May 3rd 2008: It is pretty embarrassing to leave it this long, isn't it! I have been writing, but basically trying to leave the Douglass side of my life alone as much as possible. The garden really dominates my life.
But to news. The Twisted Citadel should be out in Australia and new Zealand in early June - I am not sure of UK and USA publishing dates. I am currently well into the third book, tentatively titled The River Angels. I have also completed a story for Jack Dann's new anthology, Dreaming Again. The story is called "This Way to the Exit" and returns to my obsession with historic London, this time to the abandoned Underground stations which have always fascinated me. I have also agreed to do a novella for Jack for his Legends anthology due out sometime in the distant future. The Legends book is asking authors to return to one of their best known worlds and/or characters and to write a short novel on that subject. Interesting ... who should I choose?
HarperCollins USA is running a free giveaway of The Serpent Bride e-book to coincide with the publication of The Twisted Citadel. You can access the giveaway here, but the offer is only for US citizens.
April
4th 2007: The
Serpent Bride will be out next month - in
Australia and NZ certainly, and I think in the
US, but am not sure about the UK. Am still stuck
in Book 2 of the series - the title now keeps
changing with the wind as HarperCollins seems
to like nothing I suggest. Oh well. So Book 2
... I have almost finished the first draft, jut
a few scenes to go. Shocking end which I am looking
forward to.
January
21st 2007: Well,
I obviously went and got a life, didn't I! It
has been six months since I wrote anything. I
gardened - see Nonsuch.
And gardened, and gardened some more. The garden
just ate me for six months.
Now
I am back to writing - The Twisted Tower
which will be Book II in the Darkglass Mountain
series.
Oh,
and still doing some gardening.
June
30th 2006: Thank
God, Serpent Bride has gone! I can now resume
a life ...
I
am in the process of answering all correspondence
- my deepest apologies for not getting to you
as soon as I should but they letters are on their
way out now.
Also
note that the Nonsuch garden journey is now at
a different
site - I haven't changed the links on this
site yet but will shortly.
June
2nd 2006: STILL
lost in the rewrite of Serpent Bride. Almost there.
Another 2 weeks and it will be off to HarperCollins.
This has been such an enormous job. I love the
plot and characters, but just trying to get that
damn pyramid right ... *sigh* Getting the first
book in a series right is always nerve wracking.
May
18th 2006: Lost
in the rewrite of Serpent Bride- the character
of Isaiah has been problematical, but I believe
I have sorted him now. I expect to be buried in
this rewrite for several more weeks ... then I
can get to my correspondence. I apologise if you
have written in and not yet received a reply.
At the moment everything I have is going to the
rewrite, but I promise to write as soon as I have
sent the book off.
April
11th 2006: Well,
if you're reading this then both you and I will
have made the ISP jump satisfactorily! Hope everything
is working - I still have to fully test the site
(if a page is missing - it will be here
soon!). Many thanks to Hasweb
hosting for such a brilliant deal.
To
celebrate an almost painless switchover, I have put
up a page on The Serpent Bride.
April
10th 2006: I
am having terrible hassles with my current ISP and shall
be swapping to a new one ASAP. There may be some problems
with the site over the next week or so - apologies if
it goes down.
March
25th 2006: Am
nearing the end of a massive first draft of Serpent
Bride. Sigh. getting very big ... may have to lose
some battle scenes. I think we're going to have a very
attenuated war to finish this book! Oh, and I've discovered
a new and somewhat different race of Icarii lurking
about in the mountains. Never knew they were there.
Very interesting. Almost Icarii ... but they've had
some strange blood mixed in with them at some point.
Hate
it that daylight saving is extending this long just
to accommodate sport ....
Landscaping
has just started on the garden at Nonsuch - Yay!
February
19th 2006: Have
been off in the Tasmanian wilderness for a week ...
and then the wilderness of a migraine for another week.
I preferred the first week.
Another
venture between myself and some colleagues - as many
of you know I love maps and engravings, mostly of London.
The entire collection will eventually be going on the
web at the Old
London Map site. This is, like the Garden
History site, still very new, but just watch it
grow over the next year ...
January
31st 2006: I
can never resist playing about on the web ...
it is an addiction, truly. I took down most of
the medieval stuff from this site when it was
reorganised, but now I have started a new web
site where much of it will re-appear. It is still
very very new (as in less than 24 hours new!),
but more articles will be going up there as I
get a few minutes spare here and there. While
concentrating on garden history, it also has a
growing section on medieval, and eventually Renaissance
and Baroque life. You
may visit here.
January
29th 2006: You'll
notice that some google ads now appear at the top of
most pages. I wish I could say that Google and I have
conducted a multi-million dollar deal, but in reality
I am merely trying to recoup some of the costs of maintaining
the site. I apologise to those who feel they are intrusive.
January
17th 2006: Writing,
writing, writing - 300 pages deep into the Serpent Bride.
David
Ogden in Iraq - your photograph left for you by express
post this morning - hope it reaches you Okay. It isn't
everyone gets a signed photo, you know. :)
