I promised I wouldn’t bombard you with messages, and I haven’t. One promise kept. But I’m very aware that I’m pushing it by sending a message in late December when your inbox will be packed with offers, felicitations, and announcements of imminent deliveries that might not arrive on time. So I’m really grateful that you’re reading this at all.
So, why am I writing, and why now of all times?
A few reasons.
BECAUSE I want to talk about my books, of course, particularly the first book in the Hand of Reason Series.
I really wanted to get Touched by Light out this December. But as you can guess by looking at your phone, it’s getting rather late in the month and there have been no trumpets and streamers.
Why? You may rightly ask.
As the first book in a five-book series that I’ve been working on for years, it was vital for the series to be complete before letting the first book out of the cage. As a reader, I’ve become invested too many times with characters in a series that the author never finishes. It’s a different kind of mourning to that when you reach the end of one you’ve loved. A much more unsatisfying kind of mourning. Tinged with disappointment (and sometimes, even a little anger). I didn’t want to do that to anybody. So kept writing till the five books were done. And then started the editing with the assistance of my wonderful editors.
And finally the series was truly complete. Or so my editor said and made me put the pen down (forcefully, I confess).
BUT the lovely covers I had commissioned for them such a long time ago, though still lovely, didn’t quite work for me anymore. It took a while to get the new cover for Touched by Light right. But it is now. Fakel Barros, of Stardust Book Services, has been amazing to work with and has been able to both get my vision and surpass it.
It’s also taking me a while to learn all the steps needed to publish a book. An indie author doesn’t just write the books but also takes every step a publishing house does: engage and work with an editor; engage and work with a designer; proofread, proofread, and proofread again. And that’s not mentioning the million admin and logistics steps that need to be learnt and applied. I could have rushed it. I could have shrugged and only re-read the manuscript once. I could have agreed with the first iteration of the cover, but I’ve been working on these books for sooo long. And, to be fair, I’d still be editing if it wasn’t for my wonderful editor saying: ‘Enough. Pens down. Time to let it fly.’
So, this is a convoluted way of telling you all that I’m not going to rush my first book out at the last minute for the sake of making December ‘25. It’ll come soon though. Later than I would have wished, but 2026 will see it on shelves. Hopefully, on yours. And the other four will follow throughout the year… ‘till the story is all told’.
But in the meantime, you can have a look at the cover!
BECAUSE, whatever you celebrate this time of year, or even if you celebrate nothing at all, I would like to wish you and yours a happy few days and wish with all my heart that the New Year brings us all the usual peace, love, health, and joy as well as a heavy dose of kindness, which the world desperately needs. Oh, and books, lots and lots of those, please.
This New Year will be a big one for me.
New Year ’25 was a mixed bag. I was just out of hospital after a huge scare. I was cleared to do exercise again on 1 January and started a 365-day power yoga and meditation programme.
At first, I could barely do anything without collapsing. But I grew stronger and haven’t missed a day. I’m that kind of person. If I start, I have to finish, because if I skip a day, I’ll have licence to give up, so I just can’t skip a day.
When I didn’t have my mat, I used a towel, but the hour of yoga was done without fail. Sometimes at dawn, and sometimes even at 3am after a night out. But each day was ticked off the calendar.
And the meditation? Yes, I did that too. Every day. But meditating doesn’t come easy to me. My brain races and cannot stick to my breathing. Having said that, I found it to be a brilliant creative space and finished chapters, started new ones, unravelled plot twists, and come up with all sorts of ideas while trying to focus on my breathing. I call it a success.
The programme ends on 31 December. And I’m kind of sad. But the amazing Travis Eliot and Lauren Eckstrom of Inner Dimension Yoga have come up with a new sixty-day challenge, so I’m safe till March.
BECAUSE I have more news to share. As I promised in my first (and only) newsletter (so far), I’ve been working on the five free books I’m going to send to you.
The first one is done. It ties in with Touched by Light, a prequel, really. Farewell to the Hunter is a novella which you’ll get as a thank you for putting up with my newsletter and reading my books.
It’s Marie’s backstory. You don’t know who Marie is yet, but you will after reading Touched by Light and you’ll probably wonder at her choices. Farewell to the Hunter will explain them a little, but paraphrasing what Anil (you don’t know who she is either – yet – but you will get to know her too) says, none can know what truly lies in another’s heart.
I’m working on the others. The second one is also finished – I’ll have the cover for it next time I write. It’s called A Daughter’s Duty and involves Anil. That Anil. The third is done as well. It’s about Mad Queen Nis. I’ll say no more about her, but will say that I had loads of fun writing her story. The fourth is The Vintner of Ros, and the fifth is still up in the air.
I have a cover for Farewell to the Hunter. It will be an e-book that will be released from captivity once Touched by Light has been… and once I figure out how to get it to you (Bookfunnel, they tell me. And yet another learning curve for me!)
BECAUSE, to keep up my practice (can it be a practice if I’ve only done it once? I wonder…) I’ll include a Did you know?
Did you know that Ankisua is a word of Hellenistic roots that means ‘the universe, the extent of heaven and earth’.
I chose it as the name of the land where my characters dwell because to them, like to each of us, our home is our universe, however big or small and whatever it may look like. And most of us will do anything to save our home from harm.
BECAUSE I want to tell you what I’m reading right now. I was on a nine and half hour flight three days ago. I was on my way to Austin, Texas, to visit my parents who have ended up there through the strange and winding paths of life.
I intended to do a last read of Rule of Reason (book two in the series) so that it’s ready to go to my editor for a last line-edit at the end of January. Or perhaps I’d watch a film, maybe two, or even all the trailers.
But at take-off I started reading Threading the Labyrinth by Tiffani Angus. It was a happy and sad and haunting and rather lovely exploration of family and identity. And so very beautifully written. After that, I disturbed everyone to bring down my bag and dig out The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien de Castell that I was half-way through. I haven’t finished it yet but am loving the Heaven vs Hell but with the added twist of flawed but eminently enjoyable heroes, who are also all thoroughly messed up.
And for once, that’s all I’m reading. But not for long as I spent part of this morning at a local bookshop and collected a stack of books to give as gifts, including two as gifts for me!
BECAUSE I need to include the news you were truly after when you opened this email: news about Echo.
As I said earlier, I was in Austin visiting my parents. I stayed with my brother, who, years ago, fell in love with my first Great Dane, the one and only Luna, who was completely and utterly crazy.
So, of course, when they got married, he and his wife adopted a Great Dane too. Before having children. Brave indeed. Eliza (named after Eliza Schuyler Hamilton) is younger than Echo, BUT she’s her sister in spirit, so it was only fitting for me to bring her a matching collar. Behold the sister muses.
That’s it for now. I’ll keep you posted. As Gandalf said, ‘Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East.’ Except, it’ll be Touched by Light coming (not me), it’ll be towards the end of January, probably not at dawn, and it’ll be wherever you usually find books. So really, nothing to do with Gandalf’s words at all!
You can unsubscribe at any time (that link is always at the bottom). I’ll be sad to see you go and hope you’ll think kindly of me whenever you see my name on books or come across a Great Dane.
Be well, be happy, and thank you for reading.
One Response
Hi, this is a comment.
To get started with moderating, editing, and deleting comments, please visit the Comments screen in the dashboard.
Commenter avatars come from Gravatar.