A life in maps

Before starting work on the latest Pax Britannia adventure Human Nature, I picked up a copy of London: A Life in Maps by Peter Whitfield (having come across it quite by chance in a bookshop near Covent Garden).

It's a fascinating tome that traces the history of the capital through various historical maps. Also included in the book are numerous illustrations of famous (and not-so-famous) London landmarks.

As well as helping in terms of being a reference work for my research, it is also proving to be something of an inspiration for future stories. So, included within this post is an image of the smoky Victorian metropolis, and two locations, one from the current book I'm writing, and one that will feature in the fifth Pax Britannia novel, due next year. Can you work out what and where they are?

Back to Britannia

It's been a while since I last visited the world of Pax Britannia (February, to be precise, when I wrote the short story Vanishing Point) but now I'm back and it's like I've never been away.

I've written three completely different books since writing the last PB novel Leviathan Rising, but I'm now well into the next Ulysses Quicksilver adventure Human Nature, due for publication this December from Abaddon Books.

And what a dark tale it's turning out to be. On top of that, to add to my growing excitement (as well as the darker mood of the story) I received Mark Harrison's fantastically grotesque cover for the book through the ether.

But I'm not going to reveal it to you in all its dark glory just yet. But to whet your appetite I'm going to post this teaser pic instead.

Let the rumour-mongering commence!

Author interview

Graeme Flory, a fan of my Pax Britannia stories, recently interviewed me over the Internet for his own blog Graeme's Fantasy Book Review. Follow this link to find out more for yourself.

We have a winner!

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the recent Pax Britannia competition, run on this site, is... Michelle Powell!

Michelle's winning entry had her appearing as someone preparing to board the submersible liner Neptune from Leviathan Rising.


Michelle will appear as a character in the next Ulysses Quicksilver adventure Human Nature (out this December from Abaddon Books).

Congratulations to Michelle and thanks to all those who took the time and trouble to enter.

The competition is now closed!

The deadline to submit entries for the Pax Britannia competition I've been running has been and gone.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I will be going through the entries and deciding a winner shortly.

I will let everyone here know the results as soon as I have them.