2024 is coming to a close, and as we hit the 1/4 mark on the 21st century (how!?!), I look back on the year with fond eyes.

January to May was mostly spent doing final revisions to With Scars of Spirit the final book of The Deimachy Trilogy. May saw the release of the book. To break up the revisions of the book, I also worked on The Truth of Stars, the prequel novella to the Deimachy. This is the first draft, the edits, the beta read and the final pass. All in preparation for a release in September.

During that time, I also worked on some revisions of The Mastersweep, my chimney sweep murder mystery for the Ampersand Prize. It didn’t win, and wasn’t shortlisted, so expect a version of that book to come to you in the not-too-distant future. I’m really proud of my little mystery, and I hope you enjoy it when it comes out.

With that conclusion, there shortly followed the prequel novella in September with The Truth of Stars. Both the final novel, and the prequel have been received well, which is the most I can ask for really. Expect more from the Deimachy in the future, though it’s a ways down the track. I’ve already started brewing up some interesting ideas for what’s to come! One about the Skybinder Civil War, and another prequel novella about Bree.

Overall, I’m incredibly proud of Scars’ ending. It took a lot of work to get there, and it took a few turns I did not expect at all. And while it’s not the end for that world, it is an ending.

Once Truth of Stars was out, the remainder of the year was spent dipping between two projects. One of them, slated to become a big fantasy series, is tentatively titled Titan Tamer Seven. Think of it as my love letter to Digimon and other monster tamer animes. Finally, around September, I started work on a new book called Nestled with the Nameless One. It’s a cozy(ish), romantic(ish), tongue-in-cheek(ish) story about an Eldritch God who falls in love with his sacrifice. It’s about 1/3 done, but I’ve only got a rough outline, so it may end up longer. Stories have a habit of growing in the telling.

I took some time off in November and December to visit my partner in the UK, and now spending some quality time with the family.

Overall, it’s been a busy busy year. My schedule for 2025 is no less chockers.

Tentative 2025 Schedule:
Jan-May: Final revisions on Beyond the Mistline and preparation for publication May 1. Also, writing on Nestled with the Nameless One. My day-job will also change come March, so there’ll probably be a little bit of teething time to allow for me to adjust.

BTM will receive a proper launch, with both a hardcover and a soft cover release, so keep an eye out for details in the New Year.

May – September: Likely spent polishing whatever the next novel-length project will be (there’s several options, but a few things are up in the air with some so I’m waiting for those balls to drop). I’m hoping by this time to have the first draft of Nestled done, too, so I want to be preparing this one for publication a little later in the year as a much smaller release. It’s a silly little book, but I think you’ll all enjoy it.

September – December: Hoping to have finished a lot of pre-work on Titan Tamer Seven, or whatever I decide to write. As such, this will probably be prime drafting time.

Somewhere in amongst that I’ll have a life.

To close off, I just want to share (again) the gorgeous artwork made by Danil Luzin for BTM. I may never recover from how gorgeous it is.

Have a safe and happy holiday period. I’ll see you in 2025.

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