I know. It’s been a while since you’ve seen me.

The past year has been pretty intense. Lots going on at both work and family level, so unfortunately I haven’t had the time or energy to keep working on my blog.

But today I’m back, because I have very big news.

I’m proud to announce the release of my new novel – The Shield of Delos.

It’s been a lot of work – a labour of love that has taken me almost six years. It’s the most complicated thing I’ve attempted, incorporating multiple genres – comedy, fantasy, romance, adventure, satire – and featuring two interwoven storylines. The themes it covers are the broadest I’ve ever addressed.

It’s also, quite possibly the silliest thing I’ve ever written.

As with any bog work, when you get to the end it’s hard to tell whether you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve. All I know is that I’ve really enjoyed working on it.

I hope you enjoy reading it.

As a special bonus, I’m making it available for the first week at the special bargain price of just 99c.

You can find it at:

– Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL6WM2NH

– Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1176736

And soon to be arriving at other stores as well.

This will be a very short post today.

As pretty much everyone else on this planet will probably agree, the last year and a bit has been pretty stressful. Work has been stressful. Family life has been stressful. Staying healthy has been stressful. And I barely need to mention the enormous COVID-shaped elephant that’s been looming over all of us.

We all have this dream about being in control of our lives. We’d all love nothing more than to be the person calling the shots, able to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, while having the rest of the world at our beck and call.

And I suppose some people get to achieve that dream. There are the great captains of industry, or those born into power and privilege, who get to live that reality every day. But that’s certainly not the existence that most of us share.

Sometimes, when I reflect upon the enormity of human history, I can’t help thinking it’s a marvel we’ve survived this long. We humans, with our need for 24 hour comfort, and never-ending entertainment and instant online connection, once lived in cold damp caves with nothing to keep us occupied except fires and rough paintings on the wall.

I’d have made a terrible caveman for a bunch of reasons. Partly, due to all the factors listed above. But there’s one particular reason above all that makes me very thankful I’m alive today and not back in the stone age.

I like to think I’m a reasonably environmentally aware sort of person. I always try to do whatever I can to look after the world. I make sure to switch lights off, and I don’t use heating or cooling unless I really need it. I minimise car journeys and try to walk whenever I can.

And I always make sure to recycle.