FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Here are the answers to some commonly-asked questions. If you have a question that isn't answered here, you can ask on the Ask page...

When are your next books coming out?

If it's not listed that means I don't have a date as yet.

  • The Silver Sea (US version of Wolf Cry) - Fall 10
  • Cat relaunch - August 2010 (in pairs, staring with Diamond and Pigeons, then Den and Tails, finally Black Heart and the new one - which means Cat's Cradle will now be out July 2011)
  • Darcie Lock 3 - Deadlock, 2011 possibly...

ebooks - if you like yours digital...

  •  Secret of the Sirens, October 2010. 
  • The other three Companions titles in January 2011
  • Dragonfly and Glass Swallow in July 2011
  • Wolf Cry and The Ship Between the Worlds in November 2011

Why the delay on Cat and Darcie in UK?

Commercial decision by the publishers facing a sluggish book market so please do not blame the author.  They also want to give both series great new jackets to attract in a new readership.  However I'm thinking about my current fans so intend to release a Cat novella in August to compensate.  It will pick up where Blackheart leaves off.  Cat and Billy at sea - what could happen?

How many Cat Royals?

There will be nine (I hope!).

How old is Cat?

She starts out as 12 or 13 in 1790 - work it out!

Will there be any more Companions?

Yes, I'm writing a new series set in the same world of the SPMC.  No firm publication date yet.

How do I join the Companions Club?

This no longer functions beyond the fun assessment on line as the publisher (OUP) have wound it up after two years of sending out packs.  We might well return to the idea for the new series though when it finally comes out.

Any tips for an aspiring writer?

Keep on writing through until end of first draft without worrying about getting it absolutely right - you can always go back once you've got the whole story down.
Keep a notebook to hand.
Enjoy writing for its own sake as publication is a hit and miss affair.

See Tips for Writers page for more ideas.

Where do you get your ideas from?

All sorts of places - reading, things I see by chance, research into the past, my own experiences.

In the case of Cat Royal, it started with the theatre. I read a lot about the history of Drury Lane and as a result began to daydream about living there and thus Cat was born.

For the Companions, it began with my own experience of clubs outside school. I asked myself 'What if these clubs were magical, secret and far more exciting?' and thought up the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures.

The Ship Between the Worlds came all in one go, sitting in the sunshine looking at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

Dragonfly was inspired by culture clashes!

Darcie Lock by my life as a diplomat some years ago.

Wolf Cry, partly thanks to a voyage to Norway, but also from reading up on the lesser known facts about Vikings, the Sami and the presence of Africans in the north during the Dark Ages.

The Glass Swallow is inspired by the crash of the financial systems - not my usual area of interest but it got me wondering...