Update:

Well, for a start I'm blogging a bit more, so that's a good thing. On the down side, day-job woes are accelerating and I've begun contemplating life without a regular income (or the alternative which is less palatable!). But you didn't come here for such mundane woes, so...

...The writing is going well, but it's a little too busy. Taking account of what is on-going, what is done, and what is to come, is making my head spin, so here's a summary of the books so far and where I am with them:

The Black Hours:
Next month I start on my "agent-edits" – 4 weeks of work to address the points raised by my literary agent on pacing and a couple of plot-gaps that need filling. It's not a massive job, but it will take time as I do this around the chaos of my working life. Once these are done, they'll be back with my agent for a second read over Christmas, so expect no more news on the Black Hours until the new year. Overall, though, my agent has enjoyed the book describing it as "imaginative and extraordinary".
So she's pleased, and so am I - it makes me feel that I've been writing in the right direction after all.

Purgatory:
In the middle of the 1st draft and it's getting there, but I've hit that mid 1st-draft wobble where I'm hoping I'm going down the right path with the right characters in what is largely a big departure from the previous books (again). I'm trusting my instincts that I am, and I'm comfortable with the characters and the situations - though I do need to build-in more dynamics and peril which I'm not feeling enough of so far. But then the 1st draft is the draft where I see if the whole damn thing works without a major re-write or the junking of the project. So far I'm certain I won't be doing that and the 2nd draft will be a tinkering-around-the-edges-only kinda thing.
So I'm pleased. Very pleased so far.
I hope Purgatory is pleased too (“he says, fearing a pitch-fork in the bottom”).

The Traitor of Light (Secret War Book 3):
This is where the Byzantine world of publishing interferes with the writing, and it's not ideal. With the first Secret War novels still looking for a home with a UK publisher I won't be starting on the next draft of book 3 until I know there is a publisher who wants it. If that doesn't happen by the time I've completed Purgatory I might be tempted to write Traitor anyway and go the self-publishing route with my agent's blessing (once all other routes are exhausted).
I'm confident, and so is my agent, that I won't have to do that, but it does mean Secret War book 3 will be in hiatus for at least another year, perhaps longer.
Not pleased, but this is the best practical approach and I have to deal with it how I can.

The Fortress of Black Glass (Secret War Book 4):
The fate of this book is tied up with Traitor and while I have a chapter by chapter synopsis for Fortress as well as two opening chapters, this book won't see the light of day for at least 3 years from now. Again, this could be longer depending on what happens with the wranglings around Secret War and Mhorrer. However if there is a charge for more Secret War books and I have the fortune to become a full-time author in the near future, then the schedule will be brought forward and Fortress will be complete sooner.

A World of Night:
A children's book that many people want me to finish. Okay, this is a side-project, but more and more people I know are clambering up my laptop to see it in print. Sorry, guys, but this project has been put on hold until I know what's going on with the adult books. It's a story I do want to finish, with characters I'm in love with, but at the moment it doesn't make sense to turn to this story above others. So Courage Jones and his imp-sidekick will stay shelved for the foreseeable future, unfortunately…

Untitled Black Library project:
I only have an outline for this, and my agent knows I'm interested in doing a Black Library book/series. Think the Secret War shenanigans meets Warhammer 40K - but with a twist (a skeleton in the closet for the Imperial Space Marines that's about to bite them on their armour-plated ass!).


So that's it for now. I'll continue to update on Purgatory's progress through twitter and there's still the review for Islington Crocodiles to put up on this blog. I can only apologise on the dearth of firm news and the delay of the review, but reality has conspired to make the last 12 months a little complicated and this writer a little neglectful.

Normal service may or may not resume in the future...

MFWC