When is a waist, a waste?

Alas, in the allegedly final proof run, an instance of ‘waste’ has been discovered, where ‘waist’ was desired. So far, it’s the only one, but it does mean we have to go around the review cycle one more time. I bet J.K.Rowling has people to do this kind of thing for her now! 🙂


Into final proofing (we hope)

Perhaps the greatest video there has ever been. Yes, we’re in the (hopefully) final proof check. The cover’s done, the barcodes are added, and in the last interior review, I found about three commas and semi-colons, which I tossed and turned about. Is writing novels painful? You betcha. But hopefully this (last?) interior proof review will fail to reveal a single comma out of place. Here’s that video:


Cover of ‘Sword of Marathon’ done

Working Cover of ‘Sword of Marathon’

Finished fiddling with the cover, today, as above. I like it. I would buy this book on the cover alone. If you can’t read it, the back cover text says:

“Luke, a Gothic prince of Angland and a shaman’s pupil, sets out to prove himself worthy of kingship by finding traders for his people’s amber jewels. His journey leads him south through treacherous waters and murderous barbarians. With younger brother Hal at his side, and trust in his sword, Luke finds a new and unexpected destiny.

In Greece, Luke finds manhood too, with the voluptuous and beautiful Agariste. She reveals a rotten secret at the heart of Athens, which draws the brothers into a vicious war against the Persian Empire. King Darius the Great, with his vast Achaemenid fleets and legions, is bent on destroying the Ionian city of Eretria, and then Athens, along with its fledgling democracy and persistent refusal to bow to tyranny.

As leader of the toughest seafaring mercenaries in Greece, Luke gathers vital intelligence for the General of Athens and rescues the future mother of Herodotus, the world’s first historian. Luke’s quest also reveals Misia, an alluring young Carian princess, who betrays him, yet captures his heart.

Confronted with superior military force on the plain of Marathon, Luke, Hal, and the Greeks engage the Persian army in bloody combat, in one of the most important and epic battles of all time. Its outcome will decide the future of the entire world for decades and millennia to come. But will it decide the fate of Luke and Misia?”

That would definitely make me want to buy this book! 🙂


Hello world! :-)

Being more of a person who prefers to live mentally in a world looking more like ‘The Wind in the Willows’, than this modern 21st century age, a friend has helped me make the leap towards becoming connected. What will follow will be occasional posts on the progress of my series of novels starring Luke and Hal, two Gothic princes from the northern Kingdom of Angland, who somehow find themselves fighting for the Greeks against the Persians in the struggles made popular by Herodotus in his Enquiries (or as they are more popularly know, his Histories). I hope you enjoy these posts, as I share the tribulations of writing these novels, whilst also trying to hold down a day-job and maintaining a sane family life. I also hope you enjoy the novels, as they are produced.

And if it’s the last thing I ever do, I will complete them all, or die trying.