It doesn’t seem that long ago that I got the idea to promote the Bridge Chronicles series with a new novella/novel using the Kindle Vella episodic format, yet according to my notes, it was January of 2023. Somehow, almost a year later, I’ve completed the first draft of that episodic idea, have sent the files off to my lovely wife for reaction, and have prepared the cover art. That’s right, the first draft of Hiss Whistle Dead is complete, ready for proofing. Weighing in somewhere around 50,000 words, parsed into 11 episodes of roughly 4,000 – 6,000 words per episode, it’s long enough to be a novel but short enough to be easily digestible. It’s subtitled as “A Bridge Chronicles Mystery,” and that’s an important distinction. Much of the inspiration comes from murder mysteries, not so much a whodunnit as a “Wait, what happened?” Starring Shel, the net Excavator who first appeared in the short story, The Excavator, published in Tales from the Bridge Chronicles, Vol. 1, this is both a mystery and a catharsis, an attempt to deal with all the feelings of loss and grief that have washed over me this past year. I’m extremely proud of it, and can’t wait for you guys to read it. Below is the cover for the series/novel, which hopefully will make its way onto the Amazon Kindle app before the end of 2023.