I am now doing a final grammatical and word level check on the manuscript before I hand it over to the technical team (Nick) for final preparation.  Col and I then have plans to have a look at books one and two, to see if we can deliver a super-slick edit of those first two instalments to enhance your reading pleasure.

I look forward to bringing you news of release dates for Sins of the Father within the next fortnight.  Until then, up the elves!

In the meantime, I’ve taken the first tentative steps with Wolves of Winter 3.  Rulnik is leading an investigation into multiple attempts on the life of the King of Westaster.  The plot takes place amidst the dark streets and soaring towers of Sunamor.  The city is as important to the plot as the characters.  Whereas the action in WOW I and WOW II swept across the bleak landscape of Winterland, the scenes of WOW III are played out in the high vaulted hauls and claustrophobic cellars of the High Seat of King Stephen. 

I am enjoying the creation of the city and its three class-divided tiers.  The action also provides an important glimpse into the past for followers of SOTE.

Until next time, up the elves!

What have I been doing over the last few weeks.  Well, I’ve penned a few more scenes of Wolves of Winter III.  Rulnik is hot on the case of an unknown assassin, with seemingly endless ways in which to assail the King on the eve of his wedding.  More to come on this project soon.

Sins of the Father is coming along nicely with its final edit, thanks to Col Peirson.  It should see the light of day on kindle and lulu.com by the summer.

I’ve also been enjoying a bit of Tolkien.  I received a luxuriant copy of The Children of Hurin as a gift a couple of years ago, and have finally got round to reading it.  What a joy – the story has so much content it could easily fill another three films (get your finger out Peter Jackson!).  It is a romantic tragedy in the true tradition, endlessly inventive.  No one conveys the weight of history like Tolkien.  If you are into your high fantasy, I cannot recommend this read highly enough!

Until next time, up the elves!

The wind of change is also sweeping through SOTE HQ.  While my dear friend Col lends his expert eye to the final edit of Sins of the Father, I am polishing off a job long overdue.  I’m currently writing Wolves of Winter III, revisiting the characters familiar to some of you from the first two escapades – Rulnik, Torbad and Yanuk to name but a few.  Once this third installment is complete – sometime in the summer – the intention is to release the three tales as a single e-book on kindle and as a collectible paperback through lulu.com.

For those of you who have not met the Wolves, their story is set in the days before the elves came to Rhoderica.  I will label the book as a Tale of Rhoderica, leaving the way open for more stories from the back history to the land in which Song of the Elves takes place.  Rulnik and his men have battled ice wyrms, the fearsome ice men – the Nordakin, tackled changelings and villainous entrepreneurs.  In this latest installment, the life of the King is at stake as the monarch prepares for a controversial marriage Rulnik and his men must locate the hidden assassins lurking within the royal city.

More to follow next week…

Until then, up the elves!

Sins of the Father is a pivotal link on the Song of the Elves saga, wrapping up many of the plot lines introduced in A Shadow Falls and The King’s Blades, but introducing many teasers for forthcoming volumes. The manuscript is tantalisingly close to being finished; another edit of the script will bring it up to the standard that I am looking for. I am not going to shoot myself in the foot by announcing another publication date just yet – I’ll leave that for when I have a clear idea of what time is needed to finish it.

After Sins, I have a mind to complete the Wolves of Winter trilogy, though having said that, the temptation to dive straight in to Book 4 of SOTE – The Lost, The Lonely and the Damned – is also great.

So, thank you again for your support and your patience.

Up the Elves in 2012.

Once again, the visual inspiration is somewhere between Tolkien’s landscapes and a Sisters of Mercy album cover (Floodland anyone?).  the end result is a quite beautiful and poignant scene, fitting for the series but most importantly capturing the pathos of this third installment of Song of the Elves.

Anyway, enough eulogising.  I’m off to put up the Christmas tree now as my three year old daughter has just crawled up on my knee to remind me of the more important duties of the day.

Until next time, up the elves!

I will be finalising the cover art this week, which takes the images of the first two novels a stage further in subtlety, without losing the iconic midnight feel of the first two.  Again, its been produced by the team at Design Office in Crewe, who have once more done a marvelous job in capturing the epic feel of the story and the mood of the characters in their plight against the burgeoning forces of darkness.

News on publication dates next week.

Until then, up the elves!

Plot lines are already shooting through my head for Book 4 – there’s such a lot to tell in the next installment, set five elf years after the end of Book 3. I’ll give you a taste of the opening scene for Book 4 when you buy Sins of the Father.

On another note, I’m very excited to hear that Ozzy is finally going to join Tony, Geezer and Bill for the long anticipated Black Sabbath reunion – new studio album and tour next eyar, according to Planet Rock. Let’s hope they do the late, great Ronnie James Dio proud and create something of a legacy for the Sabbath canon. The timing couldn’t be better as I’m actually sporting a dodgy Iommi style ‘tache as part of Movember – raising money for prostate cancer – very Derek Smalls!

Until next time, up the elves!

After eight long years, the third chunk of the Song of the Elves saga is complete.  In 2005, whilst writing what will now become Book 4 of SOTE, I realised that I needed to fill in a bit of background in the life of my exiled character.  The result was a thousand page manuscript with a working title of The Summerlands, which is now emerging onto kindle and lulu as Song of the Elves Books One to Three.

There was joy and sorrow in penning the last lines of Sins of the Father; the scene produces the biggest cliff hanger yet and I can’t wait to get to telling you what happened next when the scripting of Book 4 gets underway next year. 

Now begins the final proof read and word level check – we are definitely on schedule to be bothering your Santa’s wish list.

Up the Elves!

One chapter to go on the final edit of Sins of the Father, and I’m getting a major sense of a chapter coming to a close.  As Kirik picks up the sword to carry the fight against the cancer eating at the heart of the Summerlands, I am reminded that I will soon be writing installment 4, The Lost, The Lonely and the Damned, where I first began to piece together the Song of the Elves saga a decade ago.

Suffice to say, its going to be the mother of all cliff-hangers as the first phase of the saga draws to a close. 

Also this week – great news!  We’ve released Book One, A Shadow Falls as a trade paperback so that the collectors amongst you can own a copy that matches in every way the sparkling presentation of Book Two, The King’s Blades.

Until next time, up the elves!

P.S.  If you’ve read the acknowledgements at the end of Book Two, you will know I am a big Dio fan, trying to fill the Dio void.  White Wizzard anyone?  They’ve got definite nods to Judas Priest, Maiden and the 80s LA scene…