Cawdor is coming along nicely in the worldbuilding sense.

I added another colony to the notes today and I think I am managing to hit the right balance with this colony. Not a cliche and not romanticized either. IN some ways making the Grand Unified Compact is tougher than the wholly new human culture found in the CRC. Where the CRC is a single artificial culture, the GUC is scores of colonies some with very detailed culturally transmission from the founders and some with cultures that have been more open to natural drift. (Naturally they have all drifted. Only the CRC can remained functionally stable since the AI’s have been in control from the very start. The drift there that does occur is slight and nearly unnoticeable.)

After the GUC is crafted together enough to make my characters from it — I have characters from both in the novel — it will be time for detailed work on the military structures, tactics, and principles for warfare with the logistical and strategic limitations I have built into the universe.

I am so excited about this novel. It is becoming so much more than I had originally planned.