Not long now until the convention. Am a little nervous, never done one before. Got sweets, for people who donate to cat's protection or buy a book, and a few cards and things to sell, along with the books and bookmarks to give away. Just hoping that people actually buy the book. Mum is coming with me so at least I won't feel an idiot sitting at the table alone.

Writing is coming along. I always say that, but it is. I had to make an edit to book 2, to have that plot more developed and to fit in with what I'm doing in 3. Thankfully editing hasn't started on that yet (though should be soon) so it wasn't a problem. Candale has made a few shocking realisations, one that was obvious to some readers from the start. He's a little slow sometimes.

Introduced an affiliate for my publisher, so if you're looking for something new to try, check it out. Banner on front page.

This is the flyer that my new webdesigner put together for me to take to Bristol Con along with bookmarks for promotional whatnot. Looks fab, no? As does the rough look to the new look website! I've also ordered extra books, including more part 2s to take along. The convention, and the website, are the only places in the UK to buy part 2 at the moment.

Children of the Shadow is coming along. I've ditched the old prophet idea, I think Candale has actually met far too many, and it seems to be flowing better as a result. So far. Although it's not coming along as fast as I would have liked, it's still getting there and soon things will be coming to a dramatic head, which will be good to write.

The Shadow Seer part 2 is now available from Amazon.com, hopefully be out in the UK before Xmas. If you have the ebook version, this part is included, but feel free to buy it again :)

Ordered the bookmarks for BristolCon to promote part 1 and 2, and ordered 20 copies of the book to sign and sell. Also looked into getting a signing at a local bookshop, though they are likely to say no, they want to see the book first, which I can do.

I finally got some writing under way, I think. The chapters are running short, but that can be fixed, in time, I'm sure. At the moment I'm just trying to get what I know done, Candale is about to have some long overdue realisations (god that boy is daft!) and a bit of a shake, which is also long overdue :)

Well I have booked my table for Bristol Con, so come along, buy my book, get it signed, or just say HI. Bristol Con website has all the info.

Children of the Shadow is coming along, I think! I'm at a point where I need to start developing Candale's feelings for a certain someone, now that the inital panic has worn off. And it's difficult to go from panic, at learning that someone has feelings for him, to him having those feelings back. It's also difficult because Candale is a bit dense and isn't really aware why his feelings are changing and because, as a prophet, Candale has a lot of dreams already and I don't want to appear to be a one trick pony. But, people have dreams, every night, so there's not much I can do about Candale also having a lot of them! :)

Well it's coming along. Slowly. I'm getting to a point where I need to try and fit things into the right places, like a jigsaw. Things have to develop at a natural pace, not just within the book's time, but within the words that you're writing, that is, it has to be a few days for Candale, but also a few scenes for the reader, otherwise it all seems piled on top of each other and rushed. I remember when reading the Tamir Trilogy by Lynn Flewelling, in the last book the wife of the King went from hate to love very quickly (and the other way for another character) which seemed very unnatural to me. A lot of time might have passed, but without the scenes to show the development, it just seemed sudden. And that's what I'm dealing with now. Candale needs to make someone jealous enough to strike him, but I need to develop that jealousy properly.

Also working on my book launch BBQ. Hoping to get a cake with a picture of the cover on it. Tasty. :)

Nice review on Book Lovers: review. They liked it, which is always good, though they did say I repeat myself, which I do. I try hard to avoid falling into that trap of drumming things home, but it's hard. I do find it interesting how this review, and one other on my review page, all say that I have built a great world and shown it well and so on, yet another review I had said I had not. I suppose it all depends on what your levels are, I suppose.

Children of the Shadow is coming along. Slowly, granted, but Candale is finally learning some long awaited truths, which is good. The start of the book is going to be filled with shocks for the poor boy, I hope he can handle them.

Well, for some weird reason, the publisher cannot set one price for the UK book and one for the US so all you lucky Americans can get the Shadow Seer from Amazon for ten dollars, instead of it's original 14.99.
http://www.amazon.com/Ellenessias-Curse-Part-Shadow-Seer/dp/1921636122/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1305889567&sr=8-8
It's got five stars (out of one person voting) but still! :)
Not sure how long it will take for it to be out in the UK.

Writing of the third book is coming along. The chapters are a little short, but I should be able to stuff them out when I've had some proper thinking time. At the moment I'm getting on with what I know, trying to get to the scary bits, I think! Also a problem, wanting to write the exciting bits first!

This is the cover for the second part of the Shadow Seer, minus the wording, of course :) Looks fab, I think. We had a few issues with getting the angle of the face right in the foreground, but it's all done now. Suitably spooky. Personally I preferred the child's face when it was chubby, but she's meant to look half starved, and now I think she does.

And on Children of the Shadow:

7448 / 200000
(3.72%)

It's a start! I finally have it underway with a beginning that I don't hate. Now I just have to stop with the facebook games, and sitting out in the sun with the cats, and get on with it.

Well, not getting far with Children of the Shadow! No surprise there. It's hard to find the right place to start really. Should I start when he's a prisoner, half unconscious, when he's rescued, when he's meeting with the seer who arranged his rescue, or just a general morning at the keep where that seer lives? It's hard to get the right start, one that can easily lead onto the rest of the story, but still be interesting. It's also hard because this time the hero is with a whole lot of new characters, in a completely new place, and introducing them, and informing the readers of how he got to this point, without info dumping is hard!

But, in happier news, the publisher has told me that she wants to get all the print books on the list started first week in April and that I should go ahead and get the cover for the second part of book one done. So i have. So, hopefully, the book will be done soon (not sure how long it takes to be listed on Amazon and so forth) and out in time for the book launch bbq I have already arranged for July. And, of course, in time for the convention November, so I might actually get to do one!

After not getting very far with the Forest of Ghosts I have decided to work on the Children of the Shadow instead. This is the final book in the Ellenessia's Curse series and I'm hoping that working on it, getting it out the way and done, will let my thoughts roam more freely so that I can develop the Forest of Ghosts properly. Besides, I think my hero, Candale, has waited long enough for an end to his tale, to find out what it's all about and find some happiness, and so I'm going to give it to him. As with the Seer's Tower I've had a couple of false starts, trying to find the right place to start the last chapter of Candale's tale, but I think that I've found it now. Only time will tell, of course. Strangely, it's with him in bed. It's where the first and second books both started, it seems right that the last one should begin in the same place, I guess. Why break with tradition?