It has been a while since I have posted a blog, this is because all of October until now I have been busy working on a side story titled The secret in the forest after the first two chapters got great reception from people on litnet. I am currently working on chapter 13 and also trying to come up with a better front cover, and chapter pictures. I have no idea how big it is going to be, I’m just pleased to be writing a story that is getting enjoyed. It is the first on litnet to have 5 stars and been shard. I hope the ratings continue to grow. Writing this has also been helping me sort out the ending for Master Guardian Part Two, to make it more dramatic and lead nicely in the next novel.

(Heraklês and Yé yúnquè)

One thing I will say about writing The secret in the forest, it has really given me a great opportunity to introduce Fedor along side his brother and some of the Dark ones who are yet to appear in the Master Guardian series. I hope the readers are finding them to be interesting and diverse characters.

I have been taking a break from Master Guardian Part Two to work on a small side story titled The secret in the forest which is the first of the Fedor stories to be launched on litnet. I cannot wait to see what people make of it. I have to say it is nice to be writing a story based around Darkness from the Master Guardian series, it is going to be interesting to see how the story develops and I hope to bring some of the Dark ones and other characters who the readers on litnet already know from other stories.

 Whilst I was writing it I also did a little story which is inspired by Forgotten Realms, and will most likely become part of The secret in the forest as one of Fedor’s fantasy adventure games, which he and his nephew invent, I have tilted it The mysterious castle. Once my hand is better I will try to do better front covers for it and some other stories I have posted.

I have been busy this month with part two, it is getting very close now to the part where I think I can leave it to follow on into the next book. Hopefully leaving the reader going noooo! Don’t leave it there! I know my editor and proofreader are going to be the first ones to be doing that, haha.

In between this blog and the last one, I was able to pick a nice small computer desk, which fits perfectly in my room. It was secondhand and all that was a matter with it was the slide out keyboard shelf the runners just needed re-screwing back in. I am so pleased with it as it is nice to be writing in a more relaxed position with the laptop higher up so I am not having to look down all the time and having the keyboard also in the right place has helped no end with the callus in my hands and writs. As a result I am finding I am typing quicker because I am no longer getting the annoying pains running up my lower forearms.

I did take a small break from part two to write a short story for the Litnet writing contest which was on the theme of a fairy tale, so I based mine on two Chinese fairy tales mixed together with characters from a long lost short story. The target was 25 litnet pages = 36/37 pages, I discovered I am just 1 page over. I have since handed it to Kiyoshi (editor) to see if there is any way we can reduce it.

Kiyoshi: This is an awesome story, I have not found anything which I would conceder unnecessary. There are some scenes we could reduce to make them a little smaller.

This is what we are doing going through it with a fine tooth-comb to see what can be taken out without ruining the whole thing or just bringing the ending to an abrupt stop. Once it is all sorted it will be off to the proofreader to see what she makes of it.

 It is such a great feeling to be back working on Master Guardian Part Two The Furtiveness Puppet Returns, after having to put it to one side when I hit a wall back in May, because I had no idea how I was going get the scene across to the reader without leaving going huh? Did I miss something?

So I went on the hut for any notes I had on The mysterious towers which in the world of Master Guardian lie on one half of Shikoku Island. It was interesting to discover how far back some of the notes went, nearly as old as the first novel. It was an idea I had but never put it into the story until now when I ran the idea through with my editor who immediately loved it and said you’ve got to put it in. The first thing I did once I had gathered up all of the notes is made them in to a short story which is available on Litnet, once it was completed I was able to finally move on with the novel which has already passed part one by 12 pages, I have still got the ending to write. What I am planning on doing is seeing how big it is once it is completed and then decide if it needs to be split into two manageable size books or it is fine as it is. I will be putting to my readers as I know some of them are not keen on reading thick books, then I will make it an option. All depends on how big it is when is finally completed. I am in no rush to get this done as I really need to get the first novel noticed. I have already began to change the Jewellery shop I have on Facebook to a book/jewellery shop, to help it make my work easier to find and buy.

I have been updating Master Guardian Part One to include translation for the Mandarin and Japanese after it was pointed out by my Chinese fans that some of the names I had chosen were not correct, or were a boys name, so they have been changed. Also my Jfans have pointed out there seems to be no Tenjoteki na in there language, which has left them somewhat puzzled how Collins English to Japanese dictionary came up with it. So my editor and I thought it is going to be better to just put Tenjō. I have also changed Darkness' middle name Aristaios and surname Kontos as these are also not easy for me or my foreign fans to pronounce. So his middle name is now Hermes... Come to think of it, in the time he was born, he may not have had a surname, so it would be something he would have adopted later and decided on Ísycha quiet, because Soul Drinkers are quiet on their feet.

I am so pleased to have it all sorted it is just a pity I will not have a copy to sell at the book launch this Saturday (10th of August). On the day I will be handing out a free 20 page sample copies along with two free short stories which have been very popular on Litnet. I may even conceder including the opening of The Mysterious Towers, which is actually just as old as the Master Guardian series. It is a story made up from notes and ideas which were going to be put into part two originally but got edited out. However, since finding most of them again, I am considering including these strange towers in to the rewrite and thought there needs to be a back story, to explain who found them, right up to who is now the current caretaker of them. I hope to post the first chapter on Litnet before Saturday to see what my readers on there think of it.