The struggle is real.
I’m not sure what it is about winter that causes struggle, but I’m old enough to recognize the pattern. Yesterday was one of those days where everything I touched was harder than it could have been. Do you ever have those days? I was reviewing my current writing, and I realized that this trend was starting to show up for my characters, fortunately in funny, annoying ways.
I imagine it was winter when I wrote about Liam Hoffen in Privateer Tales working on the septic system in his spaceship and getting a face full of the wrong stuff. I’m happy to report that my irritations from yesterday have settled down and I’m back to my normal, generally happy to be alive, self. I suspect that has something to do with the fact that unlike my characters, I’m quite willing to hire plumbers at to do the heavy lifting.
I am excited to announce—Jump Drives and Coffee Stains releases February 1st, 2026.
This book was one of those stories that made me laugh while I was writing it—which is usually a good sign that something has gone terribly wrong for the characters involved. There was no septic to the face, fortunately.
If you’ve read Boltguns and Duct Tape, you already know Rix Banner isn’t the sort of hero who charges into danger with a dramatic speech and a shiny uniform. He’s the guy standing in a cramped engine bay, elbow-deep in broken machinery, trying to decide if he has enough time to fix a coolant leak before the he runs off to the bathroom. In Jump Drives and Coffee Stains, that energy is turned up a notch.
This time around, Rix is trying to get ahead—just a little. Fix the shop. Pay the bills. Maybe sleep somewhere that doesn’t smell like overheated wiring. Naturally, the universe (maybe a frustrated author) responds by throwing failing jump drives, questionable cargo runs, and a steady stream of “small favors” his way. The kind of favors that always come with hidden costs, loose bolts, and the occasional exploding beverage.
One of my favorite parts of writing this book was leaning hard into the day-to-day reality of life on the edge of civilization. Nothing works quite right. Everything is held together with improvisation. And everyone has an opinion on how Rix should be doing his job.
If you enjoy fast-paced science fiction, sarcastic humor, found-family crews, and starships that absolutely should not still be flying, I think you’ll have a lot of fun with this one.
