A little off the top, trim the sides

I revised the first 5 (of 26) pages of the story in progress (now entitled Beyond All Doubt) and trimmed about 400 words. If I keep going at that pace, I should have no trouble lopping 2000 words.

I have a ton of TV to get caught up on this weekend, including last night’s Survivor and C.S.I.. In between editing the new short story and signing a batch of limitation pages that showed up from Cemetery Dance last night.

I’m enjoying Haruki Murakami’s After Dark, but I have no idea what it’s about yet. I’m nearly halfway through. I see a recurring elemental theme, with mirrors and TV screens. It’s a dreamy book, surreal in many ways. The notion of one of the main characters being in the shadow of a more beautiful older sister is reminiscent of Grotesque.

My DREADLINES article “Darabont wraps shooting on King’s The Mist” appears in Rue Morgue #67, out now. Subscribers have been receiving their copies, but I expect that stores won’t have it on shelves until next Tuesday.

Silverthought Press has posted some photos of A Dark and Deadly Valley on their message board, including some pictures of the signature page (authors didn’t sign), illustrations, etc. Can’t wait to see my contrib copy.

I received an ARC of Blaze last night, the upcoming Richard Bachman book, a King trunk novel from the Carrie era. The galley has the short story “Memory” in the back, originally published in Tin House magazine and the germ of the idea that became Duma Key, King’s next novel, due out in early 2008. Speaking of King, he’ll be making his first public appearance ever in Canada on June 8th. He’ll be interviewed onstage and receive a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Booksellers Association. Tickets are on sale now.