How to write a fantasy world: Guardian piece

Good afternoon. I've written a piece for The Guardian about writing fantasy, which you can read here.

Launch party in Bookbrunch

Launch party for THE KING'S SHADOW

What ho! Here are some ace pics from the party last night, at Daunt Books, Chelsea. Find them on the Tatler website.

Publication Day for THE KING'S SHADOW

Now that I've got your attention, let us all celebrate the publication, today, of the second in The Darkening Path series: THE KING'S SHADOW.

Here's the blurb:

Simon's sister and Flora's brother are prisoners of the Broken King, and they have entered his land determined to rescue them. But here, nothing is quite what it seems. Who can Simon and Flora trust? What does Pike, their mysterious companion, stand to gain? As rumours of war and revolution swirl around them, and as the sinister Knight of the Swan dogs their every move, the pair must confront their terrifying final task. And if they can free their siblings, will they then be able to open the way between the worlds, and return home?"

You know what you have to do! The best thing is to go to your local bookshop and ask for it. The next best thing is to head, electronically, to the Waterstones website here, or the Foyles website here. Go forth and devour!

My review of Allan Mallinson's Words of Command: A lull in hostilities for Matthew Hervey » The Spectator

A lull in hostilities for Matthew Hervey » The Spectator

There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake: review

Here's a link to my review of There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake, in The Guardian. Click here.

Children's Authors Live: World Book Night Event with David Almond and Annabel Pitcher

It's World Book Night, and I went off to Surbiton (which has a beautiful Art Deco train station, by the way), to chair a conversation with the legendary David Almond, and prize-winning author Annabel Pitcher. The video of the event is up: click here to watch.