WIP Snippet #6

WIP Snippet #6

WIP Snippet #6

Puddles in the Pavement

 

In honour of British Puddlings Day, I bring you a snippet about my pudding-scoffing archangel sleuth, Uriel, from Puddles in the Pavement. This is the first story in which you’ll meet Uriel in the flesh, unless you subscribe to my newsletter and read the bonus story. Uriel will make a detective of you yet. And he’ll stuff you with pudding. Spotted Dick is not what it sounds like.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Puddles in the Pavement: draft complete, 30,046 words

Stage: edited, ready for publication

Projected publishing date: Summer 2023

“They’ll be lining up from here to Bishopsgate if you keep giving them half a crown for a pudding,” said Bel.

“How do you know it was half a crown?”

“Please! I can tell exactly which coin and exactly how far down the bucket was. I have a knack for these things.”

“Pointless things,” Uriel huffed.

“You’ll be financing her move to Pimlico. Then who will make your puddings?”

“The boy needs new shoes. If he doesn’t have them within the week, you and I are going shopping.”

“You can buy my new boots while you’re at it.”

Uriel threw the newspaper at Bel. “Christ, it’s still warm.”

Bel let out a long sigh. “These rooms are stifling, and the sun’s barely up.”

“Yesterday you complained about the rain.”

“Why must the British weather try to fit in every meteorological phenomenon in a single month? It’s supposed to be spring.”

Uriel did not respond.

“I hate it here,” Bel tried.

Uriel remained silent. There were only so many times he could listen to his brother beg to open the Mayfair house before he gave in. Of all his brothers, Bel was the most persuasive and his favourite, two factors which, when combined, usually had Uriel giving in quickly. Just this once, he was determined to stand his ground.

He settled by the window, his breakfast bowl already waiting on the small mahogany table. He carved himself a portion of the steaming pudding with a giant spoon and doused it in custard.

Bel waited for Uriel’s first moan of delight before giving him the news. “There have been twelve reports of missing persons over the last two days.”

WIP Snippet #5

WIP Snippet #5

WIP Snippet #5

Of Blood & Oil

 

Directly from the pen of Sean Morrigan, who first features alongside Albert in The Weakest Link, a free prequel novella available exclusively to my newsletter subscribers. If you already have book 1 of my series, A Storm of Paper Starlings, you’ll find a link to bonus content, which includes the whole story of how Sean met Albert.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Of Blood & Oil: draft complete, 129,485

Stage: awaiting line & copy edits

Projected publishing date: April 2023

Albert Habsburg

I never met a vampire who couldn’t sire another before. Albert was unique. He couldn’t be bled, and his bite killed. His desire to feed was weaker even than mine. We met on the fourth of March 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession, and he recognised what I was immediately.

He was young when he was turned, I’d say little more than twenty, but he’d attained a great age in his eyes. I didn’t know at the time whether to attribute it to his years or an innate wisdom. I eventually learned it was both.

Our friendship was firm and fast. He was born to be a soldier, he told me. He grew up in the middle of a war and had never known peace. After the death of his mother, he was raised by his half-brother, who became a soldier just a year or so after he rescued Albert from the riots surrounding a burning synagogue.

Albert and his brother came under the protection of a benevolent bloodborn, also hailed a great general, who took an avid interest in Albert and paid for his education. He later offered Albert the world.

He took it, one war at a time.

A Storm of Paper Starlings is Live!

A Storm of Paper Starlings is Live!

A Storm of Paper Starlings

is Live

 

From a scrappy page of notes in my twelve-year-old handwriting, to accidentally signing up to Camp NaNoWriMo in July 2014, to its final formatting in 2022, Violet’s story has gone through so many changes. But it’s finally here, the story of my heart.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

Available Now

A Storm of Paper Starlings is available to buy now at all major retailers and to order from your local library.

468 pages

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What if the ordinary family you crave isn’t ordinary at all?

When an accident lands Violet in hospital, her mundane life in a London children’s home is disrupted by relatives she’s never heard of—the Penhaligons—and a mysterious visitor who disappears into the night after claiming he’s the father of the twin sister she never knew she had.

With her long-lost sister, Amethyst, to find, Violet turns to her new family for help. But the Penhaligons are far from ordinary.

Power and magic lurk at the priory, Violet’s new home in the Oxfordshire countryside, and she learns fast that nothing is ordinary here, least of all the hostile new neighbours—a coven of vampires, vaewolves, and demons.

As Violet grapples with family secrets, four powerful new brothers, and latent abilities of her own, Amethyst and the man who raised her find themselves in mortal danger—a danger that draws Violet and her family into a battle to save them.

Finally embracing the meaning of family, two questions burn at the back of Violet’s mind.

If vampires and demons exist, what are the Penhaligons?

And what is she?

A Storm of Paper Starlings is the first of six already written books. The Not the Same River series follows Violet as she goes from lost, gobby orphan to treasured—okay, she’s still gobby—warrior, finding the clan she would die for along the way.

If sibling banter, precious friendships, bitey neighbours, and terrible goats are your jam, settle in to meet your new ride or die crew today.

Due to adult language and dark themes, this book is recommended for readers aged 15+ and is ideal for upper YA/crossover readers who enjoy diverse stories. The series should be read in order.

WIP Snippet #3

WIP Snippet #3

WIP Snippet #3

Puddles in the Pavement

 

Last week, I gave you a snippet from DeMobbed featuring Gabriel (you know, the one from the nativity). This snippet is from Puddles in the Pavement, the second book in the Tales from the Noctuary series, which is set in the late Victorian era.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Puddles in the Pavement: draft complete, 30, o46 words

Stage: edited, ready for publication

Projected publishing date: summer 2023

Rosemont steepled his fingers together over his desk, eyeing his visitors with the sharpest of blue eyes. “To what do I owe the pleasure, gentlemen?”

Uriel and Bel shared a worried look.

Rosemont glanced at the man hovering by the door. “You may leave, Jelly.”

He bowed his way out. “Your grace.”

When the door was firmly closed and Rosemont was certain the man had gone back to his own desk, he said, “If you’ve come to turn my life upside down, you’re too late.”

The two men sighed as if they’d both been holding their breath.

Uriel quirked an eyebrow. “A bit bold for the workplace, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jelly?”

“Good grief, Uriel, it’s the man’s name. Do you think I routinely gift my employees with ridiculous terms of endearment?”

“Perhaps not routinely,” Uriel admitted. “His name is really Jelly?”

Rosemont massaged his temples. Oh, to have had just one week without a visit from this meddlesome pair.

“We’re here about Lord Farringdon,” said Bel.

Rosemont sighed. “I heard you two had been poking your noses in.”

“The man confessed,” said Bel.

“It’s a pity he cannot be tried twice,” said Rosemont. “We can have him up for perjury, of course, but—”

“The God-Wolf didn’t take him for the murders of five women,” Uriel said.

“He took him for the murders of eight,” Bel added.

WIP Snippets #2

WIP Snippets #2

WIP Snippet #2

DeMobbed 2

 

This snippet is from the second book of DeMobbed (working title), a duology that is my only series set in the U.S. This snippet comes close to the end of the book, but it’s not too spoilery. Gabriel features in the Not the Same River series, and Puddles in the Pavement, a historical spin-off in which I accidentally made him the Home Secretary.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

DeMobbed 1: draft complete, 87,283 words

DeMobbed 2: draft in progress, 108, 727 words

Stage: combined developmental edits

Projected publishing date: late 2024

Gabriel raised an eyebrow but didn’t confirm one way or the other. “The point is, Montero believes he has the stone, and he called in Ash Nightstorm.”

Indy froze at the name, which he’d always thought of as a dippy hippy name, but it was taking on a different complexion now, and he didn’t like that.

Who the heck in a hat-stand is Ash Nightstorm?” asked Ursula. “Are we playing Dungeons and Dragons now?”

Indy kept silent.

“Do none of you know how to keep your peace?” Raphael boomed.

“Don’t you start with me, Thor. I’m supposed to be driving my ambulance right now, attending normal accidents like, oh I just fell on this cucumber, and my cheating husband just walked into this pitchfork, not whatever the hell this is.”

“I’m sorry to spoil your plans for tonight, Ms Fields,” said Gabriel. “And while they do sound fun, saving the world will look much more impressive on your resumé when you’re job hunting.”

“I like my job just fine, thank—” Ursula’s face fell. “They’re gonna fire me, aren’t they?”

“You absconded with an ambulance and a coma patient,” Gabriel reminded her.

Ursula pouted. “They made me do it.”

“I’m sure you can sing your way out of the consequences,” said Gabriel, “but Astaroth tells me you’re destined for greater things.”

Ursula sat a little straighter. “Really?”

Gabriel nodded. “Can we get on?”

Ursula waved her hand elegantly for Gabriel to continue.

He didn’t seem to mind, but as he drew breath to speak, Sunny blurted, “Okay, but who is Ash Stormcloud?”

“Nightstorm,” Indy corrected, swallowing hard. “And he’s my father.”