October will soon be here, and it’s a busy month for conventions. All the more so these days, now that online participation has become an integral part of SF&F events. Enabling people who cannot attend in person to take part in genre gatherings and events is an excellent development. Of course, that doesn’t happen by magic, so let’s remember to thank convention committees and volunteers for organising the tech and taking on this extra work.

I’d love to be travelling to Cork for Octocon over the weekend of 3rd-4th October but since that’s not possible, I’ll be part of their online programme. I’ll be discussing the complexities of writing satisfactory endings at 10am on Saturday morning, followed by a conversation at 1pm on the importance of writing support networks. One of the interesting aspects of this panel is it’s also being run in person with different contributors. I’m curious to see where the two groups agree and where opinions vary.

Sunday afternoon’s panel on Retelling Fairytales and Folktales is similarly being run online as well as at the convention itself. Once again, it’ll be fascinating to compare and possibly contrast conclusions.

The following weekend sees Fantasycon 2026 in Glasgow, from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th October. My personal schedule for Saturday 10th is packed, with two publisher’s launches, a reading slot, panels on working with folklore, and on the merits or otherwise of joining societies and organisations for writers, as well as contributing to a live podcast.

Happily, I am free of commitments on Friday, apart from attending the BFS AGM, and I have just the one panel on Sunday afternoon, on realism in writing fight scenes. So those are the better days to find me for a chat or to get a book signed, if you’re there all weekend. If you’re only there on Saturday, catch me before midday.

24th-25th October will see me at Bristolcon. I am particularly looking forward to this, as one of the Guests of Honour is Cheryl Morgan, the driving force behind Wizard’s Tower Press, and without whom the Green Man series would never have seen the light of day in print or pixels. Programme details will be forthcoming when I have them.

Later today, here in 2026, I’ll be heading for Oxford and the 33rd annual crime and mystery fiction weekend conference at my old college, St Hilda’s. I went to the very first one of these weekends in 1994, and I think I’ve missed five since then, due to unavoidable diary clashes.

1996 though. I’ve just realised why that particular weekend was particularly significant for me. I think it was the first time the weekend was given a particular theme, and the topic chosen was historical mysteries. I recall finding many aspects of various speakers’ papers were equally applicable to writing secondary world fantasy fiction. The pitfalls to avoid. The workarounds. If I can find the time, I’ll have a look for whatever notebook I used for jotting down key insights.

And I came home and binned The Definitive Blockbuster Fantasy Masterwork which I had been writing and rewriting for well over a decade by then. That wasn’t the story’s actual title, obviously, but that’s how I have come to refer to it with entirely justified mockery, when I talk about this clueless stage in my writing career. To return to St Hilda’s, I don’t recall any individual speaker that weekend said the one revelatory thing which gave me a ‘light bulb over the head’ moment. It was the cumulative effect which somehow made me realise my derivative, over-burdened novel was never, ever going to make it into print. The file of rejection slips I had amassed to that point were absolutely right.

I needed to start again with a fresh and original idea, and a blank page. I remember that feeling was as liberating as it was daunting. I was freed from the burden of trying to fix the unfixable with yet another round of rewrites! Hurrah! Okay, now what? What was no one else doing in fantasy fiction back then? What did I think I could do well, applying everything I had learned from listening to authors and working part-time for Ottakar’s for a couple of years? Because now I had a far better understanding of the challenges of writing a novel which was going to stand a realistic chance of publication.

Very quickly though, and far sooner than I expected, I came up with the idea of an independent female lead character, living on the edges of society and legality, supported by a network of friends, and not defined by her relationship with a man. This very much reflected the attitudes of the central characters in the long-standing D&D campaign I was running for friends at that time, which turned out to be a tremendous help.

So I wrote Livak’s story. I had that first draft done by the end of the year. After asking good friends and my husband for no-holds-barred feedback, I revised and polished the story mercilessly through the first half of 1997. Then I asked my friend Emma who was still working for Ottakar’s to read it with a bookseller’s critical eye. She reckoned it was good enough to pass onto a publisher’s sales rep for his thoughts. He sent it to the commissioning editor, who liked it enough to offer me the two book contract we signed in December 1997 – once he had confirmed that I was open to editorial feedback and rewrites. That was another lesson I had learned listening to speakers and chatting to writers informally at the St Hilda’s weekends.

The Thief’s Gamble was first published by Orbit in January 1999. In a very real sense though, my journey as a professional writer started in earnest at that conference at St Hilda’s in 1996, thirty years ago. I think I’ll raise a glass to that with friends there this weekend.

September 1st sees the countdown start to the publication of The Green Man’s Debt on 10th September. You can find a comprehensive roster of UK and international purchase links on the Wizard’s Tower website.

To remind you what this new story is about, Dan Mackmain has been waiting for the Hunter, the antler-crowned guardian of predators and prey, to call in the debt Dan incurred when he had to ask for help to get Fin out of a potentially deadly situation a while ago. They both knew there would be a price to pay, sooner or later. Nothing comes for free when you’re dealing with supernatural entities.

They weren’t expecting this to happen when they were planning to visit her sister Iris and her husband Conn in Dublin. But the Hunter has something he wants Dan to do in Ireland. He has prepared for this unknown challenge as best he can, reading up on Irish folklore. So far, he’s learned how different those who live in that unseen realm will be from anyone he’s encountered before – and that crossing them could be very dangerous.

If this reminds you that you had planned on catching up with the previous book, The Green Man’s Holiday over the summer … good news! For ebook readers anyway. This title is a 99p Kindle deal throughout September on Amazon UK. Click here.

This means you could buy both ebooks for £5.98 and read them at your leisure if you wished. I’m just saying.

Wizard’s Tower Press will price-match this offer on other platforms. We always have to wait to be certain the Amazon offer is going ahead. These things are never guaranteed – that’s in the T&Cs you accept when they propose the deal.

Why exactly did Dan and Fin need the Hunter’s help so badly? It’s complicated, and the trouble really started when Dan found a baby abandoned on their rented cottage’s back doorstep. So much for a relaxing week away…

That’s it, essentially. All this month, August 2026, UK readers can use the code LOVEBOOKSHOPS to get 10% off at the checkout when pre-ordering The Riven Kingdom over at Bookshop.org

So what’s Dan facing this time?

Well, his mum is a dryad, so he knows that asking someone from the supernatural world for a favour means there’ll be a price to pay, sooner or later. Dan’s been waiting for the Hunter, the antler-crowned guardian of predators and prey, to call in this debt, after his girlfriend Fin needed the Hunter’s help last year.

He wasn’t expecting this to happen when they were planning to visit Fin’s sister Iris and her new husband Conn at their house in Dublin. Dan has prepared for this unknown challenge, as best he can, by reading up on Irish folklore. So far, he’s learned how different those who live in that unseen realm will be from anyone he’s encountered before – and that crossing them could be very dangerous.

You’ll find a full list of purchase options on the Wizard’s Tower Press website.
That page will be updated as further retailer listings go live.

The Green Man’s Debt will be published on 10th September 2026.

I am sure you will agree that Ben Baldwin has given us another magnificent cover for Dan Mackmain’s latest adventure.

This time around, Dan and Fin are off to Ireland – a trip I know many readers have been keen to see them take. It’s been an interesting writing challenge. I’ve visited Ireland many times, so I can see people and places through Dan’s eyes, but visiting isn’t the same as living somewhere. I have Irish resident characters in this story who I need to be convincing – especially for Irish readers! Thankfully, on my many visits to Irish SF&F conventions, since my first Octocon somewhere around the turn of the century, I have made lifelong friends whose assistance with that aspect of this particular book has been invaluable. (Any errors that remain are down to me, obviously.)

The Green Man’s Debt will be published by Wizard’s Tower Press on 10th September 2026. Pre-orders will open shortly, and we’ll be sharing more about this story to whet your appetite soon.

It’s all go hereabouts!

Today I learned that The Riven Kingdom is included in this week’s Waterstones online only, pre-order offer – ending on Friday 24th July. Enter the offer code SUMMER26 at the checkout and get 25% off the RRP.

Do check out the whole selection of great reads along with the Angry Robot titles … and you will see I also have an interest in No Laughing Matter, a horror anthology forthcoming from Flame Tree Publishing.

This selection of horror short stories has been edited by Peter Coleborn and Mike Chinn and includes work by Ramsey Campbell, Samantha Lee, Stephen Volk and more, alongside my own.

I did say I was busy when I last posted an update … and very productively so. I’m very pleased to report The Green Man’s Debt is now written and edited with the invaluable assistance of Editor Toby, and with the benefit of input from several expert consultants, most notably talented writer and valued friend, C.E. Murphy. As those who heard me read a taster at Eastercon will know, this new story takes Dan and Fin to Ireland. As many of you will be aware, I’ve visited Ireland regularly for years. That gets me so far, but I still need folk closer to daily life there to take a look at what I’m writing. Quite simply, I don’t know what I don’t know.

Ben Baldwin is working on the cover art right now, and the preliminary sketches are as good as you would imagine. I’ll be sharing the finished cover soon, along with details of September’s publication date. Can you believe this is the ninth book in this series?! And that this success is entirely thanks to enthusiastic readers spreading the word? I am hugely grateful to everyone who has supported me and Wizard’s Tower Press as this series has unfolded.

The Riven Kingdom, my new epic fantasy from Angry Robot is now finalised and will be published in ebook and paperback on 27th October 2026. Audiobook production is underway. I’ll post updates on that, and promotions, interviews etc as I have them.

My next opportunity to talk about both books will be a week today. On 25th July 2026, I’ll be taking part in the British Fantasy Society’s BFS Online event, exploring power in speculative fiction, its manifestations, imbalances and consequences, both intended and unforeseen. The event is free to BFS members and £5 to non-members – and these online days are a great introduction to the BFS.

Throughout the day, an international roster of panellists will bring a wide range of perspectives to discussions on how individuals handle power, how oppressive power can be resisted, and whether or not power really does corrupt? At 12.15, I’ll be talking to Shona Kinsella about power dynamics in my own work and elsewhere, in fiction and reality.

Looking ahead to other dates in the diary when I’ll be talking about these books and no doubt, many other things, I’ll be at Fantasycon in Glasgow 9th – 11th October, and Bristolcon (in Bristol obviously) 24th – 25th October. There are a couple of other potential upcoming events, and I’ll post updates on this as and when details are confirmed.

Between now and then, I have a very interesting short story commission to work on, which is what I’ll be doing once I’ve posted this. It’s been a good year for my short fiction. I was tremendously honoured to be invited to contribute to an absolutely stellar anthology celebrating David Gemmell’s work in commemoration of his untimely death twenty years ago. The Iron Code will be published on 28th July by Newcon Press – and you can get your preorders in here

You can also read my contribution to the splendid anthology from Wizard’s Tower Press, Fight Like A Girl Volume 2 in The 2026 Best of British SFF Bundle, available to the end of the month. This fifth annual Best of British SF/F bundle is bigger than ever, and honestly, I read the roster of titles thinking ‘read that, it’s great, ooh, and so’s that, and that, and that…’ The Green Man’s Heir is also in there, so if you know someone you think would enjoy reading that, or any of the other excellent books on offer, do send them the link.
Click here for full details.

That’s all for the moment. Now that I’ve got two novels off my desk, hopefully I’ll be able to blog a bit more frequently. No promises, mind you. I still have plenty to keep me busy, not least supporting the Society of Authors’ ongoing defence of writers’ rights against predatory techbros and others!

You will recall I mentioned doing an interview with The Tiny Bookcase? I had a wide-ranging and very enjoyable chat with Nico and Ben, and you can now listen to that on their podcast. Did you know there was a rumour, early in my writing career, that I didn’t actually exist? Tune in to find out more…

Here’s a link to a list of more places where you can get podcasts than I had any idea were out there!

In other news? I’m focused on writing The Green Man’s Debt to the exclusion of just about everything else. That’s it for now.

I had an excellent weekend at Eastercon, where I offered a couple of readings from this year’s forthcoming books, and revealed the title of the next Green Man story with eager readers. The Green Man’s Debt will be coming from Wizard’s Tower Press in September 2026. More news and artwork will be shared in due course.

The Riven Kingdom will be published by Angry Robot on 27th October, and I see Amazon UK are already taking pre-orders if that’s of interest. Regardless, you can click through to see the cover art from Alice Coleman.

I have now added The Tiny Book Case pin badge to my convention lanyard, as I thoroughly enjoyed writing a short story for Ben and Nico, and then hearing and discussing their stories – all very different even though we were working from the same single-word prompt of ‘Whip’.

Click here for Podlink or go to wherever you get your podcasts from.

The next episode will be our highly enjoyable, more general chat about writing, books and more besides.