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Tuesdays traditionally were the days when TradPub released new books. Every author got a specific Tuesday assigned to them over the course of the year and that was the day their book would come out. I knew it unconsciously before I learned the details, because I just KNEW to walk into the bookstore in early April and I would find a new David Drake book.
These days, I always release on the 10th. Today is the 10th. I released a book.
Ollie 1 is finally out. Seeking The Gods, first in the Quest For The Ancients series. Xenoarchaeology and asking who built the ancient network of hypergates that connects the entire galaxy. More importantly, Ollie has never been able to locate the world where Humans come from, and that has irritated him for twenty years.
Then he discovers a clue. And shit will get way out of hand before we’re done, because I wanted to ask some big and chewy questions with this series.
It started out as a series of shorts, as you’ve seen me do several times since. Then I hit a “what the hell do I do now?” part and had to put one story aside for six months before the whole rest of everything came into focus and I wrote. And wrote.
Rufus has been one of my favoritest characters to write, because he’s alien. And does alien shit. Has alien observations and opinions, like how humans cannot commit science or read important books without touching them, regardless of not having eyes on their fingertips.
But the Troida made good evolutionary choices, which he will also remind you of regularly.
And Hawk, when you meet him, should have been played by a young John Astin. You’ll see it when you get there. I had too much fun.
It was a fun series. Dunno what I might write for Ollie in the future, or if I skip forward a generation to Ollie and Mani’s kid. Anything is possible, because I left a lot of open space on that map to play.
Red Branch 5 is getting a cover and a publication date. Doing edits on the back parts of both Heather and Ollie so those are ready in the summer and fall.
Deep into Kincaide’s War 3 at this point. Hit 70k of an expected 170k, and the last third came sharply into focus yesterday. USUALLY, I know how a book and series will end. Not here. Not until yesterday. I was just writing and trusting the unconscious parts of writer-brain to have it.
Granted, I have a whole series of questions that needed to be answered, left over from the first two books, so I knew many of those set pieces, but how they all came together wasn’t something I had consciously engaged.
Wow. Gonna be fun. Gonna be weird as hell, but fun. Just gotta get there.
Ollie today. Heather in a month. Rotating back and forth all summer and fall, then stuff at the end of the year that’s written and in the editing process.
I always knew that Kincaide 3 would be huge, in terms of time, because I expected it to take me 3+ months to write, given other projects and constraints. Shit happens, and this gets Kincaide off my plate for good. No longer hanging over my head to complete, so I can attack some of my other open projects, like Giles or Holden. Or Duff. Stuff to do. Fun to have.
Shit to write.
And more coffee this morning. Gotta have more coffee, as the bags under my eyes have zip codes.
Y’all find someone else to post bail instead.
shade and sweet water,
b
West of the Mountains, WA
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