The Veil War

The end is in fact near. With the decision to post chapter 36 in its entirety, the final chapter of the Veil War will post in less than a week. Does this mean that there will be nothing more to read, forever?

Not quite. There will in fact be a bonus chapter posted the week after. Material that was cut from Part I (in a series of maniacal editing binges occasioned by the harsh criticism of Ian Healy) has been revamped, polished, wrapped in a bow, set upon a velvet cushion and will be restored to a more appropriate location. To wit, right after Chapter 17. This interstitial chapter is a big one, approximately equal to two (2!) regular chapters. So there’s that.

But every ending is just a beginning somewhere else. So what else? Right now, I’m editing the entirety of the Veil War – both the parts you have seen, and that which remains unseen. Preparing it for publication. This will take some little while, given my work and commuting schedule. But in the not-too-distant future, The Veil War will leave the nest and be sent somewhere so that eventually you might buy it. At this point, I’m still wavering between the Scylla of self-publishing and the Charybdis of traditional publishing. I don’t know exactly how that will work. But I’ll keep you updated. (Hint: I’m leaning towards self-publishing, which should allow you to own your very own copy of the Veil War sooner rather than later.)

Now you may be asking, “When will I get more rollicking, exploding, profanity-filled adventures to occupy my lonely Thursdays?”

Soonish. After I finish the editing, I am technically free to immediately dive into The Veil War, Volume II (TVWVII). I will make that dive, but probably not until summer. I want to write some short stories and submit them to actual, paying venues. One is already complete, and two more are under construction. I intend to churn out a fair number of these because: money, practice, fun, money, and to clear my head a bit before returning to the Veil War. But also, and more importantly, because of a promise to my son.

The first several excuses should be fairly self-explanatory. The last one deserves some little comment. Back when I first started writing the Veil War, my son was obsessed with the idea. He woke me up an hour early every day so that we could talk about it. And he had a ton of ideas. Whole bulk-cargo ship loads of ideas. Most of which, sad to say, did not fit the Veil War’s unique and special idiom.

They weren’t bad ideas. In fact, rather the opposite. The unbridled id of an bright eight year old boy fed on steady diet of nature documentaries, violent cartoons, and a thin sprinkling of scientific knowledge can come up with some wild shit. In fact, the boy became upset the more I told him that his ideas didn’t fit the Veil War. (Son, where am I going to add a fifteen-mile long dreadnought of space with particle beam weapons that can boil oceans? Where?) So I promised him that after I finished the Veil War, we’d write stories that had room for all his ideas. In a universe not constrained by the prejudices of gun-forum habitues. I encouraged him to just cut loose. I took notes. And damn me if the result isn’t the framework for a freaking awesome Space Opera.

Galactic scale war, vast fleets, starkly unimaginable forces harnessed for the destruction of worlds. You know, the typical. But there’s more.

Some of the short stories will be set in that world. And I’ll be splitting any profits with the boy.

So, to sum up:

• One more chapter
• Bonus, double-length interstitial chapter
• Hiatus (behind the scenes editing)
• Short Stories!
• Veil War II

My thinking on short stories is that I’ll try and get each one published maybe twice. Anything that doesn’t stick for whatever reason, I’ll throw up here. Once I have a decent number, I’ll bundle them and put the result up on Amazon. Obviously, I’ll keep you posted on that front, too.