So people have been wondering what's going on, why haven't they heard from their favorite author/brother/son/boyfriend/dad?

Well, there's two reasons I've been, at best, uncommunicative.

The first is that as temperatures drop, yea even as Cthulhu Rising From the Stygian Depths, doth my muse begin to rise. So my first excuse is I've been writing. I know that's a lousy excuse for not answering seven voicemails and a half a dozen emails, but there it is.

The pattern that's emerging is interesting. As most of you know, I have (mumbledy mumbledy) series' that I've let myself get involved with. (The mumbledy is that I've got a count ranging from six to nine depending on how you count them.) Empire of Man, Posleen, Princess of Wands, Into the Looking Glass, Ghost... There Will Be Dragons... (sorry, I'm actually having a hard time recalling them all...) Von Neumann's... Do you count Cally and the spin-offs as a separate one? Two separate ones? Did I forget one? (And, yes, keeping up with the characters and plot threads is less than easy.)

So last year during the main writing season, I did my part of Von Neumann's War then Unto the Breach and A Deeper Blue. Then, having essentially written out my jones on the Ghost series for the time being, I started Vorpal Blade (the sequel to Into the Looking Glass and in some ways the start of a different series). Finished and edited it in the spring and summer along with the two Ghost books. All of those are now turned in and "final."  I really should have started on the promised Mike O'Neal books next. And I did, for about 20k words. (No, you cannot see them. The reintroduction of Mike is one of the few times when I'm going to be a meanie about showing stuff around. Heck, I'd actually prefer to avoid the EArc and Webscriptions but those are contractual obligations at this point. But I will say it's ubercool.)

But the next book in the Vorpal Blade series, Manxome Foe, was nagging at me. Eventually, I quit fighting the muse and started writing it, cranking the majority of the text out in about a month. There are huge gaps, some of them "my" stuff some of them for Doc Travis, but I wrote it to the end. (Cool ending) Sit back, go fishing, contemplate for, oh, I dunno, three days... Then I started the next one, The Tum-Tum Tree. 13k words of that, so far, and I'll probably write more on it tonight.

So that pattern that's developing seems to be write three or four books in a series, mostly from September to March, edit, ideate and play during the warmer months, then write some more. And that will probably be how they'll be released, so there will be a set of books from one series, possibly interspersed with collaborations like a Cally's War, a Posleen spin-off with Tom, Von Neumann's, an Empire of Man if David ever gets me an outline, then switch to the next. That being the case, I don't really have a timeframe on when the next book of ANY series is going to come out unless I'm writing it or have written it. I THINK that the Vorpal Blade stuff will trickle off, soon. I sort of hope so. I've got seven books laid out in the series (and that's just to the half-way point) and if I end up writing them ALL it's going to be a LONG time before the Mike O'Neal books come out. Okay, okay, so I might be able to finish them all this writing season (Yes, I'm serious, I've got a serious Jones for this series) but then they have to get published and Baen's not going to fill one entire year with one series from one author!

:-)

But the other reason I haven't been communicating much is also the reason I've only got 13k words in a week. Ob thick. Omb sthick. I'm....siiiiick. It seems to be what the English would call "the grippe." Not quite the flu but worse than a cold. A sinus infection that occasionally goes for full body nastiness. I'd been wondering why my legs were hurting so much and felt like I shouldn't be such a wimp. I wasn't REALLY sick. I know what REALLY sick feels like and I wasn't REALLY sick. So I could stay up all night in low temperatures, generally underdressed. Sure, I wasn't getting much writing done but I COULD I really COULD! Waaah! Waaah! What's wrong with me, I'm not REALLY sick!

Then last night I started running a high fever and gave up writing about 1AM . Given that it was about 47degrees and I was underdressed, that was probably a good idea. Then I woke up about 8AM covered in sweat. Fever broke. Feel better. Head's clearer. Time to get back on the horse. I've got books to write.

I often say that I'm professionally lazy. But that's a matter of not being willing to make my bed, being lousy about getting anything in the mail, etc. When it comes to writing, well, it's more like one of my few addictions.

In other news:

My daughters' poodle is expecting labadoodles or poolabs or whatever you call the sport cross of a full standard poodle and a labrador. I have been asked to promote them. If anyone wants a (rather expensive, sigh) dog that has some connection to your favorite author... Email me. (Sigh) I have no idea what the genetics situation is but knowing both dogs (the lab sire owns two friends of mine, Mike and Courtney Boehlke who, yes, are the characters in TWBD) the result is going to be MORE energetic than a ferret on pixie sticks, as obedient as Sauron and big enough to chew up an ACS. But also very friendly.

:-)

That's about it. Take care.

John

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