Good news on the family front following a quick visit back to blighty and I’m now able to expend a few more spoons on the book series.
First development thus arising is that I’m putting together a single volume of the Ice Age in Scarlet prequels. For those in the know these are a series of five or six (depending on how you count them) short story to mid length novellas that describe the world prior to the Catastrophe from about 2000 through 2035 as the events leading up to that event begin snowballing.
Big issue this addresses is as each prequel is self-contained it can be difficult to work out what you’re supposed to read first if you don’t catch the occasional date references therein. After all innovation in the real world seems to have entered a bit of a slow period which can make time stamping any given show difficult enough, let alone a series with a few technological divergences hard baked.
Therefore I’m sticking together all five (maybe six) short stories (going on novellas) into a single beefy collection. Vellum texts incorporated following a fraught night of scrambling through badly organized Mac folders and now working with my cover designer to get a wrap rolling.
Need to keep the family resemblance between the prequels and the main series whilst making sure it’s clear this is a very different world. Fewer cloud monsters, more human ones, maybe a fae or two…
Good idea anyway. Currently the prequels ‘benefit’ from a Holloway originals set of covers made on Canva from clip art. They are not pretty and they are the definition of amateurish, another reason for the update).
In other news I have my pseudo-Holmes-and-Watson in the 1860s to 1870s book (Chapel on the Thames) near final. On structure and content deciding whether or not to embed a short story that links the King’s ladies (a group of magically potent Jane Austin heroines) into the broader story. This would a follow up on a reference in Cryptic Crosswords to an unfortunate archaeological dig that led to their demise and provides the background as to why there’s no organized UK paranormal investigations organization from the 1840s till the Great War.
Near final covers below, directly references first scene of the story with a Civil Servant making his escape into the cold North Sea…
Think the blue and orange. Blurb is a placeholder from a prior book (Iceland Cold), which reminds me I need to write the blurb this weekend.
Back to work I suppose.
Toodle-pip.
Ice Age in Scarlet 