Bygone But Not Forgotten

Well, the holidays have slipped by for yet another year; all I can say is "whew!" 2007 was one of those extraordinarily busy years that manages to weigh on a soul. And I'm not talking about all the crap happening in the rest of the world! :-)

Let's see, accomplishments from 2007 include, HD-IMAGE publishing our first novel, Gate of Souls. This is a major milestone for us, and marks things to come. My long time friend Lonny and I have spoken about founding a small press publishing company for some time, and, to be frank, it feels good to see it come to fruition. Verna McKinnon, the author, is a very talented lady whose grasp of characters and characterization is already far beyond many of today's professionals. She is also a very nice lady and is easy to work with. I look for great things from her in the future. I'm glad we were there to help in the beginning. Speaking of great things, Verna sent the manuscript for Gate of Souls's sequel just before the new year, and I must say, it is pretty good so far. Yes, I know...cruel :-)

Another accomplishment is the successful redesign of the site (http://www.hd-image.com) using Flash animation, and it's well regarded acceptance from our readers. It feels a bit strange to have the website focus so completely on Aberrant Dreams, but I cannot deny the end result. Now that we have novels in publication, I plan to add a link for details about our novels, new, old and upcoming.

Aberrant Dreams has now been transitioned from a quarterly printed magazine to a yearly anthology--well, that was the plan anyway :-) To be honest, I actually expected the anthology to be a little less work than that of four consecutive magazines. What I failed to realize is the overwhelming amount of additional work needed to ensure its completion. This anthology is now a monster, with a page count over 400. Also, the various different editions (normal trade paperback, hardcover, and a signed limited edition) have shown me the reality. I'll paste an image of the cover so you can see. Behold, I present Aberrant Dreams I, The Awakening:

The funny thing is that over the past year, I have also come to miss the printed version of the Aberrant Dreams magazine. We have discussed it, but, right now I am unsure in which direction we will go for the future. Look for a final decision at a later date.

Now, what does 2008 have in store. Hmm...to be honest, my schedule is booked at present. I have two novels to edit, one anthology to finish editing, several short stories to complete (not too big of a job), a "non-fiction" book on hauntings to write, the website to maintain and update (speaking of which, a new update is coming very soon!), and various other projects that will arise throughout the course of the year.

Ah...it's good to be the king (*sighs*)

Sincerely,

Joe :-)