Since I last updated this series in June, the slings and arrows of outrageous life events knocked me of my writing horse.

Well, not entirely off the writing horse. I’ve written two more books in the interim, but neither of them are the Big Book with which we’re now concerned.

The good news is, one of those books was Hadrian’s Flight, and it turns out that writing it was absolutely essential to being able to finish Book 3. This YA adventure takes place during books 2 and 3, in a different part of the story universe, and it helped me discover some pieces I was seriously missing.

Now that I’m done with that, I’m finally back into the Big Book, and looking at a Christmas release for it. Over the last few days, I’ve added a little over a thousand words to it (which ain’t much) and have stitched together most of the scattered scene-parts that I’ve been writing out of order into a coherent narrative.

It brings us to page 150 in what’s looking to be an 800 page door stop, and Joss Kyle’s universe is about to change radically in ways that I not only wasn’t expecting, but that I’m not sure I can handle.

Well, that’s not true. I can handle it. I’m just flabbergasted that the story is actually going there, to so speak. But it’s working. Kitty NicIaian is hyperventilating from suspense as she’s doing her beta pass right behind me, so I know I’m on the gold.

By the way, at some point in the next couple weeks here,

Used to be Free Will
Used to be Free Will
the titles of these posts will change to “Blogging Kabrakan” since the series is being renamed The Kabrakan Ascendency for reasons I discussed last week. Book 3 is now called The Reeves Directive. And oh boy, is that title really helping to goose my creative juices.

Anyway, I’m gonna be back on the beam with these blogs every night or two. For the record, today is day 243 since I started work on this book in earnest. I’ve not been consistent about how I numbered the post days for this series, but starting now I’ll go forward from “day 243” so it’ll be easier to keep track.

Here’s where we’re currently at:

55,623 / 120000 words
 

And while you’re waiting for this book, be sure to check out the Antithesis podcast (see link at right), which is finally back on schedule consistently.

Extreme SF Bundle

And if you want to sink your teeth into some of the broader “Mannix Families” universe (of which the Kabrakan books are the foundation), the Extreme Sci-Fi bundle I’m curating has two, yes two! titles in it that are in continuity with the main series: Hadrian’s Flight and Suave Rob’s Double-X Derring-Do. Get ’em both now, plus eight other fantastic high-adventure hard science fiction books, for one low price–but do it fast, because the bundle disappears on October 6.