Another Christmas has come and gone, and the New Year looms just ahead.   Where the hell does all the time go?

I did take a few days off for the holidays, I confess.   Shame on me, I guess.   But now I am back in the salt mine, working… working on so many bloody things, my head may soon explode.   Yes, WINDS OF WINTER, yes, yes.   And HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, season two.   And several of the other successor shows that we’re developing with HBO.  (Some of those are moving faster than others, as is always the case with development.   None have been greenlit yet, though we are hoping… maybe soon.  A couple have been shelved, but I would not agree that they are dead.   You can take something off the shelf as easily as you can put it on the shelf.  All the changes at HBO Max have impacted us, certainly).   We are also still developing the Wild Cards tv series for Peacock, based (largely) on FORT FREAK.   And I have Wild Cards books to edit.  Oh, and did I forget WINDS OF WINTER?  No, of course I didn’t.   But if I ever did, I know you folks will remind me.

There’s also the railroad, the bookstore, and the theatre.   Thankfully, I have great people doing most of the work on those.

I was on the road, in New York City and Chicago, from late October through the middle of November, promoting the new illustrated book, RISE OF THE DRAGON.   I was doing a series of blog posts about the trip, you will recall.   The interview with David Anthony Durham, the visit to Kevin Smith’s theatre in Jersey,  my appearance on the Colbert Show.   You can find links to all of those down below.

I wasn’t FINISHED, though.  I also did a talk with Neil Gaiman at the Symphony Space in NYC.  I cannot link to that one, alas.  There were reporters present, however, and there have been a number of stories online about our discussion about adaptations… a subject we both have strong opinions on.  Neil and I  talked about a lot of things as well.   It was a fun event.   I had dinners with Vincent d’Onofrio and Joe Tracz and my friends at Tor/ Macmillan and Random House/ Bantam as well, and saw a few Broadway shows (DEATH OF A SALESMAN, THE MUSIC MAN, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and SIX, fyi).   Then I flew off to Chicago for a presentation at Northwestern… which DOES deserve its own post, so I will try to get to that soon.

Since I do not travel with a computer, I returned home to 2000 emails.   Took me a while to catch up, even though 1500 of them were spam.

I taped all the games the Jets and Giants played while I was on the road, and tried to avoid hearing the scores (not entirely successfully).   Turns out both teams did pretty well while I was travelling (and not watching).  Since I have been back, however… well, this past week the G-Men lost a heartbreaker to the Vikings, and the Jets failed to turn up for their game against the Jags.  (Please, Mike White, get well soon).   Life is meaningless and full of pain.   Clearly, the Football Gods hate me.   Maybe they are pissed off about WINDS being so late too…

I meant to say a few words about some TV shows and movies we’ve enjoyed.   I can see why THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN is getting so much acclaim, even though there aren’t any banshees in it.   Brilliant performances by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.   A powerful story, one I will long remember… but damn, so sad.   I see people calling it a comedy.    Really?   OK, but that’s dark humor.    Parris and I have also been enjoying EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO.  Not a new show, I gather, but it was new to us.   (So much good TV right now).   I hope there’s more coming of that one.   We were very happy to hear that SANDMAN has been renewed for a second season.   Took them long enough, but better late than never.   And watching WHITE LOTUS 2 on HBO made me want to go visit Sicily… but I won’t, not until WINDS is done and delivered, I promised.

We also watched some holiday favorites.   Several versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, A CHRISTMAS STORY, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.   And yes, I get it, life would really have been horrible for a lot of people if George Bailey had never been born… but hey, am I the only one who thinks that Potterville looks a lot livelier at night than Bedford Falls?

We haven’t seen the new AVATAR yet, but it’s high on our list.   So is BABYLON, though that one is getting mixed reviews.

Oh, and awards season is at hand, and congratulations are due to HOUSE OF THE DRAGON and Emma d’Arcy for their Golden Globes nominations, and to Milly Alcock, Matt Smith, and the show for the Critic’s Choice Award nods.   Well deserved.  Finger and toes crossed for all of them.   But hey, when the Emmy nominations come out, I will be hoping that Paddy Considine, Steve Toussaint. Olivia Cooke, and Emily Carey get some love as well.  They were all extraordinary.

I also want to thank all my fans and readers, who made RISE OF THE DRAGON such a success.   We have been hitting bestseller lists all over the world, I am pleased to say.  I hope all of you enjoyed the art as much as I did.   (And if you have not snagged a copy yet, autographed copies are still available from Beastly Books in Santa Fe.   The Strand in NYC may have some signed copies left as well, though I would not bet on that).

 

Current Mood: busy