Samhain and a Blue Moon?

Sounds like the perfect day to release the 13th book in a witchy series.
Oh look, I just did!

Before I go any further, I want to say a massive thank you to all the people who have helped in the creation of the Colour of Light series, especially Icy for covers so beautiful they make me weep, Hannah, Kate and Nadine for all their editing advice and Debbie and Nikki for polishing them till they shine. You ladies are truly awesome - I feel so privileged to have worked with all of you.

So it's proper rare to have a Sabbat and an Esbat on the same day - apparently the last time this happened at Samhain was in 2001, and the next one will be 2039. I certainly hadn't clocked the full astrological significance back in April when I planned this release. My policy is usually to release on Sabbats or Esbats. But adding in the second moon in the same month - that kind of thing only happens once in a Blue Moon. A fitting send off, I feel, for the culmination of nearly two decades with Archer and crew.

What is Catalyst about? Almost impossible to say without giving away massive spoilers. But I will hint about the reappearance of some old friends from the very first series, Nature's Tribe.

And I've had the best fun including a bunch of my favourite characters from the Hengist series - it was a true pleasure to drop in and see how they'd developed since I wrote about their teenage lives. I really felt like I was saying goodbye to some very dear friends.

P.S. Although another couple of series are already waiting in the wings, audition scripts in hand, I cannot see me staying out of the Hengist world for long. Already a couple of short stories are vying for attention, featuring Finn (which means Patricia!) and explaining more about what happened to Maura & Riddick. Maybe when the box set comes out ...