Today the Polish edition of Maker’s Curse has hit the bookstores. That makes, I think, the Polish edition the first one to come out. My lovely Polish publisher timed the release so that it would be available when I was at Pyrkon, but unfortunately Covid19 forced the cancellation of my appearance there.

So enjoy being the First in the World to get my new book, Polish readers! I hope you like this final book in the Millennium’s Rule Trilogy. I wish I was there, celebrating the release with you! But mostly I hope you are all safe and well.

I am very sad to have to tell you I won’t be coming to Poland in May. But I will, if all goes well, be attending in 2021.

Yep, Covid19 is the reason. Even if I could get travel insurance that would cover my travels during a pandemic, borders are closed, self-quarantine required for anyone returning to Australia from overseas, and I need to be available to help family if they get sick.

Please take care of yourselves and others during this difficult time. Follow the guidelines for slowing the spread of the virus, and please don’t hoard – or if you’ve already been caught up in the stockpiling fever, work out how much you really need then donate the excess to a charity. Be kind and generous to health workers, shop keepers and people whose income has dried up due to all the cancellations and closures.

Buy books. Most writers need second jobs in order to pay the bills and afford time to write, and many will have lost that income. (Not me, thankfully, so this is not a request that you buy my books in particular, just to support authors in general.) Publishing companies employ many talented people and buying books supports them, too.

After all, if you can’t travel in the real world then why not go on an adventure of the mind?

Here it is…

I love it! The cover fuses elements from the previous three covers of the Millennium’s Rule series, and conveys a sense of both unity and threat. That glowering face within the dust storm will draw eyes from across the bookshop to the shelves, or the computer screen. The figures evoke characters who have matured and grown strong, yet are still wary of each other and the worlds.

It’s been a long road to bring you this final story in the series, and I can’t wait until it ventures into our world to visit and entertain readers.

Over the last three months this website was taken off a dusty old shelf, trimmed, given a buff and polish, and readied to welcome in the 2020s. Most of the design and updating was done by Chris of Cool Cat Web Design, and though I cut back the content it was a huge job converting what remained. He’s done a fantastic job and has been lovely to work with.

You’ll find the usual information about my books here including extracts and some extra material, as well as short stories and novellas. My old VERY long FAQs page has been divided into ‘Book’ and ‘General’ categories for ease of viewing, and my writing advice page has been updated (it was written in the pre-ebook age!). Once again you can contact me, via a form.

In this blog part of the site I will post occasional news. The mileposts of book writing and publishing tend to be spaced wide apart until the book is released, when there’s a flurry of publicity, and that’s probably a good indication of how often I’ll post, too. I’m not intending to write regular articles, though I might repost some old posts I think are still relevant.

I hope you enjoy my new shiny website. If you’re new, have a look around. There’s a LOT of content here – nothing like polishing up all the pages of text to remind me how much content there is! And if you find a mistake, let me know.