Earlier this summer, I began transitioning the Compact Universe over to Clayborn Press, who will publish the rest of the unreleased books in the series, including Storming Amargosa. Clayborn will also rerelease my work as Jim Winter, which is mostly crime.
Here now is the release schedule we have worked out, including an updated release date for Gimme Shelter (delayed due to technical issues at Amazon.)
SEPTEMBER 18, 2018:
Gimme Shelter – Seeds of War #3. This novella introduces JT Austin as a spoiled rich kid who flees Earth when his parents plan to send him to military school to discipline him. His plan is to flee to Tian, but a prank leaves him stranded on Amargosa, a distant farming colony of Mars. There, he lands in the sights of a lovely farmer’s daughter fascinated with the “Earthman”. He also runs afoul of a local constable who aspires to become the local warlord if only the alien invasion he claims to be imminent would happen. Leads into The Children of Amargosa.
SEPTEMBER, 2018
Seeds of War Omnibus Edition – The Roots of War, The Marilynists, and Gimme Shelter, all rolled into a single volume and released in both Kindle and paperback formats. These are the first three tales of the Compact Universe saga.
OCTOBER, 2018
Broken Skies – Book 1 of the Homefront Arc. The follow up to The Children of Amargosa. Currently available independently until October 1. Admiral Quentin Austin leads a fleet to Amargosa to liberate it and, hopefully, rescue his son. But the mission fails, and Austin is assigned to investigate the mysterious JunoCorp, whose presence on three colonies preceded their going dark. Someone is willing to commit murder to keep Austin from learning the truth.
Northcoast Shakedown – (TS Hottle writing as Jim Winter) The first Nick Kepler novel, introducing Kepler as a freelance insurance investigator from Cleveland. Nick gets three softballs, or so he thinks: A life insurance policy that cashed out before the first premium was paid, a cheating husband running for office, and a worker comp case that tests his patience. All three collide in a way that may kill Kepler. But he’ll enjoy the attentions of a sexy real estate agent before it all blows up. Originally published in 2005.
NOVEMBER, 2018
Warped – Book 2 of the Homefront Arc. Currently available independently until November 1. Hideki Okada and Peter Lancaster are dragged back into the Compact Navy to run the Compact’s first warp-capable combat vessel. Their mission: Deliver a rain of destruction on an unsuspecting Gelt colony. But the mission may not be as legal as it’s portrayed.
DECEMBER, 2018
Tishla – Book 3 of the Homefront Arc. Currently available independently until December 1. Tishla returns to take charge of Hanar, formerly Gilead, which her late husband was conned into invading. Abandoned by the Gelt and the humans, both the original settlers and the invading Gelt must band together to survive. Tishla is the one to make it happen. But someone decides they want her unborn twins dead before that can happen. Leads to the events of Second Wave.
JANUARY, 2019
The Homefront Omnibus Edition – Broken Skies, Warped, and Tishla rolled into one volume and available in both Kindle and paperback formats.
Second Hand Goods – (TS Hottle writing as Jim Winter) – Nick Kepler returns when a beautiful Russian woman asks him to look for a missing limousine. He finds it and its dead driver, which traps him between two warring Russian mobsters. Nick may die before he can choose a side and solve the murder. And his partner Elaine is willing to throw everything away to save him.
FEBRUARY, 2019
Second Wave – Book 2 of The Amargosa Trilogy. Three months after the events of The Children of Amargosa, JT Austin, Davra Andraste, and Eric Yuwono set out on a cross-country quest to reach a fallen starship. They defy orders to meet up with Suicide and her team only to end up marching with former war criminals from the Compact’s Polygamy Wars. One member will disappear, another will be captured by Gelt, while the team takes on a Gelt prisoner of war who is more than she seems. All the while, they are racing against Lucius Kray to reach the fallen starship first in a desperate attempt to turn the tide on Amargosa. Will be published as a paperback and Kindle. Available independently until February 1, 2019.
MARCH, 2019
The Amortals – Book 1 of The Gathering Storm Arc. Douglas Best (The Marilynists) returns to take over the investigation into JunoCorp. Their secrets are intertwined with a long-running research project into human amortality. With the help of his wife and a rather pragmatic Marilynist normaj, Best finds himself dealing with two of the three oldest people in the human race while finding himself on the trail of a third, who may be responsible for the war with the Realm now spiraling out of control.
APRIL, 2019
The Exile – Book 2 of The Gathering Storm Arc. Nolan Rosc, the man who shot Tishla, is getting a reprieve. All he has to do is go to the orbital city of Armenaya to recruit human settlers for Hanar, formerly Gilead. But the mysterious Gene Klament appears, first offering to arm Hanar, then telling Rosc it needs to be sacrificed for the greater good. Rosc is soon in a tug of war between two men who are half a millennium old, and they seem to hold a grudge with each other.
MAY, 2019
Flight Blade (working title) – Book 3 of The Gathering Storm Arc. Tomle Modesto and Mitsuko Yamato are two of the Navy’s most promising young officers, the most arrogant and rebellious, and the most incompatible. Naturally, they’re assigned to work together under Admiral Eileen Burke aboard the Challenger as it travels to Hanar to see who is occupying the former Gilead.
JUNE, 2019
The Gathering Storm Omnibus Edition – The Amortals, The Exile, and Flight Blade all in one volume. Will be available as both Kindle and a paperback.
Bad Religion – (TS Hottle writing as Jim Winter) In Kepler’s third outing, he tangles with a local televangelist and discovers church politics can be murder. But so can real estate scams. In Kindle and Paperback
JULY, 2019
Seeds of War – Expanded edition – The original Seeds of War omnibus with No Marigolds in the Promised Land added.
AUGUST, 2019
“Headspace: A Compact Universe Short” – Rafe is a doctoral student who breaks AI taboos to create a virtual playground humans can upload into. All to impress a girl. Available independently until August 1, 2019.
The Compleat Kepler/Gypsy’s Kiss – (TS Hottle writing as Jim Winter) A collection of all the Kepler short stories and the novella Gypsy’s Kiss, in which Kepler’s favorite informant wants to leave the skin trade. But someone is willing to kill her to make her stay. In Kindle and Paperback
SEPTEMBER, 2019
Storming Amargosa – The Amargosa Trilogy Book 3. Yes, we finally bring this mother in for a landing. There’s a new Laral on Amargosa. JT has a crush on Tishla, but Suicide needs him to focus on liberating their former homeworld. And strange doings in the Compact may unravel the whole thing. In Kindle and Paperback
OCTOBER, 2019
Road Rules – (TS Hottle writing as Jim Winter) Two guys, a truckstop hooker, and a vintage Cadillac Coupe de Ville all wind up in Savannah, Georgia, after the road trip from Hell. In Kindle and Paperback
NOVEMBER, 2019
The Amargosa Trilogy – The Children of Amargosa, Second Wave, and Storming Amargosa in one volume. In Kindle and Paperback
JANUARY, 2020
The Expanded Amargosa Trilogy – No Marigolds in the Promised Land, Gimme Shelter + The Children of Amargosa, Tishla + Second Wave, Among Wolves (serialized novella) + Storming Amargosa. In Kindle and Paperback
FEBRUARY, 2020
untitled Jim Winter/TS Hottle crime collection
MARCH, 2020
Kepler #5 – no title yet, but Nick is tracking a dangerous cult in Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina.
All dates subject to change.