Books
Q: How long will WASTELAND run for? Will there be a proper ending?
A: WASTELAND is planned to run for around 50 issues. Yes, it will finish properly; by the end of the book all the mysteries will be solved and your questions answered. The last story arc is already plotted.
Q: Will there be any more WASTELAND after that? Any spinoff series?
A: Possibly. It's too early to say, but it's certainly possible.
Q: Will there ever be a SPOOKED Book 2?
A: No idea. SPOOKED was originally planned for three volumes, but neither Ross nor myself currently has any time to really devote to it. Who knows, at some point in the future we may revive Emily. But there are no current plans.
Writing
Q: Can you send me one of your scripts?
A: No, but you can download one for yourself from the For Writers page.
Q: Can you send me one of your pitches?
A: No, sorry. And honestly, it probably wouldn't be much use to you. I tend to write overly long and detailed pitches, and different editors will have different preferences for types and styles of pitch anyway. If you want to see a pitch because you're submitting to an editor, the best thing you can do is ask that editor for a sample of what they consider a good pitch.
Q: Can I send you my script/idea/pitch/concept to read?
A: Again, sorry, but no. This is very important: I am not legally permitted to look at such things, and if you email them to me I will delete them unread. There are big, complicated legal issues around reading unpublished material, and in our increasingly litigious world it's a risk I can't afford to take.
Q: What writing software do you use?
A: Scrivener and Final Draft, on a Mac. For links to these programs and template downloads, click here.
Q: What about outlining software?
A: I sometimes use OmniOutliner Pro (Mac-only) to formalise the structure of an especially complex story. But for actual outlining work, I use good old paper and pen. I've tried many of the available outlining, mind-mapping and 'dramatic structure' applications, and none of them is as instinctive, easy to use or immediate as simply scribbling on a pad of paper.
This website
Q: Where can I read that 'Writing with GTD' blog post you wrote? Search isn't finding it!
A: That's because it's not a blog post. To read Getting Things Written, the article Merlin Mann called “A thoughtful, complete, and coherent GTD-based workflow [and] an excellent read”, go here: http://www.antonyjohnston.com/gtw/.
Q: I just saw a site, mostlyblack.com, with your name and picture on it and a bunch of blog posts I'm fairly sure are yours, but they're really old. Do you own it? Is it an old site that you don't update any more?
A: No, and it's complicated. Mostlyblack.com was my domain for a number of years, until I switched to antonyjohnston.com. When the old domain expired, it was bought by a Thai linkspammer via a Russian administrator. You'll notice that site is plastered with ads from Google and elsewhere (whereas I do not and have never run ads on this site).
I expected something like that to happen. What I didn't expect was this same company to steal some very old graphics and journal archives from me—or rather I suspect from archive.org—to fake up the site, in what I must assume is the most inept attempt at cashing in (on the, oooh, literally tens of people who used to visit mostlyblack.com) I have ever seen.
Are this company's actions illegal? Most certainly. Is there anything I can do about it? Almost certainly not, and it would cost me an arm and a leg in legal fees just to find out.
I'm not linking to the site here, because I don't want to give them any hits or increase their Google rank. Feel free, however, to forward all your spam to alex@alexinvest.com and postmaster@jokesnquotes.com. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.
Misc
Q: Have you heard of this band called Antony & the Johnsons? How funny is that?!
A: Le sigh.
