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New Books incoming!

Yes, I used the plural for a reason.

No, this post isn’t about the final novel of The Awakening, although that one is roughly 75% done at this time. Don’t worry, it won’t be the last novel set in the Tebreyverse. I have many stories left to tell there. Nor is this post about Stars End, the Tebrey novel I put on a backburner. That one will have to wait awhile.

Allow me a seeming non-sequitur for a moment.

Back when I first started writing, I wrote a novel and then another with the same characters, something of a stand-alone sequel. They were both thrillers. I got a few nibbles, but eventually removed them from consideration until I became a better writer. They are both dear to me, and I wanted to give readers the best version of these stories I could.

This brings me to how I felt as I finished The Sleeping and the Dead. I felt good. Really good. I’m proud of my last Tebrey novel. So, I decided it was long past time I blew the electronic dust from my old manuscripts and took a good hard look at them.

There was good story there. Dark, painful, deeply personal in ways I will not go into, story. I started rewriting, then again. Eventually, after throwing a third of the text away, I ended up writing even more to fill it back up. While the manuscript was with my editor, I jumped into the next one.

This is a long-winded way of saying that I have a new book coming out this May. It isn’t my usual kind of story. For one thing, it is a first person thriller. For another, it isn’t obviously (observant readers will recognize one character) related to the other stories I’ve written, being somewhat contemporary. It is set just before Project Brimstone in the same universe, hint hint.

I should add that it has many things in it that may cause pain for the sensitive reader. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, but I definitely worked through some of my old pain while writing this.

Out in paperback and digital this May, 2020.

The Sleeping and the Dead Cover Blurb

Hello everyone, I thought I would share the cover blurb for my next novel, The Sleeping and the Dead, Book Four of the Awakening.

A Daring Mission into the Heart of Darkness…

The war against the horrific Theta entities reaches new heights as the Sentient Concord is forced to fight on multiple fronts against both the struggling Earth Federation and the Wolf Empire.

Commander Hrothgar Tebrey is at the forefront of those battles, bringing the fight to the enemy again and again. He is the last hope of humanity, the only person who can consistently stand up to the Thetas and win. But never-ending war takes its toll. Tebrey knows he needs to take the fight to the Thetas if there is to be any hope for the future.

The Thetas think they are invulnerable, but they have a fatal flaw: One of their own has turned back from the darkness, and he knows where to strike against the Thetas to end the war forever.

Book four of The Awakening is finished.

I’m pleased to announce that the complete draft of The Awakening Book 4: The Sleeping and the Dead is finished at 135,000 words.

I will still need to read through it and fix any typos I find, but I’m basically done! Huzzah! Another Tebrey novel!

It should be ready to hand over to my editor next week.

Then the revision cycle begins.

I guess I need to think about the cover blurb now.

I’ll share what I can as soon as I can. Look for the blurb soon. I’ll post the cover art as soon as I get a look at it.

You may have noticed no new books…

Okay, so here is what happened. Star’s End was getting close to being done (over 100,000 words) when I realized that while it was a good Tebrey story, it really wasn’t a part of the Awakening Series. It’s the story of a long mission to the Achenar home system. Good stuff. Not really a part of the main sequence. Didn’t have the right kind of title anyway.

So, I set the manuscript aside and started over. Not an easy thing to do when you put your heart and soul into something, but Star’s End will see publication someday, just not until the main story is finished.

The new book is titled The Sleeping and the Dead.

It is currently at 115,000 words, so I should finish in a month or so. It looks to be a monster, around the size of The Remnant. Once finished, the editor gets it. Then revisions. Then the beta readers. More revisions. Likely publication next April or May.

Thanks for hanging in there!

I’ll have a blurb for you guys soon, and hopefully a peek at the cover.

Also, there will be a couple of more short stories coming soon.

The next book is nigh.

Greetings!

I’m sorry it has been a while since I’ve posted here. I just wanted to update everyone and let them know that I am working on the next story in The Awakening. This will be Book 4 of that series and continues from where The Madness Engine left off.

Stars’ End is currently at 90,000 words and climbing rapidly toward completion.

I hope to have a cover reveal soon!

Author’s Answer 135

Hello, been a while since we had one of these.

Question 135 – What is your biggest writing failure?

I have a lot of ideas, and tend to start a lot of different projects at once. I’m not sure if it is a failure or a good thing. Let me explain: I have dozens of novels started. Some of them are in my head, others written down in part. Not finishing them before starting a new one is something of a failure. I’d like to get them all written eventually, I just keep coming up with more…

Click here to read the rest on I Read Encyclopedias for Fun.