Liftoff #13!

Happy (almost) Earth Day, everyone!

Once more, the month nearly past has seen decent progress all around, writing-wise. After the usual final edits, formatting, and cover design, my Civil War Alternate History short story, The Path of Duty, has at last been published in ebook form on Amazon Kindle! Like my very first AH work, Dillinger in Charleston, this one started life as a graduate fiction writing class assignment, where it faced edits/commentary from at least fifteen other aspiring writers; needless to say, there was plenty of both, some helpful, some not, with a couple that reminded me just how much AH is still a niche genre, for the most part. Well, now it’s out there, in final form!

There’re four more short drafts in the pipeline as this post goes out, too! First to go to Upwork will be one connected to my earlier AH novella, Divided Worlds: Chistka (Russian: “Housecleaning” or “Purge”), a story revolving around a noted German journalist and anti-Nazi exile (known in our world as Willy Brandt), and a much different Spanish Civil War. The contract for cover design and formatting should be set up by mid-next week, latest, and I hope to have it released before the end of May.

Outlining work on the “John Lawrence” Civil War Hist. Fiction stories has paused for the time being; seven plots have been completed, as planned, and four, possibly five others are anticipated for the next round. The restart of work on Revelations, the fourth and final book in my AH Cross & Flag series, is going well, too; right now, it mostly consists of plugging gaps left over from the last effort, when I’d have bursts of inspiration for certain passages, but lacked enough to link them together at the time. A major one will be bridged tonight, and so far I’ve been able to complete a gap each week; since some are more minor than others, the ultimate goal (finishing the entire story by the end of June) is still very much in the cards at this point. For those in need of new Spring reading, all three of the previous novels in this series are going on Kindle sale starting tmrw (4/22); grab your copies at the links below!

All in all, not a bad month, and the next (so far) is looking equally promising! Enjoy the proper start of Spring, and keep watching here for more updates!

Two Ready, And More Teeing Up

Hello again, all!

I’m pleased to say it’s been a quiet yet fairly productive month and writing period in general, despite Outside World distractions galore and the occasional spell of lingering ennui thanks to the rights reversion on Discarded. My Civil war Alternate History short work The Path of Duty (formerly Sic Semper Tyrannis) is presently going through editing and cover design with an Upwork freelancer, and should be released sometime in April; whether that’ll be just through Kindle, or “wide” (to other ebook publishers) remains to be decided. Another short work, Chistka (set in the timeline of my earlier novella Divided Worlds: An Alternate Space Race), will be posted for Upwork contract probably next week or a little later, perhaps starting a stretch where I’ll be publishing one short story or novella after another, alternating between themes–without going slightly (or not so slightly) mad in the process, one would hope 😀 . In the meantime, if anyone out there’s hankering for a taste of other short works I’ve published, my AH anthology In Other Words is once again on sale, thru the link below!

Nor has this been the only progress, as hoped when I restarted for the year. When editing and new work began to lag in the past couple weeks, I found a much-needed boost in outlining for my “John Lawrence” Civil War Historical Fiction stories; currently I’m at six completed plots, with four more anticipated (at least), and I’ve only reached mid-1863 in the chosen period. Expecting to finish a seventh plot ahead of April 1st; work on the drafts themselves won’t start until next year, according to the present plan, but other plot crafting hasn’t been ruled out yet.

The major tee-up, however, is restarting work on Reckonings, the fourth and final book in my Cross & Flag AH series. The previous round of effort on this draft paused at somewhere near the halfway mark; with all of April through early June set aside for it this time, I expect to see it pass the finish line at long last. Editing and publishing will obviously take a lot longer, but the hope is to have both done, and the book released, before New Year’s. Part of me dreads the restart, since it means completing a series that’s been my biggest project for going on a decade–while another can’t wait to be done, for the exact same reason 😛 .

That’s all the news for March! Keep an eye on my other feeds in the meantime, and see ya next month!

Gut-Punched…But Still Standing

Good evening, everybody!

Sadly, as the post title says, it hasn’t been the best recent couple of weeks, for one very depressing reason: Given apparently unsatisfying sales over the past three years (thanks in large part to their not offering ANY promotion/marketing help of any kind whatsoever, leaving me and all their other writers struggling to do so), Unbound has decided to return the rights to my scifi novel Discarded and scrub the book from its catalog (along with pulping the surprisingly-large stock of print copies, minus whatever number they can get me or third-party vendors to take off their hands at a discount). To call this a gut punch is putting it the politest way possible–one of my first (not self-published) works being essentially tossed back after a combined seven years of writing, editing, pitching and waiting. Next steps are still being planned; as of right now, I’m nearly done sorting out the “reversion” paperwork, and should have a firm decision on whether to pick up any of the stock copies, and how many, by later this week. Most likely I’ll start up the agent and publisher hunt again, for this book, once the depression and mourning has worn off; when that’ll be, I can’t say at this point–yet the hunt will happen.

The main source of solace at present, both ironically and not, is in my other writing work. Progress has been uneven, due to both the planned shifting around between various short story projects and recent events, but happily it hasn’t stopped. My contribution to the Sea Lion Press Alternate Elections collection, “Ballots & Barricades”, is finished and now in beta status; my AH Civil War draft “World Emancipator” only needs a proper epilogue scene; and the outlining for my Civil War Hist. Fiction short story series (centered on Jonathan Lawrence, former deputy U.S. Marshal-turned freelance Union agent) has churned out two plots, with two more expected in the near future. “Hill Country Commune” turned out to need more research, time and a better mindset, but I revamped several key bits, and may put down a couple for-certain scenes before letting it rest some more. There haven’t been any takers yet on collaboration for the “Divided Worlds” anthology, but I’m continuing to put the word out for other writers; if the silence continues, I may end up releasing the couple already-finished stories individually, and try for collaborating the same way on the other ideas. I’ve also decided that some of my Civil War-themed anthology short works will be released the same way, rather than in a single batch; some of them are almost long enough to be novellas at this point, even with editing, so the “solo” route is probably better, anyway. No set date for either, at this point, but they should be in motion by the time next month’s post goes up. Maybe staying busy is the best way to get through what’s happened with Discarded; since the only alternatives are being continually depressed or quitting writing altogether, it’s an easy choice, certainly a better, healthier one.

I’ll keep you updated about Discarded’s changing status on my Twit and FB author feeds ahead of the March post; if I land another publishing option in that time, those of you who got copies through the original crowdfund should hold onto them–could be they’ll become rare editions! 😛 Meantime, for anyone not willing to wait for the above stories (and to remind myself how much I’ve written since), my first novel-length AH work, Red Delta is going back on KDP sale this Friday (3/1); grab or pass along a copy, and I’ll see you all again soon in March!

Here, There, Everywhere

A happy MLK Day to everyone!

Up to now, when a new year begins, I’ve opened with a grand new project, be it a single novel draft, an anthology of short works, or at minimum lengthy outlining for either, all within the first month or two. This year, however, I’ve decided to shake things up a bit: Instead of a set project (or several in sequence, in the case of anthologies), it’s all about whatever story or scene appeals, for the next several months (until the end of March, or even April, according to the much looser schedule I have in mind for this year). Most of the work, as mentioned in last month’s post, will likely concentrate on the drafts once intended for my “Divided Worlds” and Civil War anthologies; I may still release one set or the other as a collection, at some point, but the aim right now is simply to write, be it in one category or another, or an entirely different project.

The foremost work at this point is the last scene of “Ballots and Barricades”, my contribution to Sea Lion Press’ Alternate Elections anthology; these should be finished within the next week or two. When I’m not working on that, the top contenders for other work in this period are the final section(s) of my Civil War short work “World Emancipator”; more/better opening material for “Hill Country Commune”, from the same batch; and outline work for a series of Hist. Fiction short stories, revolving around a U.S. Marshal-turned-private Union agent during the Civil War. As for the “Divided Worlds” tie-ins, I’m currently mulling whether to invite other writers into this project, to avoid too much similarity between stories or plot arcs, and possibly see some of the stories put together in better form than I originally envisioned. To celebrate this change, and properly kick off the new year, “Divided Worlds” itself is back on sale as of this week; check out/pass along the link below–and, if you’re a writer and feeling daring enough, message me about joining the tie-in work!

Nor is this the only big writing news for 2024. While NNWM (National Novel Writing Month) has always been a joyously grueling experience, the difficulty of balancing this thrill ride with the ever-growing demands of the Outside World became especially great during the round this past November–enough that even though I passed the 50K word count mark yet again, the excitement was more muted than ever before, and I was left far more exhausted. Becoming a full-time writer (or at best being able to reliably support myself in good part with writing) remains my ultimate goal, yet this will only happen if the pleasure that I’ve gleaned from writing doesn’t fade…or worse, turn to revulsion, as I sometimes felt creeping around the edges amidst the final work and edits this past December and late November. Therefore, I’ve decided that 2024 will be the last year I pursue the usual NaNoWriMo 50K. I’ll still take part in NNWM, through its “Camp” competition during the summer months, starting next year, but after this November (marking the 15th time I’ll have taken on the challenge–and won, never fear!), I’m finished with that traditional endeavor. The draft I have in mind will be another outside-the-genre choice, for me (a noir-esque murder mystery) tentatively titled “School of Whacks”; hopefully I’ll have a much better title by the time outlining starts in late Sept-early Oct 😀 .

Must sign off here; another round of Outside World demands is teeing up, so serious rest is needed. I’ll catch you all again in February; stay warm and stay safe!

Last Words (For 2023)…

Happy Holidays to all!

With NaNoWriMo once again past the 50K word count mark (twice, actually, given the major trimming and rebuild starting right after the victory stretch, though the draft still has a long ways to go before reaching publish-worthy status), my semi-working vacation has become a full one at last, if not quite the snowy kind I’d expected/somewhat hoped for. Now, with the New Year just a couple days away, it seemed the time for one last 2023 update, and a first glimpse of what’s planned for 2024!

The biggest news to report: As promised in the last entry, my Alternate History short story, “Toe-to-Toe” has at last been published, as part of Sea Lion Press’s anthology “‘If We’d Just Got That Penalty’. A Collection of Alternate History Sporting Stories”! For those not familiar with the plot, it centers on a group of boxing legends (Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Max Baer, and John Henry Lewis, to name but a few) coaching or competing in the 1952 Olympics…in a Nazi Germany on its last legs, and which their presence might help topple for good. The link is attached below, for any in need of a new fiction buzz, or a New Year’s/belated Xmas gift—and the same goes for my collection In Other Words, on sale thru New Year’s Day!

It’ll be a similar kind of work for the starting round of writing next year. Although I will never lose the love of writing novella- and novel-length projects, the experience of such, both during and outside NNWM, is always (not surprisingly) a draining process, sometimes to the point where I’ve despaired of ever finishing, or can’t even look at my keyboard (let alone the current draft) without shuddering and looking away for anything else to do–yet still wanting to write, and sliding into ennui and depression when nothing happens. At points like that, I’ve found bursts of short story work, be it outlining, a single scene in another project, or a whole other draft, has done more to slide the slide than any other trick–and, more than once, leads to ideas and progress I’d never expected. Even better, it’s often led to (IMHO 😛 ) stellar final stories, and keeps me fresh for longer projects.

Therefore, starting Jan. 3rd, the bulk of my writing up to late Spring (end of April, or thereabouts) will be short story work, concentrated on the drafts I’ve outlined, begun or finished for my Civil War and “Divided Worlds” anthologies. Those will be changing as well: rather than release them as collections, I will be looking to submit the individual stories to SLP and other AH or SF sites/venues. Except for some very early (and therefore crappy) versions of my first works in the early 2010s, I haven’t done much in the way of magazine or other submissions, so this will no doubt be an…enlightening experience, if nothing else. When and if inspiration or enthusiasm for these short works runs dry, I’ll turn to others: “Ballots & Barricades”, my AH story set in France during a rather different May ’68, is at the top of this list, followed by the outline and first scenes for an AH Rome draft told in chronicler style. When late spring-early summer rolls around, it’ll be back to novel-length projects, in the form of the FINAL final final work on Reckonings, the fourth and last book of my Cross & Flag series–which will be published this coming year. Short drafts will remain at the ready during this time, however, and throughout 2024: a quick “fix” when needed, basically 😀 .

Well, it’s long past time I closed the screen for tonight. I’ll be back next year, though 😛 , with more details on the 2024 lineup; in the meantime, stay safe and warm, relax, and see you in January!

NANO 2023

Hello once again, everybody!

Having just embarked on a (semi-working) vacation, now seemed a good time for an update on where things stand with this year’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and other writing news in general.

At this point, my NNWM word count stands at just above 32K, and will hopefully reach 34K by tonight. If events the next two weeks permit, I should hit the 50K winner mark by the 29th–one day ahead of the official Nano finish! Work on this project (Lux Ascending, the third in a fantasy trilogy…and the fifth in what may turn out to be an EIGHT-book overarching series, in the end :O) will probably go on for a week or two into December, after which it’ll be time for a wind-down and planning for next year’s drafts, with some add. work on my Alternate History short story “Ballots and Barricades” thrown in. To call the past several weeks “draining” doesn’t come within light-years of putting it mildly, as usual, esp. given the genre choice, which, I freely admit, I still have only the barest grasp of how to write within. Nonetheless, the thrill from having a line of dialogue, a paragraph, a scene, a section or a chapter set down on the screen, rather than richocheting pointlessly in the mind, hasn’t gone away in the slightest, and doesn’t look likely to even after more than 10 years of chasing the 50K each November.

Nor is this thrill the only one of late: After much waiting, I’m pleased to report that the Sea Lion Press AH anthology “‘If We’d Just Got That Penalty’. A Collection of Alternate History Sporting Stories”, which includes my short story “Toe-to-Toe”, will be released next month! Cover art and link are still pending, but the lineup/table of contents is set, and all drafts in; estimated date is shortly before Xmas. Up to this work, and the other I wrote for the SLP “Apocalypse How?” collection, I haven’t written much in the short story format; every AH and other idea that’s come to mind has seemed at least novella length, so I’ve found myself sticking to that or novels since almost the beginning, with anything shorter confined to thematic anthologies, as with my “In Other Words” collection and the stories I’ve been grouping together for a similar effort set in the world of my AH “Divided Worlds” novella. Given the fun I’ve found myself having with short works, however, this may well change in the coming year…

Speaking of “Divided Worlds”, that story is once again on sale on Kindle, along with another novella “Obsidian & Steel”! The former has recently been updated, including with a cool new AH 1999 world map (below) designed by Robert Altbauer (www.fantasy-map.net); grab a copy of either at the links here if in need of a short fiction fix, or just a last-minute Thanksgiving gift.

That’s everything for this month; catch you all on the other side of the NNWM tunnel!

Prepping & Tinkering

Hello, all!

So, it’s been a fairly quiet month, for the most part, but not an entirely idle one, I’m glad to say. Prep work is almost done on this year’s NaNoWriMo draft, Lux Ascending (working title), the third novel in my sequel “Pangaea” AH/fantasy series; while I don’t anticipate finishing the work this year, even with the usual extension into December, the expected 50K+ word count ought to bring me to somewhere between the one-third and halfway mark. I’ve also made good headway on the outline for my draft There Goes The Neighborhood (also working title, given how the plot and characters are shaking out as less darkly comedic than straight-out horror/supernatural); this should be finished by Sunday or Monday at the latest. As with fantasy, world-building for horror has proven much different from my usual AH/scifi work, in certain respects: more traits and elements to keep track of/weave together; different description styles for supernatural events/figures; and, it seems, more focus on the mental/emotional sides of characters, compared to how I’ve crafted such when writing AH or scifi. With NNWM so close, I obviously won’t get to the draft stage yet on this project, but it’ll be ready and waiting for such when next Halloween rolls around, for certain.

Outlining isn’t all that’s happened, however. Per a challenge from Sea Lion Press, I’ve also started work on a pair of short AH stories, revolving around the theme of “alternate elections.” One, centered on Eleanor Roosevelt and a very different 1952 U.S. presidential election, is already in completed rough draft form; working titles are “Another Trip to Washington” and “Tomorrow is Now.” Another’s been started, but probably won’t be finished until sometime just before the challenge’s March 2024 deadline: “Ballots and Barricades”, dealing with a snap election in France during a much different, far tenser May ’68. Given the expected plethora of U.S. or U.K.-themed stories, the latter work may have a better shot at being included in the final anthology, yet that won’t stop me completing either one 🙂 . For any who need an AH fix in the meantime, my novella Dillinger in Charleston, and its sequel novel Dixie Curtain, are once again on sale thru Kindle; check out and pass along the links below!

Well, I must once again face the demands of the Outside World. Have a happy Halloween, and I’ll see you next month!

Ambling Along III

Good evening, everyone!

Well, in the wake of last month’s release, work on new drafts has slowed some more, yet not completely stopped. The past month has mostly been spent tinkering with the fourth Cross & Flag book, Reckonings; although I wasn’t able to fill all the gaps remaining in this draft, a last-ditch trick (writing the opening and closing passages, or even just single sentences from both) helped to chip away at these–and, perhaps more significantly, at the depression and ennui of having to wind down on an already-overextended project. Lately it’s been more spot edits and some new work on my surveillance scifi All Eyes; best guess right now is that I’ll at least have the current chapter finished by this weekend, giving me a day or two for a much-needed “no-screens” break, and musings on future work.

Some of those musings I expect will find coherent form next month, in outlining for a possible horror/supernatural draft “There Goes The Neighborhood”; my novice attempt at emulating Stephen King, I suppose 😀 , but the idea’s stuck with me a while, and a change in genre has proved refreshing in the past. The main focus, though, will be on prep work for the third draft in the sequel trilogy of my “Pangaea”-themed fantasy series; no firm title as yet, but this ought to be nailed down before draft work begins in November as part of NaNoWriMo. I’m also pleased to say that, after a long spring and summer’s wait, the expected Oct. release for my Alternate History short-story “Toe-to-Toe”, included as part of the Sea Lion Press anthology “‘If We’d Just Got That Penalty’. A Collection of Alternate History Sporting Stories”, is drawing near; more details will follow as the month opens. Finally, with the third title out at last, all three current works in my Cross & Flag series–Awakenings, Trials and Revelations–will be on sale starting Oct. 2., through the links below; if you’re new to the series, this is a great way to snap ’em all up at once!

That’s all for this update! Keep your eyes peeled for October’s, and enjoy the start of (proper) fall!

Mostly Meandering

A happy Friday to all!

Well, the relaxed pace with which I started this summer is still the rule at present, which has meant both more and less progress than expected. The best news of all in this: Revelations, the third book in Alternate History Cross & Flag series, has made it through beta-reading and is now being formatted for publish-worthy status; meantime, I’m writing up the intro section(s) and sifting through cover designer choices, to have the whole setup ready for release before the end of August, at the absolute latest.

Unfortunately, focusing on this work (along with, I admit, a much-needed trip to see family and get some canine TLC 🙂 ) has meant progress on the fourth book, Reckonings, is lagging more than I’d like, to the point that I’m seriously considering an extension of the work into September if the pace doesn’t pick up in the next couple of weeks. I’d anticipated something like this possibly happening, so it isn’t quite as irritating as it might be under other circumstances. Nonetheless, having set aside basically the entire summer already for closing out what’s been up to now my largest writing effort, and having basically the past month get devoured by distractions and simple ennui at almost every turn, is more than a tad depressing. Ah, the Outside World: a crippling hindrance and necessary escape, in equal measure 😀 .

Thankfully, most of the distractions are lessening of late, so now it’s just the pernicious (and glorious) relaxation of summer that I have to battle against for the near future. To mark the start of this changing “struggle”, as well as remind me that I’ve brought other works across the line which seemed to lag forever, my AH “Dillinger” series (Dillinger in Charleston and Dixie Curtain) will be back on sale on Amazon starting August 1st! Pass along and drop reviews at the links below when the day arrives, and grab copies if you haven’t already; other than that, just keep on staying safe and cool, and I’ll see you all later next month!

First Summer Work III

Happy (official) start to summer, everyone!

In keeping with the season (and esp. given the heat and air quality of late in my neck of the woods), I’m starting my latest round of writing at an easygoing pace. Right now, the focus is on a post-beta read-through of and minor edits on my AH work Cross & Flag: Revelations, the third book in that series; the first of both should be done by tomorrow, and I’ll likely seek out a formatter/final beta-reader shortly after, to have this novel publish-ready by early July, as planned. While that’s underway, I’ll be focusing on the fourth and final C&F book, Reckonings, which is, best guess, between halfway and two-thirds done at this point; current plan is to have it in beta-ready form by the end of August. The past six months have taught me, yet again, the importance of keeping deadlines elastic, particularly self-imposed ones, yet I’m hopeful that giving myself such a long time on a project of this size will mean less need to stretch this one out.

Apart from this, it’s relatively quiet writing news-wise. One noteworthy bit, however, is that, after long procrastination, distraction and simple absent-mindedness, I’ve been the process of trying to get my scifi novel Discarded sold in paperback form at B&N and other bookstores in my hometown. Like my other, self-published works, this one’s been available in B&N’s online store for a while, but the hard copy, being printed by the UK outfit Unbound, hasn’t yet graced this chain’s shelves–including a “Local Author” table I’m embarrassed to have missed for so long. No idea yet if and when this will happen, but it’s become another writing-related effort for this summer. Should any of you not be willing to wait for a B&N appearance, or want to prep for when C&F: Revelations is released, head to Amazon Kindle and pick up the first two books in the Cross & Flag series, which will be on sale from June 23 to 30 at the links below!

Stay cool and safe, and catch you all again in July!