Back in October, and having difficulty breathing, I thought I’d caught Covid. In true zombie-fashion, I lurched my way to the hospital only to learn that my heart had gone splat (I think that’s the correct medical terminology).
After an op or three (thankfully, I don’t remember that part), a week unconscious, a couple of weeks on the ward, I was able to escape (I credit my new robotic parts. I think I’ll enjoy being a cyborg).
I’m writing again now, and do think Book 20 will be finished well before Christmas, though I’m not sure when it’ll be released.
Surviving the Evacuation 20 is the first in a 3 (or 4) book arc that will provide a more complete ending than Book 19. Part of the story will focus on Chester, Nilda, and Jay (and the baby. Can you guess their name? There’s really only one option) and their journey west, along with all of the other refugees. The story will also follow the Higson family, especially Clemmie for whom I wrote an awesome outbreak story that links her, Doc Flo, Flora MacDonald, Dan Blaze, AND the destruction of Vancouver. But the rest of the story will focus on an expedition travelling to the Mediterranean, and ultimately to Mecca and Jerusalem.
There are bound to be many, many religious survivors among those in the Pacific who would surely pressure the political elite to organise a survey of what happened to their holy sites. With no technical reason why a ship can’t be sent, the pilgrimage is combined with a survey of the damage to the Suez Canal, and a return to some places from much, much earlier in the series.
Also coming next year Brawl of the Worlds 2: Wish You Were Here (and I Wasn’t) - Now that first contact has occurred on Earth, a diplomatic mission to Towan III must be organised. Who should go? Who should decide? Not Harold Godwin who’s just been evicted. With no job, and now no home, he regretfully finds he has no alternative but to take a job helping Sean O’Malley investigate the recent attack on Earth by the alien mercenaries. From the front line in Ukraine, to the floods of Pakistan, and to the secret prison beneath Area 51, and to a distant battleground far, far from Earth, Harold’s hope for a relaxing holiday is further away than ever.
I’ll probably alternate Brawl of the World and Surviving the Evacuation books for the next year or so, but the lesson from the last couple of months is that plans change :)