a collection of my horror film essays for Black Coat Press. I'm also hard at work on a collection of my short fiction, ALL THAT LOVECRAFT LOATHES, which I'm doing with friend and fellow writer Roderick Bates; that will also be forthcoming from Black Coat Press. Just received a contract for three novels involving a comics character I've been associated with -- haven't signed, so forgive my not offering any details as yet -- which, if it all works out, will keep me busy writing through 2006. My bread-and-butter since 1998 was earned via a dayjob, which caused some mud-slinging in my direction from the comics world, though after the collapse of the direct-sales market here in the US the fact of the matter was it simply was no longer possible to earn a living in comics after 24+ years at it. Hell, I was amid a divorce and had two kids to support; there was simply no choice in the matter, and I must say I was treated with far more professional courtesy and respect in the video industry than I ever was by the American comics industry. I've just stepped away from my five-plus-year full-time job stint co-managing First Run Video, a video superstore I've been an active partner and shareholder in since 1991 to re-engage with my freelance life. I'm still an active partner and buyer, and we're about to open a second store -- but my time is essentially my own again after five years, and I'm working on a number of creative ventures. The video industry work all sort of led to my current involvement with my dear friend Joe Citro, working as producer on a 90-minute feature entitled SPIRITED VERMONT, dramatizing ten of the countless regional ghost tales Joe has compiled over the years. We're working with Take 2 Productions out of Chester, VT -- Travis Van Alstyne and Dylan Duncan -- and still pulling together funding for a planned Halloween of 2005 release. My wife Marjory and I are also forming our own DVD label to release limited editions of three films we dearly love, one of them essentially a 'lost' film we are rescuing; it's a modest venture, but if it all works out it may provide some distribution bedrock for SPIRITED VERMONT come next year. Wish us luck! sm: Considering your, under certain aspects, preferential point of view, what do you thing about the current state of American comics both as a medium and as an industry? Do you still read any comic books? Which are you favorites? SB: As a medium, comics is amid a real renaissance of sorts -- I mean, there is such a rich diversity of new work, so many vital visions and voices out there. [continues]