cost of living these days) to produce new comics on my own, the expense of paying an artist the going rate is just out of reach without neglecting priorities at home. I could Kickstarter it but if I do not think I would get a huge amount of backers. So after some advice on ebook publishing I may change my stand alone comic book into a novella / ebook. It’s a shame as it had some great movie-like visuals and the chance of several styles. I treat it like an incubating egg, it will be ready when it’s ready.

Other projects include a possible collaboration with Andrew Richmond on an anthology with my stories and his art. Andrew drew my first horror story “Trompe la Mort” and we have always said we would do something. The scripts are ready but Andrew is busy with other things so it may be another incubating egg.