The last couple of weeks have cleared a whole pile of deadlines off my desk, only one of which is likely to come back and haunt me in any way before summer. I find myself wondering about what to do next. Not immediately next, since the next few months will be busy with Mystery Project X, but I find myself wondering what will come afterwards. What will be Mystery Project Y?

Without further ado, here are the elevator pitches for the current contenders. In a travesty of pretend-democracy, I encourage you to cheer or boo whatever takes your fancy before I go and write something that probably doesn’t even appear on this list at all:

A Cork, A Sock and Some Dynamite: A space-opera bastard offspring of Bladerunner, Neuromancer and the Bourne Identity, all wrapped up in an eighties goth-culture frock coat.

Darkfinger: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Monster Hunters – Humorous contemporary fantasy: What Being Human would be if John Woo was the guest writer-director every now and then?

From Darkest Skies: The X-files meets Twin Peaks in space (known to some as The Magenta Files)

His Majesty’s Magician: In an alternate 1920s, a mysterious magician attempts to bring down the British Empire. A little HP Lovecraft, some Fu Manchu, a dash of Sherlock Holmes and a slice of Indiana Jones.

Mine Eyes: That HP Lovecraft / Fu Manchu / Indiana Jones thing set in the future and mixed up with some cyberpunk instead.

The Spirit Cabinet: In late Victorian London, a spiritualist is murdered for the secret he knows. More of a question than the secret itself is how did he know it? Shutter Island meets The Prestige

Sulphur: A couple of hundred years in the future and a humanity scarred by the fruits of its own biological experiments suddenly finds life on Mars. SF that looks like it follows the steps of Alien and The Thing and even Doom, but actually belongs with Moon and 2001.

Syracuse: Time-travelling teens save the world, try to sort out their lives and possibly learn a little history.

Thumper: A bit serial killer, a bit Deathwish, a bit The Diceman and a bit some Channel 4 movie set in the North of England and staring Pete Postlethwaite.

Vicarious: In ancient Egypt, a wizard calls upon the power of an ancient god. In Victorian London, some thieves try to hijack an archaeological find. In the 1970s, some burglars find more than they bargained for in the mansion of a reclusive Egyptologist. In contemporary London, lizard-men roam the tube network, and in the future, someone is testing a psychic weapon. A bit inspired by The Cloud Atlas.