With the release of The First Blade of Ostia, I plan on moving to a different part of the Middle Sea World to explore for my next few books. The Empire didn’t swallow up the entire world, even at its peak, and the other side of its ancient borders is where the next trilogy will start off. It’s a place where magic and the gods are viewed as one and the same; a place where men still believe they walk the land.

From a writing perspective, it’s been a really fun way to look at some of the Middle Sea concepts from a completely different perspective, and also a great chance to really expand on the world I’ve created, to give it more depth, character, and colour. The first book of this series is with my long suffering alpha readers at the moment, and the second is well under way. I’ll reveal more about this series in coming weeks, as it will be my focus for 2015.

For those who enjoyed the setting of the Society of the Sword books, worry not! That part of the world is still very much open for business, and I have a further series plotted out that will take place in those regions, and focus on a more minor character from the Society trilogy who seems to have been pretty popular. He’s certainly one of my favourites, and I was constantly looking for ways to give him a more prominent role. He’ll finally be taking centre stage in this series, and working through his backstory has been a huge amount of fun. That’s all I’m giving away about that for now!

I hope everyone has had a good start to 2015!