Guestblogging at FEARnet!

Halloween's in the air.... this week, I'm guestblogging over at the newly-redesigned FEARnet, one of the preeminent horror sites on the planet. You can find me this week in the "The Guest House", their new home for visiting writers and artists. For starters, I posted a small gallery of a few of my best horror-related cover illos as well as a few tips for budding illustrators. The rest of this week, they'll be posting q&a's I've done with four notable horror scribes -- Sanford Allen, Joe McKinney, Lee Thomas, and Mario Acevedo. Check it out, and feel free to comment over there. :)

FAST FORWARD 2 is here!

Here's an idea of how crazy-busy it's been here..... Thursday afternoon, I received a box from Pyr. Was in the middle of drawing and painting at that moment, so I set it aside in my studio, planning to unpack it a few minutes later. Two days later -- yikes, I just remembered to open it this morning! (Needless to say, I've been juggling a lot of deadlines here lately.) What's in the box -- my comp copies of Lou Anders' much-anticipated new anthology, FAST FORWARD 2!! Incredibly proud to be associated with this book, and it's available now! :) Seeing how beautifully these books turned out totally makes my day. Congrats to Lou and all the authors in this awesome book.

Bonus (revised 9/28/08) -- check it out: save 50% off the cover price of FAST FORWARD 1 for a limited time! See Lou's blog for details.

Exciting News from Subterranean Press

Amongst the covers I'm working on right now -- MUSE OF FIRE by Dan Simmons, coming this December from Subterranean Press. Final color art will be shared here next week. Here's a peek at part of the b/w pencil underdrawing. Subterranean's taking pre-orders for this book right now. Word to the wise: all of Subterranean's previous Simmons limited editions completely sold out. So act quickly if you're interested. :)

More exciting news -- I've agreed with Subterranean to cover-illustrate their forthcoming limited editions of two more Simmons magnum opuses (or is that "opi"?), THE TERROR and Dan's forthcoming book, DROOD, which is set in the life and times of Charles Dickens. I'm reading DROOD right now and it's awesome....an absolute page-turner. Subterranean is taking pre-orders right now for THE TERROR and I'll post here when they start taking orders for DROOD.

Much more about the final MUSE OF FIRE art next week.

Coming to Mississippi & Washington in '09

Sorry I've been silent, folks. Been working away hardcore over here, so I've been away from the Internets. Good news -- lots of new art to show soon. Breaking news to share in the interim -- I'm proud to be Artist Guest of Honor for two 2009 conventions!

CoastCon 32
March 20-22
Biloxi, MS

SpoCon II
July 31-Aug. 2
Spokane, WA

CoastCon features Michael Moorcock and David Weber as the Author Guests of Honor, and SpoCon has L.E. Modesitt, Jr. as their Author GOH. That's some serious star power in the writer slot for both shows! Very much looking forward to both and if you're in either region, mark your calendars and make your plans now. :)

Happy B-Day, Star Trek

SFSignal reminds us all that today in 1966, the very first episode of STAR TREK aired ("The Man Trap"). Can't remember which episode of STAR TREK was the first one I ever saw, but watching it in syndication after-school was a seminal part of my early years. Seen here: my 2nd grade school photo, circa 1976, rocking my prized homemade Mr. Spock shirt, with insignia patch sewn by my mother. It's amazing how large my dome was even at that tender age. Fast forward to 2006 -- that same kid illustrated this triptych for David R. George III's STAR TREK trilogy commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the show (published by Pocket Books). And yeah, it really was a thrill. Live long and prosper, Trek. :)

FAST FORWARD 2 Fast Approaching

Pyr's Lou Anders recently unveiled the complete cover design for his forthcoming antho, FAST FORWARD 2. Cover illustration by yours truly, and jacket design by Jacqueline Cooke. The book hits shelves next month!

A shoutout and big thanks to my pal, illustrator Lee Moyers: when I was working on the final cover art, I phoned Lee out-of-the-blue and asked him for some critique. Lee's one of the rare guys who illustrates and designs equally well. His suggestions were invaluable and they absolutely led to this becoming a better piece. Thanks, man!

From Italy With Love

Many thanks to my pal Maurizio Manzieri, who emailed me the following the other day:

"a note to let you know how much you are loved in Italy...!
Yesterday you got the front page on Il Corriere della Fantascienza,
the main Italian science fiction online newspaper!"

My reaction: Thanks, Fantascienza! How cool! Much appreciated.
My beloved wife's reaction: How cool! When are we going to Italy? :)

One more from Pablo Picasso

Shared this with friends a while back, but inspired by my previous post about Picasso's Words of Wisdom, here's 33 seconds of YouTube greatness you might enjoy. This little video cracks me up every time. Lesson: when you get the following reaction from signing your name, you know the world is yours.