So I’m pretty exhausted, but there are tons of explosions going on outside right now, so rather than go to bed I figure I ought to do a quick blog post letting you know what I’m up to.
This week was fairly slow as far as the writing goes. My family was in town, so I spent a lot of time with them. My sister just had a baby, my brother-in-law got a new job, my parents are in town and got to meet my girlfriend for the first time, so between all of that and the usual Fourth of July festivities (plus my sister’s birthday, which falls squarely on the fourth), my plate has been pretty full.
Still, I did manage to get some work done. On Tuesday, I finished the first draft of Strangers in Flight (Sons of the Starfarers: Book III). I’ll send that out to my first readers this weekend and get the ball rolling on the cover art. If all goes well, it should be available sometime in mid-August.
I’ve also been doing a few publishing-related chores that I’d put off for a while. You may notice the new buy buttons on the sidebar, and the My Books page up top. That’s a plugin I recently downloaded that should streamline things significantly. Eventually, I want to do a full site redesign, with a landing page for new visitors or people that are interested in my books, not just the blog. I’ll probably write a new bio and get some professional author photos too.
With Strangers in Flight done for the moment, I’ve got some time to work on other projects. Since the fourth book in the Sons of the Starfarers series (right now, the tentative title is Friends in Command) won’t be out until sometime in October, I have a bit of breathing room to do something else for a while. I’ll probably take some time off to write short stories, and perhaps pick up an unfinished project like Lifewalker.
So that’s what I’m up to right now. I’ll leave you with the United States Marine Band playing the Stars and Stripes Forever, which has been in my head since Sunday. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!
