I just checked the calendar, and the release date for Fetcher (January 4th) is two weeks and one day away! Usually by this time of the year it’s all done and dusted – we’ve had the big launch and I’m starting to get feedback from readers – so this feels really odd.

Because of the timing (Tasmania pretty much closes down for all of January), we’re not having a launch this year. Instead, I’m going to sit in my favourite bookshop for a couple of hours on the afternoon of Sunday 10th January and sign books. And chat to whoever comes to visit. (And read and eat chocolate if no one comes.)

The thing about the launches is, they are huge fun, but they’re also an enormous amount of work and I never get the chance to actually talk to people. I’m too busy making sure things happen when they’re supposed to, making speeches, trying to stop Chief Engineer Albie kidnapping my guests, etc. So I really like the idea of being able to just sit and talk to whoever comes, without any great pressure.

And of course now (because my author copies arrived a couple of weeks ago) I have TWO WHOLE SERIES finished. I feel very odd when I look at my bookshelves and see them there – odd but deeply satisfied. Sometimes I imagine holding them up in front of my eleven-year-old self and saying, ‘See? This is what you’re going to do.’ (My eleven-year-old self is VERY impressed.) 🙂

When I visit schools, one of the things I talk about is how writing a novel is a bit like doing a jigsaw – except there’s no picture on the box and you have to go out and find all the pieces in obscure and difficult places. Well, this week just past, I found a new piece of the jigsaw for the Bodyguard series. It’s a big piece too, that changes everything – in a really good way. So I’m feeling quietly excited, and looking forward to seeing how this works out in the story.

But for now – Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you have a joyous time, wherever you are, and that your days are filled with love, good books, good friends and wild flights of imagination. Merry Christmas from Harry to all the cats and dogs and guinea pigs, as well!

xxxxxx