Earth

Intel

Intel

New Word Count Guess: 175K, Now at 146K

on Apr 16 2026
For those who are following progress on the second novel, another snapshot. The target word count is, of course, just guesses, and there's still some summary text being unavoidably included in the word count, because the software I use isn't a sophisticated as I'd like... a lot of development time was spent instead on features no one needs. As a retired software engineer, I could make my own novel writing software... but that would be a project that isn't the sequel. Suffice to say, don't look too hard at the upper progress bar. It's a wild guess. The point is that the project is moving, and any project that keeps making progress eventually must finish. Manuscript Target: 146,539 words of 175,000 words Session Target: 1,275 of 1000 words Original Post

145k of 150k Words Completed

on Apr 13 2026
145k out of 150k words completed on Box of Trouble

142k of 150k Words Completed

on Apr 04 2026
142k of 150k words completed on Box of Trouble

140k of 150k Words Completed

on Apr 03 2026
140k out of 150k words completed on Box of Trouble

134k of 150k Words Completed

on Mar 18 2026
134k words completed on Box of Trouble

Slowly Rebuilding My Ability to Write.

on Mar 14 2026
When people ask where the sequel is, I owe them an honest answer. After Theft of Fire took off, my wife nearly died from cancer, and the aftermath broke my writing—now I’m slowly rebuilding it.

Facts, Not Promises: The State of Book Two

on Nov 20 2025
The delay on Box of Trouble wasn’t burnout or laziness—it was real life, cancer, hospitals, and the creative shutdown that comes with crisis. Now the cancer is gone, the story is structurally complete, and progress is real—because I finally asked for help.

Theft of Fire Audiobook Complete!

on Oct 14 2025
The audiobook is finished. Thanks to my kickstarter backers and everyone who made it possible.

Devon Responds to Box of Trouble Delay

on Aug 11 2025
Devon's response to "you wrote a will-they-wont-they prince and the pauper in space and there's no part 2 yet low blow"

Audionbook Mastering of Theft of Fire Complete

on Aug 01 2025
As of today, audio mastering for the Theft of Fire audiobook is complete. 

I Just Wanted to Write a Scene, Not Reinvent Space Travel

on Jul 22 2025
To write Chapter 8, I had to design orbital infrastructure, spin gravity docking, a gas giant extraction system, and a Mars terraforming plan—before writing a single sentence. Next series: fantasy. Definitely.

Status Update: Health, Audiobooks, and the Road to Book Two

on Jul 11 2025
Sara’s cancer is gone. The Theft of Fire audiobook drops soon. The sequel, Box of Trouble, is almost halfway written, with a November 11th release targeted. Momentum is back. No excuses.

Q&A: Why I Can’t Give You a Release Date (Yet)

on May 01 2025
Box of Trouble is 133K words deep, but finishing a novel is a long, complex journey. Progress continues, and your patience means everything.

Kickstarter Update

on Apr 18 2025
Eight months in, through cancer and setbacks, the audiobook is still underway—carefully made, not rushed. No shortcuts, no forgotten promises. Just the slow, deliberate work of creating something beautiful, exactly as envisioned.

On Box of Trouble and the Sophomore Slump

on Mar 19 2025
A recent review raised a real question: why is the second novel so hard? Box of Trouble is coming—but the “sophomore slump” is real, and here’s why.