Steven A. McKay's Blog, page 2
April 26, 2025
Omnibus editions of my books – bargain buys!
Did you know that some of my books have been collected into Kindle boxsets? You can get all four Forest Lord novels in one collection, and all six Warrior Druid of Britain novels in two collections. The best part? They’re cheaper than if you buy the books separately, especially in the USA! They’re also included in Kindle Unlimited.
Check them out at the links below!
–
Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles Boxset 1
–
Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles Boxset 2
April 15, 2025
Song of the Centurion Kindle deal!
SONG OF THE CENTURION, sequel to The Druid, is just 99p all month in the UK and also now 99c in the USA for a few days. If you haven’t read it yet, grab your Kindle copy now! This is book 2 in the Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles and one I actually enjoyed a research trip for. You can read about that, and see all the photos of Dunadd Hillfort, HERE .
*
The NEXT book in the series is just back from my editor (who I discovered at the HNS Conference is also David Gilman’s editor). It’s always pretty nerve racking waiting on an editor’s feedback – will they like the book? Will they find a ton of plot holes? Will they find mistakes you hadn’t noticed? Will they suggest a major rewrite? Well, thankfully none of those apply in this case, as she says, to my great relief, “I have now read THE DRUID’S PREY and very much enjoyed it. You have really honed your craft over the years!” Pre-order it now on Kindle HERE .
*
While I was waiting to hear back from the editor I’ve been writing my sections of the Winter/Xmas novella I’m collaborating on with Matthew Harffy. I think if you’ve enjoyed my previous Christmas tales you will really like this one – plenty of action, some humour, camaraderie, outlaws, and, of course, warmed ale! We’ve actually been posting episodes on the Rock, Paper, Swords! Patreon page about the creation of the book – planning, initial writing stages, developing things further, and any issues we’ve encountered. I think those episodes are a really cool way of documenting the creation of a historical novella and it’ll be fun to listen back to them once the book is out. If you are one of our Top Fans or Producers you’ll get a free copy of the ebook, and Producers will also have their name listed in the acknowledgements section! If you’d like to supportus, check out the RPS Patreon page HERE .
March 29, 2025
The Druid’s Prey PRE-ORDER now live!
You can now pre-order the Kindle edition of THE DRUID’S PREY, book 7 in my Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles. It will be published on June 24th, but please do get your pre-order in now if you plan to buy it as it really helps other people to find it and, with so many new books coming out nowadays that is hugely important (and appreciated). It will, as always, be available on Kindle Unlimited as well. Paperback edition can’t be pre-ordered but it should be out on the same day as the Kindle version.
A vicious attack. An enraged warrior-druid. A relentless hunt for vengeance!
Following a cowardly raid on Dun Breatann the Saxon attacker, Saksnot, rides back to rejoin his bretwalda, Hengist, in far-off Garrianum. Bellicus, outraged by the savage attack on his people and his closest friend, follows the perpetrator with just one thing on his mind: bloody justice!
As the towering druid hunts his prey across the summer fields and streams, Arthur, Bear of Britain, seeks to make a lasting peace with the new immigrants from across the sea. Hengist has no such plans however, instead working alongside his terrifying volva, Thorbjorg, to bring only blood, fire, and death to the embattled Britons.
As the brutal struggle for supremacy rages between the two warlords and their armies, Bellicus will find himself drawn into an adventure he could never have foreseen. An adventure that may seal the fate of Britain for generations to come.
An adventure that fans of Bernard Cornwell, Griff Hosker, David Gemmell, and Joe Abercrombie will love!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _
While we wait for The Druid’s Prey I’ve started work on my sections of the 2025 winter/Christmas novella I’m writing with Matthew Harffy. If you’d like to follow our progress we’ve uploaded some bonus Patreon-exclusive episodes of our podcast Rock, Paper, Swords! in which we discuss our process. So far we’ve talked about coming up with ideas, how we hope to actually do everything in terms of software and planning, and other early-stage brainstorming. As the year goes along we’ll continue to update Patrons with our progress – it should be a really cool diary for our readers who like that sort of thing! Sign up here to listen (and also get access to our full library of bonus episodes, shoutouts on the show, and other perks ): patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
March 12, 2025
LUCIA – A Roman Slave’s Tale. Revised for 2025!
When my novel LUCIA first came out on Audible there was a mix-up and the epilogue that I’d written was not included. At the time, the publisher and I agreed that it worked alright without it, so it stayed like that, and then the Kindle and paperback editions came out a year later still without that epilogue. Over the years, I’ve noticed reviews complaining about the ending, readers saying they loved the book but felt it finished too abruptly. Which it did, because there was supposed to be an epilogue!
Anyway, I’ve finally decided to add the epilogue back in. All editions, including the audiobook (Audible HAD recorded the audio way back in 2019!) should now have the extra section included, along with an updated cover, AND a brand new endorsement from archaeologist Dr Jo Ball who you might know from Twitter/X or her own writing!
I’m very pleased that LUCIA is now finally out there as it always should have been. This book is the one I’m most proud of and I always thought it deserved more recognition. Hopefully now that will happen!
If you originally bought the Kindle edition I would expect you can just download the file again now and it should be updated for free (ditto Kindle Unlimited and Audible). If you bought the paperback and don’t want to spend money on a new edition just for a few extra pages, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. 
READ HERE – https://viewbook.at/LUCIA
Also available from Audible
March 3, 2025
Warrior Druid of Britain Book 7 – title and cover reveal! What next for Bellicus?
Today I finally finished book 7 in my Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles! I was supposed to complete the first draft a couple of weeks back but went quite a bit over my word count so, unless my editor wants me to cut it down (usually I end up ADDING more!) I expect this one to be longer than usual.
Anyway, the cover art came in from my designers over at More Visual a while ago so I thought this was the perfect time to reveal that, and the title.
I really love the artwork, and the colours. It’s almost like an old fantasy novel cover, but the scenery just puts me so much in mind of old rural Britain, and it’s so atmospheric I think it draws the viewer in and hopefully makes them want to know that’s happening in the book!
The novel will need edited now, so it’ll probably come out around May/June (which also gives King of Wessex a chance in the spotlight for a bit). The Druid’s Prey is a little bit different to the previous book, The Vengeance of Merlin, with some pretty bad stuff happening in Dun Breatann and further south (when is there not I suppose lol) but I really hope readers enjoy the ride and the twists and turns the story takes this time around!
No pre-order just yet, but please do make sure to check out King of Wessex and the other two books in that Alfred the Great trilogy. If you’d like to buy a signed copy of those, or ANY of my books, use the CONTACT button and I’ll get you sorted out.
February 21, 2025
February 20, 2025
Long live the King! King of Wessex is out NOW!
My ALFRED THE GREAT trilogy is now complete! Finally, I’ve finished a full series!
KING OF WESSEX is out today! You can now buy the whole trilogy in paperback or on Kindle (and I have some more copies of the paperback here if you’d like to buy a signed one, or even the full set – let me know). I’m really excited to see what people think of the way the story ends – I really enjoyed writing the finale and I hope readers will like it too.
If you enjoy it PLEASE leave a review, it really helps. Thanks to my mum for the fantastic axe she gave me for my birthday. It’s razor sharp, heavy as hell, and would do some real damage. It’s for cutting pizza! :-p
As seems to be the way so often now, just as one book is published I am finishing off another – Book 7 of my Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles is almost complete! I have a title, a fantastic cover which I’ll share soon, and I’ll have it edited and hopefully publish it around June this year. I’ve had a TON of fun writing it, it feels a bit different to the other Druid novels with some totally unexpected (even to me!) plot twists and events. In an age when shitty AI books are on the rise I’m proud to say no machine would have written Druid 7!
If you haven’t read all of my druid novels you can get them in a couple of bargain Kindle boxsets, so please check them out.
January 22, 2025
Wrath of the Picts bargain, King of Wessex paperback, and a VERY SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!
Hi everyone! WRATH OF THE PICTS, book 5 in my Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles, is just 99p on Kindle UK and for a few days 99c in the USA too. If you haven’t already bought it, check it out now at the link below. If you enjoy it please do leave a 5 star rating and review!
https://mybook.to/WrathOfThePicts
Next, my author copies of King of Wessex, the third and final book in my Alfred the Great trilogy, have arrived! It’s really incredible to see the full series all together on my bookcase. It also marks the first time I’ve completed a series. I’m really proud to have written these books and had them published with Canelo AND actually seen them in book shops, a first for me. It’s been incredible to get photos of my wife and children holding the books in Waterstones stores around the country. You can pre-order King of Wessex at the link below. I will be doing a giveaway for a signed copy next month around the time it comes out on February 20th so look out for that here!
https://mybook.to/KingofWessex
(The next section was sent to my Email List subscribers but I thought I’d open it to everyone that visits my website for a change). Speaking of giveaways, now I come to that special new section I mentioned…You guys are my most loyal readers, you have read all my books, you buy all the new ones, and it’s brilliant. Very, very much appreciated. But it means when I run a giveaway you are being offered something you probably already own or have read, so I thought it might be great for you guys to get the chance to win a signed copy of a book by a DIFFERENT author. Step forward one of the biggest names in historical fiction right now – PETER GIBBONS! Peter actually won the Kindle Storyteller Award recently, and his books have sold thousands of copies (way more than mine!), with brilliant reviews for every one. Vikings, King Arthur, Saxons, fantasy, I think my readers will love his stuff. We interviewed Peter on Rock, Paper, Swords! (EPISODE HERE) and I knew he was a nice guy so I reached out to ask him if he could provide a copy of one of his books to giveaway to you guys. He has kindly said he’ll send a signed copy of EXCALIBUR, book 1 in his new Arthurian series (which I actually endorsed) and he’ll post it worldwide so the giveaway is open to everyone. What a guy! Going forward I’d like to do this a few times every year with different authors, depending on the interest people have for this one, so please do enter and maybe check out Peter’s fantastic books whether you win or not at this link – https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Peter-Gibbons/author/B093WPM….
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY IS ANSWER THIS RIDICULOUSLY EASY QUESTION (leave a comment at the bottom of the page or reply to this email):
In Arthurian legend, what shape is the table Arthur and his companions famously sit at?
Good luck everyone! Please do take a look at Peter’s books, pre-order my King of Wessex, and look out for my next Warrior Druid novel coming around summer 2025. I’ve written about 70,000 words so it’s getting there. I might even have a cover to reveal in February’s newsletter so stay tuned.
Cheers!
Steven
January 6, 2025
King of Wessex: pre-order the epic conclusion of the Alfred the Great Trilogy
HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS! My next book is available to pre-order! KING OF WESSEX, the third and final book in my Alfred the Great trilogy comes out on February 20th and I’m very happy with how it all turned out. I really enjoyed writing the end scenes, lots of action and some pretty emotional parts too. Check it out at the link here – https://www.canelo.co/books/king-of-wessex-steven-a-mc-kay/
His reign must come to an end. But his legacy will live on forever.After thwarting the scourge of the Viking hordes that had decimated Britain for decades, King Alfred assured a period of peace and prosperity for the kingdom of Wessex. The dream of uniting all Anglo-Saxons under one, noble banner seems closer than ever before.
But his enemies are not ones to be taken lightly. For even as Alfred works to ensure the fate of his descendants for centuries to come, a fearsome warlord, Haesten, gathers his warriors for a brutal assault upon the shores of Alfred’s territories.
As the battle lines are drawn, as the true power of this new and terrifying threat comes into its own, the ageing king knows in his heart that things will be different this time round. For as strong as his land, his birthright, his Wessex, has become, the consequences of defeat have never been more terrible.
For one who has gained everything… has everything to lose.
‘Another excellent historical adventure from Steven A. McKay. Whatever era he turns his pen to, the result is a captivating thrill ride’ Tim Hodkinson
December 13, 2024
Free Kindle Book This Weekend: Faces of Darkness – a medieval winter mystery
If you haven’t read Faces of Darkness yet you can get it HERE for FREE on Kindle this weekend. Thank Santa!
This is one of my Winter Tales and was based on a true stalking case from Canada. While not set exactly at Christmas it does take place during winter, in the run up to Yuletide, so it’s ideal reading for this time of year. And it’s FREE, I mean, everyone’s a winner!
Is the Lady of Croftun Manor being stalked by an evil man, a demon, or is she perhaps making it all up? The bailiff John Little must find out before it’s too late, and he’s helped in his task by Friar Tuck, of course!
Grab your copy HERE and if you enjoy it please check out the rest of my Winter Tales. The Heretic of Haltemprice Priory is the latest and comes with a bonus story, The Christmas Hunt, but there’s a few to choose from. If you like them please leave a rating/review on Amazon!
“A gem of a story…Faces of Darkness offers an intriguing plot based around a real life event…add in the perfect pace and you’ve got a winner!” 5/5 – David’s Book Blurg
