The finished MS stands at 82,982 words, which includes the front and back matter. My publisher’s deadline was the end of August. I made it!

Fantastic Books Publishing, run by the inimitable Dan and Gabi Grubb, are going to publish this science fiction novel. Yay! Cover design is already under way and the gang of editors they keep chained in the cellars of their rural domain are under the lash to tame the beast into the best it can be.

Even better, they’re aiming for a launch to coincide with the fantastic convention they’re hosting in the city of my birth, Hull. Fantasticon 2016 promises to be a fabulous event. I’ll be there, signing books, joining in a chat with the great grandson of JRR Tolkien, Royd Tolkien at an associated LitFest in the same venue.

If you’d like to get in with some rewards for your early participation, you need to be very quick. I’m posting this at 12:20 (noon) BST and the Kickstarter campaign ends 13 hours later, so use this link to nip over there for some very special pledge gifts. If you can’t make it by then, visit the Facebook page by clicking here. And if you’d like a bit more information use this link to see my earlier post on the event (it’s a little out of date, as lots more has been added since I penned that post).

So, keep an eye on this blog for details and updates on the launch of the new novel. I’ll reveal the title and the cover at some stage and if we decide on any special promotional events, you’ll find details here. Easiest way to make sure you hear any news is to go to the top of the pale blue column on the right and follow the blog via email. You won’t get any spam, just a brief email each time I make a post.

To those of you who write, I wish you well with your projects and hope they’re going well. To all my readers, I expect to have this book available for you in November.