Staggering (Kind Of) Towards An End & Two Restarts

Good evening, all!

Well, this current stretch of writing has been…interesting, I think is the best way of putting it. While the last work on the chosen (for this round) short stories of my Alternate History Civil War anthology is nearly done, thanks to a variety of reasons it’s gone a good ways past the deadline I’d hoped for, and eaten far into the time I’d set aside for the next project. It’s like I’ve found before: The beauty (and migraine-type pain) of self-imposed deadlines is that they’re malleable. Another factor that’s made this one stretch is that most of the work has actually been handwriting, rather than at the keyboard–something I’ve had in mind for other, future drafts. It started as an experiment/last resort, when my output was flagging, then rapidly became the primary method, for this project. It feels slower, and sometimes depressing, especially when the deadline comes to mind–but I can’t deny the satisfaction at seeing the stack of loose-leaf pages growing on my desk with each day, or hour 😀 .

At the very least, it’s almost over, and I’ll be giving myself a longer break than last time before plunging back in. The next project on the list, both thankfully (because of expectations even before the delays) and disappointingly (because of said delays), won’t be very long: mainly gap-filling in the draft of A House United, the sequel to Dixie Curtain, with a restart of what new material I can add before the (self-imposed again) June 16 deadline. Then it’s another, shorter break, ahead of the restart on work for Cross & Flag: Reckonings, the fourth and last book in that series, which is slated to be done by the end of August. The third book, Revelations, is nearing the end of beta-read work right now, meaning the publish-worthy version will in all likelihood be ready by the start of July, as planned, with the cover design done not long after. For any who can’t wait, and haven’t read it, my AH novella Obsidian & Steel is once more on sale on Kindle through Memorial Day weekend; check out the link below!

That’s everything for right now! See you in summer!

Scaling Back…For Now

Hello again, everybody!

If I needed any reminders about the toil and toll anthology writing often entails (esp. with the Outside World banging on the door at all times), they’ve been brought home in spades over the past month. Perhaps, too, I didn’t give myself enough of a break between two rounds of such work–something I’ll remedy once May 1 (my self-imposed project deadline) rolls around. Whatever the root cause, I’ve ended up concentrating on just two stories, rather than finishing three or possibly even four as I’d hoped at the start. Well, “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,” and all that.

At the very least, it’s let me focus more and turn out (hopefully) better actions, plot points and dialogue for the two works I’ve chosen. Example: In one, “World Emancipator”, I had the epilogue scene all laid down, and it wasn’t until I reached it that I recalled I was hoping to use a very similar scene in another work, outlined a while back. Since the latter still seems a better fit, I’ve decided to pause the former at the final scene with the MC (Giuseppe Garibaldi), and mull over other ideas at the back of my mind while working on the the second anthology work, “Lost Causes.” A depressing turn of events, in some ways, but less so than if I kept plugging away and hating what I turned out, or myself for putting it on the screen–or worse, if I came up empty. Sanity outweighs all else, in the end, and I think I’ve found the right way to keep mine while not giving up completely and piling on the depression from another angle.

Not all is disappointing news this month, however! For one, I’m pleased to say that my Alternate History short story “Toe-to-Toe” has been officially submitted to Sea Lion Press, as part of a sports-themed AH anthology: “‘If We’d Just Got That Penalty’. A Collection of Alternate History Sporting Stories.” Most of the 12 stories included center on familiar sports (rugby, soccer–football to Europeans, of course 😀 –cricket, roller derby, boxing and even professional dance), while others deal with less well-known ones (cuju, Australian Aboriginal ball games, jianzi, Kabbadi and buzkashi–look ’em up!). There’s still no set date for publication, but this collection should be rolling off the digital presses by sometime in the fall; current editor’s guess is October.

For another, the draft of Revelations, the third book in my AH Cross & Flag series, is now in the next stage of beta-reading–one of the many benefits to having a retired college prof in the family, I suppose 😛 . I’m hoping right now to have the FINAL final version ready for release by the end of June; the cover design has unfortunately had to be paused again, but will likely resume early next month, when intrusions from the Outside World begin to lessen. Also, while the anthology work may be slowing as the deadline approaches, new ideas and energy are already building up for restarting work on the draft of A House United, the final book in my (for lack of a better term at the moment) AH Dillinger trilogy and the next on my 2023 schedule. Since I’ve only allocated a month for this draft, I don’t expect to finish it, yet I will at least hit the halfway mark, and close a sizeable gap in what’s already done. To celebrate this impending restart, the other two books in the series, Dillinger in Charleston and Dixie Curtain, are back on sale this week on Kindle; if you’ve already grabbed a copy, pass along the links below–and feel free to leave reviews, too!

Enjoy the start of (REAL) spring, and I’ll be back with more news in May!

Anthologies, Anthologies Everywhere

Happy St. Patrick’s weekend, everyone!

Like probably a great many people out there at the moment, I’m taking this holiday stretch to kick back, recover and brace for the next week–although in my case, it’s more recovering from the latest writing, in advance of the next round starting Monday. The fact that it’s a round of work on another anthology–meaning a whole batch of different ideas potentially being worked on at the same time, or near enough to make no difference–makes the current break all the sweeter 😀 .

Overall, this most recent stretch of writing turned out to be both bruising and exhilarating, in nearly equal measure. Thanks to COVID, recovery, Outside World demands and the occasional upsurge of ennui that stalks every writer, I wasn’t able to reach four completed drafts for the Divided Worlds anthology, although I did manage three (“Chistka”, “Les Mariannes” and “One Giant Leap”), with some style-related gaps in the third given a late decision to try writing in a mix of diary and transcript entries. While I’m obviously not thrilled at falling short of the goal I’d hoped for, it was a goal that I set, and therefore I can change it as energy, time and inspiration demand, like always.

The same goes for the work now approaching: a restart on putting together my Civil War-themed Alternate History anthology. The work period is scheduled to stretch from the last weeks of March all the way to May 1st, and four drafts (two already started) are currently planned. “World Emancipator” depicts famed Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi offering his services to the Union Army (an offer nearly accepted in real history), thus placing him at a critical moment in the wake of the Battle of Gettysburg. “That Devil Forrest” and “Lost Causes” explore a world in which Nathan Bedford Forrest did not surrender at the end of the Civil War, leading to guerrilla warfare beyond even that of real history, and the consequences of this on one Southern family up to the Second World War. And in “Hill Country Commune”, Karl Marx, while traveling amongst German settlers in Texas as a New York Tribune correspondent, finds himself trapped in the state as the Civil War begins–and may become a leader amongst his fellow immigrants, in a very different kind of rebellion. Odds are long on finishing all four, but I still aim to try, and expect to have two done, minimum, by the time the project’s over.

In other writing news: The sports-themed collection containing my AH short story “Toe-to-Toe” should be going to Sea Lion Press before the month’s out. Release dates tend to vary, but my current hope is to see the collection released before the year’s out, and maybe well before that! Meantime, for anyone needing an AH or fiction fix, my complete (to date) Cross & Flag series is back on sale through Kindle, at the links below, so feel free to check ’em out and/or share if you or someone you know is feeling that itch, LOL.

That’s all for this month! Enjoy the (all-too-slow, IMO) start of spring, and see you in April!

Across & Above The World…

Happy start to 2023, everybody!

Although Outside World demands piled up almost from 1/1 (hence the lag in my post this month), the first projects of this month and year are off to a decent start, and show no signs (as yet) of slowing down!

One draft, in fact, is already finished as of last week: “Chistka” (Russian: “Cleaning”, or more ominously/familiarly, “Purge”), the opening work of my Divided Worlds Alternate History anthology–which, like the title suggests, will have a global (and interplanetary) range of stories. Set during the final stages of a very different Spanish Civil War, this story is centered on an émigré German journalist (known in our history as Willy Brandt) as he seeks stories on the beginning of the country’s reconstruction–and carries out an assignment for the French government that brings him face-to-face with the full implications of the approaching peace. The current project, “Les Mariannes”, is set in the last days of a much-altered WWII, as a group of Maquis in Occupied France led by Jeannette Guyot undertake a final operation which could tip the balance either way in the already-burgeoning Cold War. I’m aiming to finish this story by around the end of the first full week in February; after a day’s break, it’ll be on to the next short work in the collection (working title: “Our Man in the East”), dealing with intrigues amidst the AH Comintern Bloc nations as told from the view of a Soviet Air Force pilot (whose son featured prominently in Divided Worlds), followed by “One Giant Leap”, revolving around an altered Apollo 11-type mission that gives literal meaning to the “Space Race.” As mentioned in last month’s post, I won’t be finishing the entire anthology in the time I’ve set aside for these projects, but this round will bring me with sight of the halfway mark, and keep me in the mindset for restarting work on the AH anthology of American Civil War short works which I started last year.

In other anthology/writing news, the release of my AH short work “Toe-to-Toe” is temporarily delayed, given more time needed for proofing and other pre-publication work for the entire “Alternate Sports” collection it will be part of through Sea Lion Press. Latest word is that there’ll be updates from SLP around the end of this month or the first week of Feb.; I’ll of course share them here or on my Twitter and FB pages. To help pass the time till then, my first anthology, In Other Words, will be back on sale starting Saturday 1/28; if you can’t wait, check out the link below!

That’s everything I’ve got for January! Keep an eye out for more news, and see you next month!’

Last Words (For 2022)…

Happy Holidays & Almost-New Year, everyone!

Being in my (semi)”cooldown”/vacation stretch for both of the above (and with the recent Arctic-level chill preventing most other non-screen distractions), I at last have the chance to update you all on the last of my progress for this year, and what lies in store for the next.

First, I’m ecstatic to report that Lux Besieged has passed the esteemed 50K word count finish line (and then some) for NaNoWriMo! Inspiration, and thus pace, naturally slackened in the weeks following this win, given the need to refocus on Outside World demands, but the planned story is still clear, making the next restart less of a hassle. I’ve also begun outlining for the third and final book (title pending) in this Alternate History/fantasy series, and may well finish before the year ends.

I’m also pleased to say that another of my AH short works has been accepted for publication in a themed anthology (working title: “Alternate Sports”) by Sea Lion Press. Titled “Toe-to-Toe”, the story revolves around Joe Louis and a group of other famous and has-been American boxers, taking part in a very different 1952 Olympics, in a Europe dominated by an increasingly tottering Nazi Germany–which their presence, and actions, may help bring crashing down for good. No word yet on when this anthology will be released, but the bulk of the stories have been collected or nearly so, and the entire collection should be sent in for editing and design work in the first week of January.

Now, to what’s on deck for 2023. The final schedule is being hammered out right now, yet the project choices are clear. Back in early 2021, I started outline work for an AH anthology set in the timeline of my Divided Worlds novella; now, at long last, I’m ready to take on this challenge. I don’t expect to finish all of the nine planned short stories before my (rough) imposed stopping point of early March, but I’m aiming for three or four, minimum. Then it’s back to the Civil War anthology I started last year; two of the nine intended for this one are finished, and I should be able to close out at least three others ahead of the currently-expected May 1st pause–possibly more, if the flow of ideas pushes that pause further on. After that, I’m likely going to add what I can to A House United, the sequel to Dixie Curtain, over May and part of June, then shift to a restart on Reckonings, the fourth and final Cross & Flag novel. I plan to have the draft of the latter done by the end of summer, at the latest, with the third book, Revelations, released on Kindle around that same time, if not earlier. Following that, it’s back to work again on my surveillance thriller All Eyes, with possible breaks for a “horror”-themed short work idea I’ve had in my head for years, ahead of the third Lux book for NNWM-Dec 2023. I’ll have more details in my January post; should any of you need distraction while you wait on these, or a last-minute Xmas/NYE gift, or just some reading to pass the (still too long) evenings, my works Dillinger in Charleston, and its sequel Dixie Curtain, are on sale on Kindle through 12/30!

The sense of “12 years in 12 months” from the previous December isn’t quite as pronounced this time, or so it seems. Here’s hoping the upcoming week off (sort of 😀 ) proves enough of a recharge to face the start of the next year, and whatever it brings. Stay warm and safe, and I’ll see you next year!

NANO 2022

A good (if somewhat gray) Monday to all!

Since the halfway mark of NaNoWriMo is nearly upon us, it seemed a good point to pause, regain my breath and share news on this year’s project–and more besides!

As mentioned in last month’s post, I’m working on Lux Besieged, the second book in what’s become the second trilogy of my AH/Fantasy Pangaea series. Although word count isn’t quite what I’d hoped it’d be by now, I’m still expecting to hit the treasured 50K mark by or perhaps even before November 30. It’s been both exhilarating and trying to make this latest stab at fantasy writing, as it has in previous Nanos; no idea yet if any of the tales rising from these will make their way to published form, but the thrill from crafting them won’t be fading anytime soon.

Speaking of publishing, it seems the roll of such that I’ve been on this past year isn’t quite done: As of this past Thursday, my Alternate History short story “The Two Horsemen” (centered on a very different outcome to the 2013 Chelyabinsk Meteor strike, and the nearly-simultaneous flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14) has been released, as part of Sea Lion Press’s latest anthology Apocalypse How: Tales of the End of the World, edited by the talented and esteemed Jared Kavanagh. It was depressing at times (no surprise) to be writing in such a theme, especially nowadays, but the thrill of seeing my first short work in ebook form has proven the perfect cure. There are 16 stories altogether in this collection, every one of them outstanding; check them all out at the link here!

Lastly, to celebrate this release (and reaching the midpoint of NNWM with my sanity intact, or mostly so 😛 ), my own AH anthology, In Other Words, is on sale starting today running through 11/21! Check it out while perusing Apocalypse How, and vice versa!

Well, the glorious and terrible siren call of NNWM is pulling me back to the keyboard! Enjoy the rest of November, and I’ll be back next month with more updates…as well as teasers for my 2023 projects!

Liftoff #11!

Good evening, everybody!

No doubt many of you have heard the old “bad things come in threes” saying at some point in your lives. Well, it seems good ones can happen in the same number…because I am ecstatic to announce that my third publication for this year–Trials, the second book in my Alternate History series Cross & Flag–has been released in both ebook and paperback on Amazon Kindle!

When 2022 started, the only major goal I had in mind (apart from staying COVID-free), important enough to warrant a spot on the New Year’s resolutions list, was (self-)publishing at least one story. Now, to have reached the point of a third release, and of my 11th story overall (12th, if you count the crowdfunded scifi Discarded), I feel both dumbfounded and exhilarated. It’s also yet another reminder of how a project can suddenly (or so it seems, even after months or years in the plotting, writing, or editing/design stage) reach that glorious “published” status. This has kept me going most recently through the delays on Trials and the (still-continuing) ones on the next C&F book, Revelations, and I have no doubt it will again with many more stories that appear permanently blocked in one way or another.

Thankfully, there’s not too much worry about such blocks in the near future. Right now, I’m in the midst of a “double project” period, with outlining for Lux Besieged (working title), the next work in my “Pangaea” AH/fantasy series, tinkering with other drafts in that series, and work on a short story draft for an AH anthology, “Alternate Sports”, to be published by Sea Lion Press. All three are moving along at the steady yet relaxed pace that I’ve found to be essential in the run-up to the thrilling and hideously taxing stretch known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I should have an infinitesimal breathing space mid-November to fill you all in on how that slog/adventure is going; meantime, have a look at Trials (first sale slated for 10/30), check out or pass along Awakenings (on sale again starting tomorrow), and enjoy the start of real fall weather!

Delays & Progress

Hello again, everyone!

Another cool-down is fast approaching–and just in time, with respect to All Eyes, the draft currently absorbing most of my writing focus. Like I’ve said before, thriller fiction, scifi and otherwise, is a genre I’m still feeling out how to write well, and this latest bout is no exception. I’ve managed to hit what I believe is the halfway mark as of last night, as I promised myself at the start, so the main target is met, yet I’d hoped for more–again, something I’ve done plenty of times. One factor may have been doing into this project with less than my usual amount of outlining; overdoing such has led to lethargy in the past, so I kept it looser this time around. Just shows that inspiration can be elusive no matter the approach. At the very least, I’m at a much better jumping-off point when I return to the story (tentatively slated for late summer next year).

A bigger hurdle/delay has popped up in another area: For several reasons, the release of Trials, the second book in my Alternate History Cross & Flag series, has been paused once more, likely to the end of this coming week, or the next. Although formatting is the only serious work that remains, the delay is irritating, to say the least, all the more so when it’s past a deadline already changed multiple times, straining the limits of flexibility even for me. The draft is with a formatter at this very moment, so it should only be a few more days before it’s ready to upload; any news will of course be shared on my feed(s).

For the near future, it’ll be a mixed-bag of light work, up to the start of NaNoWriMo on November 1st. There’s a couple of short stories to be finished or outlined for, and several drafts in my “Pangaea” AH/fantasy series that need gap-bridging or other tweaks. It’s been almost entirely solid blocs of work on one project at a time this year, so maybe going a bit scattershot for a month or so will do me good ahead of the NNWM grind. I’ll keep you all posted on these, along with Trials; meanwhile enjoy the start of fall (maybe with a new read, courtesy of the latest KDP sale for Divided Worlds: An Alternate Space Race, starting 9/27?), and I’ll see you again in October!

Winding Down, and Revving Up III

Hello, all!

Well, the leisurely pace of incremental editing and new work I’ve been maintaining of late is soon to pause, ahead of the next major project. The one exception is pre-publication work on the second Cross & Flag book, Trials, which is presently slated for release at the end of August/start of September–but may be sooner! I’ll be finishing off the present stretch of new work with the last sections of an Alternate History short story intended for an anthology being put together on Sea Lion Press, along with some tying-off work on the latest chapter of Reckonings, the fourth and last Cross & Flag novel. Then it’s a full week of relaxing (apart from Trials work when necessary), much of which will probably be taken up by catching up on the full shelf (yes, shelf) of new reading that I’ve let sit for much too long, with one “no screens” day thrown in.

Once I’ve recharged, the next round of new writing will begin, on my scifi/surveillance thriller “All Eyes”, which currently stands between one-quarter and one-third finished. This round will last from the final week of August to September’s end; current guess is that I’ll reach between the one-half and two-thirds mark, although that can change according to Outside World pressure. Then it’s another, shorter break, ahead of editing, world-building and perhaps occasional new work on my “Pangaea” fantasy drafts all through Oct.–and the start of the second book in that series’ second trilogy, for this year’s NaNoWriMo in November.

More news about Trials will be up on my FB Author and Twitter pages as it comes in, so keep watching. And while you’re doing so, feel free to pass on the links below, for the latest sales on my works In Other Words and Red Delta, on Kindle!

Have a good end to the summer, and I’ll be back here in September!

A Scene Here, A Page There, & More…

Evening, everyone!

In the glowing aftermath of the release of In Other Words and the paperback of Cross & Flag: Awakenings, it seemed, as with so many other such occasions, like the writing/publishing floodgates had opened, with ideas and finished projects pouring out…until the next mandated break, anyway 😀 . Instead–again like before–I seem to have settled, for now, into a holding pattern of incremental work: making minor edits on one finished project, adding new material to another, and so forth. This state brings a fair amount of frustration and occasional depression with it, but it’s happened plenty of times in the past, and often serves as a way of lessening pressure.

This is not to say the gates have completely closed. The cover design work for the third C&F book, Revelations, continues at this time, beta work on that draft has begun, and all that remains before the release of the second, Trials, is formatting and a final read-thru for remaining errors or other needed changes. Nonetheless, the flexibility so essential to writing deadlines is rearing its head, and thus the releases for both books are getting pushed further on for right now: mid- to end of August for Trials, and some point past that for Revelations. As for Reckonings, the fourth and final book in the series, that will now be my primary project for next summer, although I’ll be devoting all non-edit and -design time I can find to it, before my mid-August stopping point, whether that amounts to a couple more pages, or a couple more chapters. I’ll also be doing what I can to boost promos on my scifi novel Discarded and my other works–which includes the latest sale below, for Dillinger in Charleston and Dixie Curtain, through the 30th!

That’s everything on my end, for right now. See you again in August–perhaps with another new book to share!