Various updates

First, as I hope you're all aware, the first chapter of Spy vs. Guy was posted to the EMCSA last Sunday. I haven't had a huge amount of feedback on it yet, which isn't surprising since my audience doesn't overlap much with the m/m audience, and m/m doesn't seem to be hugely popular on the EMCSA anyway. However, I will note that a common comment of those who have responded is, "I don't normally read m/m, but I thought I'd give your story a try, and I loved it. I guess I really do just have a fetish for MC, period." So let that be a temptation to those of you who haven't taken a peek yet. ;-)

And, as a further temptation, let me add this. One unexpectedly pleased reader asked for an early look at Chapter Two, which makes me think there might be more of you out there who feel the same way but just haven't said anything. I tend to assume that for every one comment I get via e-mail or see on one of the forums, there are probably ten more lurkers who feel the same way. So, as a favor to you all, and because I never expected to leave my readers hanging so long (I didn't know Simon would be taking a vacation this week), I've uploaded a fully polished, fully coded, HTML version of Chapter Two here. I repeat: this is not a mocked-up RTF document that you have to download; it's a finished web page. So have at it - and please let me know if you're enjoying the story. I had so much fun writing it, and I'd like to know that others are having fun reading it.

And now on to topic #2. The collaboration train (though "train" isn't quite the right word for this vehicle, nudge nudge wink wink) is back to three riders, though not the original three. But sometimes "creative differences" really are just creative differences and nothing nasty or sinister. We're all still friends; it just turned out that four people working on a single story (as opposed to an anthology) is really just too many heads banging together in close quarters. The only issue of (minor, I hope) contention at this point is me keeping my Myers-Briggs strong "J" under control while working with a strong "P." ;-) Anyway, the characters and plotlines are shaping up quite nicely, and I'm excited about actually starting to write. Unfortunately, we haven't quite reached that point yet...but we're getting close.

And so on to topic #3. I haven't heard much about the upcoming movie Push anywhere except io9, but what I'm hearing (and seeing) there makes me increasingly excited. The plot involves a number of different people with psychic powers, including - but not limited to - mind control. Most are part of (or being used by) a Secret Evil Government Organization (TM), and others are on the run from it. Since you already know I'm a not-even-closeted geek, you won't be surprised to hear that I've been fascinated with telekinesis, premonitions, and all the other usual psychic shit since childhood; so this movie looks ready to bowl a strike for me. And that's even before you add in a cast of second-tier-but-always-more-than-enjoyable actors like a) Dakota Fanning, in line to become the next Jodie Foster (i.e. a child prodigy who makes a successful transition to adult superstar, not - well, not necessarily - a barely closeted lesbian* who's cool enough even for most homophobes to accept), b) Djimon Hounsou, who gets hotter with every movie and who has the chance here to play a delightfully charismatic, reptilian villain whose eyes turn solid black when he uses his MC powers, and c) Chris Evans, on an increasingly successful quest to prove he's no mere boy toy but actually has something going on upstairs...something I find quite intriguing.

Not convinced yet? Take a look at this. The video snippet looks super-cool (And I'm dying to find out what Hounsou does to that waitress after he MC's her), but even if you're on dial-up and can't watch the clip, the rest of the article gives you a great taste of what to expect. I think. I really hope this movie won't turn out to be a disappointment, but so far, it's looking pretty damn good.

*Note to Ms. Foster's lawyers: this is only my opinion. ;-)