I’m not sure how it happened, but evidently it’s August.  I know there was a July in there somewhere. But suddenly I’m aware of how many things are coming up this month, and surprisingly enough, they’re all good.

This Saturday, August 7, at 4pm, I’ll be signing and answering questions at the Borders store in Camp Hill, PA, just outside Harrisburg. If you know anyone in the area, tell them to stop on down. Don’t make me beg.

Oh, and August means that The Devil’s Alphabet is officially the book of the month at Joe Mallozzi’s blog. Joe’s a fellow contributor to Masked, the superhero anthology, and also a producer of Stargate Universe. I’ll be answering questions on Joe’s blog starting next week. And in September, the BotM will be Masked, and to ramp up, the contributing writers are talking about their stories, why they wrote them, and how they came to be involved in the anthology.  Paul Cornell’s entry up there now.

The official Masked Ad. Accept no substitutes.

Masked is racking up positive reviews all over the place, like here, here, and here. And here. And this io9 review kicked off a buying spree at Amazon.

Plus, Locus and BookList ran print reviews. It’s so nice to see the prose superhero getting some love.

Oh, and it looks like the first issue of Dracula: Company of Monsters is on track for an end-of-August publish date. The issue just went to the printers, and at the end of the month I’ll be doing a signing at The Comic Swap, my local (and wonderful) comic book shop. I’ll have an exact date for you later.

I can tell you that the art for issue 1 kicks ass. Thanks, Scott Godlewski! We showed off the first six pages to a room of fans at Comic-Con a couples weeks ago. And last night I finished the first draft of the script for Issue 3, where I got to introduce the vampire hunters. I’m having having more fun than should be allowed.

Speaking of more fun, August is the last month of full-time employment. Starting September 1 I get to go back to half time, which means I can get a lot more writing done. Or if not more, then the same amount without driving me or my family insane.  Yes, it feels weird to be cutting back on a day job when some friends and relatives can’t find any work. Mostly I feel very, very lucky.

So, August. You’re looking pretty good to me right now. Don’t turn on me, okay?