As you can see, this page is really old! Current news can mostly now be found on my Blog: book details on the main WordWrights site.
[For further details of the names, ISBN numbers, publishers and publishing dates of our books, see publications list.]
Latest -13 th December... Ye gods, it's nearly Yule. Who hid the time-warp...?
The pressure hasn't let up much. Ken finished Tarot for Today (publication is scheduled for Feb 2000), and I was fairly close to finishing Perfume Power, when the commissioning editor for Robinson Publishing (the Little Books people) rang. One of their other authors had let them down, and could we possibly fill in? Of course we could! So we ended up writing four sections (of 11,000 words each) of the fifth of six books (Dreams and Magic) in their forthcoming UneXplained series - publication Spring 2000. (My two sections are Witchcraft - The Old Religion (if they use my title for it, anyway! If not, it'll be Witches and Witchcraft) and Dreams and Dreaming - which I thoroughly enjoyed; new ground for me, lots of research, and a new understanding of how the human brain works... Ken's two sections were Earth Energies and The Magical Arts.) Given that by the time we'd received the contract we only had two weeks in which to write the pieces, I think we did pretty well. And I hit the deadline for Perfume Power!
We're now waiting for confirmation of the commissions for a couple of new titles for London House. Watch this space...
October 30th. Well, what a hectic few months it's been! Since I last updated this page, The Little Book of Love Spells has hit the shops, we've met our Collins and Brown publicist and agreed to radio interviews and book signings, finished and proof-read Tarot for Today (Perfume Power is close to being finished too), watched a total solar eclipse, put together proposals and sample chapters for another four 'big' books and three 'small' books: I've written a few new short stories and revised some of my longer works, am writing the reviews for each episode of The New Professionals (and am planning at least one much larger piece on the original Professionals series), written the first three chapters of a mini-series (to be posted on the site when finished), animated a few of my planned new LexxFolk portraits (and created a couple of other daft animations), spent some wonderful time with my family, redecorated Kai's new bedroom, and met some great new people.
July 31st: Tarot for Today went in the post. We also finished the (illustrated) spreads for the top secret Celtic Related Project (hereinafter referred to as the CRP). I really, really want to write this book. However, we won't know if it's a viable project until aftert the Frankfurt BookFair in October... In the meantime, I have to finish Perfume Power (not to mention numerous other small personal projects...)
July 27th: the publicist will be visitng us here on the 3rd August '99...
July 21st to 25th: well, they (whoever they are) do say things come in threes.... We'd heard nothing about Crystals since April and were beginning to feel a little uneasy - perhaps it was a flop... perhaps everyone hated it....
Then our agent emailed to say that the BCA had ordered another 6,000 copies of the boxed set from Collins and Brown: 'our' publicist from Collins and Brown faxed to say reviews of the book were going into Cosmopolitan magazine (August edition - a small piece on page 18. With haematite spelt wrongly.....) and the BBC Good Homes Magazine (October issue), and Bella magazine will be running an extract from the book in September.... and by the way, would we be prepared to get involved in promotional activities and some regional radio interviews.....? And finally my iridologist rang (to remind me about my next appointment) and casually mentioned that she'd seen the book advertised - we were the Editor's Choice in the Mind Body & Spirit book club......
Well, that explains why the BCA ordered more copies!
April 23rd 1999: Contract for Perfume Power now received, and duly signed and despatched.
April 19th 1999: It looks like I have the commission to write Perfume Power (a general overview of the use, effect and impact of fragrance in daily life. Topics will include the sense of smell, pheromones, aromatherapy, gardens for specific purposes, herbalism, flower essence, perfumes as mood-enhancers, and commercially produced cosmetic perfumes.) Now I'm just awaiting the contract! This is in the same series as Tarot for Today and will probably be published around the same time - in the spring of next year.
Collins & Brown have confirmed that the paperback version of Crystals will have a completely different cover: I'll post a scan once I have an advance copy.
The Little Book of Love Spells, alas, won't be available until September of this year. I understand, however, that the staff at Magpie Books like the book very much - and have been trying out some of the spells!
April 17th 1999: I managed to miss the post yesterday, so stayed up overnight and walked in to the sorting office this morning. Our copies of our first three books - Crystals, Scottish Folklore, and Celtic Myths and Legends have arrived (and should be on sale in the next three weeks). I'll scan the covers and post the information tomorrow, when I'm less tired (hopefully the scanner will behave itself, as well).
March 20 1999: Arrived back from holiday, tired but rejuvenated, to find the contract for Tarot for Today waiting for Ken to read and sign: also confirmation that the copy for The Little Book of Love Spells has arrived safely. (This one is a departure from the norm - we've illustrated it....!)
February 1 1999:
Crystals is now in almost its final phase - that all-important proof-reading. I'll post the publication date here once I know it, along with, hopefully, a scan of the cover.
And we've been asked to write another in the Little Books series - The Little Book of Love Spells!! This will be a lot of fun - which is just as well, because the deadline is March 1 (yes, this year...)
November 14th: Book Club Associates have ordered 12,000 copies of the Crystals book - now retitled to Crystals - How to use them, How to wear them. - to come on to the market next March as a special, hardback, edition with a starter pack of crystals. Collins and Brown will publish their own, softback, edition some months later.
October 10th: The contract for the 'Little Book of Celtic Myths and Legends' arrived, same details as for 'Scottish Folklore'. Life is becoming hectic!
October 2nd: We now have the countersigned contract for Crystals for Home, Health and Personal Power, to be published by Collins and Brown, hard-back, 160 pages, heavily illustrated: due out April 1999. Book Club Associates are also considering bringing out a special edition with a "starter" pack of crystals, but nothing has been confirmed as yet.
September 30th '98: our completed 'Little Book of Scottish Folklore', 256 pages, published by Magpie Books (Robinson Publishing) and due out May 1999, arrived at the publisher. In the UK this will be available at supermarkets, gift shops and W.H.Smiths: locations in the USA are unconfirmed at present, but should include airport gift shops. We haven't yet been advised of any locations in other countries.
© 1999 WordWrights