Before I shadow dropped the new opening chapter for my revamped third book, I shared a roadmap and deadline of publishing the new version by July 4th. I probably won’t hit that deadline.

I’m not looking to rush anything, force anything, or otherwise compromise the integrity of the project. I carve out moments here and there for storytelling after working a 40 hour week at my day job, and I have less energy at 43 than I did ten years ago when I started this journey.

At the same time, I’m very pleased to report that the project is coming together very well so far.

When I pulled the trigger and unpublished the first version of book 3, I thought I would finish rewrites around the end of Act 1. Now that I’ve made it past that point, I realize that I’ll need to rewrite big chunks of the second act, and also make edits beyond that.

I’m up to the challenge, but it will most likely be finished before the end of summer, and not by July 4th.

I will say that the sense of playfulness I had during the first two books is fully back, and I’m thrilled about that.

This second pass is the right next step for me to take. I’m glad to be back in that world, and to have made the choice to pull the plug on the first version in the first place.

When I get closer to launch I’m going to issue an email list and allow readers who bought the first version to get an ereader version of the new book free, as a “thank you” from me.

I had good intentions between 2021 and 2023 when I wrote Death is Not the End. But I also ultimately made the wrong call. I tried to cram a nonfiction story into a fiction story and compromised both perspectives by doing so. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to fix that mistake and separate the fiction from the nonfiction.

I’ve spent most of this year talking about theological issues, cover-up culture, and other topics that have nothing to do with zombie fiction, but are important to me as a person.

My first step is to give the zombie story world back to the characters themselves. There will still be a Biblical Apocalypse twist in Book 3, because my original vision for this story was a less lame Left Behind, with real characters in their various sins being introduced to the reality of a living and loving God as part of their character arcs.

That sort of story reflects my own spiritual journey and the general concept of what “born again” means. You go from not knowing, not considering, not aware, to being introduced to the reality of God. I did, at least.

By removing the Kevin character, I’m making that transition more personal for the characters and less vicarious through me. Some people might still reject the series. I’m cool with that. I’m not looking to please everyone. I’m working to honestly and effectively express myself. There’s a difference.

I’ll be giving the new version a unique name, since it has evolved to be more of a full rewrite than a simple revision. More news on that ahead.

When I’m done with that project my next step will be to publish a nonfiction book about fascism, nationalism, my personal experiences with cover-up culture, and the spiritual foundations in American church during the late 20th century up til now.

My working title for that book is “Bad Fruit: a Layman’s Perspective of the Rise and Rot of the Religious Right”.

At the pace I’m going, I fully expect to rewrite 2/3rds of a book in three months which took two years to finish the first time. The flow is flowing fast.

I imagine the next book will be live by Christmas.