Kraken: Blog

First, A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

The Prologue and Chapter 1 are with the moderators and should post soon. Voting will be turned on in a few weeks.

There are a total of 21 Chapters, inclusive of the Prologue and Epilogue, totaling just over 185K words, which will post weekly on Fridays for 19 weeks. I decided on longer chapters when I started writing this one, so the shortest chapter is the Prologue at approximately 33kb. The majority of the remaining chapters average roughly 130kb although a few are as short as 55kb.

I never dreamed that anyone would associate my little Monopoly quote at the end of Retreat with 'Who Shot JR', but from the emails and comments that I've received, that is exactly what appears to have happened. I'm happy to tell you that the answer to my little version of 'Who Shot Jr?' is answered in Chapter 1.

Future chapters bring in the 'Fresno Scraper', another subject of frequent emails and comments.

I'm still working on adding a Cast of Characters to my website so please bear with me until I get it done.

Should you prefer reading the entire book at one sitting instead of waiting for the weekly serial version, links to the various retailer sites, where Railroad and all my other books can be purchased, are on my website at https://pcallenbooks.yolasite.com

Have a question on the accuracy of any item, place, or historical person? Please see the FACTS page on my website which may answer many of your questions. It's interesting, fun, and full of facts the story in each book is based around. Not to mention there's links to playlists for all the music in each book.

Maps, photos, and diagrams of New Mexico Territory, Estancia Dos Santos, Las Cruces, and various historical people along with recommended non-fiction books are all on the ABOUT page of my website as well.

As always, I look forward to your emails and comments!

First, Thank you for all the emails expressing concern and wishes for a speedy recovery. I'm well on my way to full recovery at this point and back to writing, at least part time. I'm hoping to have Railroad ready to start posting a few days after Christmas. The first half of the new book is already with the editors.

Second, I'm looking for a doctor who is willing to take a few moments and comment on a shoulder injury to one of the characters in the book. Please shoot me an SOL email if you can be of assistance.

Despite my best efforts, Railroad remains a Work in Progress. Seven weeks ago, I thought I would be ready to send the final draft to the editors in three or four weeks. Two days later began a progression of deteriorating health. From severe chest cold aggravated by seasonal allergies, the diagnosis and associated meds progressed through acute bronchitis, to chronic bronchitis.

Thanks to the coughing and aches of bronchitis, followed by the sleepy, fuzzy headed, zombie like state of mind induced by the meds, I have not dared to touch draft in that seven weeks. The last round of meds seem to be doing the trick though, and if they hold another day or three I'll chance getting back into the book.

My thanks to all those who emailed me asking for an update. Your enthusiasm for the next book makes me want to immediately jump back into writing. The complexity of details and plot timelines in this book are the most aggressive I've ever attempted and keeping them all straight has proven tougher than I envisioned. As you can imagine, I don't want to blow all that effort in a rush to get the book out.

I'll post another update in a couple of weeks to let you know how it's going and, hopefully, give a better release date.

Disappointing, I know, but hang in there, the end is in sight.

Chapter 20 and the Epilogue have been submitted to the moderators and will post soon. Chapter 20 ends with a teaser leading into Book 4, Railroad, which is currently a work in progress.

Speaking of Railroad, the comments from Old Rotorhead and others regarding size and speed of trains, delivery difficulties, types of rails, etc, were all 'spot on'! However, there is no need to suspend belief in this part of the storyline. Baldwin Steamworks was one of the earliest commercial builders of railroad steam engines, not to mention one of the largest and longest lived enterprise of its kind (almost 150 years). Baldwin's early years are fairly well documented in a scanned pdf copy of book (see the FACTS page of my website for a link). Two items of note. First, no two engines were built exactly alike until near the turn of century. It was a time of research and experimentation not to mention different requirements given by each customer. Second, Baldwin based their early success on their business model of breaking each engine down and shipping most them where ever the customer wanted. Each engine was accompanied by a chief engineer and mechanics who originally built the engine. On arrival they would reassemble the engine and train those who would operate them. It was all part of the final price. Did the customer need rails or rail strapping? No problem. Baldwin would also either procure and ship the rails (with a markup of course) or point the customer to suppliers they frequently used. Hope this resolves the issues expressed in the public comments. If not, feel free to let me know in either email or the public comments.

A note on use of the song Danny Boy in this story. Many readers have let me know in email that Danny Boy wasn't written until 1913 and it couldn't have been one of the Padre's favorite songs. They also were kind enough to give the background on tunes Danny Boy were probably based on. I knew that Danny Boy wasn't written until the early 1900s but it just 'fit' the story so I used it anyway.

My thanks to bdwight1 and coullpert for identifying a dreaded homophone in Chapter 18 and an awkward sentence in the same chapter, respectively.

A very special thanks to grisbuff for sending me diff files for all three books with suggested corrections and changes as well!!

Look for Railroad to start posting in October. Until then, enjoy the stories from the many fine authors on this site. Wishing you all stay healthy and safe!

Hope all those in the US enjoyed their 4th of July celebrations and the start of a long weekend!

Chapters 18 and 19 of Retreat have been submitted to the moderators and should be available soon.

Fair warning, next week concludes Book 3 with Chapters 20 and the Epilogue. Until then, stay safe and enjoy the weekend!