Progress Report - March 2026
- Mar 16
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 17
Hello from London, specifically from the trenches of being the parent of a newborn.
What day is it? No, seriously, what day is it? It’s still 2026, right? The last 3 weeks have felt like Groundhog Day.
In the best way, you understand. The best way…
By the old gods and the new I’m tired…
ahem
Hello from London! No, I already did that bit. Oh, to heck with it.
Baby!
And so it came to pass that on the 18th of February, just before midday, baby Miller was born!
My own little dragon rider in training 😍🐲 I'll be keeping a watchful eye out for any stolen eggs when he turns 15 👀 I'd probably let him keep it too because I'm such a soft touch already.
I beg for your patience while I get to grips with things. Unfortunately, baby didn't come with an instruction manual, and there is no Rake to eccentrically guide me.
I owe a huge thank you to the Broken Binding team for sending over an emergency care package. We had foolishly not bought enough clothes - shows how little we knew - and their timely resource drop came in clutch.
I have an insane new respect for all parents. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done but it’s shaping up to be the best as well.
I just hope he's into games and fantasy books, otherwise I dunno what we'll talk about all day when he's older 😂
Aberanth Plushie
Perhaps even more exciting (?) is that the Aberanth plushie is now AVAILABLE to order from YouTooz!!
You can order from now until April 8th, but after that, he’ll be gone forever. YouTooz only do limited time runs, so this will be your only chance to get Aberanth if you really want him.
If you have questions about logistics around the plush, you’d best ask YouTooz. But, yes, they do ship worldwide (although being a US company, anything overseas will be pricier – sorry for that!)
The Dragon’s Blade Anniversary Editions
We’ve made fantastic progress on the STUNNING Dragon’s Blade Anniversary Editions coming soon from The Broken Binding.
With the interior files ready and the dimensions in hand, we’re now finalizing the dust jacket wraps and continuous spine design. Yes, that’s right. The set will have a rather epic combined spine design, which is the rather juicy cherry atop this already sweet, sweet set.
They are going to look EPIC on your shelves.
We still don’t have a firm release date yet, as we want to get all the endpaper artwork finished first, if we can. The aim is still ‘Spring’ so think end of April into May should be about right. Once I know, you’ll hear about it right away!
For now, I’ll leave you with a second endpaper piece as another teaser.
London Book Fair
Reflecting on the topic of 10 years as an author, I can remember the first time I visited the London Book Fair back in 2016. I shouldn’t have gone. It’s not ‘really’ an author event, although it’s far more inclusive to authors now than it was then. It seemed like something I ought to do, given I was an author now and I lived in London, but really I just ended up wandering around a bit clueless before leaving.
Jump ten years, and I had my busiest London Book Fair yet!
On the Monday, I was invited to contribute to two panels and a round table session for aspiring indie authors to ask questions.
The first panel was a bird’s eye overview of being self-published, the journey and the mindset one ought to have if embarking on it. The second was all about how to create professional quality audiobooks and some quick tips on selling them.
There was also an hour of round table talks where aspiring authors could sit down with authors in the room and ask more granular questions. This sort of thing is my favorite way to try and give back. Panels are often very broad, but the round table format allows me to spend far more time on a question.
On the Wednesday, I returned to the main fair for a full day of meetings. I met with the Amazon Ads team, IngramSpark (who do some of our print on demand work), my Audible rep and the wider team at their booth, CPI (a UK printer who do our hardbacks + special editions), and Gardners, who warehouse and distribute the large paperback print runs of Songs of Chaos.
I also had the pleasure of bumping into fellow author Andy Peloquin, the head of the fine press Curious King (I will one day be able to order one of their gorgeous books before they sell out!), and even managed to snag a photo with Jeff Hayes and Matt Dinniman by the Audible booth.
Isle of Wonders, Cres, Croatia, June 26th to 28th
I mentioned last time that I’ll be a Guest of Honour at the Isle of Wonders festival in Croatia.
This is all now very official as they’ve announced me on their Instagram!
This will be my first Guest of Honor appearance anywhere so it’s a huge career milestone and in such a stunning location??? I’m feeling very lucky.
Fantasy Festival, Esbjerg, Denmark, September 19th-20th September
I also mentioned that I’ll be a Guest of Honour (two in one year, what the heck?) at the Fantasy Festival in Esbjerg, Denmark!
I have my own page on their website now!
I’m so grateful for the opportunity, and I’ve been amazed to see Danish readers on Instagram comment that they’ll buy tickets this year because of little me. Really looking forward to spending the weekend with you all! You can check out the festival here - Fantasyfestival
Songs of Chaos #5
I remain in the planning phases of book 5. Baby put a lot on pause, but I did make some headway just before he arrived and in the first week or so before he began needing more from us.
I feel I have a good grasp of the broad strokes leading up to the end of Act 2. The main capital P plot points, as it were.
I know now that I’ll be introducing a new emerald ancient beast into the story… I know how I’ll get Holt and Talia to reunite quickly early in the story and remain close enough throughout that we’ll enjoy a much thicker spine of the overall story with less separate story lines.
The goal is to keep the POVs to the following:
PRIMARY POVs: Holt / Talia – they should be with each other enough that one will work for the other.
SECONDARY - Osric, although possibly it will be from Nox’s POV we’ll see their sub plot from.
TERTIARY / GUESTS – a smattering of others as required but these will be for style, flavor and pure plot rather than heavy character arcs.
Book 5 of the series should feel closer to book 1 in the sense of there being a more central single storyline. Things are concluding, after all.
Some of the bigger elements I'm still puzzling out include:
What rank will Talia be as the book opens? (there is a planned time jump, remember)
How will the gang get swept into the second major set piece midway through Act 2?
Where will the finale take place?
And who should be taking part in that final showdown?
Ideas are brewing on all of these, but until I get the eureka breakthroughs, the skeleton of book 5 will still have bones missing. Once that skeleton is in place, layering on the muscles and tendons will become easier.
One bonus insight (which I’ll remind you of down the track) is that I’ll be taking inspiration directly from Joe Abercrombie’s Age of Madness series with his ‘Little People’ sequences. I aim to do something similar in SoC #5. For those who know, I’ll let you privately enjoy that thought.
