Peter and Max

Peter and Max, my Fables prose novel, is officially out today (though it was unofficially on sale from many stores -- such as the three that had it in Tel Aviv, while I was just there -- for a few days now).

Look at the front-of-the-store placement it's getting, just as if it was a real book from a real novelist.

Pretty cool, huh?

Are we dead yet?

No, I'm not dead. But I haven't posted here in a good long while, for which I have far too many excuses to list. Let's just boil them all down to, the work load has been pretty large of late.

But I'll start up here again soon. Take that to the imaginary bank.

Bill's Recent (tardy) News Roundup

I am in Minnesota, having just hauled my library of far too many books up from Vegas to my new house, which isn't quite ready yet. That's fine, because now I'm about to fly back down to Las Vegas (since I'm leaving my car up here too) and pick up the final load of furniture and odd stuff, to drive it up via U-Haul.

I spent a day in Amish country, looking at my bookshelves, which are nearly done and just about ready to be installed.

I get to move into my house on April 1st, which seems an auspicious day for me. Then I get to spend most of April and half of May getting the place in shape for the Clockwork boys to come up here for our annual retreat and super secret, star chamber, meeting of the cryptera top board, where we basically decide the fate of the world.

I get to go to Italy at the end of April for two back-to-back events, a comic show and a folklore festival.

Fables was just nominated for a fairly prestigious, outside-of-the-funnybook-field award, which I should be able to mention by name in a week or so. And Jack of Fables just made the New York Times bestseller list in their new graphic novels listing.

Behold the Library!

Well, the shelves actually, unstained and still in Jake's workshop, but not for long. Don't they look glorious?

        I always swore that if I were ever lucky enough to own a home it would have a dedicated library -- even if I had to sleep on the porch. This is going to be grand.

Since Cindy wants kitchen pics...

...Cindy gets kitchen pics. The cabinets are done and are finally being installed, as you can see. The section under the window is going to be the sink and stove area. The fridge will go against the wall between the two cabinets there. The floating section attached to the pillar will be a butcher block area.

        Upper cabinets will be installed at some point soon in the kitchen building process.

I'm still deep in the writing hole, but...

Look at the size of this rat caught (alive? the article wasn't clear) in Beijing. The age of monsters isn't quite over yet.

I think the cloth from his chest represents the attempt to draw all of the poisons out.

Fables 81 came out today. This concludes a story I knew I'd be doing for some years, but kept to myself for most of that time, even keeping it from the editor and the artists until they absolutely had to know.

        What a joy to be able to make long range plans for a story, a series, and the characters within it. For all of the fun of working inside the DCU fictional universe, I don't control that one, and those that do make so many changes, so often, usually on the fly, that long range planning for DCU comics series is almost a wasted effort, and always one fraught with frustration.

        Maybe it's just the way I tick, but my stories need time to grow and ferment, for some really big payoffs later. This issue of Fables contained one of those payoffs, the first seeds of which were planted way back in The Last Castle story.

        On a not entirely unrelated note, take a look at this gorgeous final cover from Fables' long time cover artist James Jean. In addition to its central theme, you can see bits and pieces of his entire run on the covers scattered here and there around the composition. Quite an impressive goodbye. We'll miss you, James, but will continue to follow your amazing work, and the complex and involving stories you continue to tell with it.