Insurrection and inspiration

 Insurrection is defined as:  the act or an instance of revolting, violently against an established government.

And that is what happened in Washington on 6 January.

That event was truly shocking.

And the organisers could try again.

But any event, no matter how shocking, can act as inspiration for an author. I am now setting out the guidelines for a novel based on the aftermath of those terrible events.

The president and the senate are now under siege, psychologically if not physically. How will they respond?

Publishing my third Urban Fantasy novel

 I have just arranged for the third novel in my urban fantasy series to be published on Kindle. In this story, Two Prisoners,  a member of Britain's Guild of Magicians has been renditioned and held prisoner. But the Americans have seized the wrong man; they mistook him for somebody else. Then, in a bizarre twist, an American magic-user is arrested in London. He needs to be held in a place where he cannot use magic to escape. But the Guild has an answer to that problem and he is taken to a very different prison.

I had hoped to publish all of the novels in the Royal Telepath series before the end of the year, but the artist I chose to provide my covers has suffered several delays. The latest setback is that his home has been flooded. 

Because of this delay, it could be some time before I can bring out paperback versions of these novels.

I am aready working of the fourth and fifth novels in this series.

Publication of my second novel

 I have published the second novel in my urban fantasy series on Amazon. The title is 'The Arabian Conspiracy'. The plot involves a murder mystery. Members of the Guild of Magicians are being murdered. The assailant is using magic. But the characters in the novel take a long time to realise that the incidents are linked.

The novel introduces a new character, a 13-year old girl named Constance. Her original purpose was to be the subject of an exposition, so I could explain my magic system to the reader. But her role just kept growing.  

I will not be able to produce the novel as a paperback until the cover is available. But as we are stuck in lockdown, I will not have any opportunities to sell paperbacks at conventions. 

Revision of a work in progress

 I have decided to revise the third novel in my 'Magicians' series. A key point in the story involves a man being abducted. I decided that the episode should occur earlier in the story, to draw in the reader. 

I thought it would be simple, but that minor change forced me to re-shuffle a dozen other episodes in the story. The man is introduced to a schoolgirl during a school holiday; the abduction now takes place during the school holiday instead of after it. I could have deleted that interview, but it helped to show how likeable the abducted man was. I decided to keep the interview, but that forced me to make a couple of other changes.

I think the end result makes it all worthwhile.

First book in series finally published

The first book in my Urban Fantasy series, 'The Conspiracy Theory' has been published on Amazon Kindle. I  hope to arrange a paperback version in a few days.

The story describes a series of magicians from Britain who visit the United States and attract the unwelcome attention of some American conspiracy theorists.

I have been working on this novel since I first went into lockdown. the text was completed in September. Arranging the cover took over a month.

The next task is to carry out a line-edit of the second book in the series and arrange a cover.

I have five novels in the series in various stages of development.

 

  

Fantastic Schools Anthology

 Almost a year ago, at the Novacon Science Fiction convention, I read an invitation to contribute to an anthology on the theme of magical schools. The editors were Chris Nuttall and L. Jagi Lamplighter, both of whom had written novels on this theme. 

I was writing a series of Urban Fantasy novels, and those stories had included a school. None of the action had taken place in the school, but I realised that the world I had created would allow me to produce a story. I  sent a note to L. Jagi, asking whether a 'St. Trinian's - style'  story would be acceptable. Her reply was encouraging, so I set about writing the story. The first draft was a bit long, and needed to be trimmed, but I was satisfied and sent it off. 

The story, 'A Polite Request from a Tough Soldier', was accepted. My only disappointment was that Chris and L. Jagi had received so many replies, they had decided to publish them in two books, and my story would be published in the second one.

Their feedback, always encouraging, was constructive. I was asked to trim the text further and downplay the role of one of the characters, which was easy enough.

The anthology, 'Fantastic Schools Volume 2' was published on Amazon a couple of weeks ago. 

Chris and L. Jagi have now issued another request for contributions and I am thinking of making a contribution. 

Request for feedback

This is thew blurb for my new novel. I have posted it on a Facebook writers' site, asking for feedback. 

The president thinks that a group of witches has put a curse on him. He is right, but the truth is more complicated than he thinks.

The British ambassador is using telepaths to send confidential reports to London. They know that their emails are being intercepted - and the ambassador’s blunt views of the president could provoke a crisis. 

But when an American radio talk show hears about these 'cypher clerks', he assumes that their role must be more sinister. They must be a conspiracy. He tries to guess the telepaths’ true role – and guesses wrong.

Mary has been trained by the secretive Guild of Magicians in England, then sent to New York. Her boss has told her that there are no magic users in the United States. The truth is more complicated. The American magic users are keeping their own secrets.

Oliver just wants to enjoy a simple playboy lifestyle in London and New York. Then his father orders him to do some social work for the Guild. If he doesn't, his allowance may be cut. Oliver is inclined to nurse a grudge, but then he meets Mary.

Then, in the Great Storm, the President suffers a near-death experience. He tells the world that the witches were responsible. Then he hears the allegations about the British Embassy. He tries to guess the telepaths’ true role. The wrong answer could provoke a crisis.