I will be at Bristolcon this coming weekend, where Cheryl and I will be celebrating the forthcoming publication of The Green Man’s War. For this convention, ebooks will be available for purchase direct from Wizard’s Tower Press. Click here for the Wizard’s Tower page of purchase links for pre-orders.

As ever, Ben Baldwin has given us an absolutely stunning cover.

What’s the story this time? Well, for a few years now, the Green Man has sent Daniel Mackmain to resolve clashes between ordinary people and the supernatural world. Dan has found allies among folk from myth and met other humans who can see the uncanny. He has also made dangerous enemies. Someone has decided to put a stop to this interference once and for all. Dan and his friends are about to find themselves in the firing line.

The actual publication date will be 15th November for hardback, paperback and ebook editions through the usual retailers. This year has been a challenging one for me personally, and unforeseeable events threw my writing schedule into chaos. This landed the rest of the team, publisher Cheryl, editor Toby and artist Dan, with the knock-on effects which had to be managed alongside their other commitments. Believe me, everyone has done their utmost to bring Dan’s latest adventure to eager readers as soon as humanly possible, and I am hugely grateful.

Bristolcon will also see us celebrating Fight Like a Girl Volume 2, and similarly ebooks will be available for direct purchase. This is a second anthology of excellent short stories looking at different interpretations of this phrase, and offering sound reasons why it’s a big mistake to think that particular comment is a remotely valid put-down. My story is titled Civil War.

Oisin McGann has done us proud with this gorgeous cover art, and the publication date is 21st November. My fellow authors are Danie Ware, Gaie Sebold, Dolly Garland, Cheryl Morgan, Anna Smith Spark, K R Green, Julia Hawkes-Reed, K T Davies, S. Naomi Scott and Lou Morgan.

In December, Newcon Press will publish Different Times and Other Places, the tenth collection in the Polestars series where editor Ian Whates has invited writers to offer a selection of their short fiction. Since the other authors are Jaine Fenn, Teika Marija Smits, Emma Coleman, Justina Robson, Cécile Cristofari, Aliya Whiteley, Liz Williams, Fiona Moore and Patrice Sarath, you will understand how honoured I am to be asked.

Reading through stories I’ve written over the past twenty-plus years was an illuminating experience, and choosing which ones to include was a fascinating challenge. The process showed me aspects of my own writing which I haven’t noticed before. That was as unexpected as it was intriguing. I also had the opportunity to write a brand new Green Man short story, prompted by a comment my husband made as we walked around an ornamental National Trust garden. Reading a book about tapestries had also given me an idea for a story some while ago, and now this collection will give you the chance to read that. Click here for pre-orders.

So while 2024 has included a lot that I’ll be happy to see the back of, October, November and December are putting plenty into the plus column!