HO!HO!AARGHHHHHHHH!!

Well, i never did get Channel Evil #2 finished by the end of November, and looks like i won't be getting there before the new year arrives.

I tried, damn it i tried, but little seems to be going right in my world.

Won't go on at great length about illness and low morale and the general day-to-day frustration/despair, but i obviously feel shit about letting everyone down, most especially my ever-patient editor Alexander Finbow.

I have problems, and I realise I've got to get myself in a fit shape, not just physically but mentally. Some of these problems are deep-set and have been with me for many, many years, don't think I've ever really addressed them or taken them seriously enough. Agen, too complex to go into, and too personal.

I love storytelling, i love taking things outta my head and seeing them come alive on paper, and it's what i want to do for the rest of my life. And if it wasn't for the love and support of my friends, parents and guiding light Suzanne, i would've crumbled to dust a long time ago.

Thankyou all.

See you in 2010, where you'll be meeting a new, much improved Shane Oakley.

Hope you have a splendid Xmas.

Bucky does Ba'al

You've heard of Mark Buckingham, right?

Y'know, the fella who drew Marvelman and Batman and Spiderman, and just about every other major character in the Marvel and DC universe.

Rich, succesful, talented Mark buckingham who's kept Fables at the top of the Vertigo sales charts for centuries, the fella who editors name their children after, the fella with graphite and rotring ink spliced into his genes, the fella who can't seem to put a foot wrong with his adoring legion of fans, who helps old ladies across the road, sings Xmas carols, cries at christenings, buys everyone drinks at conventions(even Kev Sutherland); the fella who chuckles and smiles like Jimmy Stewart playing Jiminy Cricket, the fella who is always sweet and polite and gentle and charming, who, in the middle of deadline pressures, guesting at shows, playing host to visiting family, doing the washing and walking the dogs, manages to paint a gorgeous variant cover for Channel Evil# 2 just cus i asked him to, well, you wanna know summat?


He eats with his mouth open.

The Long Road to Blackpool

I'm late.

Channel Evil#2 should be at the printers by now, but I'm less than half way through it. My apologies to the readers, to Alan Grant, and to my editor, Alexander Finbow, who has patience that's beyond any Saint I've ever heard of.

Everything seemed to be on track back in May, then what i thought was the sound of a distant generator of early bird workmen, turned out to be in my HEAD.

And the noise got louder, and my ears hurt and had a peculiar sensation of pins and needles, like you'd spent an hour trying to blow up those long corkscrew-like balloons.

It went away, and i put it down to a bad cold I'd just finished with. Then it came back with a vengeance, along with rumbling, buzzing, headaches and hearing loss, and an overall feeling that my head was under water. And it got progressively worse, and then the dizzy spells arrived, with horrid vertigo sensations and a seasick nausea. Like when you've had far too many ales and the bed is trying to spin you into orbit - but without the pleasure of getting shitfaced first.

Was it a virus or damage to my ear or Meniere's disease or Labyrinthitis, or something more sinister? The docs/specialists ticked boxes and moved onto the next.

And it's still a mystery, but luckily, due to my own initiative in seeking releif with alternative medicine, and discovering that one of my prescribed drugs was actually making my symptoms worse, well, I've now managed to get myself feeling more like normal agen. Still lose me some sleep, but I've let go of the bed and can sit at the drawing board without feeling i need a safety belt.

Hard at work getting #2 completed, hopefully to see print next month.

Agen, my apologies for the delay.