Black Diamond 3 Is Going On Hiatus
From: Dale Sherman
Back in 1990, I asked Eric Carr about his proposed cartoon show, THE ROCK HEADS. In response, he said something that I have always remembered. He stated he wished he had never made mention of the project until it was ready as he never wanted to come across as someone that says, "oh, I've got this project going, and this project's will be happening soon, and blah, blah, blah" when nothing ever happens. After all, if you boast about something that doesn't happen it just makes you look foolish. I wish I had taken those words of wisdom to heart.

After the success of BD1 and BD2, I have been promising and promoting a third book in the BLACK DIAMOND series. The response to the project has been 100% positive feed-back from the fans. We have also had the good fortune of doing several interviews for the book with individuals that were very happy to help out. Honestly (and I have never been anything but honest in all of my dealings with the books), things were looking very good for the book and we had already planed a release date of October 1998.

Yet, I have now decided to put the project on the back-burner for an unspecified amount of time. I readily admit that it makes me look a bit foolish (I won't admit that I've always been foolish, but I know of some people that are probably thinking that right now anyway), but I really think a delay in the release of the book will be for the best in the long run. In stating this, I want to explain plainly and clearly exactly why the book is on hiatus. Knowing the KISS circles on the Internet, I know that rumors and conspiracies will be ripe to come of this announcement and I thought it best that I put things in the proper perspective right now before any half-truths can hit the minds of fandom.

BD3 was conceived as a "thank you" to KISS fans who bought the first two books. It was also a chance to run some new interviews with KISS-related individuals that normally do not get a chance to talk about themselves and their careers. Basically, it was to be an interview book, with some updates for BD1 and BD2 and nothing more.

However, I am also working on a book about Alice Cooper that is due out before the end of the year; plus, rewriting the KISS novel I wrote 15 years ago for serial installments on KISS Asylum. In reality, I spread myself too thin. With a promotion at work and my wife and I planning on moving into our new home within the next couple of months, I find that I have to drop at least one project in order to make sure I complete my commitments to my publisher, myself and others. Of the three projects at this moment, the Cooper book is the most important, and I want Coop fans to finish this new book with the same feeling that KISS fans had after reading the BD books -- satisfaction and a feeling that they read something from a fan who had a knowledge about the topic. I can only do that if I can concentrate my time on it alone, and push the other projects off to the side for the time being.

Also, in looking at the interviews that have been done, I do not feel the manuscript is vast enough let to be worth the trouble of publishing; nor will it be ready in time for an October release. Although we have interviews with such individuals as Bob Kulick, Bruce Kulick, Sean Delaney, Stan Penridge, Kenny Kerner and many more, we still do not have enough interviews to make the final product one that would be worth the hard-earned money of KISS fans.

I also have discovered that there will be five more KISS books released this summer and fall. After much thought, I have discussed this with my publisher and we have both agreed that there is no need to contribute to the oversaturation of the fan-market right now. Instead, we will wait until a more appropiate time so that fans will be getting something unique and special in its own right, instead of "just another KISS book."

These decisions are mine and mine alone. They are not that of my publisher (although they have agreed with my thinking on the topic); nor of anyone else. I mention this as I know someone somewhere is going to suggest that KISS or Gene or Robot Aliens or the Man in the Moon is behind it. One thing I hate is a conspiracy, especially when it's a made-up one. So do me and fandom a favor if you start thinking it is one -- keep it to yourself.

I apologize to fans who have already written to me and have offered help and asked for release dates of the new book. I also apologize to both Chris White of KISS Asylum and Steve of KISS Freaks for getting them involved with a project that may be some time in actually coming. I also strongly apologize to the individuals that have done interviews so far with the project; however, I can asure them that the interviews will be published in some form some time in the future, whether it be in BD3 or elsewhere.

If there are any concerns or questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I am readily available and I do not plan on falling off the map anytime soon. I also plan on continuing my monthly column, DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH, for KISS Asylum; and the serial adventures of A WORLD WITHOUT HEROES (although in a slightly-less-periodic basis for this summer). I also plan on contribution to Steve's SPECIAL DELIVERY fanzine every so often as well. So I definitely will be around.

Thank you all in advance for your patience in this matter.

--Dale Sherman
May 22, 1998