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A peculiar situation turns into something much more sinister when Broekstein learns that his female coworkers are being threatened and stalked. The war is over, and someone apparently does not want them working on the line anymore.
All is not as it seems, however, and Broekstein will need to keep his wits about him if he is to solve a dangerous case of infidelity, misogyny, and vengeance—without losing his head or his heart in the process.
Spring Has Sprung
Halfway There
Reached the 45K mark in my current work-in-progress, which should be the halfway point if it ends up being the same length as the first book in the series. I've got the plot arc mapped out with plenty of room for surprises along the way. Added some political intrigue to make things interesting, as well as some trust issues the protagonist has to work through. Hoping to keep the momentum going and have the first draft completed in time for summer edits.
In other news, I decided to give the Virtual Voice robo-narrator a chance with one of my short eBooks, just to see how it turned out. I've gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised with the result. It's much more lifelike than the text-to-voice function on my 2009 Kindle. While I don't plan on taking this route for all of my books that aren't currently available in audio, it was a fun experiment, and I'm always up for trying something new. Check it out here: Out of Time.
March Update
Making good progress on Infidels & Insurgents, the sequel to Dust Freaks & Demigods. Hit the 30K mark this week, and that's about a third of the way, methinks. Doing my best to average 1K a day, even if it means only 500 words on some days and 1,500 on others. So far, so good.
I'm fully immersed in this world again, but I still have to go back to the first book to make sure certain details and descriptions are consistent. Sometimes I have both documents up at the same time as I search for specific terms. All part of the world-building fun: sticking to your own rules.
Easter eggs are always a hoot, so I'm referencing a character from one of my other series each time the protagonist dives into VR to meet one of her underworld contacts. The interactive storyline is a Future Noir environment, so of course one of the avatars had to be Charlie Madison.
In other news, I think I'm prepared for the Author Hop at the local library later this month. I'll have a few of my paperbacks for sale and flyers with a QR code so folks can sign up for my newsletter (and get a free eBook each month). First time I've ever tried selling my books IRL, so I told my wife that if I sell one, I'll consider it a success.
No Bare Chests Allowed
How does this affect my books? Well, I don't write romance novels, but AGROTHARN does happen to be bare-chested on his covers, and that isn't always looked upon favorably. I've had Book 1 kicked out of multiple promos because of it. The organizers apologize, saying they realize it's not erotica by any stretch, but they're sticking to their guns. NO bare chests allowed.
So I'm trying an alternate cover as a workaround:
Release Day
Not Much Writing Update
The goals this month were to finish final edits on Dust Freaks & Demigods, get the eBook and paperback formatted for their February 6 release, compile the AGROTHARN trilogy into a box set, and start drafting the next installment of Dome City Investigations: Infidels & Insurgents. With three days left in the month, I'm pleased to say I've managed to meet every goal but one. Then again, if I manage to write even the first line of Infidels by Wednesday, I'll consider that a win.
First, I need to go over the pages of notes I took while giving Dust Freaks a final read-through. Plenty of details to keep straight while expanding the world with new conflicts and characters. I'm looking forward to diving into Sera and Dunn's next adventure, but I want to make sure I've got everything just right before I knock it all down and make life difficult for them. Then I'll follow them around while they sort through the mess and hope they can figure it all out.
They've done it before, and they make a great team, so I have every confidence they will. But will it be smooth sailing? No chance of that.
The Trilogy is Complete
