The hardbacks just arrived for signing and they're looking great (especially the endpaper prints). They''ll be going out shortly so, depending where you are in the world, you should have your copy within the next 1-2 weeks.

And for the eagle eyed who have spotted a slightly different looking book in the background, that's an advance copy of the paperback that will be in bookshops from 7 March.

I received some festive cheer at the end of last week - Floating World has gone to print!

The process normally takes a little while but this time of year is particularly busy so unfortunately your rewards won't be arriving this side of Christmas. 

There is a silver lining though - they should be with you by the end of January, hopefully just at the right time to provide a glimmer of brightness…

It's been longer since the last update than planned - the result of a slightly turbulent 2018. But while I haven't been great at communicating it, work on the book has gone on!

Having come through the structural edit relatively unscathed, it went into copy editing in the summer. I stepped up my efforts to source and get permission to use the illustrations at the same time. 

While the copy editing…

The good news for the start of 2018 is I've had the first review back from my editor at Unbound... and I survived. 

At this point the fear is you'll have to re-order everything, write chapters again, change characters and so on. Fortunately, while I have to make some amends they're more along the lines of tweaks rather than wholesale changes. 

Once they're done the detailed edit begins - going…

The Star, Malaysia's take on how a sumo wrestling travelogue turned into a woodblock illustrated thriller.

(Sorry for the small size - they haven't published the online version yet. You can still read it by clicking on the image and magnifying as required). 

So, plenty has happened since my last update. First, I hit full funding as a result of all of your kind pledges (thank you so much again). Then I went back to the manuscript and gave it another, final edit.

I'm not sure of author's etiquette on admitting these things, but having not looked at it for over a year while fund-raising, I found myself really enjoying it. Hopefully, this isn't just arrogance…

Falling from the Floating World is now 92% funded and inching ever closer to publication! 

As this is down to your generosity I'd like to say a massive thank you. It's quite a challenge to get a book from idea to shop front and the moral support your pledges have provided has been just as gratefully received as the financial benefits. 

I'm afraid you won't be receiving your rewards quite yet…

The UK's best selling tattoo magazine, Skin Deep, very kindly ran a feature on my book in their February edition. Unfortunately they don't have an online version, but you can read the interview (and see some of the pictures) below. 

You are just about to publish your latest book which takes place in Japan. Can you tell us about the plot?

It's a Tokyo-set thriller…

I’ve been a little lax on my Shed updates… but as a starter I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s made a pledge.



Most recently I’ve had a very generous Patron pledge from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (www.gbsf.org.uk) which has boosted Falling from the Floating World to 30% of its target - which isn’t bad after just under a month’s crowdfunding.



The foundation aims to…