Writers write. Period. It's what we do. And after you do it for enough years, you have a massive backlog of stories. Some are not fit for human consumption. Hell, they're not even fit for printer consumption.

But sometimes, you write a character that haunts you, that you want to know more about. Tony Downs is one of those characters.

In some ways, you might say that Tony is responsible for everything in the Fiends and Garaaga Children's collections. There's a reason why he shows up in Tattoo and Closet Treats-- he belongs in those. He's been with me since 1991 when I started a series called "Residents of Eternity." That series, I promise you, will never see the light of day. And trust me, you wouldn't want to read those tales.

That said, however, I will salvage more characters from the series...if I live long enough. For now, though, I've got Tony Downs and his "gifts" to explore. And as more and more Fiends' and Garaaga's Children tales are finished, you might start to see the pattern, the skein, the tapestry. It's coming. Given enough time, perhaps we'll all get a chance to see how it coalesces.

Cheers.