Another year has rolled by and I realised it’s been a rather busy one for myself on the writing front. The obvious distractions of fatherhood deterred my thoughts for so long that it’s only now that I feel I can happily hang my hat up for 2017. It was a great relief to finally publish The Will of the Wisp back in July, and re-visiting Tenebrae Manor in order to get the definitive edition published was a blast. With my sister’s help I was fortunate enough to have a few short stories featured in The Australia Times online magazine; it is always so exciting to have other people read the work that is so personal to the writer.

What else? Well I continued on my merry way writing stories for a third novel; a novel with absolutely no release date in sight. Becoming a dad has had the expected effect on my priorities, and this new novel idea has been sculpted around those effects. I find it very difficult to focus on one idea for an extended period of time now; The Will of the Wisp and its long production can attest to this. It ain’t like the days of writing Tenebrae Manor, where I could write whenever I pleased! So these new stories are short snippets that are all set in a similar universe / time frame. The result is numerous story arcs in the air all at once, ready for me to pluck down at leisure and continue forward. It’s a great way to write (at least for myself).

Of books? I read plenty of fantastic novels this year. Now that the holidays are on the horizon, should you need something good to peruse here are some of the best books I read in 2017:

• A Voice Within a Cloud – Denton Welch
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North – Richard Flanagan
• Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
• Train Dreams – Denis Johnson
• The Evenings – Gerard Reve

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2018.

– PSC xx