Well I beat my previous record today. It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it might be. The first novel I finished took me 33 years from start to end. There were (obviously) a lot of hiccups along the way but Seafood Capital of the World, a historical fiction novel set in the Prohibition Era in Biloxi is finished. No success yet in querying it for a publisher, but it’s out there.
Novel number two was blisteringly faster at a mere 25 years. The Island War is a military thriller for the common soldier. One beta reader called it Blackhawk Down meets Jack Reacher. Their words, not mine, because my hero is a lowly Specialist just trying to make it through the deployment that turns into a war with absolutely zero plans to re-enlist. I finished it in November of 2023 and it felt good. It also has yet to have any takers in the querying process, but again, it is out there.
Now, number three is the bombdiggity bomb. I started the first chapter as a short story for Deceit, the anthology my writing group, Transcendent Authors, put out in Nov. It was sitting around the 8k mark until last December. Then I went to town. This morning (30 Apr 2024) I typed the final scene of the first draft. It needs some polishing, some developmental editing, and I’m still waiting on some research from the National Archives to arrive, but this historical fiction story is one that really, really tickled my fancy.
The story tells the tale of a Wehrmacht Major at the end of World War II who went to find an American tanker and enlist his help in defending some VIP prisoners that had been held in a castle in Austria. It is one of only two times that the Germans and Americans conducted joint operations against the Waffen SS. It happened in May of 1945 after the little Austrian corporal offed himself but before the Germans surrendered. It is a fantastic story worthy of the effort, and I can’t wait for someone to read it.
I’m tossing around titles and have settled on three possibilities: Just One More Man; One More Man; and Just One More. I’d love to hear your thoughts.