of flint & fortune out 26 aug!

I have been somewhat quiet of late because, in spite of all my wishes to the contrary and my prodigious ability to plan ahead, 2025 has been Quite A Year. When I look back on my New Year's post, I chuckle a little... I had no idea what was ahead, other than the obvious things I'd already scheduled. Here we are a large handful of big events later, including but certainly not limited to wildfires.

Still, good things have happened too! E.g., you can preorder Of Flint and Fortune if you hurry (or, if you're feeling frisky and have the time, you can contact me on Instagram or elsewhere to become part of my quite modest ARC review team). I'm looking forward to both this and its sibling story, Of Valentines and Visions, because they have such an old-school Holmesian vibe and give us a bigger picture of Paul Apollyon and Alastair Gow. Which, in turn, adds so much to the lore already within Threads of Wyrd.

Some of you may have also noticed that the books' listings are now chronological, which is by design! I am hoping that, especially with the release of these two stories in 2025, this order will be much more intuitive for readers and casual browsers alike. Everything I've said about the structure still stands. And if one thinks about things like the Star Wars films and TV series, that should help!

As in, Andor comes before Rogue One, which happens before the initially released trilogy starting with A New Hope. But as any of the Star Wars fans in my family will remind you if you so much as mention the expanded universe, A New Hope absolutely released first.

Here's the blurb for OFAF:

Thirteen months of idyll have transpired since reformed petty criminal Alastair Gow moved in with pub landlord (and gifted seer) Paul Apollyon. When de facto marital bliss gives way to preternatural weirdness, unflappable Paul is unwilling to let Alastair face his past alone.

First, a regular customer delivers words of caution from a ghost. Second, Paul has a spate of ominous visions. Third, the new maid finds a dead crow hanging from the pub’s front door.

As though that’s not enough to be dealing with, a former colleague of Alastair’s arrives without warning, maintaining Alastair owes him. The new chaos seems connected to a past good deed—Alastair can admit to the deed itself. He just doesn’t want to own what it enabled him to do. As he and Paul find themselves forced into an absurd search for lost smugglers’ loot, proper vulnerability proves more daunting than prospective peril.

But Alastair doesn’t expire from telling the truth, and Paul is as steadfast as ever.

Then, another poor corvid serves as a sinister message... and the man who leaves it will stop at nothing to have Alastair for himself.

And here's the one for Of Valentines and Visions, which picks up pretty much right after OFAF. Yes, there will be cliffhangers between the two. Yes, you will have to wait a little, but only until November. No, it doesn't take place during Valentine's Day...

The second son of a wealthy family, Bertie Calder is used to getting both everything and nothing he wants. His upbringing meant reserve and repression alongside stability. As long as he was discreet, he was able to get up to all the mischief he fancied, including dalliances with Alastair Gow—who is, at present, vexingly enamored with Cromer landlord Paul Apollyon.

Will Lucas is Bertie’s opposite, at least when it comes to their social standings. Brought up by a mad butcher, he came of age in criminal circles where survival meant denying all finer feelings. By chance, Bertie befriended him when they were boys and Lucas has spitefully nursed a tendre ever since—even as Bertie manipulated him into a pointless chase for lost gold.

Too bad Bertie is determined to have Alastair, and has again coerced Lucas into helping him achieve a mad goal.

Yet Bertie's deeply held secrets pose more of a threat than any hired muscle ever could. If Lucas wants to discover whether his tendre will become something more, he'll have to collude with Alastair to protect Paul from Bertie’s own demons…

Once I have a link for the latter, I'll be back in your inboxes!

Keep well, keep safe, and don't let the bastards get you down x