Ancient Trust Archives

Upon A Summer's Day displayed on a tablet in a sunset scene looking out across water to fields beyond, all of it glowing golden and sparkling with magic. The cover of Upon A Summer's Day shows a man in a suit silhouetted over a map of northern Wales in a muted green. He is gesturing, holding his cane in one hand, a cap on his head. Behind him is an astrological chart, with Jupiter and Saturn highlighted in the sign of Taurus.

Demesne Estates

April 29, 2025 / Albion

The demesne estates are the heart of Albion’s land magic. Take a tour of what this means and a few of the key estates.

Ancient Trust, Facets of the Bench, Grown Wise, Illusion of a Boar, Mari Lwyd 1927, Upon A Summer's Day

Cover of Best Foot Forward displayed on a tablet, with a palm leaf, on a golden yellow background. The cover has a deep red background with map markings in a dull purple. Two men in silhouette stand, looking up at a point in the top left. An astrology chart with different symbols picked out takes up the left side of the image, with glowing stars curving up to the title.

Happy Pride! LGBTQIA+ Books

June 12, 2024 / Albion, Reading

A look at LGBTQIA+ books and characters as of June 2024.

Ancient Trust, Best Foot Forward, Casting Nasturtiums, Complementary, Four Walls and a Heart, Goblin Fruit, On The Bias, Point By Point, Seven Sisters, The Fossil Door

Copy of On The Bias lying on a bouquet of early summer flowers, with tea and honey nearby, in shades of pinks and pastel greens.

In Character: Thomas Benton

May 8, 2024 / In Character

Thomas Benton likes to be quietly in the background. Here’s a look at his life, from his early service in a country house, through the Great War, and his life after, entwined with the Carillons.

Ancient Trust, Best Foot Forward, Bound for Perdition, Carillon Family, On The Bias, The Magic of Four

Old As The Hills displayed on a tablet, in a stone arch with a glowing purple night sky behind it. The cover of Old As The Hills has a man with a can and a woman silhouetted on a green ground with a map. She holds out her hand, he is putting something into it, forming a doorway between them. An astrological chart behind them shows the symbols for Venus, the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn highlighted behind a splash of glowing stars.

Neurodiversity in my books

April 17, 2024 / In Character, Questions and answers

A guide to neurodiverse characters in my books, as of 2024. (Check out the grid early in the post for the current complete list.)

Ancient Trust, Best Foot Forward, Bound for Perdition, Casting Nasturtiums, Complementary, Eclipse, Illusion of a Boar, Old As The Hills, On The Bias, Pastiche, Perfect Accord, Seven Sisters, Shoemaker's Wife, The Fossil Door, The Magic of Four, Three Graces, Upon A Summer's Day

The cover of Three Graces has three women in silhouette, two standing and one sitting, her hand resting on a cane. All three are wearing clothes from during the Second World War, against a deep brown cover with a map. An astrology chart to the back left has the Moon and Venus picked out in brighter gold.

Idea to Book: Three Graces

March 20, 2024 / Ideas to books

Learn about the ideas behind Three Graces: a longstanding mystery about Temple Carillon, three women with different skills, and moving forward in the aftermath of the second world war.

Ancient Trust, Three Graces

Copy of Pastiche on a white wood background, surrounded by golden yellow leaves that pick up on the yellow of the stained glass window on the cover.

In Character : Richard Edgarton

March 13, 2024 / In Character

Explore the history of Richard Edgarton in all his many roles: Lord, Captain in the Guard, magistrate, husband, father, and lover of the land.

Ancient Trust, Four Walls and a Heart, Old As The Hills, Pastiche, Perfect Accord, The Fossil Door, Upon A Summer's Day, Wards of the Roses

Cover of Best Foot Forward displayed on a phone, resting on folded golden linen with a mug of coffee. Yellow flowers lie on a book with Scrabble tiles spelling out "spring is in the air". The cover has a deep red background with map markings in a dull purple. Two men in silhouette stand, looking up at a point in the top left. An astrology chart with different symbols picked out takes up the left side of the image, with glowing stars curving up to the title.

Idea to Book: Best Foot Forward

January 17, 2024 / Ideas to books

The ideas behind Best Foot Forward: the comment that started it all, Alexander and Carillon, music, and Vienna.

Ancient Trust, Best Foot Forward, Eclipse, Interstitial Moments

The cover of Ancient Trust on a tablet, surrounded glasses, bottles of alcohol, and a man in a tailored suit. The cover shows a man with a monocle in silhouette, leaning on a table stacked with books.

Idea to Book: Ancient Trust

September 28, 2023 / Ideas to books, Novellas

Learn about the ideas behind Ancient Trust, a novella about Geoffrey Carillon and Thomas Benton in 1922. Those include the Carillons, Carillon and Benton, and connections to other people.

Ancient Trust, Bound for Perdition, On The Bias, Outcrossing

Cover of In The Cards displayed in a gleaming silver frame, with purple flowers on the right and a purple velvet high-heeled shoes.

Happily ever after, no kids

September 13, 2023 / Mysterious Arts, Mysterious Charm, Mysterious Powers, Questions and answers

Do people need to have kids to have their happily ever after. Some of my characters have kids, but not everyone does! Here’s more about those books.

Ancient Trust, Bound for Perdition, Complementary, Fool's Gold, Four Walls and a Heart, Illusion of a Boar, In The Cards, Mistress Of Birds, On The Bias, Point By Point, Seven Sisters, The Hare And The Oak

Where to start

August 9, 2023 / Questions and answers, Writing and publishing

Thoughts about where to start with my books (and a link to a page all about that).

Ancient Trust, Best Foot Forward, Fool's Gold, Goblin Fruit, Old As The Hills, On The Bias, Pastiche, Seven Sisters, Shoemaker's Wife, Upon A Summer's Day

What I got up to in 2022

December 22, 2022 / Land Mysteries, Mysterious Powers, Novellas

It is the time of year where a roundup of what I did seems useful for a variety of reasons. (Come back next week for what’s coming in 2023!) What came out in 2022 I put out four novels, two novellas, and a substantial extra in 2022. That’s a lot! Links here that aren’t the title (in the header) will take you to my public wiki. There you can see more details about people and places.

Ancient Trust, Best Foot Forward, Bound for Perdition, Forged in Combat, Mistress Of Birds, Nocturnal Quarry, Old As The Hills, Point By Point, Shoemaker's Wife, The Hare And The Oak, Upon A Summer's Day, With All Due Speed

Lords & Ladies: A guide to the land magic

September 30, 2022 / Albion, Novellas, Questions and answers

Are you curious about the land magic? Carillon’s background? What it means to be a Lord in Albion? Did you know there’s a new novella out? It’s my treat if you sign up for my newsletter. (Feel free to unsubscribe when you need to, of course. But I hope you’ll stick around, at least for an email or two that will let you get all the other treats I share with my newsletter subscribers.) Ancient Trust is all about what happens when Geoffrey Carillon inherits the title on his brother’s death. It has quite a lot about the land magic customs at Ytene. It also led to some interesting questions from a reader. (I love reader questions. Sometimes I haven’t settled on my final answer about something. But I’ll let you know if you ask something I can’t answer yet. Or if you ask something that’s too much of a spoiler for something that’s coming out in the future.) The questions: It got me thinking, how do the Lords of Albion engage with the House of Lords? Is attending Westminster an additional responsibility for Carillion? Do Albion peerages result in having the right to sit in the House? And what about the women? How does the Land Magic recognise women? These are great questions – and also some that I haven’t quite found the right place to get into text. Let’s take this one by one in an order that should help.

Ancient Trust, Goblin Fruit, Pastiche, The Hare And The Oak