September 2020: Here We Are Again.

WHAT I'M UP TO

I've always been the type to stay busy. I generally have about ten things going at once. It's been challenging to juggle multiple projects in this coronavirus, anxiety and uncertainty-riddled world, but work is therapeutic for me, especially forward-looking stuff. The more I do, the better I feel. 

My current list can be sorted into three main categories - things you know stuff about, things you don't know stuff about, and then the things that aren't much more than glints in my eye... but that doesn't mean they won't happen. Just probably not soon.

I'll run through them in that order... feel free to skip to the end.

THINGS YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT

My first Star Wars novel, Light of the Jedi lands in stores (and audio, e-book, etc.) on January 5, 2021, launching the all new STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC initiative. The book is completely locked at this point, and you can read the first chapter here or pre-order your own copy here.

Very few people have read the entire novel, just Lucasfilm folks, Story Group, my Project Luminous collaborators (Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel Jose Older and Cavan Scott) and my wonderful editors at Del Rey, but the reaction has been strong. It was a lot of work to wrangle this thing, but I'm extremely proud of what I did here, and can't wait for it to get into your hands.

I did a huge interview with The Hollywood Reporter that went into more detail about Light of the Jedi and the entire High Republic plan - you can read that here. This is all stuff you know - here's something you don't: I'm not done with this era of Star Wars by a long shot. The High Republic is planned as a multi-year mega-story, and I intend to be part of it. I've already got a few projects set for it, with more to come, I'm sure. The High Republic is a very cool space in which to play, and think I have some great stories to tell.

I also have some great stories to tell in the Marvel Star Wars flagship comic, which I've been writing since last year. We had a bit of a break due to the coronavirus, but the series is coming out again, and we just finished our first arc with #6 (the collection is out soon.) There's something very big and cool coming in this book in 2021, including one of the most beautiful issues of a comic I've ever been associated with (and maybe ever seen.) I am hoping they'll release it as an inks-only version, maybe. Every page is absolutely suitable for framing.

Undiscovered Country, the Image Comics series I write with my friend Scott Snyder, with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inks by Leo Grassi, colors by Matt Wilson, letters by Crank!, is moving along very well. It's definitely a little strange to be writing a book with the central premise that the United States seals itself off from the rest of the world after a period of intense internal strife, set during a global pandemic... but hey! Nothing wrong with being inadvertently topical, right?

We started creating a far-fetched sci-fi adventure book, and it's still that... but it's also resonating in a whole new way these days. The good news is that the comic seems to be finding its audience really well - our orders actually went up from Issue 7 to 8, which is extremely rare. Barring some massive catastrophe, we'll be telling the whole story, all fifty issues or so.

The team is working hard on keeping the train going, too. I just wrote Issue 10, Issue 9 just went to press, and the rest of our weird, scary second arc will all hit on time. If you haven't read it yet, the first collection of issues 1-6 is out, and you can get signed copies here, both the original cover and the limited edition cover variant we did for Barnes & Noble.

Meanwhile, Scott and I continue to work on the screenplay for the film adaptation for New Republic Pictures. It's getting better and better with each draft, but it is NOT EASY to translate a long comic series into a film format. Lots of cutting and adjusting and moving things around. But it's coming!

In June, I Kickstarted an omnibus of the comic series CURSE WORDS I did with my pal Ryan Browne. That's at the printer now, all 786 pages of it, and should ship soon. But one of the stretch goals was an entire concept album for the series, which we hit.

It's ten songs, all composed and (mostly) performed by me, with some help on some other instruments I'm not as good at. I've been playing music since I was very small - lots of instruments, and I sing, and I studied composition in college, etc. I know how to do this... but it is a LOT. The songs are coming together really well, and I'm keeping the tone of the series itself. It's basically a rock opera with a tongue-in-cheek tone. Fun and funny and exciting. I'm working on it alongside everything else I'm doing, but progress is steady.

The actual stretch goal for the Kickstarter was a digital version of the album, but I said I'd do a vinyl LP if we got at least 50 orders for it. I am very pleased to say that we're rapidly approaching 150 pre-orders, so we'll definitely do a real-deal record. The non-final album cover, by Ryan Browne, is above. If you want to order one for yourself, just go here!

THINGS YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT

Okay, now it's getting interesting. Let's see... this is the section where I'll talk about stuff that will definitely happen, things that are actively being created right now.

1. THE NEXT BROWNSOUL JOINT. Ryan Browne and I made Curse Words, which was an epic and a half. We're working on our follow-up series now. It's another totally new idea, which seems like it should be impossible to actually turn into a series... but that's where the BrownSoul Boys shine. Expect this in comic shops in 2021, hopefully early 2021. First glimpse goes to the Kickstarter backers for our Curse Words omnibus. (And if you missed that Kickstarter, you can order a copy of the huge omnibus here!)

2. THE ONE THAT'S JUST IN IT FOR THE MONEY. I'm working on another creator-owned series with another creator I've worked with before. This one has a huge high concept, and connects to the issues of our modern world in a similar fashion to Undiscovered Country  - though it has nothing to do with politics. It's about late-stage capitalism... but we make it fun! This should also be out in 2021.

3. THE ONE THAT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC, MAN. Years ago, an incredible artist and I sat down at the Library Bar in the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, and had a wide-ranging conversation about... everything. (We also got a bit boozy.) During that chat, we came up with the seed of an idea connected to something we both love - music theory and history, particularly classical composition. Neither one of us ever forgot it, and now that said artist is about to have a break in their schedule, we're finally moving on it. It might not be in your hands for a while, but this story will be gorgeous. Trust me.

4. THE ONE THAT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION. Another incredible artist and I have been chatting quite a bit recently about working on a book together, and we think we've found a concept we both like quite a bit. It's a bit of a treasure hunt thing, but this particular artist's work shines best (in my opinion) when depicting beautiful, unreal landscapes and the insignificance of humanity against the infinite. So... that's what we're doing. It will also be a gorgeous book. My best guess here is late 2021 or early 2022.

5. MY FOURTH NOVEL. I have two novels on shelves already - The Oracle Year and Anyone. You can order them here and here, if you haven't read them, and you can get signed copies from me in my site store here. And as noted above, Light of the Jedi lands in January. But I'm not done with novels yet! I have a deal in place with the Harper Perennial imprint of Harper Collins Publishing for my fourth novel. I'm working on it now, and expect to deliver a manuscript late in the first quarter of 2021. It's very cool, sort of along the lines of the sort of thing you saw in my first two books. It asks a very compelling question: "what if you could be happy?" and then attempts to answer it. I'm very excited about it. The only stumbling block is that a lot of it is set in present-day Hong Kong. I used to live there a while ago, so I know the city well, but it's obviously changed a ton this year... and I can't visit! I'll figure out how to do the research I need, but it's yet another example of how this insane year is just trying to make everything absolutely as complex as it can.

THE GLINTS

Friends, these are the things I barely even want to whisper about - the stuff so delicate that too much attention will cause them to just blow away in the wind. Things like the Curse Words, Oracle Year and Letter 44 TV shows, all currently at various stages of development. Things like the ANYONE TV series, for which I'm writing the pilot.

Things like this crazy idea I have to help people find the creators they love and the things those creators create.

And then there's the other thing. And the other thing.

All very exciting, and perhaps to be revealed down the road.