Acceptance: ‘Operation Trench’

I’m delighted to announce another acceptance.  ‘Operation Trench’ is a time travel novel about modern politicians who send undesirables back a hundred years to boost the British manpower shortage toward the end of World War One.

This is my first venture into both science fiction and World War One, and it’s a story I’m very pleased with.

As usual I’ll not name the publisher until everything is formalised in case something goes wrong or one party has to back out before contracts are signed.  However, it’s a publisher I’ve worked with before and who I’m very happy to be with again.

The novel is likely to see print in 2016.

‘Operation Trench’ is set partly in a university’s archaeology department.  That let me have some fun by including my favourite fictional PhD students – Kerry-Jane and Amy – who starred in my erotic novelette, ‘Art Class’.  Both also appear in the forthcoming follow-up, ‘Eton Mess’.  Although their roles in ‘Operation Trench’ are strictly non-erotic, it helped the writing to include characters I know and enjoy working with.

Many thanks to Charlie Hotchkiss and, as usual, Philip McCormac who read and made suggestions on early drafts.  Thank you also to Peter Richardson, who advised on some of the scientific aspects.

An Update

It’s been a while since I gave an update of what’s happening in my writing world, and in particular with my four current ‘forthcoming’ books.  So, here it is:

• I’ve had initial contact about editing for both ‘Snuff’ (a violent horror hovel) and ‘Eton Mess’ (an erotic novelette), so they’re going through the process;
• ‘Dana’s Children’ (a violent horror novel) has been through the editing process and is in the final stage of proofing;
• ‘The Footholder’s Tale’ is currently being edited.

So, there we are.  I don’t have any information on release dates yet. 
In other news, I’ve sent my time travelling World War One science fiction story to a couple of publishers.  I’m still waiting to hear back, but it’s a story I’m happy with and I’m hopeful of a bite.
The current work in progress, like ‘Andraste’s Blade’  ‘The Doe and the Dragon’ and ‘The Footholder’s Tale’ is a story set in Celtic north Wales, around the region’s myths and legends.  It’s about a man who marries a fairy.  The original story is flawed, with some highly improbably elements so I’m describing this as ‘based on…’ rather than ‘a retelling of…’ type story.  The overlying plot, though, is great fun and I’m enjoying the challenge of writing some ‘straight’ historical fantasy and leaving horror completely behind.  That’s something I don’t do often enough.

‘The Footholder’s Tale’

When ‘Footholder’ was accepted for publication by Rebel ePublishers, I reported that the novel’s title was under discussion.  That’s because the publisher and I wanted to find something that described the story, was marketable, and wasn’t already in use.

After some (well, actually quite a few) exchanges of E-Mails, we’ve decided on ‘The Footholder’s Tale’.  I’m no marketing expert, but from my angle I like that title because I think it brings over the feel I tried to achieve with the story.

I still think of it by the working title I gave it, ‘Footy’.  Rebel ePublishers declined to use that, probably rightly(!)

‘The Footholder’s Tale’ is going through the last stages of editing at the moment, so I hope it won’t be long before I can announce a release date.

As a reminder, the story is a retelling of a traditional Welsh tale about a king who must keep his foot in a maiden’s lap.  Despite the odd premise, it’s a beautiful story of love, war, betrayal and power.  It is easily my favourite traditional story, and I can only hope my retelling does it justice.