Ever since I finished the draft of EXPIRATION DATE and began revision, I've been working on a new book. 

(Yeah, there's a tentative title, but I'm not saying s#%$ until I'm sure).

I never really believed in the sophomore jinx until I sat down to pen my second novel in this series.  The problem: I didn't realize I wanted a series.  I'd written 200 pages on an unrelated theme, but something was missing.  I ended up scrapping a great many pages, amidst much frustration and moral turpitude.  Finally, I realized that in my efforts to create something distinct from EXPIRATION DATE, I went away from my true passion: mixed martial arts.

It was then that I realized my niche: Horror-MMA.

I would combine mixed martial arts with the vivid imagery of the horror genre--also slatterpunk, ala Joe Lansdale, and some of the imagery in the schlock horror classics, like Cemetery Man, Evil Dead, Dead Alive, Dawn of the Dead...insert more splatter and gore here.  And all of this with a literary bent running like an undercurrent beneath, examining the human condition, as most writers are wont to do.  Sound like a random assortment?  Nope.  It's definitely premeditated.   

It's Horror-MMA, coming to a blood-soaked cage near you!


BTW: Can we legalize this crap in New York already?  State legislators clamoring for more dollars and the possible revenues from cage-fighting are staring them in the face.  Isn't it time New York stop thinking of MMA as some kind of social vice, and start thinking of it as a sport, a conclusion to which almost every other state has already come?

Special thanks to Susanah Lor, my dear friend and extremely talented artist and poet, for her awesome photography and her unyielding support for me as a writer.  Were it not for Sue, I would still be residing in my cave, writing away 'till doomsday with no one watching.  With her help, I've been learning the marketing ropes, and though it has been sometimes difficult to find the time away from my writing, it has always been time well spent. 

Today, Sue brought me my business cards, my shirt with the EXPIRATION DATE logo (thanks Emily), a bound copy of the book, and countless pages of notes that she slaved over into the wee hours of the morning in preparation for my upcoming meetings at residency.  Although her body was burned out and broken down from her exertions, her indomitable spirit never once wavered in her adamant support for my craft.  It's great to have someone like Sue in my corner.  Thanks so much for all you do.

All for now.

Scott McNeight

Welcome to my website, and thanks for stopping by! Creating what you now see has been on my To-Do list for quite some time, and I'm glad to finally be able to present it to you here at scottmcneight.com.

Wow, it feels good to finally be able to take a breath. This year has seen many changes for me, most of them good, I'm glad to say. I'll try and give you the Reader's Digest version and bring you up to speed:

First of all, I'm excited to say that my debut novel, EXPIRATION DATE, is finally edited and done, and I am currently seeking representation. If you mouse over to the "Fiction" section (or just click this link: http://www.scottmcneight.com/fiction.html), you can read the official synopsis and the first three chapters of the book. Drop me a line and let me know if you like it, hate it, are on the fence with it, want to read more, etc. I'd love to hear what you have to say.  It was a labor of love, and at times hate, as are most good things in life.

Time to give credit where credit is due: I owe my mentor, editor, and good friend Dan Pope a debt of gratitude for his hard work on my book. Without Dan, there would be no EXPIRATION DATE, at least not in coherent form. For those who don't know, Dan is a published author (of the fine coming-of-age novel, In the Cherry Tree; you can find him at www.danpope.com) and graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, which he attended on a Truman Capote scholarship. Dan has been instrumental to my success as a writer, so much so that I don't even recognize the writer I was before I met him. Looking back, that person seems much like a Neanderthal blundering his way through a recital of Shakespearean verse--the ideas are there, and you feel like he's maybe on the right track, but the presentation is all wrong. Over the past couple of years, Dan has helped me nail the presentation, and to take pride in a clean line of prose. Thank you for your effort and support, Dan.

Secondly, I'd like to also thank Susanah Lor for her amazing photography and her marketing skills and Emily Ferraro for helping me put together this website and for doing the artwork. They've both been instrumental in helping me turn what began as a simple plan for one novel into an overarching scheme involving a trilogy (or more) of books, merchandising (shirts, business cards, website platform, photography), and last but not least graphic novel content and artwork. While writing EXPIRATION DATE, it became clear to me that there was a lot of pretty cool imagery in there I wanted to do more with. Dantesque visions, demons, curses, cage-fighting--all of this seemed quite conducive to the transition to art. I have a hard time drawing a stick figure, but luckily my friend Emily (an amazing artist who will surely soon be known for her work in Squirrels and Pinup-Girls productions) agreed to help me out in that department.

Therefore, I'm excited to inform you that Emily has agreed to do the EXPIRATION DATE artwork in graphic novel format, so those of you who don't have the time to read a 300+ page book can expect to find the novel's graphic counterpart in the very near future. In fact, soon you will be able to mouse over the "Fiction" tag (http://www.scottmcneight.com/fiction/graphicnovel.html) and find a section reserved for graphic novel content. It's not up quite yet, but shortly we will be posting the first three chapters of the book in graphic form, mirroring the prose format. I'll let everyone know as soon as it's up and running.

Finally, a little about merging martial arts with media arts (literature, art, theater) because that's what this site is all about. I train in Jeet Kune Do, an art founded by Bruce Lee and furthered with luminaries like Ted Wong, Dan Inosanto, Paul Vunak, and my instructor, the great Sifu Torres (who learned directly from the late Ted Wong). Ever since I began training every day as a writer, and as a martial artist, I've always been interested in merging the two. The two arts seem vastly different on the surface, but, for me, the discipline and ideologies are the same. I train JKD much like I write: I set daily goals and struggle through the laziness and malaise we all experience when we get home from work.  I meet my word count just as I meet my workout goals. 1000 words today, 100 weighted hook punches against the heavy bag. To me, both go hand-in-hand.

After doing this for years, I began to wonder what would happen if I took some of the concepts and imagery I work with as a horror writer and merge them with the discipline of martial arts. Thusly, Cord Masland was born, and I knew from the first sentence that there was something different about him, something fluid and alive. I hope you find in him something that you can relate to, whether you enjoy martial arts, a good blood and guts horror story, or if you're interesting in seeing a character pitted against the enormous cogs of faith, love and destiny.

Well, sadly that was not the abridged version, I realize. But please excuse my prolixity; there's definitely been a lot going on. Check back frequently for updates, and specifically check out the MMA Corner, where I will soon be posting my thoughts on upcoming MMA events and related content. All for now.

Thanks! And keep fighting.  Scott McNeight.