A Plethora of Writing Projects

Here’s a quick run down of the plethora of writing projects I have underway.

Inner Look – the fourth book in the Josh Haman series – is in the editing process, later than I’d like, but poking along, nonetheless.  If I were a betting man, it should come out in September, nine months later than planned under the Penmore imprint. Better late than never.

My second project is a book called Forgotten POWS.  Deeds publishing accepted it late this past spring and at the time I’m writing this blog, it should come out this fall. I’m really excited about this book. More about it in another blog.

The third project is finishing the first draft of a book that has the working title of MANPADS that comes from the acronym for “man portable air defense systems.”  MANPADS are very portable shoulder mounted surface-to-air missiles that were used extensively by the mujahadeen against the Soviets in the 1980s after they invaded Afghanistan. The book takes place during the Obama administration and is the last planned book in the Josh Haman series. As it sits, I am about 60% of the way through the the first draft. In the middle of last fall, I put it aside so I have time to work on Inner Look and Forgotten POWs.   When I pick it back up, I’m not sure.

I also started on the plot outlines for two new books tentatively titled– The Assam Draggin’ and Hannenkam. I’m farther along with Hannekam which gets its name from the ski race course in Austria. The Assam Draggin’ takes place in Afghanistan and so far all I have is a couple of paragraphs about the plot.

The Hannekam downhill race course outside Kitzbuhl, Austria is one of the most difficult on the annual circuit. Its plot weaves a love story between an American racer and his Austrian girl friend with the internal politics of the American ski team and hangovers from Nazi Germany. Three sub-plot elements are:

• The U.S. head coach has an affair with one of the womans team’s racers who is under age;
• The hero lives in Germany and is forcing his way on the team due to his results; and
• The Austrian girl’s father has a dark past as a SS-Standartenfuhrer that he’s keep hidden since the end of WWII.

More about Hannenkam in a later blog.

At the head of the queue is The Kurile Wedge Incident. It is ready to go to market. Next in line is Moscow Airlift on which I am doing a major edit. After I finish going through Moscow Airlift, I want to re-read and edit Flight of the Pawnee. The manuscript needs tweaking to bring it in line with all the books that preceded it. It is a great story, and I’ll send it to a publisher sometime next year.

After I’m done with it, I’ll probably either finish MANPADS or start on either Hannekam or The Assam Draggin’.  Who knows, maybe something will come up!

Waiting in the wings is a non-fiction project that I’ve decided to put off until I get a couple more of the Josh Haman series into print. Its tentatively titled Gold and Silver Wings and Six Pointed Stars. It’s a family anthology of three generations of military pilots and four generations of officers.

As I look at this list, one word comes into my mind – WHEW!!! I guess I need to get back to work!

Marc Liebman

July 2016