Woot! Princelings of the North is back from my editor

princelings-north-kindle

The Princelings of the North, book 8 in the series, is back from my editor.  I am extremely grateful to Dawn Cavalieri for all her hard work.

Now I must get it revised and check I’ve covered all the points she’s raised.

Then make a marketing plan…

So much to do, so little time to do it 🙂

princelings-north-kindle

Dylan and Dougall are princelings at Castle Haunn, a remote place to the far northwest of an island off the coast of Scotland. So when they discover a prince locked in a tower, their thoughts turn to rescue and returning him to his rightful place in the Realms. But nothing is ever that easy, and what starts as a simple mission turns into a nightmare that rocks the foundations of the Realms.

The Princelings of the North is available for pre-order at iTunes, B&N and Kobo.  Watch this space for details of other editions.

June in the Princelings world

It’s been quietish since the launch of Willoughby the Narrator.  We had a few sales to people already up with the series, and Rebecca has kindly reviewed it.  We had many more people download book 1, which continues to attract attention on all platforms, especially on iTunes.  I sometimes wonder whether it is a good shop window for the rest of the series.  My writing has certainly evolved since then, and so has the Princelings world.

Talking of which, book 8 is ready to go to my lovely editor.  The Princelings of the North features Dylan at his irrepressible best, Dougall, steady and reliable as always, and Prince Kevin, exiled by his uncle Lord Colman, and finally realising what an idiot he’s been.  He’s erratic – not surprising after all he’s been through – and he wants his castle back.  I love it, but then I always love the latest one.

I’ve updated the page on Short Stories here to include the developments over the last two years. It’s a large body of work now.

A little glimpse of the future comes out on Friday 16th June in the form of a flash fiction story on the blog.  The Thief of the Moon has both Fred doing his natural philosophy explanations and Willoughby telling a story.  Enjoy!

 

Cover Reveal for the Princelings of the North

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I’m still waiting on my edits for Book 7, Willoughby the Narrator, but since I’ve made a new badge for the site, I thought I’d better reveal the cover for The Princelings of the North, book 8 of the Princelings of the East series.

This is the story that finally brings Dylan and Dougall away from their beloved Castle Haunn, where they have appeared in stories for younger readers in the BookElves Anthologies.  Now they are gallivanting around the Realms with their own major story, firstly rescuing Kevin from exile, then helping to restore him to his birthright.  That’s the plan, anyway.  Since they meet up with a rebel called Locksley in the forests on the way, and then fall in with his brother named Ludo, you can bet things aren’t going to go well.  You may need to reread The Princelings and the Pirates to place that pair!

So… here goes… Ta-da!!!

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Thanks as always to my marvellous illustrator, Danielle English, and thanks also to Rebecca Douglass for providing me with the perfect picture reference from her hiking gallery.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice this is based on one of my #Inktober sketches – Castle Vexstein from the north.

Vexstein from the north

And that is the heart of the trouble in this story, as it is in Willoughby the Narrator, due out now on April 27th.  Vexstein has been trouble from day one of book 1, really.  Or maybe day seven of book 1;)

I anticipate bringing The Princelings of the North out in the winter, but it may slip.

Plans for 2017

It can be a bit slow here on the Princelings website, simply because we’re waiting for things to happen.

Our lovely editor is about halfway through editing Willoughby the Narrator, and we hope it’s not too painful for her since it’s the anniversary of Willoughby the guinea pig’s sudden death, which came as a shock to us all.  But her last comment was that she likes it, and my version of him in the story.

Willoughby the NarratorYou can pre-order the ebook on iTunes, B&N and Kobo, but it’s not available on Smashwords until it comes out.  It’s not listed on Amazon yet, either.  We’re currently targeting mid-March, and I’ll post when I get revisions done enough to give you a firm date.

The pre-order price is only $1.99, which won’t last more than a month after launch (and maybe less), after which it will be $3.99.  Only you know this 🙂

Meanwhile, we’re hoping Dawn will still have time to edit book 8 when she’s through with book 7.  Our wonderful cover illustrator Dani English has come up with some wonderful designs for The Princelings of the North‘s cover, and is now working on the final version.  It looks very dramatic!   And of course, you can see the chapter illustrations on our Pinterest page.

There are a few offers around on the ebook Box Set – at present you can get it for 99c if you’re a Goodreads Great Middle Grade Reads member – the first ten or till 31st January, which comes first.

I’ll be doing some more character interviews later in the year, and some places in the Princelings world may turn up in my A to Z challenge during April (see Jemima’s blog then).  Till then, enjoy your January, keep some of your resolutions, and enjoy reading!