Well, my copies of The Charmed Return have finally started arriving, so hopefully those of you who have also been waiting for the copies you ordered from bookstores will soon also get your copies. I don’t actually know why the books have been slow in getting out there - maybe it was jut a glitch at the warehouse? I’ve already had a lot of mails from people who have read the book and enjoyed it - thanks, keep them coming!

I have also had a lot of people asking whether book 6 The Charmed Return really is the final book in the Faerie Path series, and whether there is any chance of a 7th book. In fact, Shannon posted a comment that as 7 is such an important number in Faerie, there should definitely be a 7th book - which makes a lot of sense. So, here’s the thing: I make my living from writing books, which means I need to know a publisher will want any book I have written before I can afford to take the time to write it. Harper Collins, the publisher of The Faerie Path series, originally asked for 3 books - the first trilogy that ends with The Sorcerer King/The Seventh Daughter. They were so pleased by how these were selling that they asked if I’d like to write another three. It took me about two seconds to say yes - especially as I had a further story in my head already, based on something that Queen Titania had said at the end of book 3. So far as I know, the books are still selling well, and I get fan mail just about every day, mostly from America, but also from Brazil, the Philippines, Australia , Germany and other countries. This is good news for me, but as things stand right now, Harper Collins, the Publishers, do not want a 7th book.

The way I see it, there are only two things that will change their minds about this - one is that the first six books continue to sell well, the other is that fans of the series get together and ask Harper Collins for another book. If you people can convince the publishers to commission a 7th book, I’ll write it.

And now to some very sad news indeed. Those of you who visit this site regularly will have read about my cat Siouxsie. In fact, if you go back to my blog “Dinner With Siouxsie” last July, you’ll see a photo of her tucking into a plate of food I was eating. Well, I’m very sad to have to tell you that Siouxsie died last week. Claudia and I are bereft and devastated by this, as I’m sure you’ll understand. We had her for eighteen years and eight months, and for all of that time I have worked from home - so she has been a constant companion for me for a very long time - sleeping in her own chair by my side, or sitting on the desk watching me work, or marching unexpectedly over the keyboard so that a sentence I was writing ended up looking like tyojkeirghuwhseufbaushgnospfhlkmspdfgo2ut9widg! She often slept on the bed with us, and she would get me up at 4am every morning for her breakfast. I’d collapse back into bed after feeding her, and then she’s lie with me until about 7.30 when she thought I should get up. I’d wake up with her lying on top of me and patting my face with her paw to let me know she needed me to be up and about. The good news is that she did not suffer from a long and unpleasant illness - and we were both with her when she died quite peacefully in my arms. At the moment, we’re getting used to her being gone, and we haven’t rushed out to buy a replacement cat - after all, she wasn’t the kind of cat that can be replaced. I’m sure that we’ll get another cat or two eventually, but not straight away. I’m still trying to get used to her absence - I still look around to make sure there isn’t a paw or a tail behind the chair before I get up. After all, I’ve been doing that for years and years - it takes a while to adjust.

So, goodbye Siouxsie. We will miss you more than we can say! a-frew-and-his-pussycat-4sleepy-spewp-2spewpebay

On to some interesting and complicated new news! I’ve had a bunch of mails from fans of the Warrior Princess series, asking if there is going to be a 4th book in the series, and when it will be coming out.

The news is good and not so good. On the good front, there is a 4th book and it has already been written. On the not so good front, the publishers Harper Collins have decided they do not want to publish it even though they asked me to write it. I’m told that many publishers are pulling back on their book list due to the economic climate right now - so I’m not the only writer in this position. On the much-better-news front, a British publisher has taken all four books in the series and plans to publish them in the UK over the next 18 months - so by Spring 2012, American readers will be able to get themselves a copy of the 4th book over the internet, even if they cannot just walk into a book store and pull it off the shelves.

So - a delay of some months, but the book will be out there! But here’s where things start to get more complicated. The UK Publishers have decided they don’t want to call the series Warrior Princess. They are going to call it Destiny’s Path. (I bet many of you are really surprised that I don’t get a say in what a series of mine is called - but the bottom line is that although I’m asked for my opinion, the Publishers can call series and individual books in a series whatever they choose - within reason!) So, the UK editions of the Warrior Princess books will have the following titles: Book 1: Destiny’s Path, Rhiannon of the Spring. Book 2: Destiny’s Path, Govannon  of the Wood. Book 3: Destiny’s Path, Merion of the Stones. Book 4: Destiny’s Path, Caradoc of the North Wind. And just to make it even more peculiar, the UK publisher is going to use a slightly tweaked version of the original Warrior Princess covers for their editions.

Just to make things even weirder, let me try to explain the situation in Australia. The thing is that American books very often find their way into Australia, so the UK publishers decided to rush-release the first two books in the series in Australia, so that people would buy their editions rather than the American ones. However, at that time (last Summer, this was) the series was still going to be called Warrior Princess - but with sub-titles. So, book one in Australia, was Warrior Princess: Rhiannon of the Spring, and book 2 was Warrior Princess: Destiny’s Path. But now, when the series starts to be released worldwide in English, book one will arrive in Australia called Destiny’s Path: Rhiannon of the Spring, and book two will arrive called Destiny’s Path: Govannon of the Wood. I hope people are on the ball in Australia!

I’ll blog more about the Destiny’s Path series as I get more information - but when I write about Destiny’s Path, remember I’m not talking about book two of Warrior Princess, I’m talking about the whole Warrior Princess series in the UK edition! Phew, I think I need to go and sit somewhere quiet for a little while now while my brain recovers.