The Ascalon paperbacks are live again at last on Amazon! Thanks for the xmas gift KDP!
With this update now complete, I will now restore the corresponding pages here as well as the Planes of Ascalon companion pieces in the downloads section.
As for future works, 2022 having been the annus horribilis that it was, all my timelines have shifted more or less a year. Next year right now is looking to be pretty much entirely focused on sci-fi, as I really want to complete the first draft of TUW and send it for editing before the year is out, for a revised target publication date of 2024. I’m pushing The Commodore’s Gold a bit farther down the line as a result; however, French Ascalon fans rejoice, as the French translation of The Dragon Run will hit the shelves some time this year, probably in time for the summer holidays.
It is with great sadness that I learned today that Bernard Chabbert had passed away, aged 78.
Chabbert was a legend in the European aviation scene, a pilot, a journalist and writer, but most of all an incredibly talented storyteller, and a staple of many airshows for decades, captivating crowds all over Europe with his stories, his anecdotes, his passion for flying machines and the men and women who build, maintain and pilot them.
Back in the 90’s, he created and presented a TV program called Pégase, and it was through this show that I learned about the incredible adventures of how the 747 and the Concorde came to be, or how some guy in Spain was building his own plane from scratch in his garage, that I discovered the Waco, probably the most stylish biplane ever made (the footage of a red Waco taking off from a grassy strip on a misty morning is burned in my memory…), that I watched gliders soar over the Alps, powered by nothing but wind and air pressure… and so many other things
I listened to him tell his stories in so many airshows… the Rassemblement International d’Hydravions de Biscarrosse show in 2012, Flying Legends at Duxford in 2015, our very own Féria de l’Air in Nîmes in 2015 which I helped organize, the Temps des Hélices at Ferté-Alais in 2018, Air Legends in Melun in 2021… But I only had the chance to meet him once, when he was signing, along with illustrator Romain Hugault, his book about Saint-Exupéry, at that last meeting in Melun, in 2021. It was, in every sense, like meeting a childhood hero. He signed my book and we exchanged a few words, then the same happened with Hugault, and I walked on clouds for the rest of the day. It’s no exaggeration to say that airshows won’t be the same without him.
I was hoping there would be more opportunities. I will cherish the one I did have.
Done! Ebooks are resubmitted and paperback proofs are underway. If everything checks out, I could have all versions back on sale like before as soon as next week. Stay tuned!
