Well, last weekend I published another book. However, this wasn't a new story but rather a collection of my three earlier stories: Gentlemen of Fortune, The Pirate King, and The Homecoming, released together as The Lady's Favour (the original working title for Gentlemen of Fortune).
These three stories follow my wondering rogues Kestrel and Scar as they meet Rosanna Barclay, recently arrived in Port Royal from England in search of her missing father (Gentlemen of Fortune). They're later tasked with bringing down the operations of Port Royal's leading information broker "Lord" Pettigrew (The Pirate King) and return to England where Kestrel is forced to confront his past (The Homecoming).
I originally started writing Gentlemen of Fortune at the tail end of 2015, and finished the initial draft in 2016. After several rejections and re-writes, I eventually published it in 2021 for a university assignment while it was being considered by an American pulp magazine. When there was a delay in the magazine's decision-making, brisk sales at the Swanwick Writers' Summer School led me to self-publish it on Amazon. Publishing the e-book was relatively effortless, but I remember struggling to publish the paperback due to Amazon's cover formatting, to the point I decided that any individual stories I subsequently published would be e-book only.
I followed Gentlemen of Fortune with The Pirate King in 2022, announcing at the end of August that I would be launching it on Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th). Unfortunately, matters were complicated when the queen died a week later, and the funeral was held on the same day. Nevertheless, I opted to proceed with the publication as planned. Not everyone grieves in the same way, and I wasn't exactly grieving myself so I saw no reason to alter my plans. In 2023, I followed up that story with The Homecoming, which I'd originally started as part of another university module. That story got published at the end of October, and gave me a nice trilogy.
This year has seen me get a new work contract along with a flat move, which took up a lot of time. With that in mind, I decided to put that trilogy together, make a few edits (don't worry, nothing gets altered so another character shoots first), and this time publish this as a physical release.
What's next for Kestrel and Scar? Well, this month I'm focussing on my course for Swanwick in August (plus the tech requirements). As for future stories, I'm thinking perhaps a trilogy of origin stories. One for Kestrel, one for Scar, and one for how they first met. I've also got a ton of other story drafts in various stages of completion. The sky's the limit.
The Lady's Favour is currently available on Amazon as a paperback and an e-book. In the meantime, happy writing.
