As Times That Try Men’s Souls (Gideon Hawke #2) works its way through the process of publication, I have turned more of my attention toward A Nest of Hornets (Gideon Hawke #3). This weekend saw me revise the novel’s timeline and outline. I feel the story is much stronger now, and I have sketched out a few chapters in detail, in addition to those already completed.

This novel deals with more obscure events, and more of the storyline focuses on Gideon, Ruth, and a few creative threads, so I hope it will be a bit more suspenseful than the previous two installments!

Teaser: There may be a spy in the Continental Camp! Gideon certainly thinks there is, and he means to catch him!

When This Glorious Cause was ready for publication, I spent hours on Create Space copying, pasting, inserting, formatting, scratching my head, looking up FAQs, re-formatting, and so on.

Now Times That Try Men’s Souls is ready for publication. I put the files into an email and hit SEND. Done. Now I wait.

Fortunately I have another novel to write, so it as not as though there will not be any writing going on, but it is a strange sensation to have others so involved in the preparation of this novel. I suppose the good thing is that those other people are experts in their lines of work. I AM NOT an expert in their line of work, so I am guessing they will do a much, much better job than I could ever do.

Case in point: For this novel, graphic artist Ben Kloepper brought his prodigious skills to bear in preparing maps for my novel. When I compare his beautiful work to the “cave paintings” I did for This Glorious Cause I am very certain that the next time I need a map, Ben is getting an email! (In fact, if I re-release that novel, the maps are getting an upgrade)

I’ll just stick to the writing.

Within a few hours of posting about the end of my crowd funding campaign Pentian Publishing contacted me: our campaigned raised enough to publish, so while the promotional budget will be lower than I would have liked, publication will go ahead! The backers who helped make this possible will get to see the fruits of their investment in a few short months!

My recent crowd funding campaign through Pentian publishing did not reach its goal. I think of it as an experiment that did not quite work as planned.

That said, I was humbled by the number of fans who pledged their support! Thanks to everyone who pitched in!

“Times That Try Men’s Souls” is still on the move; it will be ready for publication by June 2016!

In 2015 I published my first novel, This Glorious Cause. Now, at the start of 2016 I am well on the way toward publishing the next book in the series, Times That Try Men’s Souls. I expect to publish it in June 2016. What’s more, I have started work on the third book, A Nest of Hornets, which should come out in January 2017. That’s a lot of writing–I’d better get going!

One never knows when inspiration will strike! The other week I flew into and out of Newark Airport. Coming and going I was rewarded with breathtaking views of New York City! On the flight in I snapped this picture; when I see this view I can’t help but mourn what was taken from us on 9/11, nor can I help but marvel at our resilience.

On the flight out I was rewarded with a brilliant sunset and a stunning glance back at Sandy Hook Bay, Long Island, Staten Island, and the Hudson. I did not capture a photo, because I my mind’s eye I was envisioning a massive cluster of British tall ships clustered around Gravesend, pounding away with their cannon as landing barges shuttled British and Hessian troops toward Long Island. Somewhere on the receiving end of that barrage would be Gideon Hawke, getting ready for the fight of his life. As the aircraft turned and I lost sight of the harbor, I turned back to my trusty notebook and continued writing, breathing life into Times That Try Mens’ Souls!

Great news! Future Learn is running another “Start Writing Fiction” course. I participated in this free massive open online course (MOOC) last autumn. It helped me refine This Glorious Cause and one of the writing assignments evolved into the opening scene in Times That Try Men’s Souls!

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/start-writing-fiction?utm_source=FL_DB&utm_medium=crm&utm_campaign=06_10_2015_FL_newsletter