This week I've been focused on bringing Five of Swords to the finish line.

The third draft is now complete! Before it heads off to my editor, I'll do one final read-through to catch any lingering issues and make sure everything hangs together.

Looking ahead, I've also finished outlining Six of Swords, so I'm ready to keep the momentum going with The Ravenglass Chronicles.

One unexpected development came from looking through some of my old, unused book covers. That sparked an idea to return to the world of Black Death.

I've now outlined a second novel—an apocalyptic thriller set in the UK—and I'm excited by the possibilities.

It's still early days, but it reminded me how ideas can come from the most unexpected places.

This week I reached the midpoint of Five of Swords as I continue writing the next instalment of The Ravenglass Chronicles.

I've also carried on writing RAF Dragon Corps Book 3, returning to the skies over Britain during the Battle of Britain.

Outside of writing, I've restarted the Ray Bradbury Reading Challenge. The idea is simple: read one short story, one poem, and one piece of non-fiction every day.

I'd forgotten just how rewarding the habit is. It's a great way to keep the creative well topped up and discover voices and ideas I might otherwise have missed.

A productive week of writing, reading, and getting back into good creative habits.

This week’s been a challenge thanks to the UK heatwave, but I’ve still managed to make progress on my latest fantasy project.

I’ve been working through what I have so far on Mark, The Chosen One, a follow-up to my Patreon novella Orphan Farm Boy of Destiny.

The story picks up 20 years later. Mark is now in his forties, has a teenage son, and hasn’t picked up a sword in over two decades.

The Dark Lord never appeared when prophecy said he would… but now the prophecy has finally come true.

After years of living an ordinary life, Mark must decide whether he can become the hero everyone expected him to be.

On the reading front, I finished Dominion of Blades by Matt Dinniman and immediately started Book 2, The Hobgoblin Riot. I’m really enjoying the series and seeing another side to Dinniman’s writing outside Dungeon Crawler Carl.

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