Hey there, as BLUE SHIELD DNIPRO has now hit the store shelves, I just took a snap of my desk as a way of letting you know what's up right now on the personal and professional front! The Eagle eyed among you will spot the details, others can pinch and zoom!

Left to right: 

• Got some books in the bookcase I've been saving for a giveaway I might do before December holiday season - Aggressor novels, Fiasco, some of the new What-if titles. That's on the to-do list! But thanks to the 20 readers who got the DNIPRO preorder vouchers! They have all gone out ... I look forward to reading what you think!
• My iPad adorned with post-its. Reminders to update the acknowledgements in DNIPRO and check a couple of map details before the eBook drops 26.8; one with distances between Ukrainian cities and some details on drones; one that relates to the next book I'll be releasing, in November, DEFIANT. That one shows who is who in USS Defiant's Ship Mission Center, their role and where they physically stand; tucked into th top corner, the name of one of Ukraine's most successful front line units, so I could name check it in DNIPRO.
• Apple watch charger because mine needs a new battery so I have to charge it daily. Grrr. Should I get another one ? The price here of a battery change for this model is nearly the same as buying new :( Is there a non Apple alternative? I don't need a fitness watch (god forbid) just one that can show multiple time zones, timers and alarms.
• Laptop with screen background showing my graphic artist's current concept for USS Defiant. We're still working on it. I have a person working with me right now (shout out Jeanne!) who builds actual destroyers and we are refining the build for our Defiant together. There's a lot of things with the proposed design we don't like and might change (because we can.) Like the fact someone wants it to be nuclear. Only Newport News in the US can build nuclear powered vessels and everything it builds is years behind schedule. Nuclear is unecessary, adds cost and will add delays. Then there's those 5" guns. What are they going to shoot at - shore emplacements? IF Defiant ever gets in range of anything worth shooting at with a 5" cannon, a hundred missiles could already have been launched. Eliminating the obsolete cannon, magazine and mount creates a lot of space for more missiles or defense systems! Oh, and the railgun? That fantasy weapon will go into the bin of history alongside the Zumwalt's Mark 51 'Advanced' Gun System, so we won't be including that either. Our Defiant will use tried and tested systems with a focus on over the horizon warfare so it can be built faster and is fit for future wars.
• Notepad open to two pages I refer to all the time: miles per hour to kilometers per hour table, and airspeed Mach/MPH/Knots table.
• Beer not beer. Because it's still summery here and (at time of writing, Friday) but it's non alcoholic anyway. I started a 'dry July' thing a couple months ago and have kept going, just to see how long I can. So, soon 8 weeks and counting without any drama. There are some damn good alcohol free beers in Europe these days: this one is a local Danish Skovlyst but it actually comes from Austrian brewery Fritz Egger. What I miss? Wine. All alcohol free, even low alcohol wine, tastes like grape juice. Please, prove me wrong! Suggest a good AF wine!
• Tray of stuff, most importantly, wired earphones because I keep losing my ear pods. On the playlist right now as I head into the last chapters of DEFIANT (90,000 words in the can already and counting...) are:
  • (Heavy) Evanescence SANCTUARY
  • (Lighter) Grace Cummings BLOODHORSE
  • (Lightest) Gin Wigmore BEAUTIFUL MESS (except for the first track which is for some reason country because it seems everyone these days thinks they need to go country, which I do like too, just not from Gin Wigmore. RIP Dolly.)
• What's not there but should be? My packing list for Australia. I am heading downunder in September for, among other things, a visit with Australian Army Battle Lab at Vic Barracks in Sydney, who I am working with on a hush hush project (stay tuned!) 

That's a wrap! Have a nice last days of summer (northern hemispherians) first days of spring (southern hemispherites.)