And another month’s gone by!

Summer’s fully underway and in the UK at least, the heat’s been something else. We’re not used to such temperatures and buildings are built to retain heat, so it gets bad. So for all those beyond our shores who are impatiently saying that we complain of rain all year round and when we finally get a bit of sun, we still complain … that’s why it is.

It’s hotter in Madrid at the moment, BUT it’s dry heat, the city shuts down from 14,00-17,00, buildings have shutters which are lowered to keep the cool, and most places have aircon. It’s a different story. A much more pleasant one, as Echo can attest!

Anyway, enough about sunny weather as I’m aware that some are reading from the depths of winter in the southern hemisphere…

So June’s been busy, and fun.

The highlight was my trip to Edinburgh at the beginning of the month, for Cymera, Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

It was brilliant.

First, it was in Edinburgh. For those who’ve been, you know what that means. For those who haven’t, close your eyes and picture the most gothic town you can imagine, in tones of grey and shadows, with moody skies, and a looming castle as well as a weird mesa staring down on passersby. And people with that most wonderful of accents which sometimes you struggle to understand, but sounds so lovely.

Second, Cymera. The Festival hosts authors and creatives of all kinds. The panels are always fantastic and the dealer’s hall is filled with remarkable things. You want to take them all. Every conversation is memorable and meeting old friends and making new ones is a highlight.

For me, this year’s Festival was doubly special as I participated in Cymera’s Brave New Words, when debut authors get to read aloud from their books as a warming act for a panel related to their writing. Mine, you won’t be surprised to hear, was the opening act for an incredible panel on Rebellion and Revenge with A.S Tamaki, Sarah Mughal Rana, and Soraya Bouazzaoui.

I had five minutes, so struggled in choosing the section of Touched by Light to read. It had to give a good idea of the story, not give spoilers, and have enough depth. I chose a part from the beginning, just after Peryst has left Lost Corner with Maia. I practiced in front of friends, in front of my phone, and in front of Echo, timing it just right. On the day, I was presented by one of the members of the board and off I went. Once I started reading, nerves disappeared and I was riding along with Peryst, railing against Marie for not fighting for her daughter…

It was a great experience and I earned a great round of applause.  

The remainder of the Festival was amazing. My favourite by far was a conversation between M.K. Hardy and Stephen Graham Jones. What a nice guy and such fascinating subjects… though his claim to wrap up a book in six to eight weeks sent most writers in the room spiralling in despair!

Let’s talk about genres!

You’ll be happy to hear that Rule of Reason (Book 2 in the Hand of Reason series) is in its last proofread stage and getting ready to come out and play. A couple of very talented authors gave me a blurb for it and in that process, I discovered that I’ve been very wrong in describing my genre.

Till now, when asked, I’ve said I write epic fantasy. And that’s not entirely wrong. But it’s also not entirely right, as will become evident as the series progresses. The Hand of reason series is an epic fantasy with grimdark tones.

And what is grimdark, you ask?

Traditionally, it’s defined as a genre with morally ambiguous characters, dark settings, and a lack of easy answers. It’s in opposition to a classic epic fantasy of good vs. evil where good always prevails (eventually).

Touched by Light certainly doesn’t fall squarely into the grimdark category as there’s nothing ambiguous about Peryst’s morality, but it hints at the darkness that’s coming. And if any of you have read Farewell to the Hunter, you’ll find the same: a shadow that’s coming. It’s not there yet, it’s not dark, but you can see it approaching, like those storms that you see coming in from the ocean.

Rule of Reason veers deep into grimdark territory: it’s Raf’s story. And Raf is reared in and by, the Hand of Reason. See what you think – July, my people, July!

And for those who wonder. Yes, you’ll get a novella with Rule of Reason too. It’s called A Meeting of Minds and is the story of Anil and Klaust in their youth and how they come together. It gives you more information on the structure of Mehru’s army and ruling family and a lot more about the Isles of Vel and their pirates.

And for those who finish reading Rule of Reason and A Meeting of Minds and want some more, I’ll message later on in the summer to offer an additional novella. But A Daughter’s Duty will only be for those who’ve read Rule of Reason and request it from me directly because it has spoilers and will only be of interest to those who know the story already.

What else have I been doing in terms of work?

I’ve been checking Books 3 and 4 against my dates table (a thirty four page calendar of events and dates covering every character in every one of the five books in the Hand of Reason series) and proofreading them both before sending to my editor for her final look at them. And also working with my wonderful cover designer on the cover of Book 3 – Shadow of the Hand. It’s looking good…

I’ve also been working on the dreaded marketing. Social media is hard, but Instagram and Facebook are similar animals, and I’m handling the posts and the reels. Same with Bluesky – it’s words, and I can do words. BUT I keep being told that I need to do Tiktoks. And that is truly not my strength. Videos of myself? Talking? Just the idea gives me a stress headache. But that’s next on the ‘to-do’ list. So if you venture in that direction, you might find me soon jabbering on about my books, because if I don’t, who will?

And what about not writing related?

I’ve been reading a lot of horror, which is new for me. I mean, I read Stephen King when I was a teenager, but that was it. I haven’t gone near the genre since. But I take book recommendations from those I trust seriously and someone suggested Grady Hendrix. I’ve read his The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Killing Vampires and am reading How to Sell a Haunted House on my kindle. His books are wonderful and terrible, scary, disturbing, and deep. All at the same time. And he writes women so well that I was surprised to find that he was a guy!

I also read a fantastic time-travel book called Dissolution by Nicholas Binge. I loved it. Again, the protagonist was a woman: an 84 year old woman! It’s absolutely brilliant. And very unexpected.

What else? I’ve finally reached where I was in Baldur’s Gate 3 before I lost all my progress. That was very upsetting as I was three quarters through the game. It’s been fun and frustrating to replay, but also weird, because I’ve done things a little differently and thus changed the story as I had understood it. It’s made it way more interesting though. I’m getting close to the last part of the game now and am about to face the dragon. I’ve been really good about not researching spoilers so have no idea what happens next. I can’t wait to finish and start Expedition 33… Why not play both, you ask? Because my brain won’t allow it… Finish one and then, only then, can I start the other!

Pathfinder is proving a completely surprising experience. It’s truly brutal. In our last DnD campaign, we had a couple of brushes with death, where the big bad was super bad and we almost didn’t make it. But that was twice in an almost two-year campaign. We’ve had three sessions in Pathfinder and almost died each time. It’s so close that we all have back-up characters as we know we’ll be slaughtered by some over-powered bug. Because yes, we’re fighting bugs. Really scary bugs. We’re having a ball though.

And finally, Echo!

She’s well. The summer solstice came and went, reminding me of one a few years ago, when Echo was younger and I used to walk her on Hampstead Heath (large sprawling park with woodland in North London) at the crack of dawn – 5,00 am or so. London’s far further north than one thinks and over the summer it’s bright daylight at 4,30am. Echo’s recall isn’t great and when she’s distracted or interested in something, non-existent. Great Danes are known to be stubborn. Echo is the MOST stubborn.

So, I have her running off lead at 5,00am while ambling through the woods writing chapters in my head when my musings are suddenly interrupted by screaming ahead. I take off at a run and come to a clearing where Echo has interrupted a solstice gathering of a bunch of naked people greeting the dawn. And when I say interrupted, I mean she’s jumping and greeting the skyclad crowd with enormous enthusiasm and no regard to their lack of clothes.

She obviously ignores my calls. And so, I’m running like a maniac trying to catch her while she jumps from one reveller to the other and darts round and about them as they scatter yelping and screaming, stepping on stones and falling on their bare backsides. It took a while to catch her. They won’t have forgotten that solstice. I certainly haven’t. I think of them every year and wonder if they’ve ever dared to brave the perils of the Heath again…

While here, she’s enjoying life and not terrorising solstice revellers!

On that note, I leave you in peace for another month. Be well, remember your sunscreen, and keep reading.

And please, pretty please, leave me a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble, or wherever you get books! Every single one makes a difference…

Stay safe.