Update: Eren! Audiobook! Moving to the UK! Harry Potter! Roadtrip!

Hello, all. Time for an update.

Various things have been happening since I was last on here. The most Eren-related of them is easily the most exciting. The audiobook - an actual audiobook of actual Eren - is now available! It's UK only at the moment - though who knows what the future will bring? I've listened, am absolutely thrilled, and still find the whole thing utterly bizarre. Still... here are some links for those who want them:

Audible.co.uk | Whole Story Audiobooks

Eren also got a lovely review in The Guardian - you can read it here.

Since I last updated this blog, two other big things happened. First, I went to Universal Studios Florida, where The Wizarding World of Harry Potter blew my mind. The second was an event in Brooklyn with Neil Gaiman and Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) - an inspiring, hilarious chat between the two that left me with lots to think about. These two things together - seeing authors get together, and seeing what can come from an author's work - had me thinking a lot about inspiration, where it comes from, and what it means.

(Side note: Harry Potter world is so bloody fantastic. It could have been so cheap and cheesey, and it really wasn't. Diagon Alley, with its hidden corners, its shops, its almost overwhelming detail, is one of the most magical and atmospheric places I've been. Hogsmeade and Hogwarts are just as entertaining, and the care and attention they've put into recreating the worlds of the book is mind blowing.)

I think seeing so many people, young and old, unashamedly loving these books was one of the best parts. There was no awkwardness, no holding back - just groups of friends and families thrilling in what they were seeing - and all of it because of seven books. It's a testament to what books can do and how they can change the world.

The Gaiman / Handler evening was an odd, but thoroughly enjoyable, mix of free conversation, audience questions, and anecdotes. I think I took something out of it, though I'm still trying to work out what that was. The lesson that writers write, no matter what? That success isn't defined by anyone else? Probably both those things, and more.

Right now there's work going on behind-the-scenes on the paperback version of Eren, as well as my next novel, which will be published ... at some point. When there's news to share, I will share it. Until then, I need to keep on typing away.


Kat Ellis (Of Blackfin Sky fame) shared her top ten UKYA reads this week, and I was thrilled to see Eren up there. I should probably get better at keeping and sharing Eren's appearances online, but for now, I'm content. There's also more work happening on the (somewhat delayed, I know) Eren Tales. They are coming, I promise.

And ... that's it, for now. Well, almost. In June I'm going to be moving back to the UK to pursue my dream of being unemployed and confused by change. It's been seven years since I liked in the UK and, though I've visited many times, I'm still nervous. I hope it will turn out OK. I'm sure it will. Ha. Ha.

Before we leave the U.S., m'wife and I are taking an Epic West Coast Roadtrip from Las Vegas to Seattle, via the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, LA, and other places as well. I've read On The Road so I'm pretty sure I'm set. We're leaving in less than a month and it is very going to be mental.

More updates to come. Please buy my book? Yeah.