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Michael Z. Williamson
Writer

Read advance samples of my upcoming works at Dahak.
Go to "Book Samples" and be sure to check out the other fine authors, too.

2004

December 23

http://www.lfs.org/releases.htm

Freehold has made the final list for the Prometheus Award from the Libertarian Futurist Society. I appreciate the support that has achieved this. Good luck to the other contenders, too. There are some fine writers on the list, and I'll be proud to win, and just as proud to lose in that company.

I've also started a blog at www.mzmadmike.blogspot.com. It will be a little rougher and ruder than my rants on my politics page. A chance to shave my hair off and sound off. Feel free to stop by.

December 17

I now have a blog I shall rant in periodically, at www.mzmadmike.blogspot.com
Stop by and join the outrage.

December 01

BOOK SIGNING!

11 and 12 December 2004, Fort Knox, Kentucky, Main Exchange. If you are a fan and stationed or have access to the Armor Center, do please stop by and say "hi." This is a chance for me to meet and talk to people, and I always enjoy it. You are not a hindrance to my signing--you are the reason for it. Six hours sitting and signing can be boring. Talking to
interested people makes it an enjoyable event.

I hope to see you there.

Upcoming signings in 2005 will be at Forts Jackson and Meade.

October 11

I have cover proofs for both Scope of Justice and Targets of Opportunity. The next eight people who order from me will get one included, signed, for free. These are promotional copies of the book's cover--front and back, flat and unfolded, designed to show off the finished look. I may also have one of The Hero still floating around. My choice on what you get, first come, first served.

October 06

"Freehold" is now available online or as a free download through Baen's Free Library. Help yourself, and decide if you like my stuff enough to pay for it.

October 05

Cover art for Targets of Opportunity is up, and there's a probable title change to By the Book. I'll let you know. I've been trying to catch up on blade orders for www.SharpPointyThings.com, and will have to cut orders back--I can't keep up and write both.

I'm doing a bookplated edition of Targets, 100 copies. They'll be signed and numbered on a bookplate yet to be designed. 5 have already been reserved. Price is $15 plus shipping, to be delivered in March. Email me for details.

September 06

It's been a busy summer.

I just finished the third Target: Terror novel, "By the Book," which should come out late next year.

"The Weapon," second novel in the Freehold universe, with different characters, is scheduled hardcover for August 2005.

I am working on a near future SF that I hope to have done by December.

I got a free rifle from my fans at www.cavalryarms.com. It's interesting. It's bright freaking yellow (my choice). More after I get a chance to shoot it. (Thanks, guys. And the logo you put on for me looks REALLY cool.)

My wife just enlisted in the Army National Guard. She'll graduate Basic Combat Training right about the time of her 36th birthday. Really. Just in case you thought you were tough.

By all means drop me email. More later.

August 07

You think you're tough?

My wife is enlisting in the Army National Guard. As a 19 year veteran myself, I'm a combination of proud and amazed.

Since February, she's lost 25 lbs, learned to run more than a half block (1.4 miles so far), do pushups and situps (64 at current count), and I've taught her ranks, phonetic alphabet, marksmanship, stripping and cleaning of the M16A2 and working on close order drill.

Her first drill is the end of this month. She reports to Basic Combat Training sometime in October. Then 28 weeks of Combat Documentation Specialist school.

Oh, and she's 35, will be 36 in March.

As I said, think you're tough?

August 06

The first 6 pages of Scope of Justice are available for view at Amazon, and an additional 2-3 pages are linked on my site, for the curious.

While the cover art is striking, the back blurb is less than masterful. That's marketing's fault.

But here it is. It's unPC: Scope of Justice.

June 11

Publication date for the second Target: Terror book, Targets of Opportunity, is March 2005.

The Hero is in stores now, and The Scope of Justice will be in stores 29 June. As always, you can order copies from me at face price and I will sign them for you.

It's been a busy few weeks, with a van in the body shop and convention season starting. I'll try to post some more comments soon.

May 08

FREEHOLD is now available for free audio/braille download for qualifying blind or impaired readers. This is a service provided by the volunteers at www.bookshare.org.

May 01

I have my copies of The Hero. If you'd like to purchase one signed and personalized, 2-4 weeks earlier than the stores will have it, drop me an email.

April 04

According to LOCUS Magazine, based on a survey of SF bookstores and major chains such as Barnes and Noble, Freehold was the 3rd best selling paperback of January (Tied with the new release of The Hobbit, and beaten by two really huge contemporary authors). So I'm an SF bestseller. Thanks to everyone who's bought my books or talked about them. You're the reason it happened.

http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Issues/04LocusBestsellers.html

March 26

Okay, Mercedes Lackey has apparently decided there are too many people in Valdemar, so has called me in to exterminate a few tens of thousands of them.

Just kidding. But I am working on a short story for her next Valdemar anthology, to be released late 2005. Obviously, this is all tentative. I've got some characters and scenes, a possible title, but I have to write it and get it approved first. This one won't have the type of bodycount I'm (in)famous for. But it will have enough action.

Now I get to read the entire series and charge the time off to "research." Ahhh!

March 25

Freehold is back in print and in stores everywhere, including airports and military Exchanges. I finished the second Target: Terror book very close to deadline and was absolutely brainless for several days. Sorry about that. I'm hoping to attend Dragon*Con in Atlanta this year. Call me. We'll do lunch.

February 11

I received the galley proofs for The Scope of Justice on Thursday, overnighted. They were wanted back in NYC by today, Wednesday.

Well, my lexicon does not include the word, "Imposs...imposi...imp..." well, it's not in there. They got it back a day early by priority mail. I must say the copy-editors did a damned fine job. It looks good.

The sequel is shaping up nicely--all plotting and thinking done, just writing now. I'm knocking out 3-5000 words a day and will be done in a couple of weeks, then will let my brain cool down from its frying.

Freehold is sold out just about everywhere. If you're looking for a copy, I recommend LIBs (Local Independent Bookstores), the "other copies" available from Amazon.com dealers (As Amazon itself has none in stock and is hoping for a reorder), or email me. I still have about 40 copies left. Print run was 12,000 copies and I think it's all gone. I'm hoping there will be a reprint soon, however.

Some very big news not related to writing is possible shortly. If not, I'll write it up as a rant, even though it's not bad. We should be able to rant about good things, too.

January 13

If you've ordered a signed copy of FREEHOLD, I need to ask you to be patient. For some reason, the copies I ordered are not here yet. I'm tracking this back through Baen to the distributor, but I don't know when they'll be here. It was supposed to be about a month ago, and I got one box (of 7). The rest are in limbo. They'll get here eventually. Meanwhile, I apologize for the delay.

I expect to wrap up the second "Target: Terror" novel before the end of February. This one has more cloak and dagger content, but still lots of military shooting. Romania (the setting) offers so many possibilities for factions, creep factor and backstabbing. Not to mention neck biting. (the Carpathian Mountains being where Transylvania is, and therefore Dracula's digs).