I'm working like a maniac this week, not helped by this stupidly long blog post. Not because I have any immediate deadlines - although one of my projects is needing some serious editing - but because my workload over the next month is going to seriously collapse. You see, I'm going travelling.

And when I say 'I'm going travelling', I don't mean I'm on vacation - oh no. I mean that I'm working. And in some cases, a hell of a lot. But at the same time, I'm working in comics, which is the most awesome thing in the world, and I'm working in areas related to Doctor Who, which is the most awesome show in the world. Don't believe me? Ask seven year old me. He'll kick your teeth in for claiming that classic Star Trek is better.

No, until December, I'm a bit all over the place, really. Tomorrow night myself, Tracy and erstwhile chum Dan Boultwood will be at the launch party for Cosplay Fever, the new book by Tozzer crew Rob Dunlop and Peter Lumby. Wednesday I'm most likely having lunch with screenwriter /children's books chum Andy Briggs, Thursday is solid work and preperation day and Friday is setup for the London MCM Expo. Which of course means that the Boultwood fellow and I will be at the MCM Expo over the weekend, where From The Pages Of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula': Harker comes out for it's UK launch.

(And while we're on this, I've had a couple of people comment that this week's SFX Magazine gives Harker a 2 out of 5 - personally, I'm impressed it's even in there, Ian Berriman was kind enough to show me the review a couple of weeks ago and I'm fine with it. I mean, they even show 'Dracula' on the picture that goes with it, when it's actually Roger, another character - so am I really going to get annoyed when every other review has given it 5 out of 5 and 10 out of 10? Nah, I'm okay.)

The London MCM Expo is one of my favourite shows in the year, mainly because the comic village is full of good friends. And this year we have celebrity chums returning, which makes us happy. I'll be doing two panels over the weekend - 3.15pm I'm on stage with Ben Templesmith and Antony Johnston talking about Comics Without Frontiers, where we talk about comics in other mediums, whether it be books to comics, comics to movies, games to both... And expect me to then sprint across the arena to the main stage to judge the Cosplay contest. Which of course means that if you want to buy anything from me / have something signed by me on the Saturday, you'd better get there before 3pm.

And so you know, I'll have copies of Doctor Who issues #1 to #3, Doctor Who: The Time Machination and Outlaw: the Legend Of Robin Hood, among others available on my table. And Dan will be drawing Steampunk Personages throughout the weekend.

On the Sunday, I'll be on the Writers Team during the Comic Village Showdown, where the Writers and the artists finally prove who's better. And by that I mean better at cheating, bribing the judge, etc.

Monday is then spent recovering and writing, as Tuesday the 27th I then fly to New York where, for effectively 48 hours I am at liberty to have meetings and interviews and signings and suchlike. So far already planned are meetings during the day of Wednesday 28th with various editors (these times are some of the few times I'm actually able to see them) and then at 6pm until 8pm I will be signing copies of Doctor Who at Jim Hanley's Universe on W 33rd Street, after which I shall be whisked off by beefy guards, suited and with radios in their ears to The Peculiar Pub in Bleeker Street, Greenwich Village, where I shall spend the rest of the evening with the guys from Doctor Who New York. They might even give me another mug, as I had to give the first one to Gary Russell...

Still with me? Good. because from then I fly on the Thursday to Orlando, Florida, where I am a guest at the Hurricane Who convention, which should be great fun as a lot of good friends will be there too. And I intend to have a meeting or two as well. While I'm there, we'll also be having the US launch of  From The Pages Of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula': Harker, and we'll only have about fifty copies, so with luck it'll most likely be a short launch followed by a lot of drinking. I'll be doing a lot of talks and panels over the weekend, so anyone who's going? Come and say hi.

I return to the UK on Tuesday 3rd November, and then on Saturday 7th, from 1pm - 3pm I'm signing at Comics And Fantasy, Atlanta Boulevard, in Romford. These guys gave David Lafuente a great show, and I'm looking forwards to that.

And then I get three days off before I fly out to Kolkata, India on the 10th. From the 11th to the 17th I'm doing talks, signings and full day university lectures on behalf of the British Council, starting in Kolkata before flying to Pune and then flying to Bangalore. More on that and locations etc when I get them.

I get back around the 18th, which gives me a couple of days to relax / work before a signing in Ace Comics, Colchester on the 21st November - which means I miss the Thoughtbubble Festival, but after the previous weeks, having a signing down the road seemed preferable. Next year, guys. And I get to sign with Dan Boultwood, which is always fun. (He'll be selling pages of original art and concepts too, including his backup Phonogram: The Singles Club story.)

And then we relax. Well, not quite, because there's one last event - on the Thursday, after five whole days of resting,  I'll be flying back to the States, to Chicago in fact, to attend ChicagoTARDIS as a guest over Thanksgiving weekend.

I get back on the 1st of December. You can understand why I'll be taking that month off, right?..