I’m always really surprised when I look up from my computer and find myself staring at the end of another year.

Somehow or other I always approach the end of the year with a bit of a haze around my head and the idea that there’s still months and months ahead in the year. Then NaNoWriMo hits and I’m so busy trying to swim instead of sink that I forget about things like end of year and what day it is and what those things called eating and drinking actually are…

It’s not until December arrives and it’s almost too late to plan for the coming year, that I remember the end of the year is tapping on my shoulder. So this year, I’m pretty pleased to find myself ahead of the curve; I’ve remembered now! Mostly this is because I’ve been planning ahead what I want to do for 2018. I’ve got a publication schedule set up that should see me through to the end of the year and maybe beyond.

So what do I have planned for publication in 2018? I’m so glad you asked!

2018 is looking pretty exciting for me: early in the year, the newest Two Monarchies book, Staff and Crown, should be out.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Staff and Crown should be available at the end of January, continuing the journey of Annabel and Melchior, and including the indomitable Isabella. So if you were wanting to know what happened while Annabel and Isabella were at school, your curiosity will soon be satisfied.

By June, Lady of Weeds should be out!

I’ve been wanting to release the 2nd book in the Lady series after Lady of Dreams, but I wanted to get Memento Mori and Staff and Crown published first, not to mention getting something else off the ground. (I should mention here that if you want to read each chapter of Lady of Weeds as it’s written, you’ll have to sign up to my newsletter; the first newsletter of every month will have a chapter exclusively for those on the list. Otherwise, you’ll be waiting until June 2018…)

September or October should see the publication of the 3rd Time Traveller’s Best Friend book, for the scifi lovers out there (and can I say how much I’m looking forward to travelling with Kez and Marx again?)

You might be wondering why there’s a gap of four months between Staff and Crown and Lady of Weeds.

This is because I’m in the process of a New Project.

If you’ve been keeping up with my Facebook Author Page and my Twitter account, you’ll probably already have seen that this new project is an Urban Fantasy series set in Hobart, Tasmania. I’m hoping to have the first book finished during NaNoWriMo, the second by the end of the year, and the third in the series done by February. Once the first three books are done, I’ll have a nice quick-fire release for that series. If all goes well, you should expect to see the first City Between book in March or April…

Keep your eye out at the end of this blog post for a blurb and excerpt for the first book, Between Jobs.

Last but not least, I want to hear from you guys. What do you want to see me publish in 2018? Do you have any requests? Anything you want first? Or does the lineup sound good just the way it is? Let me know!

–oOo–

Between Jobs (blurb & excerpt)

She’s orphaned, struggling to make a living, and technically homeless. The last thing she needs is a murdered guy outside her window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.

Good thing she isn’t used to things going her way, because a hanging corpse outside her window is just the beginning of it all. Now two fae and a vampire have moved into her parents’ old house, and they’re not too thrilled to find her there.

Oh well, at least only one of them wants to kill her.

–oOo–

They didn’t offer me a seat in the kitchen. Well, maybe I wouldn’t be offering a seat to someone I’d just found hiding in my house, but they didn’t try to call the cops, either. And if you think that’s a good sign, you’re even madder than they are. I sat down anyway; jumped myself up on the kitchen counter and crossed my legs under me while they all stared at me in varying degrees of hostility—and, in Athelas’ case, outright amusement.

He seemed to be the least dangerous one of the three, so I looked at him when I said, “It was my house first.”

“What are we supposed to do with it?” he asked, and at first I thought he was talking to me even though the question made no sense.

It wasn’t until Zero said, “We’re not keeping it,” that I realised I was the it Athelas was talking about.

“Oi!” I said.

JinYeong flicked my knee. When I looked at him, he put one finger over his lips, and there was a dark liquidity to his eyes. I shut my mouth.

“Where are its parents?”

“Maybe they abandoned it?” suggested Athelas.

“Yes, but then how did it crawl in here?”

“I didn’t crawl,” I said, since it seemed like they were actively looking for information. “I was already here.”

Zero’s eyes turned on me with a suddenness that made me jump. “You said that before. Is that why you wouldn’t tell me anything when I stopped you on the street?”

I’d assumed he didn’t remember me. “No,” I said. “I wouldn’t tell you anything when you stopped me on the street because you’re a stranger, and you choked me. Why would I tell you where I live and work?”

Athelas smiled faintly. “It’s got good instincts. What are we going to do with it, though?”

“We’ll give it back to its parents,” said Zero shortly.

“My parents are dead.”

“We’ll find someone else to give it to.”

JinYeong spoke, a questioning lilt to the end of it. There was still that dark liquidity in his eyes, and I could see the pointed tip of one incisor through his lips.

My toes curled defensively inside my socks. I edged a little closer to Zero; he hadn’t actually strangled me, after all.

“That’s a very good point,” Athelas said mildly. “What if it does talk?”

“We can’t keep it!”

I sat up straighter. I knew that tone of voice. It was the one mum used when dad was just about to talk her into one of his daft, fun schemes. Zero was really thinking about me staying there.

“I’m quiet,” I said. “You won’t know I’m here. Well, you didn’t know I was here until now—”

JinYeong said something indignant, and I glared at him. He mouthed a word at me that I took to mean “what?” by the tilt of his chin.

“I can make really good coffee.”

Zero blinked. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d startled him, like the first time we met, or if it was because he was weakening.

“I can cook, too.”

JinYeong’s lips made a thoughtful moue. He tucked his chin back in and folded his arms. Well. He was ready to listen, too.

“We haven’t had a pet in a while,” Athelas said thoughtfully. “And if you expect me to put up with your cooking, Zero—”

“Most stewards,” remarked Zero, unoffended, “cook for their masters.”

“Most of them don’t kill for their masters,” Athelas responded. “I’m able either to cook or kill. I find it inimical to success to try for both.”

Wait, what now?

“I never asked you to kill for me!” Zero said in exasperation. Yes. In exasperation. Not horror, or disbelief, or disgust. Exasperation.

“If it can cook, we should let it stay and cook.”

“What if it gets hurt?”

“What if it does? It’s a pet.”

–oOo–