Done and Dusted

Just finished the proofs for Faerie Lord and a bit of a marathon it was. The word count is higher than any of the other books in the series (by quite a bit actually) but they've managed to squeeze it into slightly fewer pages -- 425 in total -- without changing the layout or type face as far as I can see. I've always wondered how they do that. Publication date in the States is now September 18 this year, in Germany probably a little later in the autumn and in Britain early February, 2008.

Another one almost done and dusted is The Wizard's Apprentice, a stand-alone non-fiction title that Faber are bringing out on my birthday (July 5, if you want to send a card) this year. It's a lovely production, beautifully illustrated and I'm sort of excited about it. It tells the real story of wizardry in the world today and gives some of the basic magical training and techniques. Not at all what you'd imagine from reading fiction, but hopefully timely with all the interest generated by Joanne Rowling.

Meanwhile, what started as The Shadow Realm has suffered a bit of a train crash and is being rewritten as a wholly different book. It's all go!