Happy Holidays to all!

Well, it was tighter than expected, with final words being added almost at the eleventh hour on Nov. 30th…but I reached the 50K word count yet again for National Novel Writing Month (my 15th in a row)! While fully half of this count was still deleted within a couple days of the victory, as feared/expected (thanks, Internal Editor and Belated New Ideas!), seeing the final tally that night (also my last for the traditional NNWM challenge, at least on an annual basis) was a thrill that hasn’t faded yet. I’m already pondering when to return to this draft, and may do so next fall–though not as a NNWM project.

Other writing news this final month of 2024 is decent, edging towards good. As of right now, my Alternate History short story, “Vive L’Empereur!” is around the halfway mark, after a brief halt courtesy of new inspiration; barring more such segues, or other Outside World issues, this work will be done by New Year’s as planned. There’s no clear word lately on the Sea Lion Press anthology for which “VLE!” is being written, but the last update has it still open, so with luck I should be submitting the draft before we’re too far into next year.

Speaking of next year, I’ve also further shortened my list of upcoming projects, short- and novel-length. Whereas in 2024 it was nearly all about the former type of writing, this time around there’ll be a bit more of the latter, with one in particular serving as the kick-off in January: “Divided Brothers” (working title), blending American Civil War and time travel. One that may or may not make the cut is the (absolute) last work on Revelations, the fourth book of my AH Cross & Flag series; given recent events, and the start of potentially worse ones in January, it’s feeling a little too on the nose right now–although I may take a stab at it for April or July, if events closer to home turn out as hoped. A couple of short stories in my “John Lawrence” ACW Historical Fiction series are also being considered, along with several more works once intended for the “Divided Worlds” and ACW anthologies. I’ll have the final picks nailed down by my next post; in the hopes of tiding you all over until then, have a look at and pass along the Kindle sale link below for “Divided Worlds” itself, starting on New Year’s Day!

That’s everything I’ve got for the remainder of 2024! Stay warm and enjoy whatever holiday/vacation’s still ahead, and I’ll see you all again next year!