Sorry for my recent intermittent appearances on the board. I'll catch up with the stories as soon as time permits, I promise. I've told myself I'll have some downtime to do that once August comes. Honestly.

Meanwhile I'm setting up some nicely lucrative consultancy work to replenish the coffers after recent legal costs but it's involving massive amounts of travelling. Add in the additional time being a single parent costs AND a deadline to get a book to the publishers (end July) and you'll see why Tom Black #12 has to wait a little while.

Anyhow, this week's publication is ASSEMBLED 2, another look at Marvel Comics' Avengers series, this time focussing on the big three of Cap, Iron Man and Thor. There's an Assembled 3 also in the works which covers the non-big three cast. I've written quite a bit for these volumes although I'm a bit hazy as to what ended up in which. The proceeds of sales go to charity.

If you like the Avengers there's probably something of interest in there for you. This time Tom Brevoort wrote the introduction.

I'm told sales have been brisk, pushing Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective vol 1 down the charts. Grr. Still, that's apparently performed better than expected so vol 2 will be out sooner rather than later. My contributions for that will be "The Problem of the Western Mail" and "The Last Deposit".

I shall return.

Have you heard at all from Dancer lately? I don't think she's posted since the new year began.

I haven't heard from her since January when I didn't feel able to help her out with a plot for Dancer #50.

She's not answering e-mails and her mobile phone number's no longer in use (although that's not unprecedented). I did send her a birthday card but I haven't had a reply.

I keep meaning to call in and see her next time I'm in the North Riding, but it's about three hours drive from here so it's hardly a casual trip unless business takes me that way. The old method of Shep information-gathering of having my mother speak to her mother isn't possible since her mum died a couple of years back.

It's not the first time Shep's gone incommunicado for a while. It generally means something really good or really bad is happening. I can only hope it's the former.

Congrats on further success in the publishing field!