Through the weak breeze

In a claustrophobic room

Hello friends,

I hope you’re all doing well, and if you’re going through trouble right now, I hope you’re able to find solid ground soon. Things can tumble so quickly, be kind to yourselves.

I thought I’d share a few little updates from my side of the well at this moment in time…

I’m sat making the most of the weak breeze from a tiny fan in a too-hot house. My brain is slow in the heat, and this week has been a challenge. On Saturday I was in a small car crash. Me and Sunny were on our way home in the evening and someone crashed into the back of us as we approached a roundabout. Luckily the person was really nice, and we got out of the car and first made sure everyone was ok. I felt bad for the girl, but didn’t know what to say. Nothing is more important than looking after my son, so that’s what I focused on (we’re both not injured, despite whacking the side of my head on the headrest, I’m fine). With shaking fingers I typed as much information as I could into my phone, took pictures, called my wife, talked to Sunny. The following days were filled with phone calls and waiting on hold to so many various insurance related people. I think everything is actually clicking into place now, five days later, but still my mind is frozen as it races in circles. ‘You can’t start that until you’ve sorted that, but you can’t sort that until you’ve heard from X.’ And so it goes.

I’m trying, though. I’m writing Haru Book 3, and I think it’s going to be the best one. It’s when the pain and hope of the tale really climax, I just hope you feel it in the same way I do. I guess that’s the beauty of this, each reader will have their own connection to the books, so I guess what I really hope is that you stay with me for the final part of the journey.

I’ve also been working on illustrating a few possible front cover designs for Book 3, which is extremely fun, and helps me to dig deeper into the mood and atmosphere as I work on finalising the script.

And I’ve been working on even more books too… because that’s how my soul moves… it’s restless. Three books based around the idea of collecting some short stories intended to read as fables, into one tale. Two books of which will be Illustrated Reader books, one will be Graphic Novel (a sample pictured above). I’ve also been working on another Book / Pitch written by a friend of mine, which deals with bullying, growing up, and a blue plasticine mouse. I’ll share more on that soon.

The next thing to mention is Haru Book 2 is coming out in November this year. It will be another 280 pages of story, continuing the saga. I received my advanced copies of book 2 recently and I’m really proud of how they look. Here, have a look…

Also, I have some limited copies of Book 1 in stock now - I had to buy them from the publisher and it took a while for them to arrive, as Book 1 is already in it’s second print run! I’m holding most of them back to bring to The Lakes and Thought Bubble this Autumn.

In fact, I’m going to close my Etsy shop to make sure I don’t sell out of anything ahead of those events, so get your orders in soon if there’s anything you want before November.

It’s funny, it always feels like I haven’t been doing enough, but then when I write about it here there’s always so much, and I always forget things too.

Thank you so much for reading, if you have in fact read. If not, thank you for glancing or opening the email. I hope you’re well and having a nice summer. I have to go and collect a courtesy car now, so at least my brain will be one step closer to feeling ok.