I thought it was about time I brought you guys up to date with what I’ve been working on, and what my provisional release schedule is looking like moving forward.
There’s loads of things coming down the pipeline, and I know you’re all eager to know what’s in store for you. So here goes!
Remember the name Adam Hatch.
Because he’s the amazing voice talent behind the audiobook version of HUNTERS.
Yes. It’s coming. And it’s coming very soon!
Adam has done all the recording, and we’re just doing the final checks to make sure it’s all fine and dandy. I think Adam has done an astonishing job with a book that is not easy to convert to audio format.
For starters, it’s BIG!
Secondly, it has a myriad of characters that need voicing. Characters of different races, sexes, nationalities… You name it, HUNTERS has it.
Anyway, all things being equal I’d love to have this on release for the end of May/start of June, so keep an eye out on Audible, and on my social media feeds for a release notification!
A lot will depend on Nikki’s availability to turn around the edits and I’m not going to rush her. I’d love a July release, but I’m not sure that’s feasible. (Nikki may well baulk at my August hopes! LOL)
Songbird book 3 TOOTH & CLAW is very almost finished. I have a week off work next week during which I want the first draft done and dusted. Then I can run through it again and polish it before sending it to Nikki for her gentle caresses. So, it should be into the edit phase in May going into June.
It’s a big book (as usual for the series!) but everything is done ready for me to finish and for the edit.
The cover art is good to go, and the formatted version is ready to accept the text.
At that point, I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the 4th book, DRAGONSONG.
The first edition of the anthology book, Malarky’s ImaginOmnibus came out in February and was a huge hit. If you read my blog post about it, then you’d know it went to the number 1 slot for anthologies both here in the UK and over in the US. What’s more it stayed there for a whole week!
Well we’re already all hard at work on the second one.
I’ve completed my short and Nikki (my partner in Shenanigans) is already working on the edit. I’ve heard that she’s also a couple of thousand words into hers too!
I’m not going to give away the theme of this one (the last one was ‘They Walk Among Us’) but suffice to say this has been another adventure for me. I’ve tried something new again. I like trying to push myself to do different things.
This time, I’m writing in first-person. Which is new for me.
I kinda love the results, and I’m keen to perhaps write more to expand this little story in the future. But that’s a way off as yet.
Anyway, Malarky’s ImaginOmnibus Volume 2 is tentatively scheduled for an August release.
So, once I have TOOTH & CLAW out of the way, I’m getting stuck into the next two Femme Fatale related books.
First up will be the KASAI novella.
Couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it’s a short book and should be a nice palate cleanser after the aforementioned TOOTH & CLAW. Secondly, it will introduce a new character (meow!) who will feature in the ongoing series. It would be nice to release this on the anniversary of the KNIGHTINGALE novella, so that’s what I’d like to aim for.
March 17th 2021 saw the release of my first Songbird book. HUNTERS.
March 17th 2022 saw the release of the first of the Femme Fatales series, THE SCORCHED SKY.
I’d kind of like to hit the same date next year for the release of Femme Fatales book 2, THE BROKEN GROUND.
The book is already in hand, so I’m hoping it won’t take too long to finish it and polish it. Then it’s all up to Nikki and her editing availability. (Sorry, Nikki!)
The advantage of the first bunch of Femme Fatales books is that on the whole they’re already written. The original stories were fan fiction for the City of Heroes game, so the skeleton is already there. What I’m doing is running through them and adjusting the characters and the background items.
I can get away with this for perhaps the next 5 or 6 books in the series. After that I’m back to writing them from scratch.
After this, the prospective release get VERY tentative…
I’d love to get DRAGONSONG (the 4th Songbird book) out around September 2024. I have a few chapters written and the cover art is half finished. Not much to report on this one as yet.
Okay, so let’s get out the telescope and see the other things far out on the horizon.
The wheel doesn’t stop turning, and I have all kinds of ideas floating around my head. Some more solid that others, but here’s a little overview of what I’d like to do…
Femme Fatale Novellas
These are a certainty. I’ll get them done. I currently have plans for books based on Reflex, Centurion, Rogue, Honsou, Mr Infinity, Ecstasy, Shield Maiden and a few more. I’m also still looking forward to my friend Steve Vimes finally popping his publishing cherry and releasing the Coin novella/novel.
Femme Fatale Ongoing Series Novels
So, after THE BROKEN GROUND we have a few more in the pipeline.
- Book 3 will be THE SHATTERED SHARD.
- Book 4 will be THE FEMME FATALITY
- Book 5 will be THE TANGLED WEB
- Book 6 will be THE FOUND FAMILY
- Book 7 will be THE FUTURE FEMME
I don’t intend it to end there, the series could run and run till everyone gets bored. But this is the first complete arc, so to speak. Book 7 is the only one that isn’t really written in any form yet, just a few chapters here and there. All the others are written in their original fan-fiction form, but will need converting to the new Femme Fatales universe.
It should be a fun series.
Oh and also…
Adam, fresh off doing the HUNTERS audiobook, has already committed to doing the BLOOD TO EARTH book He is, it seems, a glutton for punishment. I’d hope that this one would be ready for release early in 2024, but it all depends on Adam’s timescales. I’m not pushing him, so it gets done when it’s done.
Of course, this is the main even series. I’m hoping to have at least one of these out every year, which should mean the completion of the saga by 2027. Fingers crossed.
In case you didn’t know, here’s the titles (subject to change!)
- Book 4 – DRAGONSONG
- Book 5 – THE TECHMASTERS (I think this one may change as I’ve never loved this as a title)
- Book 6 – THE RIVER
- Book 7 – THE BROKEN CIRCLE
And that will bring us to the end of the saga.
Or at least the end of the Ballad of the Songbird. The ending I have in mind does leave it kind of open to another series that follows on, but I’m not sure I’ll ever do that.
However…
Ballad of the Songbird Adjacent Books
There are a few books I’d like to write which are linked to the Songbird series. known as The Rising. This is the thing that turned the world upside down in 2016, three decades before the events of the Songbird series.
First up, there’s a mention in book 2, BLOOD TO EARTH, of a case that Allyson worked on when she was a London detective. She referred to the horrific murder spree case of ‘The Holloway Horror’. I’d kind of like to write the story of this case as a detective novel. And then, maybe, a little series of detective novels based around Allyson’s time as a detective.
Secondly, I already have an almost complete book in a series that I’ve tentatively entitled ‘The Hunters Files’ which will detail the exploits of the 137th Hunters up the events of ‘Bloody Valletta’ which, anyone who has read HUNTERS and BLOOD TO EARTH will know, is a major event in Gayle Knightley’s life. This will be a series of novellas.
Thirdly, there will likely be a trilogy series set around the events leading up to the apocalyptic event known as The Rising. This is the thing that turned the world upside down in 2016, three decades before the events of the Songbird series.
And lastly, I had tentatively started to do a series of Young Adult books based around the adventures of the cadets at the HFA Academy. Kind of like a supernatural Harry Potter. Not sure whether I’ll move forward with this as plans kind of changed with what I was going to do with the kids, but you never know.
And that I think pretty much gives you the heads up on everything that’s bubbling away in my head.
I’ll try and keep this thread regularly updated so you know what’s going on.
Love & Books
