Starting February the right way

Happy New Year! I know it's February, but I think technically the year is still new, and I spent actually New Year getting drunk in a rock bar in Tokyo, so I couldn't say it then. So, Happy New Year! 2020 is probably going to be a weird one for a lot of people, but I keep my political rants on Twitter, so let's focus on the good stuff here!

The first piece of good stuff is that I've signed my first contract for the year! My paranormal romance short story, THE WITCH'S GUIDE TO WEREWOLVES will be out in May from Evernight. Here's the blurb:

Callie McIntyre believes in a lot of things. She believes in tarot cards and moon magic, and that's the reason her last girlfriend left her. But she never believed in werewolves until she meets Devon Miller out in the woods one night.

Devon's story is crazy, but who's Callie to argue about it? With a full moon fast approaching, Callie is determined to help Devon tackle her fears. Sure, neither of them know a thing about werewolves, but with another reluctant lyncathrope in tow and all Callie's witchy optimism at work, surely they can get through Devon's first full moon in one piece... Right?

I'm excited about this! I had a lot of problems last autumn with writer's block and anxiety, and decided to write myself a cute, sweet romance with werewolves to help get past it. It took until late January for me to actually finish it, but I'm so happy with how it came out, and it definitely helped with the writer's block, so it's going to have a special place in my heart.

The second piece of good stuff is that Olivia R Burton and me/Amber Morgan will have at least two romances out this year. If you've loved our past collaborations, like The Godfather's Naughty Daughter and Song of the Argyle Goddess, you'll want to stay tuned for CASH GRAB and THE HARBOR MASTER'S SHACK.

And the third piece of good stuff is that I have a ton of other books planned for this year! How many of them I'll actually get to writing is another issue, but I will absolutely be writing the final Blood Canticles book this year. If you want to stay up-to-date on what I'm working on, the best places are either Twitter or my Facebook group.

Stay happy and I'll catch you all later!

VOID DREAMS is out!

Actually, it's been out since last week, but I've been busy with real life - trying to finish a story and prep for a biiiiig trip to Japan, and I kinda forgot to post anything on the blog about. But it's out! Hurrah! Lola and Tristesse are back for their sixth adventure! Hurrah!

Lola and Tristesse are back where they belong … but they didn’t come alone.

Something is haunting the streets and dreams of Fort Rosser, and when Lola’s clients start dying, she’s forced to accept that Gehenna hasn’t let her go yet.

Now Lola and her friends are in a race against time to stop a monster that can only grow more powerful. Cut off from the immense magic of the patrons, Lola needs to get creative to deal with this threat. But everyone has their limits. If Lola goes too far, can Tristesse bring her home?

You can buy VOID DREAMS now at Evernight, Amazon US, Amazon UK, and wherever else you buy your ebooks.

The next Blood Canticles book, which will hopefully be out in 2020, will be the last one. This series has come a long way since BLOOD WITCH, and I've loved every step of the journey, but it's time to give Lola and Tristesse a happy ending, and for me to move onto other shiny new projects. So grab VOID DREAMS and start speculating on what happens next...

VOID DREAMS is coming!

This is the official post to make it officially official! VOID DREAMS, Blood Canticles 6, is coming to Evernight in October! As usual, more details as I get them, but here's the blurb to get you excited.

Lola and Tristesse are back where they belong...but they didn't come alone.

Something is haunting the streets and dreams of Fort Rosser, and when Lola's clients start dying, she's forced to accept that Gehenna hasn't let her go yet.

Now Lola and her friends are in a race against time to stop a monster that can only grow more powerful. Cut off from the immense magic of the patrons, Lola needs to get creative to deal with this threat. But everyone has their limits. If Lola goes too far, can Tristesse bring her home?

This is the penultimate Blood Canticles book, and I'm kinda nervous about it. The series has become a big, important part of my life since I wrote BLOOD WITCH in 2014, and it's sort of hard to imagine my writing schedule without Lola and Tristesse on it.

Luckily, there is still one more book to write...and until then, I'm just going to get hyped about VOID DREAMS being on the horizon! Hopefully you'll join me!

CHAOS SONGS is in the wild!

The big day has finally arrived! CHAOS SONGS, book five of the Blood Canticles series,* is unleashed! It's been a long time coming - when I started this book, I was living in the UK, and the move from there to the Netherlands really disrupted my writing. So there was a big gap between the starting and the finishing of CHAOS SONGS, which left me feeling kinda tired of it at some points.

But now it's here! And I love it! And you're going to love it too! There are so many moments in the book that make me feel all giddy and excited, and as I work on book six, Void Dreams, it's important for me to remember that giddiness. And I'm really hoping Lola and Tristesse's continued adventures leave you feeling giddy too.

Chaos magic makes anything possible. Even the unthinkable.

Lola and Tristesse have defeated one enemy, but Gehenna isn’t finished with them yet. A way home seems impossible. And while Lola struggles with the magical bond she forged with the mysterious patrons, the Shrouded Guard are still hunting them down.

Forced into strange alliances with rebel demons and an underground cult, Lola and Tristesse must decide what they’re willing to do - and to sacrifice - to escape. And if they don’t decide fast, the choice may be taken from them.

Buy it now from Evernight Publishing, Amazon US, Amazon UK, and wherever else you get your ebooks. 

*Book five?! Can you even believe it?

Red Hot News!

I've just signed the contract for CHAOS SONGS, book five in the Blood Canticles series! This feels like it's been a long time coming. I didn't have any books in the series out last year, because...you know... the whole move-to-Amsterdam affair. I got pretty distracted, and then pretty worried the book was terrible, and then I wrote a completely different book.

Anyway! I'm thrilled to be able to finally say that Tristesse and Lola's next adventure is coming soon - hopefully April. Stay tuned for more news! In the meantime, here's the (unedited blurb) for your edification.

Chaos magic makes anything possible. Even the unthinkable.

Lola and Tristesse have defeated one enemy, but Gehenna isn’t finished with them yet. A way home seems impossible. And while Lola struggles with the magical bond she forged with the mysterious patrons, the Shrouded Guard are still hunting them down.

Forced into strange alliances with rebel demons and an underground cult, Lola and Tristesse must decide what they’re willing to do - and to sacrifice - to escape. And if they don’t decide fast, the choice may be taken from them.

The Year of the Bennu

Happy 2019, folks! I hope you had a great 2018, and that if you didn't, this year is better. In fact, I hope this year is better regardless, because that's how life should work in my opinion.

As is tradition for me now, I am naming 2019 after a mythical creature. This is to give me an idea of the shape of my year, to help me remember my goals, and to remind me that we make our own magic.

Shel Silverstein

2018 was The Year of the Kappa, a creature I associate with emotional balance (and also drowning people, but nobody's perfect). I was coming off the back of a battle with depression and seeking to regain balance in my life in lots of areas. What I didn't know at the start of the year was that I'd be leaving the UK and starting over in the Netherlands mid-year, which was a massive challenge to that balancing act! But I achieved it, goddammit, and even though my creativity fluctuated as a result of the move, I still feel proud of what I accomplished last year. We worked through the huge upheaval of relocating. I quit my job of seven years, leaving behind some amazing people, and found a new job that has a ton of potential. I finished Chaos Songs, released a few titles as Amber Morgan, and pitched to Choice of Games. Chaos Songs is now on submission, and I'm almost halfway through my next Amber Morgan book already, thanks to some good writing habits I put in place for myself in late 2018.

All in all, it was a hell of a strange, exciting, and ultimately wonderful year. And now it's gone, and it's time to name a new year.

Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd do it this year. No obvious animal was leaping out at me, until this morning (literally just thirty minutes ago), when my sleep-addled brain yelled BIRDS at me. See, there are a lot of herons round our new neighbourhood, and I've become slightly obsessed with them since we moved. When I was job hunting over August and early September, I saw the same heron every day, patiently standing at the water's edge, always unruffled, always calm. Come rain or shine, he was there, doing what he needed to do.

And it felt to me like Friend Heron was a reminder to me that I needed to take the same approach to finding a new job. Stay calm, stay focused, do the work. And that has been good advice in so many areas of my life in the latter half of this year. So of course, what better animal to take into 2019 with me than a mythical heron?

The bennu is an Ancient Egyptian deity linked with the sun, creation, and rebirth, said to be the inspiration for the phoenix. He is a self-created being who played a role in the creation of the world, known as "He Who Came Into Being By Himself." I love that! My goals for 2019 are, as always, largely focused on creativity, so who better to guide me through that than a creator god with links to  a bird I love?


My plans are, in no particular order, to finish writing the Blood Canticles series, to finish my Ravenstone Vampires series, to re-open my perfume shop in a stripped-back form, and to write at least one other book. If I can keep up the productivity I managed in December, that's all pretty doable. I'm also focusing on learning to at least read Dutch to a good level, and as usual, there's some personal health and fitness aims, but mostly on that front I'll just be happy if I can stop myself eating so many waffles.

So! Welcome to the Year of the Bennu. He's creative, steadfast, and bright, and let's hope 2019 is too.

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes."

So! It's been a hell of a while, right? I've been dark here for a while (though, as always, the best place to see what I'm up to is Facebook or Twitter), because as you may recall, earlier this year Nero was offered an amazing job in Amsterdam. After a lot of soul-searching, we decided to take the plunge. We moved at the end of July, and since then, it's been...well, there's been a lot of pancakes.

There's fruit on it, so technically speaking it's one of my five a day.

There's been a lot of other things too. We lived in a fancy hotel for a while when we first got here and were house-hunting. Luckily for us, it was a pet-friendly hotel, so Yuki was able to be a five-star luxury cat for a few weeks.

Her life is pain.

She handled it as best she could, but I'll be honest - even a five-star hotel is still a hotel, and it was a massive relief to move into our new home in mid-August. We're in a quiet neighbourhood just outside of Amsterdam, surrounded by canals, ducks, and herons, and I absolutely love it here. Miss Yuki has settled in nicely, too.

Mijn kat is buiten

While Nero started his new job pretty much straight away, I spent August and early September job-hunting before finally landing a new role in mid-September. Yay! It's with a company I really like so far, doing work I genuinely believe in and that makes a difference to people's lives. And as an added bonus, the hours are pretty flexible, and I now have a much shorter commute to and from the office, so I have more writing time! Not to mention more time to explore Amsterdam.

Classic Netherlands.

I was apprehensive about the move, in all honesty. We've both left behind good friends, beloved family, jobs we were happy in, and a city we knew well and have lots of amazing memories of. And although I do miss my people, I have fallen in love with Amsterdam. It's vibrant and interesting, and has many fine pancake houses, and I now get the pleasure of showing people around when they come to stay, which I love doing!

So, it's taken a few months, but I feel settled in now, and have finally learned which way to look when I cross the road (not that it helps).

And in between all the moving, house-hunting, job-hunting, and waffle-eating, I have been writing. I did lose my rhythm leading up to the move (honestly, part of the reason I'm so glad I love it here is because I NEVER WANT TO PUT MY LIFE INTO BOXES, PUT THE BOXES ON A FERRY, TRAVEL ACROSS AN OCEAN, PUT THE BOXES IN A HOTEL AND LIVE OUT OF THE BOXES FOR A MONTH EVER AGAIN), and I really stalled on Chaos Songs for several months.

Instead, I ended up writing an Amber Morgan book that I adore, and which should be out later this month, and collaborating on another project with Olivia R Burton, which was just tons of fun (and you should check it out). I got back to Chaos Songs in September and was determined to finish it in September... and then in October... and then in November... and then it turned out this was quite a hard book to write because I really wanted to stay true to the rules of the world I've developed since BLOOD WITCH, whilst at the same time letting my characters progress, and, well, it was hard work.

But I finally wrapped the book up this weekend. Huzzahs! I feel kinda exhausted, but fired up at the same time, because now I can start thinking seriously about the next two (and last) books in the Blood Canticles series. My goal is write them both in 2019 if I can, although the next project on my list is another Amber Morgan book. I've been pushing myself since we moved to look at ways of increasing my writing productivity and managing my writing time better, and I have some plans in place to make sure I stay focused and busy in 2019. So hopefully I can bring you more books that you guys love as much as me!

I'm probably not going to get back to a regular blogging schedule, apart from to share news, as I think time spent blogging could better be spent writing. The same goes for the newsletter (which you may have noticed hasn't exactly been happening anyway, but in my defence, I've had a lot going on). So again, Facebook and Twitter are the best places to see what's going on and I love to make friends, so come on and say hi!

Leidseplein being all festive.