Herewith a list of the projects I'm working on and potential time of completion including 'never'.

Old Bidnett:

Empire of Man: A very rough mss was sent to David some months ago for him to give me an outline to fill in the massive missing bits. There were about 35k words in the mss and it included an ending. Also included some stuff I'm not sure David will approve. But there's movement on that universe.

David is dealing with the Honorverse, however, so don't go joggling his elbow. He's got enough on his plate. When/if it happens, it happens.

Aldenata/Hedren: I have a vision for the next two (and last) aldenata books. I've posted some snippets (he let me win, enter the posleen). I have a rough mental outline. But getting the next two to gel is tough. The big problem is that there are so many characters and so many stories that need 'completion' and I'm so out of touch with the universe. I have the basic Mike O'Neal thread fairly well thought out but the rest of the story is essentially no-where.

Troy: I got a strong start on the next Troy novel then faltered. Basically it ran into the weeds and I haven't found a way out. I'm currently considering moving much of the storyline to the Rangora side with Toj and Beor becoming the main focus as they try to save their Empire and race from annihilation or irrelevance. Mostly by learning to be more like Terrans. There are a few unwritten scenes I could do involving Dana but... It's in the weeds.

Keldara: There are two Keldara stories I've been working on. One is the Keldara/Black Tide non-canon cross-over novel. That, too, is in the weeds. Basically, I'd need to go to Georgia to write it and even if the money was there it would be entirely impractical at the moment. But it might eventually get written. Entirely non-canon for both universes but fun. Shota with a claymore (the sword) and a field full of infected... wha'ts not to love? 

The second Keldara story IS canon and may be the direction of the universe going forward. They've been hired on long-term more or less exclusive contract by a hacker collective which primarily fights human trafficking but also does other 'stuff'. The story is about the Keldara doing 'meat space' stuff for them. Which involves a long trail of bodies of bad people. There are aspects of it I don't like which keep catching me up. There's not enough there-there in some ways. Good missions but... Just good missions do not a good BOOK make. So I'm looking for more there there. And I've pretty much given up my interest in writing Fifty Shades of Guns so so far there's none of the one handed fun stuff. And secondary characters have little value so far. They're just cardboard cut-outs if they even have a scene. That's what I mean by 'not enough there there'. The real story is the hacker collective but that's not a story I can write well. Though you see some 'behind the scenes' stuff in messages and I may have the Kildar become something of a sound-board/outlet for the collective's boss especially when she's bitching about herding cats.

But until I can get more there there for secondary characters... it's in the weeds as well. 

Council Wars: Probably never. I have considered doing a YA set in the future of the universe but how the war played out, more Herzer/Edmund/Megan probably will never be written.

Vorpal Blade: Much of my 'hard combat SF' neurology has been shifted to Troy so doing both would be tough. And Doc and I have barely discussed this in literally years.

The fact that I'm trying to remember how many other universes I have at this point should tell you one of the reasons I'm having issues...

BLACK TIDE: Voices of the Fall, the next anthology, co-edited with Gary Poole, is in the works. The anthology is generally set around the concept of the chapter headings in Islands of 'Collected Voices from the Fall'. The primary story idea is about characters who survived and somehow got access to short-wave radio.

It will include stories from some of the same authors as well as others. There will be some 'name' authors, including I hope some from outside the main Baen line, as well as junior Baen authors and some entire newbies. It is invitation only and most invitations are already gone out. In fact, a few stories are already in. And... none fo them involve being voices of the fall so far but... :-) So... That.

I don't have any plans at present for a new 'main-line' book involving Sophia and Faith though I have ideated a few 'other story' books. (Stories which are co-timed with Wolf Squadron but other survivors or stories set during the very early days of the rebuilding from the POV of other survivors.) And there's some discussion of turning some of the stories from this and previous anthologies into books. That being said:

New Bidnett:

MORE THAN HIS SALT: the story of Tom Smith's adventures in and post NYC is proceeding steadily. Written by Mike Massa (Battle of the BERTs in the Black Tide Rising anthology) with me as co-author it takes place in NYC and TN as Tom Smith and a small group of survivors travel to a bank emergency center and there have to decide whether it is more important to remain 'true to their salt' and accept the bank leadership as their permanent overlords or take another path. 

If you read Battle of the BERTs, unsurprisingly it contains fairly regular gut punches. Mike's a former SEAL: He's not into pulling punches.

We're sort of leaning towards Black Tide and the rebuild universe becoming an open universe ala 1632. We're approaching that carefully, though. And to do that I'd have to ideate the big 'issues', especially villains, in the post-Fall world. But we're leaning that way.

There have been rumors, unconfirmed, that Sarah A. Hoyt wanted to do a Black Tide book. I'm fine with that and I'm okay if she decided she had other areas to concentrate.

I'm working with two other authors from BTR, Chris Smith and KC Seville, on a NEW universe (sorry). Last Freedom's Fire is a YAish quest in a post-apocalyptic-western-steampunk world thirty years after trans-dimensional 'xenozooans' that eat electricity are unleashed on the world. The over-all quest is an attempt to locate and unleash the final nuclear weapon that was pre-laid in a nest of giant ants (sort of, called Gants anyway) to eliminated the last major nest. 

Hmmm...

Someone asked about a sequel to Von Neumann's War (which sort of caused this.)

No. Too many other better projects. Sometimes stuff just dies. Look at Firefly.

The same can be said for The Hero, Road to Damascus (besides, Baen no longer has Bolo rights)... There other orphans out there?

Back on the subject of Black Tide and New Bidnett:

There shall be an 'announcement' on the subject of Black Tide. This will probably take place at LibertyCon but may take place earlier. (Talking with Liberty at the moment. Up to Brandy Spraker if we can still get in the schedule.) What announcement...? Not super major at the moment but... announcementable.
:-)

And that's the news.

Now back to steadfastly not getting books written...