I recall reading somewhere that you are considering writing a book next instead of a series of novels, based on the characters we've seen. Go for it, I'd be sure interested to read those too. Too bad Capt. Mohr won't be featuring (unless he makes a remarkable recovery!)
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. If there's one thing I've learned from writing these books, it's that people seem to really enjoy reading about tanks.
As you mention, my writing in the series covers a bunch of different characters and topics and timeframes. When I started writing, my intention was to write a series but I had a whole bunch of different stories bottled up inside my head and just had to get them out there, even though they weren't really sequential and the characters were different in each book.
So although I've gradually built up the universe in the series, it's not all that cohesive. I would really like to come back to some of the books I've written before and try to write sequels. Unfortunately, I don't think Mohr will be reappearing in any future books though I might make reference to him. I've always wanted to write a prequel to "Insurgent" that takes place in Vietnam and follows Joe Ricci and Ned Littlejohn, two of my favorite characters.
I have a lot of books on my hard drive that didn't see the light of day for one reason or another. Some of them are hardcore military books while others were more along the lines of thrillers (much like "Operation Gladio"). At some point, I'll come back to those and make something out of them.
The "First Strike" book that I'm currently writing for LnLP is forcing me to take a more focused look at things. Because the book is the first one in a series, I'm setting things up for a longer burn. Some of the characters that appear in First Strike will reappear in the later books. The story is very closely tied to Keith Tracton's scenarios and follows the war as it develops in the way that he has described in the "Storming the Gap" scenario book. I found that the WaW scenarios were an excellent frame upon which to hang the stories and structure a book series around.
I want to say how grateful and appreciative I am of the people who read my work. Each book I write is a little improvement on the last as I learn the craft of fiction. Some of the stories turn out the way I intended while some of them are disappointing. But the readers who have stuck with me despite these "misfires" are the best and I'm happy to hear any comments about the books at all. So thanks!
