Tag Archives: swashbuckler

One of the perils of being a discovery writer is that you tend to wander off the beaten track and write scenes that really don’t need to be in the book (or worse still, entire plotlines that have to be pulled out because they’re irrelevant). During the course of drafting The Alchemist of Souls I  Continue Reading »

On Saturday I finally got my hands on a physical ARC of The Alchemist of Souls, which was pretty thrilling, let me tell you! Of course I’ve seen the cover art before, in gorgeous high-resolution, and read the text a gazillion times – but it was still an extraordinary feeling to flip through the physical  Continue Reading »

I first came across Among Thieves when talking to my editor about the cover design for The Alchemist of Souls. Marc was thinking of commissioning Larry Rostant, who does a nice line in brooding historical dudes, and used the UK cover of Among Thieves (below) as an example of the look he was going for. Then  Continue Reading »

Got a nice surprise in my email today – the final version of the cover of The Alchemist of Souls, complete with lettering. Like, my name on it, and everything! Awesome or what?

Black into white into blue into grey into black. Order and pattern are the way of Holden’s life, buffering his mind from the reality that he is mage-bonded to the Master of the Archipelago, with no choice but to obey his every whim or die in agony. So when the Master commands him to capture  Continue Reading »

At long last I’m able to unveil the cover art for my debut novel The Alchemist of Souls – and what a cover it is! I was delighted when Marc at Angry Robot told me he was commissioning Larry Rostant, who has done covers for practically everyone from George R R Martin downwards – I  Continue Reading »

I first came across the Nightrunner series some years ago, after the US paperback edition of Luck in the Shadows found its way across the Atlantic, and was immediately taken by the protagonists, gentleman-thief “Lord” Seregil of Rhiminee and his young protégé Alec. They were the first realistic gay* couple I had encountered in fantasy,  Continue Reading »

This is, surprisingly, my first current film review this year. I’ve been so caught up in my novels that I hadn’t been to the cinema until now. This one’s pretty spoiler-free, I think – if you’ve seen the trailers or read any pre-release publicity material, you probably already know more than I reveal here! Pirates  Continue Reading »

One of the big influences on my imagination when I was growing up, and therefore on my writing as an adult, was the classic swashbuckling movies of the 1940s and 1950s. I thought it would be good to share some of my favourites on this blog – and of course it’s a great excuse to  Continue Reading »