Changeling Book Six: What to Expect
So, it’s finally coming, and yes, I know, I have made readers wait and wait…and wait for it, and for that you have my heartfelt apologies. I didn’t intend to get all George R R Martin about it. (I don’t have the style to pull off those fantastic hats for one thing). But in truth, a lot of things happened in the last couple of years that have delayed Robin’s next adventure.
As Inigo Montoya famously said in the Princess Bride:
‘Let me explain…no…there is too much…let me sum up…’
There have been lots of upheavals outside of the writing world since we last left Robin and (most of his) company having just escaped the burning tower of Dis at Heaven’s lens. There have been TWO house moves in this author’s life, a couple of deaths, the tiniest little mental breakdown (every writer is allowed at least one), and many landmark life events too. Not to mention I also spent a solid year putting all of my energy into another project entirely, converting a movie script from someone else into a novel form. Nothing at all came from this project, and it is now on the eternal back burner, but in this industry, that’s often the case. Nothing is said and done until it’s said and done, and there are no promises. You have to have a thick skin to be a writer, and sometimes accept that certain passion projects may dissipate into the ether, never to be seen again. (Still swallowed a whole year of my writing efforts though).
The GOOD news is that things are now far more stable and they have been for a while. We are settled (for now) in a little stone house on a farm covered in sheep and poppies. People have stopped inconveniently dropping off the mortal coil, and my mental well-being, if not my hair, has never been calmer. The waters stilled, the waves receded, and Robin and companions could at last breathe again.
So, you may be asking, what’s next for the brave and bold of Erlking Hall?
Well of course I’m not going to tell you much, but I can give you a few hints.
Each book of the series so far has roughly centred around one of the elemental Towers of the Arcania. Isle of Winds is Air, Drowned Tomb is Water, Chains of Gaia is Earth, and Glassfire Serpent, both Embers and Ashes, dealt with Fire.
With Shadow, Light and Spirit remaining, it’s time now for Robin to step into the darkness.
Will the adventure take him to several locations around Britain, both historic and modern? Yes. Will we see new areas of the Netherworlde as yet unexplored? We certainly will, some beautiful, others daunting. But above all, this journey is one into the past. Into familial bonds, unexpected revelations, new points of view, and the legacy of a story that’s been unfolding in the background of all books that have come before it. The stakes are higher, the enemies more vicious than ever, the lines between good and evil smudged and blurred, and importantly…there is no guarantee that anyone is truly safe.
I hope you’re looking forward to diving back into the Netherworlde. I know it’s waiting eagerly for you to come and explore some of it’s deeper shadows.
Erlking still remembers you, and your place is set at the table.