Greetings of the season to you!
After a busy fall in my "real" job (teaching Latin and coaching sub-Varsity football), and with publishing stuff, the Thanksgiving break was welcome. Classes resume tomorrow, so I thought I would take a moment to jot down some of the things happening in the different universes I've created. There is something moving forward in all three.
FitzDuncan's Alchemy was released ten days ago. The pre-publication reviews were gratifying. The post-publication reader comments and ratings are strong. Knowing that people enjoy my work is rewarding in so many ways. Thank you.
The third FitzDuncan book is well underway. I have no idea when I will finish it but the way it's going, it will be sooner rather than later. Stay tuned.
Pike #3 is begun but moving slowly. I know where I want to take the plot and the characters but the starting point doesn't feel quite right. My progress on it has been stops and starts.
Gallantry in Action, the first of the Halberd series (and the first book I published) is getting a makeover. New cover art is underway and what I've seen of the rough drafts has me very excited. It's also in the hands of an editor, to clean up many of the inconsistencies (mostly grammatical and with punctuation) that I've since learned to avoid. If the new cover is well-received, the other books in the series will get updates also.
Audiobooks are now available for Pike's Potential, FitzDuncan, and Gallantry in Action. The audiobook for Pike's Passage is complete, just waiting for Audible to bless it. The audiobook for FitzDuncan's Alchemy is in production. After that will come the rest of the Halberd series.
There was extremely good news from the BookLife Prize folks, covered in my last posting. Pike's Potential was named the finalist for the sci-fi/fantasy/horror sub-group of fiction. It is one of only five books remaining. The winner will be announced in mid-December.
Several months ago, Pike's Potential made it to the "Short List" in the Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction. I won't learn until February if we made it to the Semi-Finals. Fingers crossed.
That's all the news for now. Thank you for your support. I do appreciate it.
