Well, a few words, actually.

First though, an apology, at least of sorts. I’ve never been regular in updates here, and that’s my fault. I’m absent minded, and time gets away from me. When I’m working, nothing seems to penetrate my little world. My wife will literally have to come and get me and make me do stuff.

Like eat. Just for instance.

So I take full responsibility for not updating here more, but with the caveat that I just don’t realize how long a time has passed. I mean, here it is, October, and I’m still thinking ‘what happened to July?’

Another part of my more recent absence is far simpler. We suffered a death in the family that shook us to our core. For me, one reason I’m so far behind is that time seemed to stop on that day, and so far it hasn’t seemed to start again. Oh, life goes on and the world does keep moving, but for me, time seemed to be still. Stuck on that day.

On to today’s topic, however, which is my works in progress, and plans for the future. Before I say anything, however, I am forced to qualify it with this statement:

“Nothing written here is in any way, shape, form or fashion meant to indicate any scheduled releases of books, whether currently or in the future. The discussion here is about projects that I work on or am working on, and what that means in terms of any series work, or in hoped for stories or sequels.”

There.

I’ve noticed a common trend that people often post in reviews that they hope the recent book in the Fire series, (Hellfire in this instance) is not the final book in the series.

It isn’t.

Fire From the Sky is an open ended series at the moment, and there is, at this point, no ending written or outlined. When I began the series, I decided that so long as I could create quality stories surrounding the Sanders family and their friends, I would continue to do so. At this point, for instance, I pretty much have the next two books, and possibly three books, mapped out. (depends on how much material there is, to be honest, as to how many books it will make). And again, I must warn all that this statement is in no way a promise of future release dates or deliveries. I use this blog to explain my actions and talk about what I hope to achieve.

What about Parno? Another regular question. The only answer I can give is that I am working on the fifth Parno book at this time. I can’t even guess at a finish or release date thanks to someone complaining that a ‘guess’ I once made about a book, or maybe a ‘I hope to be done’ about a book, was in fact a missed release date. They complained to Amazon, who in turn complained to my publisher, who knew what had happened and explained it to them. However, because of that and the trouble it causes, I have stopped entirely from ‘guesstimating’ on any release dates or even finish dates. I will tell you that I’m working on something, assuming that I am, and sometimes even guess at how much of it is finished, though I actually hesitate to do even that, now days.

This fifth book from Parno will likely be the last in this arc. That does not necessarily mean it is the last Parno book, though it may well be, I don’t know. But this book is supposed to tie up the loose ends and bring this arc of Parno’s story to a close. Again, not positively the end of Parno’s story, just the end of this part of it.

WHY does it take so long to get a Parno novel?  Well, because it’s hard to do, honestly. Hundreds of characters and a dozen or more minor plot lines, and that’s aside from the war and the major plot lines, take time to manipulate. I had no idea how much time, to be honest, until Parno and the follow on novels. It takes a lot of time just to fact check and back check to make sure that the current book isn’t directly contradicting something from three books back. So many moving parts and shifting people that it’s difficult to keep it rolling. So that’s why it takes so long. I never knew writing could be actual hard work until Parno. A mistake I shall not make again,