SMOD™ = PERRY DAWSEY IN DECEMBER

Junkie N8man broke the story here, so I talked to Crown Publishing and we are forced to reveal the SMOD™.

That's right, Junkies, Perry Dawsey is back when CONTAGIOUS hits bookstore shelves on December 30. The Secret Mission of Death™ has been me busting ass on the manuscript, because Crown pushed up the publishing date from May, 2009 to December, 2008 to take advantage of the momentum you all generated for INFECTED. That cut five months off my writing time, hence the need for the SMOD™ to meet an aggressive deadline. I'm not done yet, but it's going well.

Crown, being naturally evil, like me, is putting CONTAGIOUS out the week after Christmas. They're letting all the fat-cat authors blow their marketing money fighting for that Christmas dolla, then they're going to roll in the week after and take over. Smart move. While I'm pretty sure I could take Stephen King in a knife fight, I still can't take him at the box office. Who the hell does that guy think he is, anyway? Didn't he get the memo about the FDO™?

I accosted my editor, known only as "The Shiv," about this security breach. He tried to diffuse the situation by catering to the Overly Inflated Ego.

"Even though I’ve only seen an outline -- which is currently being kept in a safe at the Random House offices, guarded by a pack of extremely bad-tempered pit bulls -- I think Contagious is going to be Scott’s best book yet," said The Shiv. "The only price is having to listen to Scott’s incessant bitching and moaning -— something about having to draft a 350-page novel in a month, bla bla bla. What a wuss.”

The Shiv also mentioned, off the record, of course, that the appropriate people have been severely punished for allowing the leak, and that N8man might want to expect a visit from said pit bulls.

I'm really excited to bring you CONTAGIOUS so soon. That's two big-time hardcovers in 2008, which is a total mind-trip. I think you guys are going to love the further adventures of Perry, Dew, Margaret, Clarence, Amos and Murray. Junkies names are filling up the roles for extras. The disease becomes even nastier, the situation gets far more desperate, and there might be a wee bit of violence ...

Oh. And I will be podcasting CONTAGIOUS. For free. I think I'll start in November to get a run-up to the hardcover launch date, or kick off episode number one right on December 30. I'm also considering several short stories that take place between the two books. While I want to start CONTAGIOUS as far into the story as possible, I may do some of that in-between fiction just for you guys. You won't like it, though -- Perry is all crazy and hallucinating and stuff, and breaks some things. I know, I know, not your bag.