Progress! Is being made! It’s a thing! Promise!

Exclamation points!

(Okay, I’ll stop. Maybe.)

Bitter End (Jill Andersen #6)
Revisions are complete, and the manuscript will shortly be in the hands of my series editor once logistics and payment are sorted out. I’ve also solicited the outstanding Sarah Anderson for the cover, so be on the lookout in the coming weeks and months for a cover reveal, a blurb, and possibly even a release date. All signs point to the longest, most intense, and violent book in this series hitting (virtual) shelves sometime in 2022. Then work will start on book 7 in the series, tentatively titled Big Apple, and the plan is to not wait two or three years before that one’s out.

Summertime, Assassins, and Other Skullduggeries
I’ve begun my third attempt at a full first draft of the closest thing I will ever write to a true love story. My 2020 NaNoWriMo project had a lot of potential, and most of the words from that go-round have survived (largely) intact, but I think I’ve found a much more streamlined way to tell this story of lesbian assassins and all the naughty things they do (maybe so streamlined that this will become a standalone novel, rather than a duology or trilogy). There may or may not also be a cover of sorts in the works, but I’m going to keep the lid on that at least until I have a completed first draft. I’m excited for this project, have been since the day it first popped into my head. Now I just have to, you know, write it.

Prelude to Hellion
This short story collection, meant to launch a brand-new series, is roughly 3/4 done (in fact, newsletter subscribers have been receiving an exclusive sneak peek into one of the stories that will be in this collection; if you want in on goodies like that, just sign up for my newsletter). The stories within will set the stage for the new series, while taking concepts from both Notna and the Jill Andersen series, and some of these stories, on top of being fun to write, will also be crucial building blocks to the world these characters–new and familiar–inhabit.

Land of the Free (Hellion #1)
The first book in a series I’m dubbing West Wing meets Supernatural began as my 2021 NaNoWriMo project, and while I fell way short of the 50,000-word goal, it’s not because I didn’t know what to write. The story is there, the characters are there, it’s simply a matter of me putting together all the puzzle pieces in a way that will satisfy those who’ve been with me from the beginning, while also enticing new readers. I’m really excited by the potential this series has, even as time is making parts of this series far more relevant than I’d like.

Y’all have no idea how great it feels to have actual progress to share. I came into 2022 with the intent of getting back on the proverbial horse, and so far, that effort is bearing fruit. Maybe not fruit that’s edible any time soon, Bitter End aside, but rest assured the words are being typed and the creative juices are flowing.

Which, after the past two years, is all I can ask for.

About J.D. Cunegan
J.D. Cunegan is known for his unique writing style, a mixture of murder mystery and superhero epic that introduces the reader to his comic book-inspired storytelling and fast-paced prose. A 2006 graduate of Old Dominion University, Cunegan has an extensive background in journalism, a lengthy career in media relations, and a lifelong love for writing. Cunegan lives in Hampton, Virginia, and next to books and art, his big passion in life in auto racing. When not hunched in front of a keyboard or with his nose stuck in a book, Cunegan can probably be found at a race track or watching a race on TV.

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