A year on

One year and six days after publishing Volume 1 'Stand-To' I published what was intended to be the final part of the story as a fourth title but hit technical difficulties due to page count and file size. Volumes 4 and 5 were therefore published at the same time. I was very disappointed and annoyed at the reduction in maximum page size since publishing Volume 2, which was 665 pages in length, in June 2013.
However, a fantastic readership, many of whom have given a lot of encouragement over the year, have made both books a success. It really has come as a surprise and the very least I can do now is re-edit volume 1 which is embarrassingly bad....sorry about that.

Thank you one and all, and I think a revisit to Armageddon's Song may be on the cards in the future.

Next work in Military Fiction

'Shaw . USMC'

A prequel to Armageddon's Song with Henry Shaw as a Lieutenant in the USMC, a while before becoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of course. I will follow that with other characters in a prequel during 'The Troubles' in Ulster.

Trying another genre at the same time.

My rough idea for a cover as the story begins in a similar style.

A stab at another genre whilst still writing alternative history. I have asked a few artists for their thoughts based upon this.

Why did the intended 'Two books in one cover' not happen?

In short, the file size for eBooks was three times higher with the maps everyone asked for, and CreateSpace, the printers of the paperback, have lowered the maximum permitted page count quite considerably from last year. From 700 pages to 480 pages.

The cost of downloading an illustrated book from kindle of 12.3MB, for which they round the numbers upwards to 13MB, added  £2 to the price.

The book was 517 pages and I had to lose 37 pages to meet the new maximum.

eBooks and Paperbacks have to match.

I am not happy and neither are many of those who followed the series who automatically suspect it was a commercial decision.

Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

Long overdue editing and map illustrations for the new editions of volumes 1,2,3

'Stand-To' the edited and illustrated edition that is in the works.
When I published Volume 1 and 2 the paperback maximum was 700 pages, but it is now 480 so the new edition cannot even be uploaded. The only solution is to unpublish the 2 originals and republish in a total of four parts.
I will have a short free download period for the benefit of anyone who already paid for the original, but the period is set by Amazon and it is limited and not repeatable for 90 days.

Setting the scene for a battle I wrote in 2002. This is the ground as I saw it in my imagination with the Czech Republic 12 miles to the SE, woods and hills north and south with the valley, its fields, railway embankment, flood plain, River Wesernitz and the highway.1CG's position up on the wooded hillside to the north.I have included the fighting patrol area where the prisoner snatch takes place too, so with differing sizes of symbols I hope to use sections of this map to highlight the various stages.

The final volume.

                           ' THE LONGEST NIGHT '

THE WAR IN EUROPE HAS REACHED CRITICAL MASS AND
IT IS A RACE BETWEEN THE RED ARMY AND THE NEWLY
ARRIVED US AND CANADIAN 4TH CORPS.
JUST ONE LAST PUSH IS REQUIRED TO CLEAR AWAY
SACEUR'S GAMBIT AND THE LAST DIVISION STANDING
BETWEEN THE RED ARMY AND THE CHANNEL PORTS.
IT IS THE LONGEST NIGHT FOR EVERYONE, AND THE LAST
NIGHT FOR MANY.


                      ' CROSSING THE RUBICON '

THE EUROPEAN WAR IS A LONG WAY FROM THE FIGHTING
THAT IS CONSUMING THE PACIFIC. THE ANZACS AND THE
US 5TH MECHANISED DIVISION ARE NOT ENOUGH TO DEFEND
AUSTRALIA'S COASTLINE ALONE, BUT FEAR OF CHINA'S NUCLEAR
ARSENAL HAS LEFT THE ALLIES WITH FEW FRIENDS AND
ALL IS NOT WELL AT HOME IN THE WEST.

A RECKONING IS COMING.

A nice review, nice words and I hope to be able to live up to it.

Series review of first three volumes.