Next Tuesday, October 13, will see the release of the collected Tales from the Crypt #8. The featured story, Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid, a “Wimpy Kid” satire by myself and the terrific madcap artist Rick Parker has already received a lot of attention, breaking into the Top Ten Children’s Books online at B&N. Here’s a gander at the groovy cover:
Beyond that hot-zombie excitement, in the midst of the book, you’ll also find a knee-slapping spoof of the little-known Twilight series, called Die-Light, which is particularly exciting to me on several counts. First, it represents the premiere publishing work by my incredibly talented daughter (if I do say so myself), Maia Kinney-Petrucha.
Just in high school, Maia’s not only an excellent writer, but also a big Twilight fan. Me, not so much, so who better to turn to when editor Jim Salicrup asked for a script? Again noting my bias, I was very impressed and proud with how much work she put into it (I practically only proof-read) and how much fun the results are.
Secondly, with artwork by Miran Kim, Die-Light represents not one, but two creative reunions. This is the first time I’ve collaborated with Miran since her great work on both the X-Files comic and her interior work for The Bandy Man, back in the nineties.
It is also, interestingly enough, the second “collaboration” between Miran and Maia – though Maia didn’t have much creative control the first time around, being a fetus.
Miran works in a process that involves collage, creating, collecting and pasting clips and photos into her art. Back when she was designing the cover for X-Files #10: Feelings of Unreality, she asked myself and Sarah for a copy of Maia’s sonogram. Lo and behold, it became a part of the cover. You can see Maia just about at the center of the image below:
Of course, she’s changed a lot in the intervening years, having acquired the ability to walk, the power of speech, and so on, but there you have it; a blast from the past and a look to the future. So rush out and buy the darn thing next week!
As for me, I’m still waiting on word for a few projects, but the glaciers seem to be moving. I’m putting the finishing touches on a very unusual vampire novel that will be coming out from Grand Central Books next year. How unusual, you ask? Well, it’s set during Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt and doesn’t actually mention the word vampire, for starters.
Contracts have also recently been signed on another project that’s been stagnant for a while, so I’ve hopes that will be moving again. And lastly, I’m in negotiations with a major publisher for an exciting new YA series. So, like I said, still waiting, but I think I see the traffic clearing up ahead.
Pax.
