I’m about 85-90% through the first draft of “Night’s Black Agents.” It’s hard to put a firmer number on it than that, because you never know when the climactic battle scene will go crazy on you. And (semi-spoiler) there are two of those in this one.

Subject to tweakage, here’s the initial blurb:

RISING SON

Paxton Locke saved the day, killed the witch, and got the girl.

Well, sort of. Recovering from the beatdown he received at the hands of the witch’s familiars, Paxton and his new partner–don’t call her a sidekick–Cassie are headed to Phoenix. A spate of mysterious, ritualistic murders has the police baffled. Who better to find the perp than someone who can speak to the dead?

While Paxton hunts a killer, far deadlier creatures stalk him–and in the Valley of the Sun, a mystical cold war is about to turn hot.

After that, my plan is to take a bit of a research breather for a week or two before beginning work on “Tombstones.” The idea for this project has been rattling around in my head for a long, long time, and I want to get it right. Fingers crossed, I’d like to have it wrapped up before LibertyCon in July, then work on the final* volume of Z-Day, “A Place For War” late summer and early fall.

I’ll be putting up part two of #FreeAwfulNovel later today. Feel free to comment, point at, or laugh. It’s 21. It can take the shame.

* Final of the first trilogy, at least. <wiggles eyebrows>