Hey all,

Last night I sat down to have another go at book four, that being the first of the prequels I'm hoping to turn out. As a bit of background, some of you might have already seen these in one form or another as short stories, or not so short stories, around the Maltav or somewhere similar. This is the really, really old stuff from about seven years back now that probably need a serious rewrite/ massive editing/ chucking out completely, but it's kind of what the first series was based on, and I reckoned it was only fair to tell you all how it all began.

The first problem is, it's a bit of a balancing act. There's some things that people who've read the first series will already know, but I want to make this series accessible to new readers as well. This means try to give both groups something new. At the moment I think I've pretty much got this thing sorted - followers of the series will at least get a look at Ancestors of some of the main characters from that, in particular a certain Lieutenant De Mharburg, and a certain Erajoz Ranger by the name of Sedemona to name just a couple. Newcomers should hopefully get a great story that will keep them interested enough to read the second one.

The second problem is getting it to flow. In some cases this is the third time I've had a go at this material, and making it fresh is proving tough in some parts. Still, I'm bringing in plenty of new ideas, and I've included some interesting sub plots to reflect the ground covered in the new book.

Rest assured though - book three of the first series is already written and just needs editing. Hopefully by the time that's done, I'll have the first part of this new, more traditional fantasy series for you to have a look at. When that's done, I think a return to old friends might be in order...