Here you can find the latest news on my upcoming works of fiction.
Progress Report: 15.09.2024
Much of my focus has been on editing these past weeks and I’m pleased to say I’m around 70% of the way through major edits on the novella, Together We Rise. I’m still about a third of the way through major edits on the novel, Elanta. That hasn’t seen much action with my focus pivoting to TWR. I’m so excited to share this story with you. It feels relevant right now with protestors and uprisings happening across the globe.
And there’s another reason why my excitement has inched up a notch—I’ve partnered up with some fantastic professional artists to help bring Together We Rise to life.
Jack Shepherd, who created the maps for Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, is onboard to create an immersive city map showing the revolution in the story.
And Stuart Bache, designer of covers for books by Stephen King, amongst others, is onboard too!
Things are moving forward well and excitement is building. It’s a book I can’t wait to share with you, and because of that, I want to ensure you have a beautiful and immersive experience.
I’ll be looking for ARC readers in the next few weeks so if you’d be interested in taking a look, drop me an email at [email protected].
Progress Report: 03.08.2024
I’m pleased to report that my decision to pivot away from the likes of the podcast to more fiction work has paid off. The first major edits on Together We Rise are now complete, I am thrilled to say! More on that below.
I’ve also finished drafting, editing and submitting a brand new fantasy short story, called Fool’s Gold. It’s a more humours tale that follows two hapless cousins, Berty and Brains.
Berty is all about making money, but he sucks at it. Brains just wants a nice bit of pie at the end of the day, but he forever gets dragged along by his cousin in his coin-making schemes. And in this story, we witness one of those attempts, involving goblins and gold.
I’ve written this story with the intention of getting it published somewhere so I can’t share too much with you, but here’s a snippet, plus a pic of what I envision Berty and Brains to look like:
And here’s a snippet of them chatting together.
“How many goblins you met before, Bert?” Brains asked as Berty helped him to his feet.
“Enough to know they don’t like us humans much. We call them ugly and stupid and once in a while they stick a few of us with arrows.”
“What do you reckon they’ll do if they catch us?”
“They ain’t gonna catch us.”
“Yeah, but what if they do?”
Berty turned to face his cousin, frustration in his eyes. “Why don’t you have any faith in me?”
“It’s just that we usually get caught. And them goblins are big bastards.”
“We run then. Is that a good enough plan for you?”
I’ll keep you posted on how I get on with this story and as soon as I can share it with you, I will.
Together We Rise
The aim by the end of July was to finish major edits and I’m delighted to say that stage has now been completed. Wooooo!
The novella is now with my editor, Jennia, who’ll give it a good doing over.
I want to release this in December. It has been a year of political upheaval, struggles, protests, revolutions. There have been more non-outcomes to these movements than there have been positive ones, but that’s not to say that we should give up the fight. No. We carry on, battling away with hope in our hearts.
What I wanted to show readers with Together We Rise is that if you keep hoping, believing and fighting, change is possible. And not just for a few, but for everyone.
Hopefully, you find it a satisfying story too, where the evil and corrupt in society get their comeuppance. But while the story is about a revolution, it zooms in on the lives of eight different characters and how they confront the massive changes that they need to make in their own lives.
I’ll be sharing more with you next month so keep scrolling below to subscribe. It’ll be time for Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) soon so you can be the first to hear about that too.
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What Is This Page About?
One issue I’ve decided to tackle is a lack of clarity when it comes to my fiction, at least when it comes to the public eye.
In my head, all of this is mapped out, but it occurred to me that a reader couldn’t make head nor tail of it, which is a failing on my part.
So here, you can learn all about my fantasy world, Tervia, and the stories that I continue to populate it with.
You can find a full list of those stories in chronological order and grouped by era below, along with some teasers about each one, when and where they were first published, and how you can read them.
Let me start by explaining the philosophy underpinning my current project, The Tales of Tervia.
About The Tales Of Tervia
These stories tell the tales of individual characters caught up in the struggle between the light and the darkness, good and evil.
It’s one of the oldest fantasy tropes, but the one I love most about the genre. It gives you the ability to explore human nature, what it means to be good, what it means to be bad, and what it means to drift between the two. In other other words, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Each story is designed to reveal more and more of the world of Tervia, its people, its ancient past, and the dark shadows that move across the land, as well as the forces of good who try to stop them.
Character-driven, you’ll meet a diverse cast from all walks of life. And one common strand marries them all—they’re underdogs, and in their stories, they battle against the odds to do what they think is right.
Below, each tale has been set out in chronological order, with some grouped into the events that define the era.
The Tales Of Tervia
The Fall, 1021, The Second Age Of Man
The Struggle, 1044-1046, The Second Age Of Man
- The Pigeon Catchers
- Ducks
- The Monster Of Grug
- Noodlin’
- Together We Rise (novella)
War In The Hills Of Moragon. 1046-1069, The Second Age Of Man
- Elanta (novel)
- Follies Of The Proud
- The Wolves That Stalk The Flock
How To Read The Tales Of Tervia
It’s possible to read many of the stories listed above for free. To do so, you can download the book via StoryOrigin, an indepdent platform that helps authors distribute their books directly to readers, without the need for Amazon. Just click the StoryOrigin button below to get started.
Progress Report: 04.07.2024
Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends. It’s been just over 4 weeks since my last progress report (these words sound like the opening of a church confession) and lots has gone on, though that doesn’t feel like the case.
The biggest change in the last 4 weeks is what I describe as a pivot away from devoting the majority of my time to writing craft side of my pursuits to devoting more time to actually writing stories.
Up until recently I invested time in a biweekly newsletter and podcast on writing. I also maintain this site and create new content, plus a Patreon page, YouTube channel and all the social medias.
So I decided to reduce the newsletter and podcast to once a month to free up precious time for writing and editing. This means I stand a better chance of hitting my editing goals, and I can also start to write new stories—one of which, a humorous fantasy short story, is well underway.
Let me give you a run down of other developments.
Together We Rise
I feel like headway is finally being made on the edits of Totgether We Rise. This story is split into 8 perspectives. 6 have been edited. The final two I have a deadline to finish editing by the end of this month. Doable!
This story will then go off to my editor for further checks and while that’s underway I’ll be returning to Elanta (more on that below).
I wanted to give you more of an idea of what to expect from Together We Rise, so today I thought I’d share an extract from the story. This comes from the chapter titled “The Urchin” and it follows Little Mal as she navigates her way through the unfolding chaos of the revolution. If you’ve ever read The Pigeon Catchers (link above) you’ll recognise her.
The closeness of the buildings masked the cacophony beyond and she stepped out into the heart of a battle. A battered line of Guards tried to beat back a surge of people. A lot of them were men, but there were women in there too, and boys and girls not much older than herself. As King had described, they all fought with a rage-filled intensity that she hadn’t witnessed in people other than the pushers who beat her. It was scary but inspiring at the same time. And utterly brutal. One woman’s head exploded as a spear butt pummelled into it. A guard lost his footing and was promptly stomped to death. Iron poles, hammers, axes and anything else that would serve as a weapon battered the wooden shields of the Guards and bludgeoned limbs and bodies when they found a target. Rocks, stones, and glass bottles sailed through the air. All around her, on the faces, hands and clothes of scores of people, she could see spatters and stains of crimson. Blood poured from wounds, eyes hung out of sockets. But the sounds scared her more than the sights. The demented wails of agony, anger, anguish. She could feel it all, and it gave her feet wings.
Elanta
No progress on the Elanta front this month. I’ve been focusing my efforts on editing Together We Rise, but once that’s done this month all focus will return to Elanta. Developmental editorial checks are the next step and then it’s time for that killer final pass for typos. This will then be packaged up and shipped off to literary agents.
Progress Report: 27.05.2024
Two books in the list above, Together We Rise and Elanta, are currently unreleased and in the throes of the editing process. Here’s a quick summary of where each is up to and when you may be able to read them.
Together We Rise
50% of the way through round one edits.
The aim is to have this stage complete by mid-July, ready for my editor to review. Hoping for a release by December 2024.
To whet your appetitie, I’ve created a theme song for the novella which evokes the feeling and vibe of the story: revolution.
Elanta
First and second-round edits are complete. Round three should be completed by September.
You might not see this one for a while, though. The plan is to pitch this to literary agents.
Next Steps
At the end of each month, I’ll update this progress report and share any other book-related news.
I’ll also share snippets of writing from both books to give you a bit of a teaser of what you can expect.
I’m also in the process of developing an interactive map where you can see all of the stories in different parts of Tervia and click on each one to read it and learn more about what went on.
By the end, you’ll hopefully have a full fantasy world to explore and immerse yourself in.
As always, if you have any questions for me, please get in touch.
Most nights you can find him up into the wee hours scribbling away or watching the NBA.
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