Happy Easter and...

Good news - The Forever Queen is now available for pre-order!

That's right - if you simply cannot wait to get your hands on The Forever Queen you can pre-order now and have it delivered (to your e-reader) the day of release on the 23rd of April!

Pre-Order The Forever Queen on Amazon!

And to celebrate - and if you really cannot wait that long - a little sneak peek, a teaser if you will - the opening scene of The Forever Queen...

The cliff fell away below us, down to a jagged pile of rocks pounded incessantly by waves the colour of iron. The sky above was overcast but here and there the cloud broke, and long fingers of sunlight touched the water, turning the tops of the waves to cascades of diamonds. Away on the horizon the sky was black, lit now and then by the lightening of the encroaching storm.

It was beautiful, in a breath-taking, exciting kind of way, but I barely sparred it a glance. I didn’t have eyes for anything but Lance.

He was more breath-taking than any view. His hair hung longer than the last time I’d seen it, and the wind tugged at the dark curls, pulling them into his eyes.

Despite the cold wind he wore just a thin t-shirt, and the fabric strained at his biceps and around his chest. Was he even bigger, more muscular, than last time I’d seen him? How long had it been now? Months for me, since I had left him, but for him it could have been anything. Minutes, hours, days, maybe even years. Time moved so differently in Avalon it was impossible to know. What I did know was that he was still in Avalon, and I wasn’t.

“This is just a dream,” I mumbled as tears started to slip down my cheeks.

He reached for me, catching the tears with his thumb. “Yes.”

A sob bubbled up but I forced it back down. It might only have been a dream, but I couldn’t let tears ruin those few precious moments with him. My dreams were the only thing I had left of him.

“I miss you.” I forced the words out around the sob, my voice breaking.

His eyes closed, and in one motion he enfolded me in his arms. I clung to him, twisting my fingers into his t-shirt. Burying my face in his chest, I breathed in the scent of him and the all too familiar smell of metal polish. It was a smell I associated with him. Would always associate with him.

His heart beat steadily beneath my cheek, almost fooling me into believing it was really him.

“You’re not real,” I whispered into his chest, more to remind myself than anything else.

His chest rumbled with a laugh. “Just because this is a dream, that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. You should know that better than most.”

I tipped my head back to look at him and he took the opportunity to lower his lips to mine. He kissed me long and slow, and I fought back tears again. I had missed this so much, the feel of him close to me, his arms around me, one hand tangled in my hair.

I had missed him. His strength and gentleness, and that look in his eyes that said nothing mattered but me.

“Don’t cry, Cariad,” he murmured against my lips.

I shivered at the endearment. “But this isn’t fair. I need you back. I did everything that was expected of me, and yet I paid for it by losing you.”

“You haven’t lost me, you could never lose me.”

That wasn’t true. I had lost him. He may have still been alive, but he was gone, locked in another world. “Nothing works,” I told him. “I’ve been trying to find a way into Avalon, but all the gateways are sealed.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here, why Merlin managed to find a way into your dreams.”

I looked up at him in surprise but he didn’t let me speak.

“The barriers were rebuilt when you traced your blood on the stone, and that should have been it, but for some reason all the gateways sealed themselves as well. Something went wrong. The Fair Folk are angry, they think you sealed the gateways on purpose, trapping them in Avalon – “

“I – never – “

“I know, Cariad. As does Merlin. Something came through when the barriers were at their weakest, and Merlin believes that whatever it was caused the gateways to seal. If it was a creature of magic then it must not be allowed to roam free in your world. You must find it, track it, and then find a way to send it back to Avalon.”

My heart leapt and lodged in my throat. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Sending Morgana back to Avalon should have been the end of it. My fate and destiny had been fulfilled, hadn’t they?

Lance didn’t seem to notice my distress. “Merlin says you must-“

A deafening pounding sound drowned out Lance’s words and I clung to him as something tried to pull me away. He started to fade and I realised I was waking up.

“No, not yet,” I cried, trying to force myself back to sleep, but already the dream was disappearing and as my eyes opened I realised the pounding was coming from my bedroom door.

The Forever Queen - What's it all about...

With just a few weeks left now until the release of The Forever Queen, the long awaited sequel to The Last Knight, I thought it was about time I finally shared the synopsis, or back cover 'blurb'.

So here it is:

She will become legend…

Cara thought fate and the magic of the Fair Folk were done with her the night she defeated Morgana Le Fey and restored the barriers between this world and Avalon. She was wrong.

Lance is trapped in Avalon, and something more powerful and more dangerous than anything Cara has yet faced is trapped in this world. The only way to fix it is to break an ancient and powerful spell, but first Cara will have to figure out who or what cast it.

In the meantime the line between Cara’s two worlds is blurring. There are those in this world who know who she is, and have plans of their own for her future. Those plans involve treason.

Unfortunately those same people hold the key to breaking the spell and Cara will have to choose between Lance, her future, and saving the world.

Don't forget, The Forever Queen will be release on the 23rd of April, also known as St George's Day...

You can add The Forever Queen on Goodreads

Drum Roll Please.... Cover Reveal...

A while back I announced that the long awaited sequel to The Last Knight, The Forever Queen was going to be released on the 23rd of April 2015. Now I am very pleased to reveal the cover for the new book.

Drum roll, please...

Their love story spanned over a thousand years, now Cara and Lance return in 'The Forever Queen', where they will face greater dangers than they could have imagined, and a heart-breaking decision that could change their lives forever. 

(Not the official blurb! ;) )

Add it on Goodreads or follow me on twitter @NSDorrington for more updates.

And let me know what you think of the cover in the comments!

Happy New Year - and an announcement

Let me begin by wishing everyone a Happy New Year! 2015 has arrived (doesn’t time seem to go faster the older you get – I swear this year has flown by) and for me it’s shaping up to be the best yet!

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. No one ever seems to keep them, and to be honest I made most of the big changes I wanted to make at the end of 2014. But I will say that I’m hoping to take things for granted less this year. It’s all too easy to get caught up in all the small things, the little dramas and forget how lucky we are to simply be here (wherever here happens to be) with our health and our families and loved ones.

All of that aside, I am also really pleased today to make the announcement that The Forever Queen, the sequel to The Last Knight, has a release date!

That’s right, after only a year and a half of making people wait, and having to reassure people that there is a sequel coming, I can finally give a date!

The downside is, it’s still a few months away.

Despite the fact that the first draft is finished there is still a lot of work to be done. Covers to be designed, beta reader feedback, and lots of editing. Plus a promo/marketing campaign to set up.

There’s also the fact that I really want to release it on a certain date!

So, The Forever Queen will be hitting the virtual shelves on the 23^rd of April.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the 23^rd of April is St George’s Day, St George being the patron saint of England, and of course famous for supposedly saving a princess and slaying a dragon.

If you want to know why this date is significant – well, you’ll have to buy and read a copy of The Forever Queen!

Happy New Year Everyone!

In the Spirit of Christmas

So, because I'm feeling particularly Christmassy this afternoon, and because Christmas is all about giving I wanted to share my Christmas spirit by giving away a little stash of books ready for the holidays.

Now because it's Christmas even if you've got one or all of these books if you win you can nominate someone else for me to send them to as a Christmas gift!

All you need to do to enter is check out the rafflecopter giveaway below, and pick one (or all) of the ways to enter!

Merry Christmas.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zoe Sugg, Penguin, and why I'm an Indie Author

Let me start by saying that I know that I am behind the times and this story broke a few days ago, let me also say that until today I had no idea who Zoella, or Zoe Sugg was, nor had I heard of her debut book Girl Online.

More importantly, I have nothing against Zoe Sugg, or her book.

That said, this story caught my attention today. For anyone who doesn’t know (as I didn’t until I started researching this blog post) Zoe Sugg is a YouTube celebrity with millions of followers, who was offered a book deal by Penguin books, and whose debut novel outsold the debut offerings of JK Rowling and Dan Brown in their first week of sales.

Now let’s ignore the fact that neither Dan Brown, nor JK Rowling had millions of followers before the publication of their books, and that their debut books sold purely on the basis of their writing talents, because that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about the ‘revelations’ that Zoe Sugg didn’t write her book completely on her own. In fact it now seems that she had the help of ghost writers and editors.

Here’s the thing. I have no problem with Zoe Sugg. She made a smart business decision that is no doubt going to make her a tidy sum of money. She’d have been silly to turn it down.

I have no idea how much or how little she wrote of the book. But there was one quote from her that spoke volumes. To me at least. When talking about the involvement from the editorial team, she said:

“Everyone needs help when they try something new.”

She’s right. They do. But I think where it rubs me up the wrong way is this. Most writers don’t publish their first book. Most writers bury their first book somewhere and hope it never sees the light of day. Because we know that we have to develop our craft. We have to hone our writing skills. We write and we write, and we edit like crazy and we become better writers. Most of us don’t get that first book deal handed to us on a silver platter. And out there is the ghost writer, who did hone her craft, who developed her skill and became a great writer, and who isn’t getting the credit because she’s not a big enough name. And that makes me sad.

Sugg has said that the characters and idea are all her own. But there is so much more that goes into writing a book. Weeks, months, even years of working on plots, sub-plots, dialogue, character growth, the prose itself. These are the hard bits. These are the bits that take skill.

Trust me, Zoe Sugg, coming up with the idea is the easy part.

But no, my problem is not with Zoe Sugg, the problem I have is with the publishers. In fact, with the traditional publishing industry in general.

This whole story is just another sign of how the traditional publishing industry is failing. Failing itself, failing truly talented authors out there, and more importantly, failing readers themselves.

It seems that there is an ever increasing slew of celebrities publishing books – almost all of them ghost written. These books sell in huge numbers because of the ‘brand’ behind them. Great for the publishers. Not so great for the rest of us.

I understand completely that publishing is a business. And the goal of any business is to make money. Otherwise what’s the point. But increasingly, it seems, the publishing industry is throwing away any kind of integrity, or standards, in the search of big sales.

There is a quote from Penguin that I find particularly interesting:

“As publishers our role is, and always has been, to find the very best talent and help them tell their story and connect them with readers.”

Right. But the problem is, they didn’t go out looking for incredibly talented young writers to hone and encourage their talent. They went looking for a big name that would sell books. They didn’t care about the content, they cared only about the name on the front cover. Their role as publishers should be to find the very best writers. Not just any celebrity who can sell a few copies, even if the work isn’t their own.

Which tells us what?

That traditional publishing isn’t interested in finding new voices to tell you unique and interesting stories, or about finding beautifully written works of art. They’re interested in sales. Full stop. End of story. And I have to admit, in the laziest way possible. Who needs marketing when you have a book that’s guaranteed to sell?

And people wonder why more and more writers such as myself aren’t even trying to go the traditional publishing route. We’re not interested because we know they’re not interested.

What message does this send to the struggling writer out there? Want to write a bestseller? Don’t write an amazing, original, well written book, just have a lot of followers on Twitter or Youtube, and then let someone else write the book for you.

Every time a story like this comes out I lose just that little bit more respect for the traditional publishing industry, and I ask myself, is it any wonder that more and more writers are turning to the Indie, or self-published route?

I think not.

(This blog post is also on Rock the Book blog)