The Kildaran - an introduction - READ FIRST

So.
Back in 2006, John Ringo, one of my favorite authors, decided to purge a few of his personal demons and write a little series called The Paladin of Shadows.
The first book was GHOST. It introduced us to Mike Harmon, former SEAL and, at the opening of the book, History major at the University of Georgia.
The book is comprised of three stories, sequential but only vaguely linked, taking Mike from his retirement, to rescuing hostages in Syria, to stopping a nuclear bomb from entering the US, to stopping ANOTHER nuke in Paris (yes, France).
Pretty straightforward military fiction with, as I said above, some personal demons - well, maybe not demons. But certainly not mainstream MilFic.
Second book, KILDAR. This takes Mike to Georgia (the country, not the state) where he ends up buying a rather large farm, complete with tenants. The tenants are called the Keldara, and it turns out they are the last surviving members of the Varangian Guard (this part is real history, you can look it up). The Kildar is the name of the feudal noble who oversees - rules - the Keldara. Guess who's the new Kildar? Right. So he gets it in his head to train these Keldara as a militia - before he learns of their warrior background - since the valleys they live in tend to be raided by Chechens.
Third book - CHOOSERS OF THE SLAIN. This was actually the FIRST book I read, and it's the one that hooked me.
Fourth book - UNTO THE BREACH.
Fifth book - A DEEPER BLUE.

All these books came out in about a two year period. Then nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
More nothing.
Eventually I discover his web site, www.JohnRingo.net, and poke around.
Seems there are LOTS of people wondering when he might cook up another book in the series.

One night, I have an idea. I get out of bed, fire up the computer, and type.

Wow, was it rough. But it was a beginning.

Since then - that was September of 2010 - I've been working on my concept. I call it THE KILDARAN - as John established it, the Kildaran is the Kildar's woman/wife/concubine. And he even provided a character who WANTS to be the Kildaran.

Writing hasn't been easy, or steady. And there have been obstacles. Latest one, it seems that John has his own plans to come back to this series (eventually) and has his own ideas for the Kildaran, so what follows is simply Fan Fiction (at this point). Okay. I can accept that, he created the series. But I'm still going to write out my ideas.

I've gained a collaborator, and I've gained confidence. I also think that I have a way to get John to accept this story, not in place of his, but as a stepping-stone for his.

So.

The following posts are simply going to be my chapters. I hope you enjoy them.