Hey, I haven’t done a straight-up update on everything going on with me in a while, and there is quite a bit going on.
Hellbender for $1.99
First off, the first Hellbender is only $1.99 for one week. So if for some insane reason you haven’t bought that book yet, go snatch it up. And go ahead and get Hellbender 2 while you’re at it. I guarantee it’s the funniest, post-apocalyptic, scifi with supernatural elements book series you’ve ever read.
And don’t forget about the free Hellbender short story, Hellbender: The Bit, if you haven’t checked it out yet. It’s a story told by Lulu Liu, and she is not a reliable narrator.
DW Kids
At a recent townhall, Jeremy Boreing gave more details of DW Kids:
This is exciting for me as I’m involved in all of those shows (and some things not mentioned yet). Of the twelve finished Chip Chilla scripts Jeremey mentioned, I wrote five of them (and contributed to all the rest). And it’s cool that Rob Schneider will be voicing the patriarch, Chum Chum Chilla. We were nervous about getting a capable voice cast who can really make these characters come to life, but I have this message for Schneider:
I also wish I could tell you more about Zoodles. I think that show will be a hit; it’s going to be very Ethan Nicolle, but I’ve gotten to help some in the writing, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Yeah, there’s still not much I can say about all these shows I’ve been working on, but they should premiere in the spring of next year, and then maybe I’ll have a lot more to say.
I know there is a lot of politics surrounding this whole affair, but there are none in the shows. We’re just trying to make straight-up good kids’ programming you don’t have to worry about.
Origin Story
My hope for this Substack was to do more longer-form short stories, but I feel like I’ve dropped the ball there. I’ve mainly done what I call “Fun Shorts” which are just quickly silly little stores (maybe reminiscent of In My World from my IMAO blogging days).
But that’s about to change! I have a new short story called Origin Story which I’m writing in parts (I already have the first five written) and will start posting here. It might be more novella than a short story when it's done, but we’ll see. I will make the first three parts available for free, but then the rest will be for paid subscribers.
Superego 4
I am also working on Superego 4 (tentatively titled Superego Echoes). It’s been hard, and the writing has been a lot slower than I expected. It’s been a lot of plot threads and characters to juggle. Still, I hope to have it done for next year. But if you have any good ideas about what should happen, please tell me.
Well, that’s all the Frank news for now. Let’s end with a picture of Winchester on a zipline.
Yeah, still no monocle. I need to get more paid subscribers to reach that goal. Maybe we’ll make an effort for that in December.
Well, have a great day, and make sure to pick up Hellbender for $1.99 if you haven’t already.
Oh, and in all this talk about me, I didn’t ask about you. How are you doing?
That phrase is exactly what I thought of as soon as I heard Rob Schneider will be playing the dad. I know you guys have several episodes done already, but Chum Chum has got to say that line as SOME point. Not necessarily the way he did in the Waterboy-- that would probably be inappropriate for kiddies-- but just like, normally. But more often than he should. "You can do it, kids! You can do it! YOU CAN DO IT!" Okay, I'll stop telling you how to do your job.
And I just got Hellbender 2 and I am going to start reading it tonight, so I am doing well, Frank, thank you.
You should save Diane very early in the book.