Writing Update & Plans for 2025
Almost a quarter of 2025 is gone, which seems to prove the old adage that time flies. I’ve been on a steady trajectory releasing at least one book per year since 2020 but, although it’s still early in the year, I’m fairly certain that won’t happen in 2025. This is going to be more of a consolidation year as I get some new projects off the ground and then resume where I left off on some others.
Readers tend to expect an author to release a new book every year, so I’m not going to lie and pretend I’m not worried about disappearing from the reading public’s view. However, you can only do what you can do and in 2024 I took on a lot. I was busy after successfully running my own Kickstarter, which meant I was working on fulfilling the rewards for my backers throughout the year. That was alongside completing my four-book fantasy series with the release of Broken Brotherhood in November 2024. After all that I must confess I was a spent force creatively until last month.
Early 2025 was still a productive time as I finished the quality checks on the audiobook version of Hall of Bones. I’m really happy with that project and if you head over to my ‘About’ section on my website you’ll find lots of podcasts and guest blog links where I talk in more detail about the experience of turning my debut novel into an audiobook. I’m so glad I took that opportunity to work with my narrator RJ Bayley and find a way to make this happen through Kickstarter. The fact this is now available on all retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Spotify, Kobo and many more is so exciting. As I write this I’m still waiting for it to go live on Audible over on Amazon. Their process takes a lot longer than other retailers but the title should be available over there soon. This release means one of my key goals for 2025 has already been achieved, which is a wonderful feeling.
By February, with the Hall of Bones audio complete, I finally felt like I had the mental energy to begin writing once more. The Brotherhood of the Eagle series was finished, so for the first time since 2011 I was faced with a difficult question. What next? Writing a series you enjoy and that you’re very familiar with is a bit of a comfort blanket as an author. With the series finished many more possibilities opened up and I faced a choice. Alongside my day job and family responsibilities, a novel is at the very least an 18-month commitment when you factor in plotting, writing the various drafts and completing the editing process.
It took me about three months to figure out which projects I had the greatest desire to tackle next. That word ‘desire’ is important, because if you write what you feel people expect of you rather than the project calling to you it can become a creative struggle. I’ve experienced this before when I got seriously bogged down writing the first draft of Lost Gods (the third book in Brotherhood) in 2018-2019. I had to take a complete break from the series for over a year until I was in the right frame of mind to return to that book and solve some of the problems I’d experienced in that first draft. Picking the right project at the right time really matters if you want to remain both productive and creative.
So, which projects are the ones that have the mysterious X-Factor?
First off, something has been telling me I needed to return to the world I created for my fantasy/horror crossover short story The Whisperers for The Anatomy of Fear anthology in 2023. The Silent Division is going to be a novel-length work set in the gaslamp fantasy world of Assanda. This is a brand-new setting, entirely separate from my other works, and a story has slowly been taking shape over the last two years. This is the book I plan to write in 2025 but I intend to put this on submission to traditional publishers first before considering releasing it independently.
Thus far I’ve written some sample chapters to get a feel for the story and plotted out the overall structure of the book. My next task is to work with some sensitivity readers for certain elements of the story that are outside my personal experience. I’m enjoying the whole process and the move into a setting analogous with 1800s Europe allows me to write in a completely different way to my other books, which is really refreshing.
Alongside this I’ll continue working on The Wolf Throne, which is a prequel novel of sorts to the Viking-inspired Brotherhood series. The story of Ingioy the White Widow, a very minor character in Brotherhood, is something I feel compelled to write. I just love her story and the wider cast of characters. Fans of my other writing will be pleased to know there’s lots of politics and scheming alongside moments of action and adventure, and The Wolf Throne expands considerably upon the world and lore of the fantasy setting of Amuran. Last year’s Kickstarter project meant I had to put my work on The Wolf Throne on hold, so it’s been great to come back to this afresh and pick up the story once more. It’s fully plotted and I hope to have completed it by mid-2026.
This is another project that may be of interest to traditional publishers, so even once finished I don’t have a planned release date. However, my newsletter subscribers get exclusive access to each instalment as it’s written, so if you want to find out more then signing up over on my ‘Contact’ page means you’ll get to read it before anyone else.
Working on two novels at once is more of a stretch but I’ve done this before. It also gives me the chance to switch from one to the other if I’m feeling a bit stuck or simply need a break from a particular project. I’ve found writing The Wolf Throne in short bursts has actually helped me to be more productive overall.
Existing readers will know that I released my first standalone novel, A Quiet Vengeance, in 2023. The idea has always been to write a series of interconnected standalones in this Middle Eastern and North African inspired setting. For many of my readers A Quiet Vengeance has been their favourite amongst the books I’ve written, so I did feel a degree of expectation to start work on a follow up straightaway. I do have plans for two more standalones and have the broad plot for both worked out, so this feels rather like a project I should be working on. However, at the moment the time doesn’t feel right, so my plan is to complete work on The Silent Division and The Wolf Throne first, before starting to write A Quiet Betrayal in 2026.
It’s taken me some time to understand that delicate balance between creativity, useful pressure, productivity and relaxation and what works for me. Twenty years’ ago I thought of writing as my hobby, something I pursued privately once work was done and the kids were in bed. It took many years for me to feel that my writing was of a publishable standard, and I didn’t have the confidence to release anything independently until 2020. I still find writing relaxing and enjoyable but there’s no doubt pursuing a craft to such exacting standards can at times feel a lot like work. I know myself well enough by now to understand that setting myself a deadline is helpful to stay focussed and keep on track. I also know that whilst part of me wants to write all the time there are also periods, such as between November and February, when the right thing to do is take a break.
I’m still sorting out my holiday plans for later this year but one thing that’s already in the diary is a road trip in late April and early May. Last year I completed the North Coast 500 driving route in Scotland, which was a fantastic experience. This year I’m planning to return to Scotland, taking a different route that will cover Glencoe, the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye. The one thing I will not be taking with me is my laptop and that’s a good thing. Sometimes to be creative you have to set aside the writing and do something fun that’s just for you. Those stories will still be there when I walk back through my front door in May 2025. The crucial difference is I’ll be fully rested and in the right frame of mind to write them.
