Hey, all. I’m aware I’ve been a bit of a stranger as of late; there are valid reasons for that. I won’t get into it except to say it’s been a tough spring.

My instigator in chief, John Birmingham, recently made me aware of something interesting—our co-authored novella, The Javan War, set in his Cruel Stars trilogy, has made it as a finalist novella in the Australian Aurealis Awards list. This is like a Hugo for Down Under.

That’s pretty cool. I’ve never been considered for any sort of award outside of military stuff, and I can say from firsthand experience that gongs are overrated. This is much better.

Most days, I feel like a modern-day Kilgore Trout, a maniac who sits and types for little pay or acknowledgment. So, a pat on the back like this is nice. It shows that my work does get seen from time to time and that unknown hands occasionally open my body of work.

That’s cool.

Right now, I’m busy with an interesting project, but it’s consuming a fair bit of my attention. This is one reason I’ve been a tad scarce around here. Another is simple opsec; much of my work isn’t in the public domain, nor will it be anytime soon. That’s OK. ‘Tis the season for a bit of security. It is what it is.

I’ll catch you guys, hopefully, sooner this next time.