I finished drafting Operational Considerations, and while it still needs editing, I’ve already started on Operational Failures, the 4th book which will transition Jimmy from the life he has known so far into the next stage.
If you’ve been thinking about the titles, you may have noticed that there might be some kind of relationship to the plot going on. After all, Operational Realities was about Jimmy’s first exposure to the realities of clandestine warfare in the 28th century. And Operational Difficulties exposed him to some real difficulties, from questioning his own fitness to lead to dealing with the aftermath of an attack on his newborn son.
As you might have imagined, Operational Considerations involves some serious considerations Jimmy has to make for the sake of the mission. As soon as this one is done editing, the search for (or work on, depending) a cover will begin, and it will shortly be available for purchase.
Operational Failures is thus going to involves some failures. I won’t spoil anything, but this one is a game changer, at least for Jimmy. It’s not particularly easy to write.
Not because I’m not inspired; I’ve already written at least 10k words that I’m confident will end up being cut, but because of the sheer amount of shit I’m putting Jimmy through and the amount of shit I’m watching him do. The plot of this one hinges upon some stuff that’s been only very subtly acknowledged so far, but which has been there since the first book, lurking, waiting for its chance to come out. When Operational Considerations is released, you’ll start to see the first really clear hints of what it is. And when Operational Failures drops, it will finally become explicit.
As some of you may know from the Discord, this book also features the return of Amanda Aster, from Buffer Overflow. She’s a major character in this. I’m confident that, as of what I’ve written so far, no-one will know if she’s an ally or the enemy, which is absolutely delightful to me. I love torturing my readers. Yes, both of you.
There’s a sneak peak in the Discord. An example of one of the failures I’m talking about, but I don’t recommend checking it out unless you’re ready to really understand the direction things will be moving in, from this point forward. However, if you’re okay with that… Well, this is exactly the kind of spoiler that will be delicious. I hope.