A teaser for my readers

I'm working hard to complete Volume 4 of the Maxwell Saga.  Here's the cover, with a grateful tip o' the hat to Oleg Volk for his graphic design skills in putting it together.

The back cover blurb reads:

For ten years, Steve Maxwell has played cat and mouse with the Dragon Tong, pretending to look for a missing jade artifact. They've given him favors and prestige, keeping close contact despite his rise in the military. All this time, it's been in his luggage, and he's been trying to find a way to give it back without getting killed if the truth got out.

Unfortunately, all good luck ends. Steve is stranded in a half-destroyed supply depot with a crew of Tong prisoners and a handful of local allies. He's the last obstacle in the path of local rebels and escaped prisoners trying to get off-planet.

Any sane man would cut and run, but Steve never learned to back down. No matter what the odds, he'll stand against the storm.

The holdup now isn't so much my writing as the promotional materials and publicity that go with launching a book.  Miss D. (who handles a great deal of the marketing) and I are finding it very difficult to line things up for a December publication, as many of those involved are either on holiday or busy with their own Christmas promotions.  As a result, publication may slip until early January.  I'd rather not miss the Christmas shopping season, but I've got to be realistic - it's better not to launch something half-baked.  I'd rather do a good job and get it right.

I'm also having a lot of fun planning Volume 2 of the Laredo Trilogy.  In it, the two series will come together, because Steve Maxwell is going to become temporarily involved with the Laredo resistance.  If I could figure out a way to categorize the book as both Laredo 2 and Maxwell 5, I would;  but that's not really feasible, so it'll be published as Laredo 2.  Steve Maxwell's adventures will continue later next year in another book, Volume 5 of the Maxwell Saga.

I'm hoping to finish the Laredo Trilogy next year, with Volume 2 to be published in March and Volume 3 in September.  I'm also planning two more Maxwell books, Volume 5 in June and Volume 6 in December.  That's a heck of a lot of work, but I'll do my best.  Thank you all for being enthusiastic readers.  It helps me to keep my nose to the grindstone.

Peter