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.

This coming weekend, I’ll be at Iridescence, the Eastercon in Birmingham. My schedule is now as follows:

Friday, 3 April
16:30 Book launch: Wizard’s Tower Press
Sussex, 60 mins

Saturday, 4 April
09:00 Considering Anne McCaffrey
Sandringham, 60 mins

13:30 Appropriation of Greek Culture in the Anglophone world, and how to reclaim it
Salisbury-Wellington, 60 mins

15:00 Introduction to Fantasy Kingdoms
Salisbury-Wellington, 60 mins

Monday, 6 April 2026
10:30 Author Reading III
Salisbury-Wellington, 60 mins
I’ll be reading alongside Aliette de Bodard, and sharing the title of this year’s novel in my Green Man series, along with a short reading from that work in progress. I’ll also be offering a new taste of The Riven Kingdom, my epic fantasy novel coming from Angry Robot this autumn. Since keen readers are asking if this relates to my previous fantasy writing, you may be interested to know the story is set in the same world as Shadow Histories of the River Kingdom but these events unfold some centuries earlier…

As always at conventions, feel free to say hello, get a book signed, ask a question about my writing or writing in general.

In haste as I am working flat out on various things at present. Alongside everything else, I’ll be recording interviews with a couple of podcasts later this week. More details when those are available for a listen.

The weekend after next is Iridescence, the Eastercon in Birmingham. My schedule is as follows:

Friday, 3 April
16:30 Book launch: Wizard’s Tower Press
Sussex, 60 mins

Saturday, 4 April
09:00 Considering Anne McCaffrey
Sandringham, 60 mins

13:30 Appropriation of Greek Culture in the Anglophone world, and how to reclaim it
Salisbury-Wellington, 60 mins

Monday, 6 April 2026
10:30 Author Reading III
Salisbury-Wellington, 60 mins
I’ll be reading alongside Aliette de Bodard and Robin CM Duncan, and sharing the title of this year’s novel in my Green Man series, along with a short reading from that work in progress. I’ll also be offering a new taste of The Riven Kingdom, my epic fantasy novel coming from Angry Robot this autumn. Since keen readers are asking if this relates to my previous fantasy writing, you may be interested to know the story is set in the same world as Shadow Histories of the River Kingdom but these events unfold some centuries earlier… 

Speaking of The Riven Kingdom, today and tomorrow this week, Barnes & Noble Premium and Reward members can get 25% off on preorders. I appreciate this will mainly be of interest to those in the US, but it does mean that everyone can now admire the fabulous cover art 😊

Back in the last century, before the millennium turned, blogging lore said three things make a post.

I have started writing the new Green Man book. As usual, I came up with an overall concept, and I have been gathering related ideas and background material to add to that over the past few months. I could see various ways of fitting a good many of these elements together, but not a plot that encompassed them all. So in a first for me, I tried something I’ve seen other writers find useful. I wrote the plot points and other story elements I had on Post-Its, and then shifted them around on my desk until I could see the best underlying narrative for Dan Mackmain’s next adventure, bringing in everything that I wanted. This also showed me where there were gaps, and where ideas needed reshaping. It’s been a very interesting exercise as well as proof that it’s never too late to try something new creatively. I’m going to enjoy writing this one. Further details in due course…

My work as a member of the Society of Author’s board continues. Following the first meeting of the year last week, I am honoured to be elected to serve as the management committee’s Vice Chair. This post was created by a resolution approved by the members’ vote at the 2025 AGM. The demands on all volunteer-led organisations working for the benefit of their wider communities has grown inexorably through the past decade, as anyone involved will know. Having a Vice Chair role will increase the SoA’s resilience, as the board and the incredibly hard-working staff tackle the ongoing challenges for creators, most notably but by no means limited to the continuing threats to copyright, and the devaluation of our work by genAI slop.

Last but by no means least, I am delighted to see The Green Man’s Holiday on the BSFA Awards longlist. Inclusion in this preliminary stage of the awards process is a great compliment. Writing the Magic is also listed in the Non-Fiction category, rewarding all the contributors’ and editors’ work.

As always this is an excellent opportunity for everyone, whether you’re a writer, an artist, a BSFA member or not, to go and read the lists and see the breadth and depth of writing and art available for us to enjoy, created with passion and skill by real people! Click here

Firstly, I’ve deleted my formerly Twitter account. It’s been shuttered for months, and I was only keeping it to avoid impersonation. Given what’s going on there now, I decided cutting user numbers, even by one, matters more.

It’s not just about bikinis. An under-reported aspect of the way digital images are being manipulated is users are depicting women and children as victims of physical violence, bloodied and bruised. In some cases these deep-fakes are being used to threaten and intimidate.

There’s also the legal aspect. In the UK possessing CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is a strict liability criminal offence, with a prison sentence of 2-3 years. Viewing it on your phone counts. No proof that you sought the material is required. People can be and have been convicted after receiving unsolicited images. Don’t be confident your own detailed safeguards will protect you from seeing CSAM on X. Months ago, the last time I checked my locked, highly curated, all tweets deleted, placeholder account, the first thing I saw was a graphic photo of a child who had been shot in the head.

From now on, anyone claiming to be me on X is a fake.
For the avoidance of doubt, I interact with people on social media on Facebook, Bluesky and Mastodon.
I have placeholder accounts on Tumblr, Instagram and Dreamwidth which I rarely use. 

Which brings me to my second point. Another surge of fake social media accounts claiming to be famous authors is currently underway. Fraudsters are contacting writers with initial expressions of (spurious) support, swiftly followed by offers of paid-for (and non-existent) services. I’ve also seen reports of these solicitations being emailed direct, and they can be insidiously plausible, thanks to bloody generative AI.

If you ever get an approach by direct message or email, which you have no reason to expect, from someone claiming to be me, feel free to get in touch to verify it. I’d want know if this sort of thing is going on.

Right. Let’s go and do something much more pleasant, now that’s done.

You’ve seen me mention the Polestars short story collections from Newcon Press before now? Twelve volumes (so far), bringing together selected short fiction from acclaimed authors writing across the full gamut of speculative fiction.

Now there’s a taster collection of a dozen stories, one from each author, available in an ebook from Amazon for the bargain price of £2.25. Click here

In case you’re wondering, my story in this has only previously been published in my Polestars collection, Different Times and Other Places.

Where are you going to get a better offer today? Enjoy stories from writers whose work you already know and like, and try authors new to you. Start your 2026 Year of Reading in style!

In previous years I’ve reviewed the previous twelve months on Christmas Eve and considered what lies ahead on or around New Year’s Day in separate blogposts. This time, I find the two are inextricably entwined.

I didn’t get around to writing a blogpost on 24^th December as we were hosting a sizeable family gathering the following day – and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. Our house is conveniently placed for doing that geographically, and we have the space to set up two tables end to end. We’ve also accumulated sufficient plates, cutlery, glasses, and have enough spare chairs stashed in the attic to give everyone a seat. It is a bit startling to realise we’re taking on the role I remember as the previous generation’s responsibility, and before that, my grandparents… Assorted conversations with siblings and cousins over the midwinter break have included updates on our collective offspring reaching various stages on their own journeys to adulthood. How did this happen?!

Well, the two of us have been a couple for forty years this year, married for thirty six of those. I qualified for my senior railcard as I turned sixty last year. As a rule, I don’t pay much attention to ‘milestone’ birthdays, but this one, and a couple of other recent anniversaries, have prompted pause for thought. I’ve thought of myself as vaguely middle-aged for the last few decades, but that’s not really the case any more. Even if I make it to ninety (which an encouraging number of the previous generation have done), I’m two-thirds of the way through this game.

What achievements can I look back on? Professionally, twenty seven novels (so far), plus novellas and short stories, the various non-fiction pieces I have written, and the teaching I have done. In recent years, there’s been my work for the Society of Authors, and before that, the successful campaign to revise cross-border VAT on digital sales. Most recently in the rear-view mirror, The Green Man’s Holiday has been well received, along with my short fiction and non-fiction publications in 2025. (Incidentally, thank you to everyone who has caught up with Dan’s latest adventure over the holidays and posted a positive rating and/or online review. These do boost an author’s visibility!)

Personally, I can look back on our aforementioned forty year relationship, still ongoing, and many equally long-standing, and more recent valued friendships. Our two sons are responsible, politically aware, self-supporting adults, and very good company, I’m pleased to say. I’m satisfied I’ve used my time well there.

What does the future hold? Well, there’s the next Green Man book which I’ll start writing soon. The Riven Kingdom, my new fantasy novel, will be published by Angry Robot later in 2026. I will continue to work with the SoA to defend authors’ interests and copyrights. I will oppose the encroachment of generative so-called-AI. I I’ll uphold and defend equal rights and respect for all, defying the selfish and intolerant who want to erase the hard-won progress for women, people of colour and LGBTQ+ communities which I have witnessed since my teens. That’s one plus of getting older. You can spot bad faith rhetoric being recycled.

Beyond that, looking ahead becomes rather different. Assorted handwritten notes and newsletters in Christmas cards from aforementioned long-standing friends tell us they’re coming up to retirement, or have already retired, like my husband. Regular routines of past years are no more, and other responsibilities have changed significantly. New opportunities are apparent, for travel and other experiences, while we stay fit and healthy.

What does this mean, in practical terms? At the moment, I don’t know, but change is in the air, and that’s an intriguing prospect.

This time last month, I was getting back into the routine after getting home from World Fantasy Con in Brighton. That was very enjoyable on the personal level; seeing friends and catching up with their lives and careers in these uncertain times. Professionally, I was busy. I chaired one panel about writing fantasy for younger readers, from pre-school to teens, which was very informative. I spoke on a panel about ‘writing fighting’ which revealed a breadth of views and experiences among the authors, and that’s always good. I gave a reading – well, two short readings, to give a taste of The Green Man’s Holiday, launched at the convention, and of The Riven Kingdom, coming next year from Angry Robot.

Then there were any number of conversations about the business, and the craft, of writing. I had a very pleasant ‘meet the author’ chat with some lovely people, and over the course of the weekend, signed a highly satisfactory number of books & programmes. A particular delight was signing a much reread and cherished copy of The Thief’s Gamble, my debut novel, in its original edition. Seriously, never feel you shouldn’t ask an author to sign a less than pristine book, and there’s no need to apologise. Every writer I know loves to see them.

We launched The Green Man’s Holiday, alongside Wizard’s Tower Press’s other new titles. The third in the Wiz Duo novella series offers The Sheltering Flame by Ruthanna Emrys alongside Walking a Wounded Land by Andrew Knighton. I’ve read and enjoyed previous work by both these authors and hope to get to these new stories soon. The other title launched was Of The Emperor’s Kindness by Chaz Brenchley which is as intriguing as it is deceptively low-key. There was cake and wine and chatting with friends – and Garth Nix and Peter Hamilton both keen to buy copies of Dan’s latest adventure and get them signed, being fans of the series. How’s that for a great day?

Incidentally, thanks to everyone who has shared positive and enthusiastic ratings and reviews for The Green Man’s Holiday online. Personal and digital ‘word of mouth’ is absolutely vital for small press publications, ever more so as social media fractures and scatters communities.

Since then? November is the Society of Authors’ AGM month, so I had a fair bit to do relating to that. The AGM was very positive and constructive, looking forward to continuing current campaigns to defend copyright, and to promote author care by publishers, among much else. I also took part in an online round table discussion hosted by the Department of Arts and Humanities, European University Cyprus, exploring the uses creators might make of AI tools, or not, and why. If and when that’s offered in the public domain, I’ll share a link.

I’ve also tackled a considerable amount of domestic and work-related administrivia to clear the desk for background reading and plot wrangling for the next Green Man book. I’ve done some website tidying up, and we have now incorporated information about JM Alvey’s historical murder mysteries into this site, along with observations I made along the way about writing fiction set so far in the past in this world.

Last but by no means least, I’ve added a short story The End of the Road, previously published in the final edition of Albedo One magazine, to the Some Free Stories page. Think of it as a seasonal gift, however you may celebrate.

I will now split my time for the rest of this month between Christmas preparations, socialising with friends and family over the holiday break, and the aforementioned reading and plotting before I start writing Dan’s next adventure next year.

I’m taking the day off after a very busy weekend, which was most enjoyable and ticked all the professional requirements for such activity, especially publicising my work ahead of The Green Man’s Holiday being published on Thursday.

We had 100+ people attending our panel on Saturday at Comic Con at the Excel in London – which is vastly easier to get to these days, using the Elizabeth Line. It is the first time I’ve seen so many cosplayers in an audience, as keen and engaged with our discussion as everyone else. The signing session afterwards ran the gamut for me personally, from a reader of long standing getting their copies of earlier books signed and buying The Cleaving, to one who hadn’t came across my work before, buying The Cleaving after hearing me talk. So that’s a win all round.

Bristolcon was fun as always, both taking part in my panels and sitting in the audience for others. It was also a pleasure to spend time with established friends and to make/improve other acquaintance with like-minded folk. Being surrounded by people with shared interests and enthusiasms is one of the best things about SFF conventions. The reading I offered from The Green Man’s holiday was well received, so that’s sorted for World Fantasy.

And finally, I’d like to share this absolutely wonderful gift from Penny Hill, skilled needlewoman and expert on embroidery, fabrics and much more besides. If you’re at World Fantasy Convention 2025 more of her work will be in the art show, and I highly recommend you make time to see it – along with everything else.

Tomorrow I’ll be doing my World Fantasy panel prep and other such stuff.