Done

The perp is nabbed and Steve and Ginny have made up. In other words, the first draft of Hang Fire is complete.

Now to repair holes, fix errors and rewrite entire passages. That should take another two weeks or so.

Then to send out the second draft to a small handful of experts (among them a lawyer, a deputy sheriff and a forest ranger) for comment. Give that two weeks, too.

Two more weeks and I'll send the finished manuscript to my agent, who will then submit it to my acquisitions editor at Tor/Forge. Let's hope he goes for it, that the dreadful business climate in the publishing industry won't stop the project in its tracks.