Mike Shepherd's Blog, page 5

Kris Longknife’s Bloodhound is finished.

I just finished putting 27,000 words into this year’s novella. Kris Longknife’s Bloodhound will fill in the space between Kris telling Special Agent Foile that she isn’t sure what her Grampa Al is up to, but she’d like to know, and her getting the alert to rush the new Wasp out to system M-688 and stop something really stupid. I think you’ll find it fun.

I intend to independently publish this one, and maybe arrange for a print on demand version. With luck, the package will include the first 20% of Kris Longknife Defender, To Do or Die as well as Vicky Peterwald – Target. A lot to wet the appetite!

Oh, and I’m presently writing at the coast with 41,500 words into Fire in the Shadows, the first book of the Iteeche War. Boy are Ray and Rita in need of marriage counseling.

Good News for Audible.com fans

My agent e-mailed me with a offer from Audible for the next ELEVEN books! Three Kris’s (Defender, Tenacious and Relentless), Three Vicky’s (Target, Survivor, Rebel) and Four Ray Longknife (First Casualty, Price of Peace, They Also Serve and To Do or Die.) That ought to lock in your listening from now until a while, huh?

I suspect it will take a while to get First Casualty and The Price of Peace out there, but they’ll be coming.

Copy edits for Defender are here!

Today’s e-mails brought the copy edits for Defender. It was the second time they sent them, but they got through this time. They look clean. I’m at Chapter 6 and it’s all going well. They’re due April 1. Oh my! I’ll have them there sooner.

When the cover shows up, I’ll post it.

Sales staff Treatment for To Do or Die.

My editor asked me to put together something to tell the sales staff what to expect from To Do or Die for February, ’14. I thought I’d share it with you.

Treatment for To Do or Die, rev 2

Give peace a chance sounds great, but sometimes what makes a world of difference is giving peace a helping hand up from a few heavily-armed troopers.

Retired Colonel Ray Longknife and Marine Captain Trouble come to Savannah via different routes, but what they find is the same.

One bully strongman is intent on keeping power no matter what are the new rules are for the peace. He’s got his population cowered by thugs for cops and tanks at the ready. He expects to win the coming elections handily.

He doesn’t expect Trouble. In this case, Mrs. Trouble, a Marine wife on a mission to find the drug lords that almost killed her and her husband . . . and put them out of business.

So one brutal strong man discovers that tanks may be great for unarmed crowd control, but they’re just targets for light infantry. Thugs can cow civilians, but don’t do all that much in the face of combat experienced troopers. Oh, and drug farms can make great bonfires when you have the right connections.

Abandoned by their strongman and desperate in defeat, the heavy armor get ready to roll into town over anybody in their way. But Ray Longknife, Trouble and some damn fine people stand in their way . . . and nothing is going to flatten them.

In another time and place, this might be just fun and games among us humans, but there are reports of ships going missing and now General Ray Longknife is wondering. Is humanity’s three hundred year journey to the stars about to hit a speed bump?

A fun Week.

I spent last week making my second edit of Kris Longknife – Tenacious (10/14). It was fun going back to the story after leaving it alone for three months. There were a few twists at the end I’d even forgotten. A fun read. Now I turn it over to Ellen for a first read. When she’s done, it goes to my second reader. Then to Ace.

Ace hasn’t gotten back to me with copy edits for Defender (10/13). I got Furious by the end of Feb last year. If I don’t get them by the end of next week, I’ll check. Sandy may have caused more trouble than I wanted.

I plan to spend this week do revisions to Lost Days, the 3rd book of the Lost Millennium trilogy that has been out of print for 13 years. Once my second reader does her magic, I’ll e-pub it.

I’ve been asked to do an alternate history story for the American Civil War. I’m reading several books on it to get the feel for the language and the time. It’s a lot of work for 20,000 words.

Vicky Peterwald – Survivor draft is finished.

Today I put 7,200 words into Survivor, 37,500 for this week and the draft is finished. Hurray! This is my fifth book in 18 months. Not bad. Next month, I’ll start the first book of the Iteeche War.

This year will also have a lot to offer the reader. Beside the three rereleases, there will be Kris Longknife – Defender in October. I’m planning on doing a e-novella for Kris Longknife’s Bloodhound to fill in some of what was only hinted at in Furious. I may be able to also get this one out as a print on demand, depending on how low I can get a price.

I’ve also been asked to do an alternate history story with the Civil War as its backdrop. I’ll let you know more about when that one will come out when I know more.

Oh, and over the next few months I hope to get Lost Days available as an e-book.

Stay in touch, there’s a lot of fun reading ahead.

First Casualty will be back in print 2/26/13

First Casualty will be hitting bookstores come February 28th.

I turned in my 3rd book for 2012!

Okay, so maybe I was 4 days into 2013 when I did it, but it counts as ’12.

Today, I turned in To Do or Die (aka The Hounds of War). This is the fourth novel of the Ray Longknife books and will come out January 2014 after the first three books are reprinted next year.

This book brings the gang from The Price of Peace and They Also Serve to a badly misnamed planet, Savannah. The peace following the end of the Unity War is not blessing the poor place and it’s up to Ray Longknife, Trouble and Mrs. Trouble to cure the problems with a little peace making.

They do it, with a lot of shit getting blown up and Trouble taking his Marines up Black Mountain with the Ladies from Hell on his left flank. And you won’t believe what Mrs. Trouble is up to while he’s out on the town, I mean mountain.

Anyway, there have been hints about this story in Kris’s books and come January, 2014, you will have a chance to read the whole thing.

I’ve suggested the cover have Mrs. Trouble with a big honking gun and an armored bustier. Well see what Ace thinks.

Oh, and the Iteeche show up in the last chapter. This would, of course, been a whole lot nastier ending had it come out in 2000 when initially planned and not been leaked in Kris’s books, but still.

Furious is Now Out There. No Spoilers.

I am told that folks are already downloading the file at Audible.com. I know some folks are having problems with the weather and delivery, but is anyone not underwater having problems getting the e-file or book?

Since my editor is marooned on her NY highrise, I can’t guarantee any results if you complain, but maybe someone else has got it.

Furious is now out there. Spoiler alert.

I’ve never done this before, and I may cancel this thread if it goes bad, but on another thread, Evil (interesting handle there) said he’d love to discuss Furious, but didn’t want to spoil it. Feel free to talk here about the book. I may or may not comment about speculation about where it’s going. As I said in Daring, I was breaking the series. It would never be the same. I don’t think Furious is anywhere close to in a rut.

Mike