Three Years a Slave

That was a dramatic title! I released The Vile Realm in November 2020. The Crystal Keep was 2019, and Grim Work was 2017. My release schedule is sporadic at best, but I never stop working on my books.

Helman Schmidt: Current nemesis of Marigold

The Dead and the Rotten is going really well, I have to say. It's not the longest book I've written, sitting midway between the length of The Crystal Keep and The Vile Realm, but it might actually be the richest! I clearly have no sense of scale when it comes to time. I believe I have been saying "soon" on the release date for a couple of years now. As of now, I am on my fourth read following the initial draft, redraft, red pen sweep, and further draft. So far through my current read, the edits are halved from the previous. When things halve like that it really gives me a sense that the end is in sight. Not in a desperate way (for whatever reason I really enjoy just existing in chapter four), but in the sense that I am really looking forward to seeing how readers find this book. It is dark, it is violent. It covers scenarios I've not really stepped into before. Some of it was really quite uncomfortable to write, but reading back over it all I think that this really works in the story's favour.

With my other books I was genuinely nervous to hit publish. With this fourth in the series I am simply excited to have people read it. This could be misguided. Perhaps it will be universally hated! After all, it does feature the undead and a necromancer who is also an incel... But if you like inns? Well, The Dead and the Rotten is centred upon The Cobbled Man, a packed in with a suspect menu, built into the terraced walls of the sea stack community of Rinztown.

Hopefully there are still some readers out there who are looking forward to this!

Why am I so slow when it comes to releasing books? I think I have too many interests. Spring and summer can be difficult times to write. I've also got a fair old obsession with butterflies and moths, as well as Scottish wildlife in general. If the sun is out, I am out. Putting together videos and editing photographs really does eat into my free time. Writing notes pile up, reminders get shunted along. Evenings and rainy days are my best friend when it comes to writing.

In between the photos and walking and writing, I've made significant progress on two further books in this series. One is set in Marigold's earlier days, the other directly after The Dead and the Rotten. All stories are still intended to stand alone, so let me know which direction you'd like to see for the next one. Probably due 2027 knowing me...

Which story next?

• Delvers of the Domed Marvel (Marigold's younger years)
• The Unspeakable Below (sequel to The Dead and the Rotten)