Full disclosure: I’m a slow writer. Not quite George R.R. Martin slow, but…slow. Having a full-time job is part of it, but only part.

Almost six years after publishing AETHYR, I count exactly two mass-market books to my name. There’s also my fantasy novel, but that’s a passion*/vanity* (delete as appropriate) project and isn’t available firsthand besides from the printer, so doesn’t count.

I intend to change that. Maybe not in 2026 – publishing books costs money, and I have a conscience, so any use of AI for writing, editing, or design is out of the question – but in the foreseeable future.

And yes, I’ve said that before.

Anyway, here’s a breakdown of what I’ve got on the WIP list at the moment:

AMARANTH: The working title of a novel I’ve wanted to write for years, after some fashion. Kevin Holland is a former US Navy patrol pilot whose aircraft was severely damaged over the South China Sea and forced to make an emergency landing on an artificial island, resulting in the death of his commanding officer. Five years later, Kevin, still seeking answers about his friend’s death, gets a visit from Dr. Sophie Quan, a Singapore-based biochemist who has been sent to recruit him for a secret mission to stop a deadly virus allegedly of otherworldly origin – engineered by none other than the Anunnaki of ancient legend.

As the clock ticks, Kevin and Sophie need to find the secret base where the Anunnaki are supposedly hiding the virus before it is released. All the while, they must evade the downtrodden and desperate Yi Jilong, who himself has been recruited by a shadowy figure called Alas for secretive purposes. The three of them will discover that their pasts are entwined in ways that none of them could have ever imagined.

The first draft is about 95% finished at the moment, but I’m struggling with the first part of the ending. Thus far, it’s become a big action sequence, which just doesn’t feel right for a novel that’s been mostly character-driven to that point. There are a couple tweaks that need to be made, but it shouldn’t take me too much longer.

Ha! “Shouldn’t take me too much longer.” Famous last words. It’s gonna take forever now.

After that, I have three more projects in some stage of development. I’m gonna finish OMEGA NOIR…for the third time. That damned book has been a pain in my backside since I hastily pressed the publish button the first time. I’d hoped to have the revised version finished in 2024, but after some back-and-forth with my editor, I realized it needed a full hard reboot. The ultimate version will look quite a bit different than the 2021 edition (which has since been unpublished and should’ve never been published in the first place).

Another is more along the lines of CULT OF THE WYVERN in tone, maybe even more lighthearted. I’ve wanted to write a book about my experiences in the aviation business – specifically the antics I encountered at my first airport job – for a while now, and with the help of a friend, I have a pretty good idea of how it’s going to unfold.

The last one is a long way off, and will probably eat up a lot of my time and effort, so I’m gonna save any updates on that one for later.