And for my next book...

This week saw the launch of The Weapon and the Fruit: Any Body Can Murder - now available in eBook and Paperback from all of the usual online booksellers.

Both books in this series can still be ordered directly from the Aneurysm Cupcake website, though they will be shipped directly from Lightening Source without passing through my hands. This means I won't be a able to sign them or include any bookmarks or other extras in with them. It also means I have no control of the shipling costs, and unfortunately they currently are only available in two countries: The UK and the The US.

The reason for this is an exciting one for me - in a few weeks I will be moving permanently to India. From there it won't make sense for me to have stock shipped to me internally only to send it out internationally again just to be able to sign the books. But it also does mean I will have plenty more time to write in the extremely conducive environment that brought you this newest release.

I have three more books planned so far - one of which will be the third outing for Lance Pomegranate, but before I get to that I am making a foray into another genre. At the moment I am very close to completing the first draft of a tongue-in-cheek fantasy for younger readers. All of the same humour but magical creatures instead of murderers. Here is a preliminary version of what could eventually become the book's blurb text:

Melisma Gat had put any ideas of a career in magic and adventure behind her long ago. Now all
she wants is to run her inn, entertain locals and tourists, and provide that one final decent night’s
sleep for adventurers (whether seasoned pros or hopeful trainees) before they head off into the
forest for whatever ridiculously dangerous quest some rich idiot from the nearby city of Twunhorm
has decided to fund.

But Melisma’s modest and reasonable ambitions suddenly become a lot less realistic when her
nightly performance is interrupted by two large creatures bursting into her inn. The city has declared
emergency lockdown and it falls upon her to lead a party of trainees off the script of
their final examination quest and halfway up an imposing mountain, so that she can get back to her
simple life, and if it’s not too much to ask, save most of the city’s population from being devoured,
torn to shreds, or whatever the unleashed magical hybrid creatures have in mind.

Why half way up a mountain? They’ll just have to ask the villain when they get there. Maybe she
doesn’t believe you can have high fantasy at sea level. To find out, Melisma is first going to have to
lead her inexperienced team to overcome obstacles, defeat henchmen, solve riddles and avoid being
eaten. All she has at her disposal are distant memories of her incomplete training, knowledge of a
few simple spells, a couple of books she barely remembers buying and the unreliable translation
skills of her pampered pet cat.

Beyond this I have a portal fantasy planned, and of course the next book in The Weapon and the Fruit series, which I am setting myself a soft target to have out by this time next year.

That's all I have to offer as far as updates are concerned. Thank you so much for all the amazing feedback I've had for both Lance Pomegranate books - especially the new release. If by chance you've stumbled upon this blog without first having heard of these novels, I encourage you to read the reviews on Goodreads and see if it might be your thing too.