I know I've been hunkered down a bit of late, and there have been very good
reasons for it...which someday I suspect I will be able to tell, perhaps in the
form of another fairy tale....

So in the interim, a quick roundup.

I'd say that the next two weeks are going to be critical for the future of
TMoS. There have been a variety of conversations about a variety of things and
people, and some offers are starting to go out to various individuals...so we
shall see what we shall see.

On the subject of the Crusade DVD commentary...I see another fairy tale looming
in the future...WB has agreed, after quite a bit of noise, to remove the
commentary that I did from all future pressings of the set, since that was the
deal that we had made: use it all, including the explanation of what happened,
or use none of it. So those of you who have your DVDs now, and for the next
bit, will have that commentary. Those afterward won't. I don't know when the
next pressing will be, but whenever that is, is when the change takes place.

AOL as some have noted is closing down its newsgroup system, so I'm going to
have to retrench. Consequently, I may be offline for a bit...though I'll
likely be off regardless for the next bit while the dust settles on TMoS.

I've added a comics convention appearance in Canada this summer, but I'll let
the con in question do the announcing at the proper time rather than
pre-empting them.

In February at one point I'll also be in Toronto to co-direct my radio drama
series "The Adventures of Apocalypse Al" for CBC Radio. It should be a great
deal of fun. It's kind of Monty Python Meets The Maltese Falcon En Route To
the End of the World.

In relation to the comics stuff...my first issue of Fantastic Four (entitled
"Distant Music") will be coming out in June, the same month that my graphic
novel Dream Police *finally* hits the stores. Mike Deodato has had to squeeze
in the artwork between issues of Amazing Spider-Man, but it's been worth the
wait. It's just gorgeous...very film noir but also very funny.

We've also found an artist finally for The Book of Lost Souls, which will be
debuting from Marvel in September. I can't reveal her name yet, because that
has to come through Marvel, but she's a very well known and popular artist.

Finally, for those of you who know Fiona Avery's work from Crusade, B5 and her
own comics, I'm informed that her first novel, "The Crown Rose," is due to come
out in hardcover from Prometheus Books. It's a historical fantasy set in
Medieval France and quite good. You can locate the book at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591023122/qid=1106991239/sr
=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-9494767-9557725?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

It would be great if the B5 fans out there could give this book a great
send-off.

More on other stuff when I can post it.


jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)