Hello, everyone!

Bit of a mixed-bag to report on for this past month. Thanks to multiple unexpectedly wearying demands/distractions from the Outside World, my primary writing project, the second story in my “John Lawrence” Historical Fiction series (temp title “An Incident at Holston River), is still a ways short of the finish line, hoped to be crossed at July’s end. Work on this continues nonetheless, and now that I’ve reached a stretch of REAL summer vacation, with plenty of sleeping-in and overal recharging, the hope is strong that I’ll have it in beta-ready form before Aug. 31st.

Other news is better: As of this past Wed, work has officialy started on formatting and cover design for my Alternate History short story “All Quiet in Calais!” The first version of the latter is already looking good, so if all cards are played right, this work should be joining “Mother Country” in the “2026 Releases” column within the next couple weeks. With my earlier (typed AND handwritten) works “Augustus In The Temple” and “The Aerospiza Soars”, it seems another good year for short stories.

There may be more proof of this soon, depending on how August and September turn out. During those stretches (and esp. once the second “Lawrence” draft is done), I’ll be shfting to a plethora of short work ideas/efforts–new and old, but all AH. One, like “AITT” and “TAS” (working title: “The Uganda Plan”, set in that country during a much different WWII, or rather its aftermath/Cold War-esque wake) will fill the second handmade African notebook gifted from my sister, once it’s done in typed form. Another, “Not Since Eve & Adam”, will be my choice for Sea Lion Press’s latest (space-themed) anthology, mentioned in last month’s post; no idea if it’ll reach beta-status by Oct. 1st, but there’s hope there as well. Two other lightly-plotted Civil War AH drafts will receive attention, too, and there might even be time for a few scenes in another story, still taking shape right now, revolving around an AH outcome to the encounter between President Andrew Jackson and a man named Richard Lawrence (look it up!)

Well, with so much being loaded onto my near-future plate, it’s best to sign off here and get some (badly-needed) rest. Keep an eye out for more news, and enjoy your respites, whatever they may be!