Spring Writing Update
The first draft of the Captain Quasar sequel is finished! The Mass-Exodus Reversal picks up shortly after The Space-Time Conundrum and introduces new characters and locations while bringing back all the favorites. After a few rounds of edits, the 80K word count will undoubtedly change, but my goal is to keep it as close as possible to the length of the original. Good news: I signed a second contract with Aethon Books, and they're already in the process of preparing the first Quasar novel for re-release. Once the sequel is ready, I'll be sending it their way for consideration and perhaps a third contract. We shall see...
In other noveling news, I'm over halfway through polishing up the second book in my Spirits of the Earth trilogy. It's been a chore to rewrite the POV in first-person/present tense instead of third-person/past tense, but I'm glad it will match the first book. The audio versions will be produced by the same voice actor, so it'll be good to have all three books in the same POV. And now that I'm planning the third book, I know I'll be writing it in first-person/present tense.
BackTracker is still with Baen Books. It's been four years now since I sent them that manuscript. But like I've said before, if I eventually get a book deal with Baen, it will be worth the wait. And it's not like I have nothing else to work on in the meantime.
In short story news, I still have 12 tales out on submission, and two of them are currently on short lists. Yes, these are the same dozen stories I wrote during StoryADay last year. No, I haven't sold a single one yet. But it's been encouraging to see so many of them shortlisted, and for one story to receive positive editorial feedback from both Asimov's and Pseudopod. Hoping to break into those publications someday soon!