Back in November 2022, when we had to move out of our home following a house fire, I'd been working on a new Darren Shan YA book. That's lain idle since then -- with all the trauma of the fire, moving into a new house, and the logistics involved in dealing with insurers and slowly edging towards being able to move back into our home, I just wasn't feeling the vibe to sit down and work on anything new. I did go back and edit Father Of The Future into shape, and put together the crowdfunder for The Terrified Troll and did more work on it, so 2023 was by no means a complete write-off, but... yeah... I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been operating on go-slow for the past 13 or so months.

But I've started to feel the writing bug itching away at me again since the start of the new year. I've had a few different projects bubbling around in the back (and sometimes front!) of my brain. One is a stand-alone book for adults, and another is the first book of a series, again intended for adults. I may well launch into one or even both of those later this year, but ultimately I felt that I should conclude my business with the Shan YA book before venturing any further. So today I sat down, pulled it up, and began going through what I'd written to date, with an eye to continuing work on it and completing the book over the next few months.

Elvis has left the building... but Darren Shan is back in residence, and will hopefully soon be writing up a storm -- fingers crossed!!!