November 2024

The bite of imminent summer has begun to make itself known in my little pocket of the world bringing sticky, humid days and uncomfortable nights that leave my brain feeling sluggish and unmotivated. I am not a creature built for the heat which is problematic given that I live in Australia. Our climate here seems to range from fires of Hell to Devil’s armpit in the summer, with the occasional storm to provide a small reprieve before the temperature ratchets up again.

• I finished the rewrites on The Devil’s Tangle and have just a handful of chapters to proofread before I send it to my lovely editor, Anna.

• Now that the bulk of work on The Devil’s Tangle is done I have read back over the few chapters I have already written for An Echo of Hope. I like what I have, it is a good starting point that I have slowly started to build on once more. Very slowly, life is a little hectic at the moment.

• I read The Princess and the Spy and Island of Spirits by Maureen Flynn. I enjoyed this introduction into her first trilogy and and looking forward to the next book. I have posted my reviews of both books at the bottom of this newsletter.

• The Devil’s Tangle will be off to Anna by the end of the week and hopefully I will start to make some real progress on An Echo of Hope.

Another short update this month but that seems to be the phase I am in at the moment, this readjustment period to the events of the last few months. I might talk about some of it in the future but for now back to the writing.

Have a wonderful November and I will catch you all in December.

The Princess and the Spy is the prequel novella to Island of Spirits. It is a very brief but excellent introduction to the main character of the Scars and Glass trilogy, Sirran. Sirran is somewhat of a pariah amongst her people due to the scars on her face that mark her as Nellan, the feared race of enchanters from across the sea. Magic and anyone thought to possess it are much despised and feared on Blackley Island.

As she is the daughter of the king Sirran’s existence is suffered by the general populace rather than openly accepted and this gives her almost a thirst to prove herself. To be helpful, indispensable, and most of all a dutiful daughter to her father who loves her despite her Nellan nature.

As the story develops we are given insight into Sirran’s character and a nice taste of the world in which she exists. We are also left with a sense of foreboding for the challenges to come for her, and I can't wait to dive into the full series and follow her on her journey.

I definitely recommend giving this one a read before jumping into Island of Spirits as it sets a lot of stage and if you are unfamiliar with Flynn’s writing will give you a nice taster of her style and voice.

Even though I had read the prequel novella I still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going into book one. I knew I was thoroughly intrigued by the brief taste I had had of Flynn’s world building. I wanted to explore that world further and I especially wanted to learn more about the magic. And I knew that I liked Sirran well enough. But Island of Spirits is a YA Fantasy and I have struggled to enjoy that particular genre for quite some time despite enjoying it in the past. If fact most of the YA I have picked up recently has ended up on the DNF pile. I just thought it was a genre I was growing out of.

But I can happily say that Island of Spirits was like being visited by an old, dearly missed friend. Flynn takes you into Sirran’s world with a gentle but deft touch. There is little hand holding here but nether is it hard to grasp the threads of story and make sense of the breadcrumbs she slowly deposits as you venture forth.

For the most part I liked Sirran though sometimes she was a little rash (and a little naive), and she made mistakes but she also owned those mistakes with a certain amount of maturity and what’s more she learned from them. And I really enjoyed watching her grow throughout the challenges she faced.

I wanted to learn more about the magic and we got that in spades, it is a wonderfully refreshing take on a magic system too. I enjoyed the connection to the spirits and that the relationship needed to be one of mutual respect.

I also really enjoyed the inclusion of queer characters and relationships that felt real and an not as though they were added as an afterthought to tick some kind of box. That kind of inclusion always makes me happy.

I can’t wait to see what adventures await Sirran in Hollian.