Far off into the future in a distant part of the galaxy, the Consortium controls the human colonies held together by the jump gates. Where the Consortium doesn’t hold sway, crime flourishes. Through the use of a hellish engine that goes where no one should, the crew of the Matilda slips its way between the two. But now they’re stuck on a backwater asteroid and time is running out.
Rumors drift of jump gates falling to rebel forces while other systems succumb to the alien invasion. The crew knows where Galena is being held but have no way to get there. Making dark deals in the folds may get them a way out.
Will the terrors from outside space lay claim to more systems? Can the insurrection prevail? With the universe against them, can Jacquotte Delahaye rescue Galena from this war-torn galaxy?
Loosen that pistol in your holster and prepare yourself for the fifth and final book of the series, Waltzing Matilda.
I don’t know if it was the same for you, but I achieved a lot more than I thought I was capable of and I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped. What did I do and not do, you ask?
As far as non-writing stuff goes, I’ve got more miles under my belt in my obstacle course pursuits, and I had to travel quite a bit to do it! If you do any of the Spartan races, you’ve probably heard of the Trifecta at least once. For everyone else, a Trifecta is when you complete three different race lengths in a calendar year: the Sprint (4+ miles), the Super (6+ miles), and the Beast (13+ miles).
Now, I’d completed one of these back in 2017 (I think) and the Beast alone broke me. I swore not to do another one and… that did not happen. Instead, I did three of these things this year! I even did all three in one weekend! On top of that, I even threw in a Tough Mudder for the first time and did a local one called the Big Dog Brag. All in all, I got pretty close to running 100 miles and completed over 300 obstacles (I didn’t beat them all… curse you rope climb, and Mount Olympus!) Considering that at the beginning of the year, walking a mile equaled a bucket of pain, I am pretty damned proud of this accomplishment.
And to get all these races done, I had to travel (which, to be honest after Covid was incredibly nice). Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Colorado Springs, Hawaii, Orlando, San Luis Obispo and Denver. For a full-on geek out, I got to go to Galaxy’s Edge! Spaceships and blasters and sabers, oh my! It exceeded my expectations, and I am still as giddy as a schoolchild.
On the writing side, I didn’t get as much done as I wanted, hoped, and dreamed. Overall, it was still a great year for me. I was able to be a part of a few conventions and talk about my book series to a whole slew of people. I am still figuring out my approach to getting the books done for Audible.com, but I’m closer to the next step.
And lastly, I couldn’t get the last book in the series, Waltzing Matilda, done in 2022, but I have an update! The book will be released on January 17th, 2023!
Not too shabby, 2022. I’m looking forward to 2023 and the new adventures, both literary and life, that are just around the corner!
Hannukah is in full swing, and Christmas is just around the corner! I hope everyone is having a grand time with friends, and family and keeps warm as the snows roll in (it’s close to negative 30 out here!).
I do have a bit of bad news, though. With the holidays and crazy travel, Waltzing Matilda’s release will be delayed until mid-January 2023. The book is almost ready but the windows in time are a little too tight to get it out before the end of the year.
This isn’t the way I wanted to end the year, so I’ll take it as a grand beginning in 2023!
As the end of this adventure comes closer to completion, so too has the chapter list been completed… a playlist of songs that inspired me.
Has it been on your mind to know what Luli Qing has in her repertoire for the final book of the saga? If you’re a Spotify user, you can check out the Chapter List for Waltzing Matilda. You can even give it a listen.
Let’s just say I received heavy criticism about the ending and that it better changed. I know what you’re thinking, ‘didn’t you have the ending of the whole story written forever ago?’ And you’d be right.
I had that ending in mind when the characters were still partially formed in my head. I wrote that ending in its completion about 4 years ago. But it doesn’t fit the story anymore and I was already working on a replacement. In my opinion, it’s a much better ending and suits the overall arc of the crew of the Matilda. I dare say, I am rather proud of it. I think you’re going to love it, too.
And it is done! As I wait to receive the edits for most of the book, the final rewrite (given the stamp of approval by my alpha reader) is in the mail and on its way to my editor!
My final convention for the year has been completed! And it was a grand time. First off, I wanted to say thank you to all the people who came by my table. There were quite a few familiar faces at Mile Hi Con and I had a grand time getting to hang out with folks I haven’t seen in a long while.
I didn’t get to participate in as many conventions as I wanted this year, but overall, it was still a successful run. I had a few firsts at this one too! I was finally able to drop a story I’m working on in the blind slush pile challenge. There wasn’t a single change mentioned when mine was read out loud and I felt pretty dang cool for the rest of the day.
I was also able to model some of my T-shirt designs for the Matilda Series (you can find them here). And I must say, I looked pretty sharp in my Anton Roane shirt.
I picked up a few more tricks and nonsense to make the whole process go even smoother. As 2023 creeps ever closer, my plan is to attend more conventions in new locations… you know, while also writing another Nun With a Gun story or two.
What about the final Matilda story? That will be completed and available before the next set of conventions roll in. My editor is wrangling paragraphs on pages while I am busy rewriting the end of the series. Once those are done, it’s almost a walk in the park to print!
Here we are in October… (looks at the calendar and shrugs) or will be in a day and I can confidently say that the final novel in the Matilda Series is in the hands of my editor! Later than I wanted but thems the breaks. I hate to say it, but it won’t be ready for Mile Hi Con this year. It is still set to be out by the end of 2022 and I’m all engines forward to making that happen.
After what feels like a million-word correction and heavy rewrites of the end, I can say without a doubt, this completes the journey of the crew of the Matilda.
It has been one hell of a journey for me, and it feels weird to be at the end. The kernel of the story came to me back in 2005, the first words in the series were written in 2014 and the last ones will be put down in 2022.
I really can’t describe how it feels as I’m still processing it. And I probably will be for a while. I am sad to say goodbye to these characters that have been hounding me for longer than I care to think about. I’ll miss their weird instructions at all hours of the day and night, their plans and dreams, recipes, and research. It’s going to be quiet for a while.
On the plus side, now I can prep for new stories with different characters, different worlds even different genres! I can already hear them clamoring for brain time!
… Oh wait. My alpha reader is telling me I need to rework the rewrite of the end. Back to the grindstone! So… close…
Things are moving… slowly on the editing front. There has been some progress but nowhere near enough to what I would like. Some of this is down to other projects taking root and needing forward momentum to just being brain fried after a long work shift (or many).
Even writing this update is a bit of a struggle right now, but them’s the breaks.
Sometimes, I must remind myself that I can’t keep running at 110% without everything catching up and knocking me over. Getting back up again is always the next move, but I need to suck in a few breaths before I get back to my feet. The book will be completed this year, no worries on that. That will be happening even if I have to resort to 24-hour days.
But on to other things! I am working on a secret project that I should be able to talk about a bit more freely in the very near future! I am still weighing options on the Audible track for The Matilda Series. That will also be happening but not until 2023. The outline on the next Nun With a Gun is nearing completion and a completely different novel idea is in the works as well!
Of course, none of these are set to happen until after Waltzing Matilda is done. Now for a nap.
Jon Gray Lang.com 