Book 4 release date

At long last, after 2 years of work, Haldred Chronicles: Anna is finally being released!

My 4th book will be available from the 1^st February 2018.  The final proof is being checked over, the cover is ready, and all I have to do is the technical stuff and it will be available on Amazon Kindle.

As a bit of history, the beginnings of this book were in 2012, as it was originally going to be the 2nd book in the series after 'Alyssa'. However, the story didn't quite fit with what I had planned at the time so it was shelved.

Now, after extensive updating to bring it in line with everything that's happened in the previous books, it fits with the series just right.

Without giving too much away, the new book takes the characters to a foreign land and will introduce the reader to several more nations of the Haldred Chronicles world.

I hope all of you will enjoy reading this latest book, just as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Expect another blog update on the 1st February, announcing the official release and providing a link to purchase :).

One more thing.

I'm making all 3 of the previous books in the series (Alyssa, Kalla and Shade) available free on Amazon Kindle from the 1st February to the 5th February. So if you know anyone who might fancy getting into a new book series, please let them know!

Until the 1st my friends! 

2015 update!

I seem to be continuing the trend of blog updates at random times!  As usual life has been very busy but I’m glad to report, in all the right ways.

Deborah and I enjoyed a wonderful time away in the great city of Boston for a week in April.  Having returned, we now hope to be moving into our new house in May and are making preparations for this.

Before leaving for Boston, I printed out all 250 pages of ‘Haldred Chronicles: Shade’.  Those 250 pages are the official, 96% completed 1st draft.  The first 6 chapters have been proofed by many of my proof readers, and then passed to my family for a final check over and story suggestions.  Once armed with these completed and checked over 6 chapters, I will then modify and update the rest of the book to 2^nd draft standard, taking on board any comments on structure, flow etc. 

After that, it will just be a case of finalizing and the book will be finished!

At the same time, my fantastic illustrator Mat has once again really delivered the goods on the book’s cover art.  I hope to post up some of the fantastic prep-work he’s been doing for this latest project and I’m really looking forward to premiering the book cover art once the time comes.

As regards a final publication date, that I don’t know.  Whilst a huge amount of work has been done over the last few months, the book it still not finished and with a house move coming out, I don’t want to set a definite date.  Instead, I’m going to grab whatever free time I can to complete things and only publish once it’s done.  Rest assured, once I’m in the ‘definitely finalized’ stage I will be shouting such news from the rooftops!

Some definite details about the latest book I can confirm now.  It will be my biggest work to date.  The 1^st draft is already 62,000 words and set to grow as I update and edit chapters and scenes.  In turn, it is also my most complex and detailed plot.  I hope this serves as an encouragement as apposed to a discouragement to my readers; I have thoroughly enjoyed writing so many twists and turns; I hope this comes through in the story.

So I’ll keep writing and all being well, the next update to this blog will be to confirm the book is ready! 

Until next time

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Happy Christmas Everyone!

Just a quick blog post to wish you all very happy Christmas!  As a special treat, head on over to the Haldred Chronicles Facebook page and you will find a Christmas surprise!

https://www.facebook.com/HaldredChronicles

Book covers

On Wednesday of this week I met up with my fantastic cover artist Mat and we talked book covers.  Specifically, ideas for the book covers of ‘Tales of Larrick City’ (my next book that I’m currently drafting) and my as-yet-unnamed 4^th book. 

It got me thinking; what makes a good book cover?

The ‘Lost Fleet’ series by Jack Campbell uses a lot of very impressive covers, most involving space craft of one type or another which immediately draw the eye.  George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels more recent covers go for simpler but no less intriguing covers with medieval designs.

For my own books, Mat proposed the idea of having the main characters on the front cover so that the readers have a visual reference.  In the case of Haldred Chronicles: Alyssa, you have Alyssa (the main character) on the front cover with Malak    For Haldred Chronicles: Kalla, Victoria Haldred herself and Kalla appear on the front cover. 

Main characters on the cover’s of novels is nothing new; J K Rowling’s series Harry Potter traditionally had Harry himself on the front cover in some scene from the book itself. 

My question is, what works for you?  What kind of book cover designs do you like?  Those that depict scenes from the book or characters there-in?  Or just more simple designs with prehapes book specific symbols or locations?  What, for you, makes a good book cover?  Please comment and share.

Meanwhile, progress has been good with me and book 3.  ‘Tales of Larrick City’ sits at 3500 words so far and is steadily growing.  Likewise, having signed up with Goodreads, LinkedIn etc I am starting to become better integrated with the writing community on the internet and have seen an extensive increase in likes on my Facebook page!  Big thanks to all my fellow writers who have welcomed me into the fold.

Till next time everyone