Hey, y’all! The Halfling and the Spaceman is one of our favorite podcasts, and today they’re chatting Heinlein, Dune, Star Wars, Star Trek, David Weber, and all the other fandoms that got Jacob into writing. Go give it a listen! š
David Weber
Jacob & H.P. chat The Weltall File and Gordian Division with Stats on Stats!
The Janus File is out today! (Also, join us for a Virtual Launch Party!)
Hello, everyone! It’s been two years since my last Gordian Division book with David Weber released, so I’m very excited to say that the Book 3, The Janus File, is here – and shows an entirely different part of the Gordian multiverse.
THE JANUS FILE
(Gordian Division #3)
by David Weber and Jacob Holo
ā¢ ā¢ ā¢
NOTHING IS SIMPLEāNOT EVEN TIME ITSELF
The fates of universes arenāt the only things time travel can impact. Sometimes the effect is a lot more mundane and closer to home. And when that happens, itās up to the cops of Themis Division to make time turn out right.
It was supposed to be a routine trip for the members of the Gordian Division, both human and AI: fly out to Saturn, inspect the construction of their latest time machines, then fly back.
But when the divisionās top scientist and chief engineer are killed in the same freak accident, suspicions of foul play run deep. Detective Isaac Cho is sent in to investigate, but he has more on his mind than just a new case. His superiors have saddled him with an exchange officer from the neighboring AdmināSpecial Agent Susan Cantrellāwhose notion of proper ālaw enforcementā involves blowing up criminals first and skipping questions entirely.
Despite his objections, Cho is stuck with an untested partner on a case that increasingly reeks of murder and conspiracy. The unlikely pair must work together to unravel this mystery, and soon they discover their unique combination of skills might just provide the edge they need.
But nothing is ever simple where the Gordian Division is involved.
Not even time itself.
Why the jump from time travel alternate history to sci-fi police procedural?
Well, that’s something David and I will be covering in more depth at The Janus File‘s Virtual Launch Party this Saturday @ 8pm EST! Join us on YouTube and Facebook to hear about what went into the writing of our newest book … and maybe win some signed copies of The Janus File along the way! š
Adventures in Co-Authoring with a Sci-Fi Legend: Origins – Act III: Collaborations
Catch up on Act II here!
Act III: Collaborations
Naturally, being an author (a nobody indie author, but an author nonetheless), the concept of writing a novel with David Weber had crossed my mind. David is, after all, not only a prolific author, but a prolific collaborator as well.
I had given David some of my books at that first lunch, more out of courtesy than anything else, fully expecting them not to ever be read.
But he did read them.
Between those reads and our general discussions about writing, sci-fi, and science in general, David must have been impressed by somethingābecause one day he asked me if Iād like to write a short story in an upcoming anthology set in one of his universes.
Ultimately, that anthology never came to fruition, but I still wrote the story, and in the process worked closely with David on both the details of the setting and how to improve my own writing. It was a very short piece, but David is an author who gets into granular detail both in the content and the execution, and the lessons about craft that I learned from this short piece and short interaction alone were priceless.
But, in retrospect, the experience also showed David what I was like to work with on a writing project, which ended up being more relevant than I ever expected.
As mentioned before, the first thing you learn about David when you meet him is that heās intensely personableāhe loves to talk and interact with people, whether theyāre fans or not, and he likes to pay his tremendous success forward when he can. One way he does this is to find promising new authors to take under his wingāto teach them the intricacies of the writing craft that one can only get from someone whoās been writing for over thirty years. Part of the reason for this is practicalāit brings new blood into sci-fi publishing and gives those authors a valuable chance to refine their skillsābut most of the reason is that David enjoys doing it. Moreover, he enjoys playing to his co-authorsā strengths, too; he chooses co-authors who bring something to the project that he canāt (or at the very least, is less qualified than the co-author to do).
I occasionally see it said that Davidās just slapping his name on new authorsā work to help it sell, and while thatās definitely true for some authors, it couldnāt be further from the truth for David. For new authors, writing with David is akin to an apprenticeship, and Davidās fingerprints are all over those books whether itās obvious or not.
All this to say, when David worked with me on that one short story, whether either of us were conscious of it at the time or not, certain mental seeds had been planted.
These seeds would not come to fruition until 2016. Around that time, Iād submitted a manuscript to Baen Books (the same one Iād been working on back when H.P. was recovering from cancer). It had been well-received, but was rejected with a list of fixes that would make it more appealing upon re-submission.
One night, all four of us went out for H.P.ās birthday, and I asked David if heād mind reading my manuscript and providing more detailed feedback than what Iād received from the publisher.
David considered the idea ā¦ but then his eyes gleamed with what I could only think of at the time as gleeful mischief.
Thatās when he hit me with it: āWhy donāt we write a book together?ā
I skipped dessert that night, in part because I was so excited I thought I might throw up.
David also had a specific story in mind for our collaboration. You see, fairly early in his writing career, David had submitted ten series proposals to Baen Books. Among these was Honor Harringtonāthe one Jim Baen selectedābut down the list was an alternate history time travel story with a heavy amount of moral complexity. As time went on, other books and series took precedent, but that concept still lurked in the back of his mind, waiting for just the right circumstances.
Never mind that I once promised myself Iād neverāeverāwrite a time travel novel. Good time travel is hard to write, and thereās endless potential for messiness and inadvertent plot holes.
But when David Weber asked me to design multiple 30th century societies along with their time travel tech, I decided to ā¦ reevaluate my earlier āpromiseā to myself.
The concept that eventually became The Gordian Protocol appealed to David as a collaboration because heād wanted the novel to be not only alternate history, but for the worldbuilding to have a distinct feel from his other series. David couldāand didāhandle the historical elements effortlessly. The engineering challenges of the setting, he left almost entirely in my court.
And speaking of history, the rest is history. The Gordian Protocol came out in 2019, and its sequel, The Valkyrie Protocol, followed in 2020. And we have an exciting future planned for the series, including another four books under contract (three collaborations and one solo novel from yours truly).
The Janus File (coming later this year from Baen Books) takes the Gordian multiverse in a less ā¦ universe-exploding direction. (David decided that Iād blown up too many universes over the first two books and recommended we tone it down a bit.) Instead, we start off with a good, old fashioned murder mystery.
The exact release date is still TBA, but until then, you can enjoy the cover art, which has already been produced by the amazing Kurt Miller.
All this to say, I never expected a chance encounter at a small convention book signing to have such wild and exciting resultsāand Iām looking forward to what the future holds.
Iām also enormously grateful to David himself for taking a chance on a little no-name indie author. And Iād also be remiss if I didnāt say: Iām truly thankful to my lovely wife, for brightening my life in so many ways.
Even if I still donāt understand the whole cabin fever thing.
Adventures in Co-Authoring with a Sci-Fi Legend: Origins – Act II: Monster Con
Catch up on Act I here!
Act II: Monster Con
We arrived early to Davidās signing, hoping to not only get my copy of In Death Ground signed, but also to whisk H.P. back home to safety and comfort.
This plan, as with many plans before it, did not survive contact with the enemy.
David had not yet arrived, but his signing was being hosted at a table run by The Royal Manticoran Navyāa fan club for his Honor Harrington seriesāand so, naturally, there were other David Weber fans hanging out, many in full military cosplay from the Honor Harrington universe. We began to chat about Davidās books and the club itself, little knowing that many of the people we chatted with would become close friends to this day.
(Fun Fact from H.P.: It turns out that one of those impending friends was the person who suggested that Monster Con invite David in the first place, and he runs the shop that has since become the top supplier for my mild Funko Pop addiction. Which is to say, Jacob also owes this twist in his writing career to Richard at Richardās Comics and Collectables, so be sure to swing by his shop and buy everything.)
The conversation soon swung over to books and my own aspirations as an indie author.
At which point, a member of the TRMN said, āOh, you should talk to Davidās wife.ā
I was not keen on this at all. What business did we have disturbing David Weberās wife?
Thatās when they decided to drag us over to her table.
Surely enough, Sharon Rice-Weber had been hanging out there the whole time, chatting with the TRMN like they were close family.
I expected to say a quick hello and then leave, but one thing you quickly learn about the Webers is they love people, and they love talking with people.
We ended up chatting with Sharon for over an hour, well past the start of the signing, and nearly to its end. We chatted about writing, about the publishing industry, about the fan club, about recent surgeriesāboth Sharon and H.P. could sympathize on that oneāand when it came time for us to finally break away to have my book signed ā¦
Sharon invited us to lunch with David.
So ā¦ we set up a lunch.
Again, H.P. and I expected maybe an hour-long meal and chat in which David politely tolerated this weird, awkward fanās questions.
We ended up talking for four hours.
Which proved not to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, because David and Sharon asked us out to lunch a second time. And a third. And a fourth. And so on.
At some point, we ended up popping over to the Webersā house for Davidās homemade spaghetti.
And now I can say that I have eaten spaghetti cooked by my favorite author, in that authorās house.
Never in my wildest dreams did I expect my wifeās short (but very frightening) bout with cancer to end there.
And, strangely enough, it didnāt.
Continue to Act III here!
Adventures in Co-Authoring with a Sci-Fi Legend: Origins – Act I: Cancer
Iāve been writing with David Weber for six yearsāfirst on The Gordian Protocol, then The Valkyrie Protocol, and now on three more novels set within the same multiverse, the first of which will come out later this year.
Even after this long, the notion of writing with David Weber maintains a certain ā¦ surrealness in my mind.
David Weber is one of the authors who inspired me to write in the first place, and how many people get the privilege of writing with those who inspired them? There are still times when that aspect of my author journey doesnāt feel entirely real.
So here it is, the tale of how nobody indie author Jacob Holo went from that ā¦ to being āthe other guyā on books with David Weberās name on them.
Act I: Cancer
The story starts with cancer.
And, as my wife is fond of saying, āI do not recommend starting here.ā
In the summer of 2014, we found a suspicious dark spot on H.P.ās leg. That spot ended up being a melanomaāthe most aggressive form of skin cancer. Luckily for us, we caught it early enough that the dermatologist thought she might have caught all of it in the first visit. But with cancers this aggressive, itās best to be sure, so H.P. went in to have the skin around the cancer excised and a lymph node biopsy performed to check for any signs of metastasis.
The good news is the operation was completely successful, and H.P. hasnāt had a recurrence since.
The week of waiting between the excision and biopsy results was miserable. For more than the obvious reasons. You see, of all the things H.P. likes to do, staying indoors in one place is not one of them.
For context, H.P. gets stir crazy on rainy days. Iāve been married to her for over a decade, and I still donāt understand this. She once went out to mow the grass during a tornado warning, with the reasoning, āThe tornadoās not here yet, and I still have half an hour left on my audiobook.ā
The excised patch on her leg wasnāt too bad, but the doctors had to cut through muscles to reach the lymph nodes, so she was basically recovering from a hernia that week. Walking was a chore at best, painful at worst, and required my help either way, which meant she was stuck on our couch with nothing but painkillers and me to keep her entertained.
Which, by the end of her prescribed recovery week, meant she was ready to go literally anywhere, as long as it wasnāt our house.
And by āgo,ā I mean hobble. Slowly. With lots of grunts. I wasnāt inclined to take her anywhere, but H.P. is stubborn, especially where cabin fever is concerned. And she isnāt opposed to playing dirty in order to convince me to go somewhere or do something (which is how we ended up with our beloved cat Nova, but that is a whole other story).
H.P. handles the scheduling for all our con appearances, which means she has a general working knowledge of all the conventions in our area. This meant she knew about a little eventāthe now-defunct Monster Conāthat was happening close to our home that very weekend.
She casually mentioned this con the day before ā¦ while at that very moment holding onto me for support during a walk around the living room.
Naturally, I tried to convince her otherwise.
Thatās when H.P. began to form her plan of attack.
She went to Monster Conās website and brought up the list of guests, hoping sheād land on one that would change my mind.
She landed on David Weber.
I waveredābut again, considering her difficulty walking, I stressed her need to focus on recovering.
That was when H.P. put on a truly serious face and said:
āJacob. You told me three weeks ago that David Weber was one of your favorite authors of all time. One of the authors who inspired the manuscript youāre writing right now. And your copy of In Death Ground is so well read we keep it in the cabinet to protect it from falling apart! WE ARE GOING TO GET THAT BOOK SIGNED!ā
So ā¦ we went.
Continue to Act II here!
The Valkyrie Protocol is now available in audio!
It’s turning out to be a good summer for audiobooks – especially for our Gordian Division fans. š
This one came as a surprise to even us!Ā š®Ā But after a long wait, the audiobook version ofĀ The Valkyrie ProtocolĀ (Gordian Division #2)Ā (once again published by Baen Books and narrated by the excellentĀ Gabriel Vaughan) is finally out and ready to entertain your eager ears.Ā š
We’re excited to finally tell you about it, and hope you find it worth the wait!Ā š
You can currently find it on:
Also, if you haven’t yet started yourĀ adventures through time and alternate history,Ā The Gordian ProtocolĀ (Gordian Division #1)Ā is out and ready for the listening on:
Enjoy! š
Vote for The Valkyrie Protocol in The Dragon Awards!
Hey, readers! If you’re a fan of things and like to wield your fan power in fun ways, then let me introduce you to The Dragon Awards.
Hosted by Dragon Con, The Dragon Awards are annual awards given to the year’s best in science fiction and fantasy entertainment – that’s books, movies, television, comics, the whole shebang.
What makes them stand out from other awards of their ilk? They’re entirely decided by you, the fans. šĀ You don’t even have to have a Dragon Con membership to vote!
That said, The Dragon Awards nomination period is open now and will run through July 19th, 2021, but the earlier you get your nominations in, the better.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Jacob and David’s The Valkyrie Protocol is eligible this year for Best Alternate History Novel. š *wink wink*
To submit your choices, visit this page on the Dragon Con website before July 19th.
Remember, nominations need to have been released between July 1st, 2020 and June 30th, 2021, and you can only nominate a title in one category. (If you nominate it in multiple categories, then all are rejected. š§)
The Valkyrie Protocol aside š, what are you voting for this year?
Authors Just Talk About History – Virtual Panel
Hey, everyone! The next Authors Just Talk About… virtual panel is coming up soon on Thursday, December 17th @ 8pm EST! š
Join me and professional history nerds David Weber, James Young, and Terry Maggert as we chatter about…well, history!
As always, the panel will be streamed on Facebook, but hereās the Zoom link for those whoād prefer to watch there.
See you next week! š
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UPDATE: The YouTube archive is here (and below)! Though, of course, if you’d like to watch on Facebook, you can do that here, too. š
David Weber and Jacob on the Baen Free Radio Hour!
It’s time for another Valkyrie Protocol interview! š
This time, David and Jacob chat with Baen Books editor Tony Daniel over on the Baen Free Radio Hour. The YouTube link is embedded below, but if you’d like to listen to the podcast version, you can find it here (or wherever you download your favorite podcasts)! š
David and Jacob chat the Gordian Division series at ROFCon!
If you were at the first virtual ROFCon this weekend, you were treated to a whole bunch of sci-fi and fantasy authors doing what they do best (well, other than writing that is š) – including David and Jacob chatting about the Gordian Division series.
If not, it’s archived below for your viewing pleasure! š
And there’s plenty more where that came from! If you need to scratch that con itch, go check out the Ring of Fire Press channel on YouTube for a collection of panel videos from the con! š
David Weber and Jacob are coming up on Publishers Weekly’s Books on Tap Live!
Rejoice, Gordian Division fans, for there’s another live stream in your future! š
On Wednesday, October 7th @ 4pm EST, David and Jacob will chat The Valkyrie Protocol on Publishers Weekly‘s author event series Books on Tap Live! If you’re up for a chill evening hanging out with authors through the magic of the Internet, check it out on Facebook, YouTube, or the official Books on Tap Live page.
You can also enter to win a signed copy of The Valkyrie Protocol – and, while you’re at it, submit questions for Publishers Weekly to ask David and Jacob!
If that’s your style, click here or on the image below for more information. We hope to hear from you! š
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UPDATE: Here’s the archived video! š