Birth, Books, NY Comic Con, Coffee, CYBERWAR SERIES Update

Birth, Books, NY Comic Con, Coffee, CYBERWAR SERIES Update is an apt description of my current life in less than 60 characters.

That said: ‘Hel-LO!’ as Uncle Leo would enthusiastically say on Seinfeld.

I have not enjoyed going MIA so often these past few months (and years), well for the most part I have not; sometimes solitude is truly bliss, and that is much harder to come across as this world grows more connected by the second.

Please forgive my delays, but I have missed you, Eager Readers.

And without further ado, the news!

I had a baby girl, or rather my wife did with my help, not too long ago, and everyone is happy and healthy!

I could not be happier.

And that is not the sleep deprivation talking.

I am a DAD!

It is an indescribable feeling, all love, and she already makes me much more optimistic about the future of the earth she is inheriting.

Her smile can move mountains.

And since everyone always asks with concern, Indy, our Dalmatian, loves our baby girl.

She guards her, attempts to play with her, and constantly alerts us to any unhappiness she seems to be having.

I am still working, writing, editing, reading, scrawling, and who knows what else, because I damn well cannot remember.

Largely because of coffee.

Strong coffee.

Ground Colombian bean and a french press and repeat.

Do not thank me, thank the coffee, that any art is getting done this year.

So the sequel to my novel, CYBERWAR, has been completed, but because of its massive size, 400-500 pages, it will need more time to be edited to as close to perfection as is possible.

Thankfully, my publisher and I are looking to work with one of the most talented editors I know, and I am beyond thrilled.

The only downside to making this a far better work is that it will not be coming out just yet and certainly not before 2020.

But it will be worth the wait; it is a bold step forward for me and it makes CYBERWAR a prequel to a much larger storyline in the Cyberwar Series (meaning the new book will be acting as Book 1), and I have some very BIG plans.

For the delay I apologize, but I hope this will make it up to you:

SPY WOMAN SPY, my years in the making graphic novel, which had a brief appearance of its cover at New York Comic Con last year will be making noise at NY Comic Con 2019, as Issue #1 arrives.

I can finally speak a little more about this.

Rune Works small press is publishing SPY WOMAN SPY, initially, and for all of you CYBERWAR fans out there, this is a prequel to the novel starring Xera Finn and Fae Yu, and it will be first released at NYCC on October 3, 2019.

Here is the premise so far:

When a foreign agent named Xera Finn learns of her government’s involvement in human trafficking on Long Island, she goes rogue. Xera and her lover, a tech bootlegger named Fae Yu, race to Coney Island to free a truckful of young women. But their hacking and espionage skills are soon put to the test when Xera’s former handler tasks both the local authorities and an outlaw motorcycle gang to ruthlessly retrieve them before they can reach sanctuary.

For those of you who have read CYBERWAR, this graphic novel series will be all about the backstory of the two badass rogue agents that were main characters of the novel.

There will be lots of insight into the degradation of the Cyber US and the Wangluo society before and after hackers took over the governments for good.

I will say no more, as the fun will be in the reveal on the page.

But I will say that I love the further exploration of the world, this near future of ours, and this future continues to surprise me.

I am thrilled to once again be at the Rune Works Productions Ltd. Booth in the Small Press section on the NY Comic Con main show floor to sign books and comics and to talk shop.

The comic book will be a single-issue format to start off, and there are a few of these issues written already so more are coming after #1, with the plan to release a compilation trade paperback down the road.

Cover artist Elizabeth Yoo will also be on hand to sign the comic book.

Last, but certainly not least, my wife and I are hoping Rune Works Productions will have time to have on-hand a version of our new children’s book at New York Comic Con.

We have an incredibly talented artist in Cheryl Huneke, and we are really looking forward to sharing this excellent and exciting book involving space and … I cannot say anymore just yet … but it is a TON of fun.

And I hate rhyming poetry and still wrote ‘TON of fun’ – I must be tired.

Speaking of poetry, if you have not kept up with my recent publications, I am thrilled to have been selected to have poems published in these 2019 anthologies: POETS TO COME: WHITMAN'S 200TH BIRTHDAY ANTHOLOGY, the 2019 Suffolk County Poetry Review, the BARDS ANNUAL 2019 anthology, and the National Beat Poetry Festival anthology We Are BEAT.

Poetry is the most freeing form of art I know.

No matter how frustrated I may be drawing, editing, writing, strumming a new tune on the guitar, I can always turn to poetry and release myself from all sense of structure and allow pure instinct and energy and strong of consciousness to take me to another place of bliss.

If you did not know, I am a big fan of the beats.

Feel free to check out the Bard’s Day or the National Beat Poetry Festival, as both are coming up next week, both will feature readings and fantastic books of poetry.

I hope you are all well and your summer reading never falters.

~RJH

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