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Michael Z. Williamson
Writer

Read advance samples of my upcoming works at Dahak.
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2002

December 30

Both the final copy of "Freehold" (for publication process) and the submission draft of "The Weapon" are at Baen. Wish me luck. I am now working on the collaboration with John Ringo, working title "Hero."

Happy New Year, and make sure the goat wipes his feet.

December 23

"The Weapon" is done in rough draft. I am now editing for holes, fixing continuity errors, and getting it ready to submit. Wish me well on this.

It being the holiday season, may the God, Goddess or Deity of Your Choice bless, curse or completely ignore you, according to your wishes.

December 05

"The Weapon" is almost finished. I caught up on the writing I didn't do during my Thanksgiving trip by writing 7000 words today. So far.
As soon as this is finished, I'll be working on "Hero," the collaboration with John Ringo in his "Legacy of the Aldenata" universe. Meanwhile, you can get ahead by reading the first four books in the series. Yes, this is a shameless plug for John and Baen Books.

I'm awaiting final details and a contract, but it looks as if I'm going to be writing a present day military fiction trilogy, "Target: Terror." "One Shot, One Kill," "Scope of Justice" and "By The Book," will be released starting in 2004.

While I've never been a sniper, I do have trophies for combat rifle and combat pistol match as a military competitor. I'll draw on that and my experience in OpFor. More updates soon.

October 01

Well, writing is in some ways like being in the military. You have to maintain a rigid state of flexibility.

So, with that in mind, here's the latest on my current projects:

"Freehold" has been given a final release date, carved in stone, of 1 Sept 03.

"Hero," (working title) with John Ringo is contracted. Yes, it's on the calendar. Yes, I have my advance money. I am to have my share done by Oct 1, 2003. Release date should be a year after that, plus or minus. It is set in the same universe as the Posleen stories, but 1000 years later. It'll be fun. And seeing as Baen demanded a happy ending, there will be survivors. I know that's a concern with John's and my writing. ;-)

"The Weapon," set in the same universe as "Freehold" and with an overlapping timeframe, is almost finished. I'm above 125,000 words and plan to have it into Baen this year, as I need the money. Besides, the closer together all these come out, the bigger name I'll appear to have. Marketing! This book follows the career of a Special Warfare soldier from recruitment through training, several engagements and brushfire wars, to his final mission that takes out an entire civilization and most of a planet (Earth are the bad guys in this series). I'm still taking nominations on which cities/towns/villages deserve the Incendiary Slum Clearance Program. eMail me with your ideas. NOTE: this is set 500 years from now. Please don't imagine this is in any way related to contemporary terrorism. I shouldn't need this disclaimer, but people are acting like idiots even a year after the tragic events of Sept 11, 2001. Frankly, the next person I hear excuse paranoid stupidity with a chant of "Nine eleven! Nine eleven!" is going to get stomped into last week.

Two other novels in this universe are under consideration (by me), "Mtali," about a Balkanized planet and the unsatisfactory resolution, and one about a POW, as yet untitled. I've got ideas for a first contact story, an anecdotal future history and some space warfare battles. We may also spend some time banging around Iota Persei's (Home star of the Freehold of Grainne) rocks and debris in its various halos, clouds and belts.