Secret Theatre

Secret Theatre is a series of at least two (and probably more) fantasy novels set in an alternate-reality Europe at the turn of the seventeenth century. The books follow the adventures of Maliverny Catlyn, an ex-soldier turned spy, and Jacomina "Coby" Hendricks, a Dutch immigrant who works as a tireman (dressing room assistant) for one of London's theatre companies.

This first book of the series, The Raven in the Tower, is undergoing extensive revisions, and I have the sequel roughed out. It's been a long haul, but I'm hoping to complete the final draft of Book One around June 2010 (famous last words!).

The Raven in the Tower

When the skraylings, a theatre-loving race of non-humans who inhabit the New World, send an ambassador to London, Mal and Coby find themselves entangled in a web of intrigue stretching from the stews of Southwark to the Tower of London.

Seems he a dove? his feathers are but borrowed,
For he's disposed as the hateful raven:
Is he a lamb? his skin is surely lent him,
For he's inclined as is the ravenous wolf.
Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?
The History of Henry VI, Part II