New book for Christmas/Solstice/end of year: Partisan of Pelgraff

 Hi All:

Well, not so much time has passed as usual. Only three months. But, as the title suggests, I've got a new book for sale: Partisan of Pelgraff.

It is the 7th book in my Yrden Chronicles series, and is a bit of a departure from normal. Like Pelgraff, it concentrates on a single person -- and not an Yrden.

Rodney Fenton works for the Pelgraff Rail system under the Damarg occupation, and many would consider him a collaborator. He sees himself as working for the betterment of Pelgraff and takes pride in his work. Unfortunately for him, his wife sees things a little differently and suddenly disappears with their son in tow. And then things go sideways for Rodney and he finds himself on the run from the Damargs who once employed him, who once valued him. 

This is his story.

I finished Partisan of Pelgraff this summer, but editing and proofing took a while. However, I haven't been idle, and I wrote the first draft of a stand-alone novel in November (and the first 4 days in December). This one will probably take a lot of editing. It does not take place in the Yrden Universe. I call it "Wreck", which refers to an alien starship that our hero, Captain Ricardo Sandoval of ship Prospector's Luck finds when prospecting in a bad-luck system. I've put it aside for the moment while I continue writing in yet another stand-alone novel -- also not in the Yrden Universe -- under the working title of "Last Stand of the Battlecruiser Retribution." With a modicum of hard work, I may even finish it before the end of the year -- first draft, that is.

Somewhere in the near future I'll begin work on Book 8 of the Yrden Chronicles where Colleen continues to organize against the Damarg Pirates.

Like many others, Covid-19 has seen me pretty much hermitizing at home for the past two years. And it looks like that's going to go on for some time to come. My companion (of the felid sort) left me in March at the ripe old age of 18 (approx). A new guy (about 12 years old) has taken up residence and we're looking forward to end-of-year celebrations -- me with turkey, him with tuna. The last guy loved turkey, this guy takes one sniff of it and walks away. But tuna is something else entirely. Anyway, he's now on mouse patrol, keeping the house rodent-free. (Actually, the only times I've had rodents in the house is when the resident cat brings them in. So far, this guy hasn't done that.) He also defends me from strings that chase me across the room. I feel very safe these days.

Happy holidays to all, whether it be Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa or whatever. Enjoy the season ... and perhaps Partisans of Pelgraff -- now on sale at Amazon (and in Kindle Unlimited for the next 90 days).

Partisan of Pelgraff

"Trading in Secrets" comes out of "Select" today, I believe. I'm a bit behind (read that as very behind) but have put up "Trading for War" at Smashwords, and from there wide. More to follow soon ... I hope.

New Book for the End of Summer: Trading In Secrets

 Today is the last day of summer. Actually, here, it has felt like autumn for some time now. But as I bid goodbye to the summer, I also bid goodbye to the writing of my latest book -- in other words, I published it on Amazon where it will spend the next 3 months in 'Select' -- so you can borrow it as well as buy it.

Trading In Secrets (Book 6 of The Yrden Chronicles)

Secrets both protect and destroy.

Building an alliance against the interstellar Damarg pirate threat, Colleen Yrden must decide which secrets to keep and which to reveal.

Meanwhile, she has hired Turhan Maxwell, an engineer, as head mechanic at an Yrden asteroid mining venture perilously close to Damarg-claimed space. Though warned that the man appears to be hiding something, Colleen gives Maxwell his chance, knowing that adding one more hazard to an already hazardous operation might bring the whole thing crashing down.

Maxwell, wanting nothing more than to fade away, finds himself dragged further and further into Yrden Family affairs, and his very job threatens to expose what he desperately wishes to keep hidden. Events, however, conspire against him, and he will have to decide whether to keep on running or to stand and face his greatest fears.

In other news, I've now finished the first draft of Book 7, tentatively called "Partisan of Pelgraff" or "Pelgraffen Partisan". I'm hoping to have it out by the middle of November. After that, I want to work on two non-Yrden books: "Ghost in the Game" and "Last Stand of the Battlecruiser Retribution". Both are at the halfway mark.

Looks like it is back to the old grind. Hope everyone has a safe Autumn.

Take care of yourselves and Live the Joy,

D.A. 

Another year gone by

Time flies when you are not having fun. Been a rough year for a lot of us. I didn't get a lot done as it is somewhat depressing sitting at home.

However, a few months ago, I decided that if I didn't write now, when would I? So I gave myself a target of 100 words per day -- maybe five minutes. I've somewhat surpassed that, though at times it seemed one of the harder things I've done.

It is disheartening to see how skills atrophy when they are not being used. I've added about 30k words to my Ghost in the Game book, but my major contribution went towards Book 6 in my Colleen Yrden series. Yesterday, I wrote "End" on that first draft. Unfortunately, I feel it is going to take a lot more revision and editing than any of my previous ones. But the story is there. It has a working title of "Trading in Secrets".

We all have secrets that we hope that no one will ever discover, and my characters are no different than the rest of us.

Turhan Maxwell is running away. He picks space as a place to hide, which is somewhat ironic given his secret. But life often puts us in positions where we become forced to deal with what we don't want to deal with -- or at least the opportunity to do so.

Most of us can stay hidden, can avoid facing up to that which we do not want to face. Characters, on the other hand, rarely find life that simple. Even the most safe of hiding places hold hidden dangers that confront the character and force him -- or her -- to act.

And such, I fear, will it be with my poor Turhan. Alas. However, that does make for a better story.

Anyway, I fear it will be some months before I get "Trading for Secrets" in good enough shape to publish. At present it is 118k words (about 350 printed pages). "Ghost in the Game" now stands at 76k words and is only mid-way through the story. While I'm editing "TfS" I hope to continue writing in "GitG". However, in the past I've not been much good at that. 

And that's it for now. Hope everyone has a good summer.