Hello everyone!

It’s been a hectic couple of months, but that hasn’t stopped me from writing (at this point I think death will be the only cure for my addiction).

I completed the short story “Oath of Loyalty” which will be the sequel to my short, Weakness (the one with the cat and magical wolf).

I never intended on writing out the rest of their adventures, but so many people asked I continue the tale, I figured I should give the people what they want.

The ending to Weakness is poignant, and I tried to capture that kind of ending in this sequel, but it’s definitely a lot harder. First off, the “middle chapters” to stories are typically not filled with crescendos and life-altering situations all over the place. It would make the journey feel like it went at break-neck speed (or worse, it would feel random) so while I like “Oath of Loyalty” I do feel like it isn’t as powerful as the first.

However, if I consider it a “second chapter” to a book, I think it’s very interesting and I would happily keep reading to the next (and since I intend to finish this tale, I’ll be writing a couple more short stories with the same characters). Maybe I’ll have a complete novel by the end, lol

I’m slowly (but surely!) finishing Star Marque Vendetta (the sequel to my space opera, Star Marque Rising)!

I love science fiction–it’s definitely my favorite genre–but man, does it take more time and research to write. Even with an outline, and cool scenes in my head, I need to crawl through every chapter and really consider the details. In fantasy, you can base the world on past civilizations or even modern settings, and a lot of details the reader will just know (or assume, based on tech levels). With sci-fi, there is no civilization that people can use as a template in their mind.

How do people drink in zero gravity? What kinds of problems would you encounter in space traveling from one distant star to the other? How would you deal with extreme levels of radiation? These aren’t the kinds of questions you ask when reading Harry Potter–they’re unique to the sci-fi genre.

Really interesting stuff, but complicated to think about, integrate into a story, and not bore the reader. It’s a balancing act!

Ethereal Squadron #2 will be coming out later this year, probably in a month or two!

The Half-Life Empire is still with Baen Publishing. Fingers crossed! If they don’t take it, I’ll move forward with it, so maybe it’ll be out by December, you never know!

And I’m also working on Knightmare Arcanist #3 (and other random fantasy projects, lol).

These are much easier to write, I have a ton of fun with them, and I already have the cover ready! I’m excited to bring them to life, and I just hope people enjoy them as much as I do. The other fantasy novels I have are little more grim and serious (though still an adventure, because I love adventures) so maybe that’ll come out early next year.

Thanks for sticking around! I hope to bring you all more stories in the future!