It’s hot in Texas this summer; I’m holed up in the AC working hard on new projects.

The next Cartographers Guild story is my priority. Ace, Verity, Doc Z, and Margaret race Maes Titianus across Turkey to find the shrine of the mercury crow—whatever that is.

When the cartographers are stuck, I use a productivity tip from sci-fi author Isaac Asimov. Asimov kept a bunch of typewriters in his office, each ready with a different story in progress. When he got stuck, he slid his chair to the next typewriter and worked on that story instead. In that spirit, I have two other stories in progress.

The first I call Ozark Gold. It’s the tale of an Arkansas bootlegger racing against gangsters to find hidden treasure. Ozark Gold is a hard-boiled adventure story with no fantastic elements. Bart Sykes is a small-time moonshiner. Thomas Flynn is a ruthless crime lord trying to rule the whiskey game. Flynn has a small army of goons and the law in his back pocket. His next target is Bart’s family business. Now Bart is desperate to fight back. Will Bart find the gold? Will Flynn rule everything? We’ll find out this fall.

The second tale is untitled. It takes two powerful warriors from opposing cultures, men with a personal feud, and pits them against a peril neither can escape alone? Muscle and bronze square off against magic from beyond the grave in a tale from the new edge of sword and sorcery.