Authors don’t really get holidays as everyone else understands the term. On some level or another, an author is always thinking about the next book, and the next one, even though they may not actually be writing it – and as it happens, I’m doing both: I always find this time of year unexpectedly good for ideas, possibly because I rather enjoy escaping to the Shed when everyone else is baking, going to parties and buying Christmas presents. So shoot me: I’m a hermit. And if you’ve sent me a Christmas card, thank you, and I’m sorry (again) for not sending one in return: I seem to have forgotten (again) to get organized in time for Christmas.

On the plus side, however: I’ve finished the edits to the new novella (a selkie story, based on Child Ballad 113, due out next October), which Bonnie will be illustrating. I’ve copy-edited THE TESTAMENT OF LOKI, which should be hitting the bookshops in spring, and I’m 50 pages or so into a new book about Vianne Rocher and Lansquenet, which I’m calling THE STRAWBERRY THIEF, and which I’ve promised to deliver a first draft of by July 2018. No pressure there, then. Oh, yes: and I’m co-writing an original musical with the lovely Howard Goodall: (working title, UNBREAKABLE; excitement level 11/10), a project still in its infancy, but too much fun to hide from you all. Watch this space for more as it happens, or subscribe to my newsletter, where I’ll be posting updates and pictures of various projects as they develop, as well as holding regular giveaways and competitions.

Meanwhile, the Storytime Band and I are building a tour schedule for 2018, during which we’ll be playing some new stuff, some of it from A POCKETFUL OF CROWS. I’ll be posting the dates, as well as tour dates for TESTAMENT OF LOKI, as soon as the Christmas juggling act is over: my daughter is here for the holidays, and I’ve promised not to stay in the Shed all the time, so in between movies, and mince pies, and presents, and such, I’ll try to keep on top of it all. My excellent PA retired last year, and I’ve been trying to do her job as well as my own (which is why my efficiency is reduced, though not my enthusiasm). I’m relying on you all to tell me if there’s something I’m not doing right: website maintenance isn’t my forte, and I don’t want you to feel neglected. So –

Merry Christmas to you all, and a happy, healthy 2018: and here’s a picture of the Kid, hair newly-purple, helping us to trim the tree: a tradition we’ve managed to maintain every year since 1993…