It's time for another exciting episode of "What the heck is Ward doing?"

• Summon the Thunder - Kevin and I returned our final galley corrections to the editor on March 8th. The next time we see it, it'll be a real book!
  
  (Also, for those of you interested in such things, an excerpt from the book appears in the back of Dave Mack's new DS9 novel Warpath.)
  
  
• "First, Do No Harm" - for the Constellations anthology. Turned first draft of manuscript in to the editor on January 9th. Awaiting editor feedback/first-pass pages.
  
  
• S.C.E. #64: Distant Early Warning - Editor Keith DeCandido sent this to the licensor for approval on January 31st. Awaiting approval/feedback from them.
  
  
• Things Fall Apart - Mere Anarchy: Book 1 - Finishing this up as we speak. Expect to turn it in to the editor on or before April 3rd.
  
  
• Corps of Engineers #1: Turn the Page - Proposal accepted by the editor November 20th (or so). Kevin and I are awaiting licensor approval. Not sure what the manuscript due date will be, but I'm guessing some time around the first part to maybe the middle of June or so.
  
  
• Enterprise: Mirror Universe project - a novel of approximately 50,000 words or so, with Kevin and I assisting former Enterprise staff writer/producer Mike Sussman with the writing. Manuscript is due August 1st. More on this as details firm up and it's appropriate to share info.
  
  
• Original nonSF short story - Sent to market editor on September 17th. Waiting to see if it's accepted or rejected.
  
  
• Original SF short story - For an open-call anthology. Story sent to editor January 23rd. Waiting to see if it's accepted or rejected.
  
  
• Tie-in short story project - For an an upcoming anthology. Sent a "short pitch" to the editor on March 15th as requested. If the short pitch makes it through the selection process, I'll have another short story to flesh out and write with a due date of October 10th. More on this as it's appropriate.
  
  
• Original short story - Outlined and a partial draft is complete. I've found a market for it, so I've got reason to get it done and out the door. Yee-haw! Other stuff with deadlines still take priority, though :)
  
  
• Original SF short story - I've outlined the first short story based in the "universe" of The Last World War. This one's on the back burner as I take care of projects with deadlines. More info to come as I move forward on it.
  
  
• Counterstrike: The Last World War, Book II - Proposal is still in limbo.
  
  
• Trek novel solo project - Awaiting editor feedback on proposal.
  
  
• Trek novel project with Kevin - Awaiting editor feedback on proposal.
  
  
• Tie-in project with Kevin - Kevin has created a third version of this proposal, and is now waiting on me to get off my ass and work on it myself.
  
  
• Trek tie-in project - Nothing much more than a hare-brained idea at this point, I've nevertheless written a five-page proposal for it. Not sure if it ever will see the light of day, but I figure it's good for giving the editor a laugh.
  
  
• Two articles for Star Trek Communicator magazine with Kevin - These are still on hold pending word on direction of the magazine.
  
  
• Non-fiction/non-genre article (or series of articles) for local/regional magazine or newspaper - Got some research done on it, but I still need a market. Might have found one...still need to write that query letter, once I get some breathing room....

Tah Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!





Kinda looks like something from an X-Files episode, eh?

Gender remains unknown, at least until the test results come back in a week or so. For now, though, Mommy and unidentified baby-like thingee are doing just fine.

My little journal has finally reached 200 posts. What can I say? I'm really just not as prolific (read: Good) at this as some of my compadres.

But hey, at least it comes with something written by someone more interesting!

Jackie Bundy has written a most-gracious review of The Genesis Protocol for TrekNation. As it's not a Trek book, I have to give a shout out both to Jackie for writing the review, and to TrekNation for posting it on their site.

Thanks for the support, you guys!

Back home, finally. Vegas was fun, as always.

Got to see some shows, do a tour or two, and lose a buttload of money at the gaming tables.

Also found other mischief here and there.....







More pics later as I get them cleaned up and such.



In other news, I can finally say that Kevin and I have contributed a short story to the forthcoming Star Trek: Constellations anthology that will be part of Pocket's celebration of the original Star Trek series' 40th anniversary. The story is called "First, Do No Harm" and is very much a Kirk/Spock/McCoy story. More info on this as we get the go-ahead to share.

What I can share is the lineup of authors contributing stories to the anthology:

Christopher L. Bennett
Jeff Bond
Dave Galanter
Allyn Gibson
Robert Greenberger
Jeffrey Lang
Kevin Lauderdale
William Leisner
Stuart Moore
Jill Sherwin
Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
Howard Weinstein

Stay tuned for updates!

I'm writing this entry from my pretty swank room at The Venetian in Las Vegas. My better half and I decided to take one last vacation just for us before the tyke makes its debut, and as it's also our anniversary (yesterday, actually), we figured we should pull out all the stops.

We've got shows lined up (Blue Man Group, Penn & Teller, whatever else strikes our fancy), we're taking a Grand Canyon tour, and of course there will be some gambling (both of us) and drinking (that would be me).

Oh, and what do you know? March Madness is in full swing, and the sports book area of the casino appears to be somewhat lively. Who knew?

In other words, if I'm slow to respond to e-Mail, blog comments, message board traffic, etc...now you know why.

This is what happens when you don't get much sleep.

Those of you who've read The Last World War will recognize...uh...some familiar elements in this scene, which was in the first draft of The Genesis Protocol, and was one of two scenes which comprised the book's original epilogue.

What can I say? The editor was paying attention that day.

Anyway, I ended up writing a wholly different epilogue for the book, but I figured somebody else besides me would get a kick out of what might have been had I caught the editor sleeping on that fateful day.

So, without further ado, I give you The Genesis Protocol: The Deleted scene.

It seems that the titles have been revealed for the e-Books which will comprise Mere Anarchy, a six-book miniseries edited by Keith R.A. DeCandido and which is part of Pocket's 40th anniversary celebration of the original series. The books will have an over-arcing theme, and span the era of Captain Kirk and the original Enterprise from before "Where No Man Has Gone Before" until after his presumed death at the beginning of Star Trek: Generations.

The titles of the books, their authors, and projected publication months are:

Things Fall Apart - me and Kevin - August
The Centre Cannot Hold - Mike W. Barr - September
Shadows of the Indignant - Dave Galanter - October
The Darkness Drops Again - Christopher L. Bennett - February 2007
The Blood-Dimmed Tide - Howard Weinstein - March 2007
Its Hour Come Round - Margaret Wander Bonanno - April 2007

More info on this series as it's made available for public consumption.

In other news, last night I sent off a short story proposal to an anthology for which I'd been invited to pitch. Already heard initial feedback from the editor that's very encouraging, though of course final selections have yet to be made.

When I get some time tonight, I plan to make what I think is a fun update to the page for the The Genesis Protocol (well, I think it's fun if you've kept up with other stuff I've written in recent years...and that's all I'm sayin' for now.). I want to cross this and a couple of other small items off my "To Do List" before my wife and I head out on vacation.

So....uh, stay tuned and stuff.

Hey,

Just a reminder to Mom and the two or three of you who frequent this place that I'll be on this week's edition of the I-Sci-Fi Internet radio show tonight. I'm scheduled to be on sometime around 9:30 Eastern time and it'll be live. They also have a chat room, e-Mail, and a call-in line if you're listening and want to toss a question my way.

Among the various topics up for discussion will be The Genesis Protocol, current and upcoming writing projects, and the answer to the mystery plaguing us all: Does Kevin Dilmore go commando when he's wearing his Star Trek uniform at conventions?

I don't recommend eating before the show.

But, that's just me.

Passed along to me by a friend at work:


With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey," died peacefully at the age of 93.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in, and that's when the trouble started...


Apparently, it's been making the rounds for quite a while, especially considering that Mr. LaPrise died in 1996, but this was the first time I'd seen it.

And yeah, I thought it was funny.

It seems I've been filked. More accurately, Kevin and I have been filked.

What does that mean exactly? For those who do not know, a filk song is, essentially, a usually-humorous song that applies new words to an existing piece of music. In SF/Fantasy fandom circles, the subjects of filk songs are usually favored movies, TV shows, books, games, fanzines, and/or characters from same.

A member of the TrekBBS posting under the screenname/handle "JeremyW" has been creating filk songs for various Trek writers who frequent the forum dedicated to Trek Literature. Kevin and I were among his most recent "targets," with a song based on the recent announcement that we were going to be working with Mike Sussman to write an Enterprise Mirror Universe novel.

"JeremeyW" allowed me to post the fruits of his labor here for your reading pleasure.

WARDILMORE
(performed to the tune of "Goldfinger")

Mirror Hoshi (decked out in gold paint)

Wardilmore!
They're the men, the men with the Midas touch!
An erotic touch!
They got busy fingers!
I'm aroused and want to get it on
The show is on!

Pretty words they'll whisper in your ear
And then they'll have you fear
Because they're about to summon the thunder
And send us all to our deaths!

Wardilmore!
I'm the one
The one to fulfill your lust
Isn't that just?

You'll write my glorious tale
How I took on the Empire and prevailed
I'm the evil empress who'll rule the world
And will want for some wonderful tail

I'm some slutty temptress!
I'm a whore with less class than T'Pol
But I want it all
I want it all
Everything at all
So give me all!
All!

I don't know about you, but I laughed my ass off the first time I read this.

Got word from Star Trek: S.C.E. editor Keith DeCandido that Paramount has approved the manuscript for Distant Early Warning.

And as if that wasn't good enough, Keith also sent on a pic of the e-Book's artwork. Check out a larger version by clicking on the image.

Looks pretty freakin' sweet, if you ask me. Come to think of it, it looks sweet even if you don't ask me.

A heads-up for ya: Rex Rouviere and his merry gang at I-Sci-Fi.com are going to have me on their Internet-based radio show next Thursday, March 9th, sometime between 9pm and 11pm Eastern time to talk about The Genesis Protocol and whatever else that might come up. I'll post more details as we get closer, but if you've got nothing to do, surf on over and see what's going on. It'll be live, and they've got a chat room and a call-in number if you want to toss questions my way.

Hope to "see" you there!