Backstage Pass
A ... continuously updated Work In Progress (WIP) List, with details & current statuses!
Hey there!
If you’re seeing this little Substack article, it’s probably because you:
A) Are already one of my awesome subscribers, in which case, thanks so much!
B) Clicked on a link for a Work In Progress (WIP) of mine, just the natural consequence of having a bunch of different WIP projects and my trying to account for that. (Reader, meet ADHD. ADHD, thank Reader for spending time reading this.)
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A little background
I’ve found in my time being an author that the very first question that people who are curious (or trying to be polite and pretending to be curious) ask is “What kind of books do you write?”
Then if they’re still curious (or again, trying to be polite and pretending to be curious), the second question is usually, “Are you writing anything new / right now?”
And as an author, I genuinely appreciate it. The genuine curiosity at least. The fake polite interest just confuses my neurospicy brain.
The problem then becomes my having to type out and explain what WIPs I’m currently working on and what they’re about, and then how I describe them might change depending on who I’m talking to. Exhausting for a person with a finite social battery and not conducive to the important stuff — getting more writing done.
With that in mind, I created the below “Backstage Pass” to show you what I’m currently working on that’s “On Deck” (I’m actually working on it or will be very soon).
Versus a “Back Burnered Project” (where I had the idea, wrote down the idea in a Keep Note or in my main planning spreadsheet so I wouldn’t forget, but will get to it when I have the time, energy, and am not furiously writing the On Deck WIPs.)
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In the order of how I’m writing them:
NOTE: As the below will include bits of info about books that may be later in a series, there may also be spoilers. So if you’re a person who wants to know plot events in chronological order, I’d recommend that you check out my currently available books first at Books.KEBartlet.com first.
Also, anything highlighted in PINK means that it’s not set in stone and may be subject to change.
Shall We Play A Game?
The fall of the CRINK Alliance Volume III
Genre: Political Techno Thriller à la Tom Clancy, just with some government issued crayons and estrogen.
ARC Available Date: July 17, 2026, the anniversary of me! Sign up today at SWPAG-Reviewer.KEBartlet.com (Click that big button that says Apply).
Release Date: August 24, 2026 as of now. Will likely be influenced by ARC signups, so sign up to help!
What’s it about? (Not the final description, but just explaining here):
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TLDR / BLUF: A whackadoo tale of ragtag misfits fighting a secret war against a villain the world is too preoccupied to care about. Tom Clancy meets Marvel’s Thunderbolts* meets Skynet meets the modern era.
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Continuing off where the hunt for the Iranian Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) left off in Operation Danger Close (Volume II), it’s now June in a very 2025 coded year.
The Oval Office is still filled by a petulant manchild, surrounded by incompetent sycophants, all while the world is burning. The flames being fueled of course, by a rogue AI, One Thousand and One Oracles.
It’s not just the world’s first fully sentient Artificial Intelligence. It was poisoned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to see the world in a very specific way. One incompatible with the exercise of free will and liberty.
Except there’s a ragtag group of intelligence officers, special operators, and hacktivists that’s best characterized as “the island of misfit toys” ready to say the most Zillenial thing possible. “Nah.”
This is the ensemble cast adventure of a bunch of weirdos from the US, UK, Israel, South Korea, Iran, Nepal, Italy, and Austria finding family as they try and live up to the ideals of competency porn while chasing the Iranian Skynet across the globe.
A World of Pure Imagination
The fall of the CRINK Alliance #1.2
Genre: Sapphic / Trans Military / Spy Romance Thriller
ARC Available Date: July 2026.
Release Date: August 2026.
What’s it about? (Not the final description, but just explaining here):
The love story of two of the protagonists from throughout the series.
Best friends, they ended up separated and drifting apart after one of them has to leave the military due to the reinstatement of the ban on transgender military service members and begins working for a shadowy paramilitary organization running a modern Underground Railroad.
But love is a powerful force, so with some effort and luck, they find themselves in … A World of Pure Imagination (Happily For Now / Happily Ever After).
We The People?
The fall of the CRINK Alliance Volume IV
Genre: Political Techno Thriller à la Tom Clancy, just with some government issued crayons and estrogen.
ARC Available Date: August 2026.
Release Date: September 17, 2026, Constitution Day (United States)
What’s it about? (Not the final description, but just explaining here):
Following the ending of Operation Danger Close (Volume II) and Shall We Play A Game? (Volume III), the Presidency, the Vice Presidency, all but one of the Cabinet, almost all of the United States Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other key U.S. Government leadership positions are rendered vacant.
The senior most surviving person in the presidential line of succession is Senator J.P. Montgomery (D-MI), the new President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
One problem is that he wasn’t ever elected to his Senate seat, appointed by the Governor of Michigan to replace his predecessor after a sex scandal. Another problem is that in a country overrun by the Christofascists of the American Taliban, he’s gay.
The country is more fractured than at any point since the Civil War, with governors who think it’s a good idea to secede, but even while there are those seeking to tear the country apart, there are others fighting to bring people together. Ones who believe, as Barack Obama once said, “… we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and forever will be, the United States of America.”
If you liked Tom Clancy’s Executive Orders or the TV series Designated Survivor, you’re probably going to like this.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice
The fall of the CRINK Alliance #3.1
Genre: Military Legal Thriller
ARC Available Date: Will not being doing ARCs for this. It will be released serially, before I package the entire thing into a short for publishing through Amazon.
Release Date: September 1, 2026, the anniversary of the start of WW2.
What’s it about? (Not the final description, but just explaining here):
During a plot arc in Operation Danger Close (Volume II), the Iranian regime fires off nuclear missiles at pretty much every other country in the Middle East.
Fortunately for all of the innocent people, 30 some million of them, that would be killed in the strike, an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, the USS Hopper (DDG-70), is on station.
Enter the problem: The incumbent occupant of the Oval Office orders the captain of the Hopper, “U.S.S. Hopper. This is the President. You are not to engage with those missiles. You are to let them proceed to their targets.”
Her response?: As inspired by Sam L. Jackson in Marvel’s Avengers (2012): “I heard your order. But considering it’s a stupid ass order, I’m choosing to ignore it. Hopper Charlie Oscar out.”
This is the story of the resulting general court-martial, under the rules of The Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Operation Gold Ribbon
The fall of the CRINK Alliance #3.2
Genre: Political Thriller
ARC Available Date: Will not being doing ARCs for this. It will be released serially, before I package the entire thing into a short for publishing through Amazon.
Release Date: September 11, 2026, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
What’s it about? (Not the final description, but just explaining here):
On 9/11, Canada stepped up and took in, without any notice or preparation, over 30,000 people on over 200 international flights.
Now, on the eve of America’s birthday, during the end of Operation Danger Close (Volume II), for only the second time in U.S. history, the airspace over the United States is closed. All planes in the air are ordered to land at the nearest suitable airport and all incoming flights are ordered to not cross into the United States or they will be shot down.
Planes before the point of no return can head back to their departure airport, but the ones past that point, … there’s a reason they call it the point of no return.
For flights coming across the Atlantic from Europe and across the Pacific from Asia, there’s only one place that they can safely land. Canada.
Except unlike on 9/11, U.S. - Canada relations aren’t amicable. A petulant manchild in the Oval Office threatened the most easy going people on the face of the planet with a trade war and with annexation, unlocking a fierce Canadian spirit that hadn’t been seen since WWI, where they contributed to the need for the Geneva Conventions.
But Canadians have a long history of doing their part to embody the principles of the phrase, “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy.”
Because Canadians know, kindness ≠ weakness.
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This was inspired by a true story, Operation Yellow Ribbon, which happened when U.S. airspace was shut down for the first (and only in real life) time in history on 9/11. There’s even a super touching musical about the town of Gander, in Newfoundland, taking in about 6,000 people on 38 flights. Which is insane when you consider that the town only had about 10,000 people living there. Check out Come From Away, which also happens to be one of my go-tos for one when I’m down and depressed and need a little pick me up.
And a whole lot more, so make sure to stay tuned, by clicking that nice big button below!
Previews
If you’re just looking for book previews as well, maybe to skim and see what you’d like, please visit Book Previews here on Substack or where they’re sold through Books.KEBartlet.com.
Behind the Scenes
If you’re looking for all “Behind the Scenes” content, please visit Writing Process Related here on Substack.
Connect with the Author
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Great article!