Well, I’ve just had a bit of a shock: not only is it now 2016, but we’re nearly quarter of the way through the damn year. Also, it’s now technically spring and I’m writing this with my fingerless thermal gloves on. Oh sweet miseries of life.

Anyway, if you’re reading this then chances are you’re one of the brave few to have actually ventured as far as Bothersome Books. Emphasis on the few; despite having worked in web design and SEO for the best part of a decade I’ve not actually applied any of my marketing magic to my own projects, and sometimes feel as though I gave birth to Welcome to The Fold and then abandoned it screaming in a dank alleyway.

But hey, it’s 2016, for what that’s worth, and with the renovations on my new home finally out of the way (we actually have a working kitchen!) I can concentrate on bringing the world the following wonderful creations:

The two Welcome to The Fold volumes will be combined into one this March/April, shortly followed by a physical edition and a number of non-Kindle digital versions.

The Scribe, my first foray into comic books will be hitting the metaphorical shelves very shortly. It’s been an exhausting project, one that’s taken the best part of a decade to fully realise, but more on that soon.

My second novel, vegan(Vn), will hopefully be complete and published by the end of the year. After Fold took me 11 agonising years to complete, I’m amazed that I’ve managed to write it this without encountering any major hurdles. The book is practically writing itself. vegan(Vn) is a dark, horrible book that combines my three major obsessions: animal rights, David Bowie and Hitler, and I’m not sure I even like the damn thing myself, but that’s the joy of self-publishing. I get to put it out there and move on. The next child will be of a far sweeter nature.

I also plan to release two Fold sequels next year: a short story anthology set within that universe, and the first instalment to the follow-up, which will be released in several novella-sized instalments. I had intended to get to work on these straight after publishing Welcome to The Fold, but that book left me seriously drained, and I wanted to pursue other genres and mediums. A semi-autobiographical graphic novel and a “vegan psychological thriller” seemed the perfect antithesis.

Taking a break from The Last and the First series proved a good idea, as I’m beginning to miss Harvard Standt and Amadis Ambersand, and itching to return to my magnum opus of sorts. Art is funny like that – sometimes you’ve got to push something aside in order to realise how much it means to you.