I’m back!

Did anyone even notice I was gone? No? Oh well. I’ve just spent three very pleasant weeks in Australia, first in Adelaide, then crossing the Nullarbor desert by train to Perth, then back to Adelaide to catch the plane home. Great weather, great food, great wine, great people – so friendly and just all-round nice people. And an astonishing number of them from my original stamping ground of Merseyside. Very weird to fly half-way round the world and hear so many Scouse accents.

I got plenty of reading done on the long flights to and from the UK, and on the train. Thank goodness for a well-stuffed Kindle. I have eight reviews ready to post, and several other books partly read. Lovely to be able to catch up on my reading, and not to have twenty other things vying for my attention.

I got some writing done, too, although I find travelling less conducive to creative thought. Still, I got a couple more chapters written of the current work in progress (book 4 in the Brightmoon world). I also did a full read-through on book 3, so progress is being made.

Current state of play:

Here’s a quick rundown on where the various books are at:

‘The Plains of Kallanash’: published, sold/lent around 80 paid copies, plus around 800 free copies.

‘The Fire Mages’: currently awaiting final beta reports, then one more edit and proofreading, ready for a January publication date.

‘The Mages of Bennamore’: complete and ready for editing. Cover art booked. Publication (I hope!) around May 2015.

‘The Mines of Asharim’: about 70,000 words written, probably about half-way.

Coming up:

I have another set of free days planned for Kallanash for early December – 3rd/4th/5th – and a little light promotion to help things along. So if you know of anyone who might like a free read, let them know.

I’m also beginning to plan for the release of ‘The Fire Mages’ in January. Beta readers have been very positive about it, and not found too many glaring plot holes so I’m going to give it a modest promotional push – a blog tour and a few not too expensive email lists. It will be quite fun to have two books out! I’m beginning to feel like a proper author. 🙂