Welcome Anita. You’ve just made my day. I’m busy with the final edits, and if all goes well, the third book “Hearts on Fire” will be out on the 7th on Smashwords and Amazon, so you don’t have to wait too long.

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Hi Nancy. Yes, I also think tweeting is overrated. Personally, I think there are more writers than readers on Twitter. I agree that word of mouth is solid gold. No amount of advertising could make up for one reader saying to another: “You should try this book. I couldn’t put it down.”
I love it that you enjoyed the Crossfire Trilogy, and the good news is that a full length novel (as yet unnamed) about Karl and Nancy is in the pipeline. In fact, that is the project I’m working on now. I’m not a fast writer, but I hope to release it by the end of the year.

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Hi Stella,
The next Crossfire novel, which will feature Nancy and Karl as main characters, should be out by this time next year. I have done the outlines for a further two books in the series, but I am busy with another project at the moment, which I will publish around December.
I am thrilled that you’ve enjoyed the Crossfire series so far, and hope you’ll look out for my new book in December. The working title at this point is Knight: Origins.
Thank you so much for your interest.

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Hi Eve, I’ve got a huge grin on my face right now. Thank you for all the wonderful compliments. I will do my best to write faster. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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Hi Rachel, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the Crossfire series. Please consider leaving a review to tell other readers about your experience. Yes, Karl and Nancy’s story isn’t finished yet. I will be releasing the sequel in the later half of this year, most likely August. I am also releasing a new book, called Lily’s Reprieve at the end of January. I hope that you’ll give Aidan and Lily (the main characters) a chance to entertain you. Thanks for your interest. 😀

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I also read most genres except horror. I don’t watch horror movies either, particularly supernatural horror. I broke my own rules the other day and watched a zombie movie. Bad idea. I had some very graphic dreams that night. Never again. lol.
I will announce on this blog when Lily’s Reprieve is available. At present I’m busy with final edits and polishing.
Have a wonderful evening. 😀

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Hi Laurie, I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed reading my books. The good news is that I am planning a book that will follow on to Driftwood. It will be called Somali Sunrise and all the main characters will be featured. I envisage releasing Somali Sunrise near the end of 2014, so unfortunately it will be a bit of a long wait. Sorry about that.
I have another series going which leans more to the fantasy genre. The first book is free and it is called Lily’s Reprieve. The second book will be releasing just after Christmas and is called Aidan’s Redemption.
Thank you for commenting.. My mother also suffers from chronic pain in her spine, her hips and her knees, so I have a fair idea of what you’re going through. I hope that you have more good days than bad.
All the best to you for 2014.

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Hi Donna, I love that you’ve enjoyed all my books. The next Crossfire book, the sequel to Driftwood will be available in December this year. And the third Blackstone book will be available December next year. I always announce books here first so the best thing will be to follow my blog and then you will receive an email when I announce the next book. Thanks so much for commenting. I hope you have a great day. 🙂

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Hi Samantha, thanks for your lovely comment. I love your enthusiasm. It makes everything worthwhile for me. Just a small correction, the Crossfire Trilogy is complete. I was prepared to let Stefan and Marcelle live happily ever after, or even just happy for now. However, so many people asked for a sequel to Driftwood, which was a short story I wrote to show that it was rejection that had turned Karl into such a cynical man. Again was quite happy to let Karl and Nancy live unhappily ever after. Luckily, due to popular demand I decided to turn Driftwood into a series starter for the Driftwood Trilogy. So the book that I’m busy writing now is Somali Sunrise, the second book in the Driftwood Trilogy, but many readers will see it as just a continuation of the Crossfire Series, because Marcelle and Stefan will feature strongly in the Driftwood Trilogy. I anticipate releasing Somali Sunrise at the end of this year, and then the third Blackstone book at the end of 2015. I wish I could write faster, but I’m afraid that I have to follow my process to create the magic. 🙂
The good news is that I’m also busy revamping Driftwood to make it worthy of a series starter, and that will be out soon, and won’t be quite so short anymore. If you have already read it, you won’t have to purchase it again, because I will load it as an update, assuming that you’re using Amazon. If not, I can give you a voucher to download it from Smashwords free.
Thanks again for contacting me, you certainly put a smile on my face. 🙂

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Hi Linda. The third book in the Blackstone Trilogy will be available Christmas 2015. This year I’m busy writing Somali Sunrise, which is the second book in the Driftwood Trilogy, which is a spinoff of the Crossfire Trilogy. I hope you will give my other books a try while you wait. The first book in the Crossfire Trilogy is free everywhere. Thanks for commenting. Hope you have a great weekend. 🙂

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Hi Donna, the good news is that the next Crossfire book will be available at Christmas this year. And the next Blackstone book will be available end September 2015. I’m also bringing out an update to Driftwood which will be available within a few weeks. I’m expanding it from 15000 words to 45000 to make it worthy of a series starter. I’ll announce it here as soon as it’s available. I’m excited that you’ve enjoyed reading my books so far and hope that my books will continue to entertain you.
Hope you have a great day. 🙂

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Hi Lauren. At the moment I’m busy writing the second book in the Driftwood Trilogy. It’s called Somali Sunrise and I plan to release it early in January 2015. I’m so thrilled that you’ve enjoyed the Crossfire Trilogy.
If you enjoy paranormal romance you could try the first two books in my Blackstone Trilogy while you wait. The first book, Lily’s Reprieve, is free and the third book in that trilogy will be available towards the end of 2015.
Thanks for contacting me. I hope you have a wonderful day. 🙂

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Hi Shani, I’m thrilled that you are enjoying my books. I’m busy writing the second book in the Driftwood Trilogy at the moment. It’s called “Somali Sunrise” and should be available early in January 2015.
I have another trilogy available that’s called the Blackstone Trilogy, of which the first two books are available, called “Lily’s Reprieve” and “Aidan’s Redemption”. The third book “Resurrection” will be available end of 2015. You might like it if you enjoy a mix of fantasy and romance and mystery. Thanks for contacting me. 🙂

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Hi Ekon, you got me smiling. :). The date for the next Driftwood book, continuing the story of Karl and Nancy, is 11 January 2015. That’s just around the corner, and gives you time to catch up on correcting papers. 😉
I hope you have a lovely day, and that it’s not too cold on your side of the world. 💐

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Hi Tami. Book 3 of the Blackstone Trilogy will be available towards the end of this year. I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed the trilogy so far. Thanks for commenting. 🙂

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Hi Jill, the third Blackstone book, working title Resurrection, should be available by December hopefully, or January 2016 at the latest. I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed the first two books and I assure you that the third book is my sole project for the rest of this year. Thanks so much for commenting. 🙂

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I think the problem has been sorted out now, Sam. I have been told it will be available on Amazon within the next twelve to twenty four hours. Pls accept my apologies for the inconvenience. Wishing you a wonderful evening. 🙂

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Hi Marie. I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed Somali Sunrise. Yes there will be a third book. I anticipate publishing it towards the end of 2016. This year I’m busy writing the third book in the Blackstone Trilogy. If you haven’t tried it yet, the first book, Lily’s Reprieve, is free at all retailers.
I hope you have a great weekend. 😊

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Hi Carly. Yes, I’m busy writing the third book and anticipate publishing it at the end of this year. I’ll have a more specific date closer to the time. 😀

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Hi Sonja. The third Driftwood book is scheduled for release at the end of next year, and I’m firmly committed to writing it, never fear. 🙂 But thank you for the encouragement. 🙂 You don’t mention if you’ve tried my Crossfire Trilogy. It covers the period from where the first Drifwood book ended and Somali Sunrise begins. At the moment I’m busy writing the third book in my Blackstone Trilogy. If you haven’t tried it yet the first book is free.
Thank you again for your support and I hope you have a wonderful evening. 🙂

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Hi Joy. The third Driftwood book is scheduled for the end of 2016. At the moment I’m busy writing the third Blackstone book which I plan to publish at the end of this year. Apologies for the long wait but I’m trying to keep readers of both trilogies satisfied. If you haven’t tried the Blackstone Trilogy yet, the first book is free at all retailers.
Thanks for commenting. I really love interacting with my readers. I hope you have a great day. 😀

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Hi Jackie, thanks so much for contacting me. I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed my books so far. Please accept my apologies for not sticking to my 2015 publishing schedule.
2015, as you’ve probably seen from my blog posts and the other comments, was pretty much the worst year of my life. A bout of reactive arthritis resulting from a germ that got into my bloodstream, saw me hospitalized in January 2015. Two shoulder operations and a knee operation followed, throwing my life into disarray. I told my mom just the other day that I had more medical procedures and tests in 2015 than I’ve had in my entire life.
Unfortunately, my creativity suffered, leaving me unable to finish the third Blackstone book that I had planned to publish in December 2015.
The good news is that I’m back in the saddle this year. I’m still going to physio once a week but I’m feeling much better. To answer your question, I’m busy with the third Driftwood book at the moment, and anticipate publishing it in May 2016. Thereafter I’ll continue with the third Blackstone book, and publish it in December 2016.
I’m confident that I’ll be able to stick to this schedule. I’m writing approx 3000 to 4000 words a day, and loving every moment of it.
Thanks for your patience. I hope you have a lovely day/evening. 😊

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Hi Adriana. Book three of the Blackstone trilogy will be available just after Christmas this year. Thanks for your patience so far. I hope you have a wonderful day. 😀

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Hi Lisa, the third Driftwood book will be available 31 May 2016. Not long to go now. 😉 I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 😊

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Hi Stacey. Wow, what a lovely long comment. I can see you really got emotionally involved in the Crossfire books and I’ll take that as a huge compliment because it means I did my job well. That being said, it is obvious to me that infidelity is a trigger for you. I myself have been cheated on, and I remember clearly, even though it was more than twenty-five years ago, that I was filled with such revulsion that I ran to the bathroom and was physically sick. I consider infidelity as the worst betrayal possible in a relationship. That’s probably why I am single today, because I’ve never allowed any man to get close enough to me to hurt me like that ever again. So I understand your viewpoint, and your feelings about it, but I need to point out a few things just to clarify what happened in the book.
When Karl and Marcelle got together for the first time when he visited her in Germany, he was a free man. He and Nancy had broken up and he had no intention of getting back together with her ever again. As far as he was concerned, the problems that had led to him breaking up with Nancy in Mozambique still remained, and would always remain.
As for Marcelle, Stefan had left her, saying in his note, “Forget about me. I will not return.” And after nine months of no word, one could almost consider that note a divorce.
In the end, Marcelle was just human, and when things between her and Karl turned carnal, I feel it was very believable that they would get together. And Karl gives in to Marcelle because his promise to Stefan, and his guilt towards Marcelle for (in his mind) destroying her happiness, holds him captive. He is prepared to do anything, (as he said to Kris later), to make Marcelle happy, even take Stefan’s place if neccessary.
When I thought about it I realized that perhaps I had failed to demonstrate how deep the relationship between Karl and Stefan was. And a phrase came into my head that there is no greater love than someone who is prepared to give his life for another. In a way that was what Karl was prepared to do. His own wants and needs and happiness no longer mattered or even featured in his future. He was giving his life for Stefan. And that was what Kris was so angry about. The fact that Karl was betraying himself, and deceiving himself, believing that he could live a life of denial and still find a semblance of happiness. Remember that Kris knew how Karl was feeling inside, even though Karl refused to admit it, and was using blasé and crass comments to try and throw Kris off the track.
To return to Karl’s relationship with Nancy, the first time that Nancy managed to reach Karl’s heart again was many months into his relationship with Marcelle, when Nancy sent him that email. His love for her welled up again, but he didn’t feel free to act on it. Only when he discovered that Nancy was secretly pregnant, did the conflict in him reach such a level that it became obvious to Marcelle that he was in pain. And when he confessed to her, she set him free immediately. Such was her love (not romantic love) for Karl that she wanted him to be happy, even if it meant that she was alone again. So their relationship wasn’t cheating. Both of them were free. The only cheating that occurred in the entire book was that one night that had resulted in the conception of a child. Karl was married at that time, so that was cheating. Once.
As for Marcelle’s slutty behavior (in your opinion) I feel that the way I compressed the timeline might have confused things a little bit. Let me please clarify Marcelle’s sexual history. She was a virgin when she met Jean-Michel, and she was married to him for three years. Then she was alone for two years before she met Stefan. They got married eventually and were married for several years before Stefan left her. Nine months later Marcelle and Karl had a relationship that lasted six months, and would have lasted longer had Marcelle not set Karl free. Then Marcelle was alone for several years before she and Anthony (who had known her since she was seventeen) got together. Their relationship didn’t even last two months before he committed suicide. So to my reckoning, that’s four guys in Marcelle’s entire life, two of which had been her husband. That does not make her a slut, nor could that be considered slutty behavior, in my opinion. Her only sin in the book was getting together with Karl that night after Anthony’s death. But considering that they were ex-lovers, Karl should never have climbed into bed with her, because it was far too easy to console each other like they had done before.
As for telling Nancy about that one night, and the child (Lucy) who had resulted from it, all I can say is why? What would be the point of ripping her world apart? Because if she knew, the whole island would know, and poor Lucy would grow up with a terrible stigma, forever a reminder of Karl and Marcelle’s betrayal of their respective partners. Both Karl and Stefan’s authority would have been eroded, making it difficult to run an army. And if Nancy decided to end her marriage to Karl and left the island with her children, they would all be at risk, leaving Karl vulnerable if his enemies decided to hurt his family.
So the purpose behind not telling Nancy was for good reason, and there was no malicious intent, or secret amusement, behind it. In fact, it was Stefan, the man who had been the most wronged by having to accept and raise a child that wasn’t his, who had issued the order that nobody would be told about Lucy’s true parentage. So only Stefan, Karl, Kris and Marcelle knew the truth. That’s not everybody. Not even Kris’ wife, Marie, knew. I think that was a very wise decision on Stefan’s part, because there was no point in destroying Karl’s marriage.
I hope that these discussion points helps to clear up some of your feelings, Stacey. I very much enjoyed going back over Crossfire: Broken and rereading some sections to remind myself of what had happened and thinking about my reasons for adding certain scenes to the book.
As for the third book of the Blackstone Trilogy, it shouldn’t be too much longer before it will be available, possibly the end of September.
I hope you have a wonderful day, and thanks again for such a lovely discussion.

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Hi Sonja, thanks for such a cheerful comment. I’m feeling happy too. Blackstone Resurrection is almost done, and yes it’s all I have on my mind at the moment. Yay! Not too much longer now.
Wishing you a wonderful day. 😀

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Hi Brenda. So nice to hear from you again. Thanks for so many lovely compliments, it makes me want to start writing a new book right away. 😉
But seriously, I do have a new story in mind and my imagination is already busy with my two main characters. They don’t even have names yet but they’ve already had their first argument in my imagination. Yep, conflict, just the way I like it. I’ll start writing again after Christmas and see where this story takes me.
Thanks for commenting and I wish you a lovely day. 😀

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Hi Brenda, it’s so wonderful to hear from you again. I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed Merlin in Love, and what makes it even more special to me is that you’re from the same area that the book is set in. It must be wonderful to live in a region that is so rich with history and legends.
Lol, yes you’re right, I do tend to take a while to bring out a new book. I didn’t write at all in 2018 and I think that taking a rest helped to reboot my creative drive. The result was that I wrote Merlin in Love in the first four months of 2019. I’ve never written that fast before so no one was more surprised than I was. 😮 I guess that reimagining the Merlin legend really got me going. I’ve already started the second Merlin book and I’m confident that I’ll have it done before Christmas. As always I’ll announce it here first.
Thank you so much for commenting and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

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Hi Brenda, wow, yes, you’re right, it has been a while. It’s lovely to hear from you again. I am well, thank you, and have had no more health scares. Sorry about the confusion about Blackstone Book 4. I originally wanted to do a standalone series for Merlin in Love, but eventually decided to add it to the Blackstone books, renaming the Blackstone Trilogy to the Blackstone Chronicles. The reason for this was because Aidan and Lily jumped into the book, and I realized that their story wasn’t finished yet.
When I promised that the second Merlin book would be done by Christmas 2019 I genuinely believed that I could do it. However, life had other plans for me. Early in 2019, my mother and father were both diagnosed with dementia. In my mother’s case it was Alzheimer’s disease causing the dementia. My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease with Lewy bodies and dementia.
Since they were living with me and I worked from home, I automatically became their caregiver. It impacted greatly on my writing as I suddenly had two adults who became anxious whenever I was out of sight. It seemed that my carefree days of writing and editing all day were over, but I believed that all was not lost, and that I could still work at night. I wrote Merlin in Love at night, working from 10pm to 3am for several months.
However, as my parents’ condition deteriorated, they became hyperactive and often manic, particularly at night, so I decided to shelve my writing activities for a month or two until things settled down a bit. But of course, things didn’t get better. My Christmas 2019 self-imposed deadline came and went while I, (and my brother, who had moved in to help) dealt with the deteriorating mental condition of our parents. They hallucinated constantly, and believed each others’ hallucinations, and in short, drove each other crazy, but it was impossible to separate them.
Then of course in 2020 COVID came, and like many other countries, South Africa also went into lockdown. That meant that our housekeeper could no longer come to work, and couldn’t do so for around five months, so in addition to being the nurse and cook, I had to take on those duties too. My brother was away many nights, working night-shift to keep the family finances going. By now, writing was now just a distant memory, and months went by without me even switching on my laptop.
I kept hoping things would improve, so that I could get my life back, but no.
In 2021 my mother, at the age of 86, got lung cancer, and though the tumor could be surgically excised, she was in ICU for twenty days. That brought its own problems because in addition to her existing dementia, she developed post operative dementia, which made things even worse. It was nearly six months before she returned to ‘normal’. During that time my dad also had a stay in hospital from a head injury sustained in a fall. His balance was increasingly becoming a problem as Parkinson’s disease ravaged his body, and that was the first of several falls, resulting in more hospital stays.
By now my brother was no longer working night shift, and was home permanently, so my mom became my patient, while my brother took care of my dad. We finally managed to put them in separate rooms because my dad needed a specialized hospital bed to prevent bedsores. He had become an invalid and could no longer walk. The tragedy is that after 57 years of marriage they no longer recognized each other, so it was possible to separate them.
And this is how life is now. Both my parents are in nappies. My father hallucinates every waking minute and babbles nonstop. The only time he is quiet is when he’s sleeping. He turned 91 recently but didn’t even understand that it was his birthday. The neurologist has said there is no more that can be done for him as none of the meds are effective anymore because the disease has progressed too far. But though his mind is gone, his body is still going strong. He can keep going for many more years like this.
My mom is still mobile, using a walker, and is becoming increasingly manic, a stage that my dad went through just a year ago. She is paranoid and constantly believes that children are missing, or that she’s in the wrong house, or like last night she believed she was dead, and that she was a corpse, and that I must call the cops so that they can come find her. And no amount of reasoning can convince her of anything else, and this went on until two this morning when I finally gave her a tranquilizer prescribed by the doctor. And I can’t use the tranquilizer too often, because then she develops tolerance, and it becomes ineffective. So most of the time I just have to deal with the dementia. And its hard to comfort her because she doesn’t know who I am anymore. She doesn’t recognize my brother either. And my father doesn’t know us anymore either.
It’s hard to believe that three years have gone by like this, a nightmare that doesn’t seem to end. I’ve had to squash any hope of being able to resume writing, and banish my characters from my imagination. If I didn’t do that, the frustration of not being able to write would’ve left me in a permanent state of depression, and I can’t take care of anyone while in that state. So it was self-preservation, I guess. My writer’s soul needs to soar with the eagles, but instead I’m trapped on the ground, mired in shit and misery. I find the best way to get by is just to keep my eyes on the ground and plod away. My world has shrunk so much. No more social life, no more friends. Just surrounded by craziness all day long, like working in an asylum. Nothing surprises me anymore.
So Brenda, the short answer is I don’t know when I can complete the next Merlin book. I can’t plan anything. I keep hoping that we can hire a caregiver, so that I can get at least a little time to write again, but financially it’s just not possible, and things are just getting worse. There is no hope.
I have wondered whether I should unpublish Merlin in Love, rather than to leave a book out there that ends on a cliffhanger, with no certainty of when the next book will follow. Thank you so much for your interest; sorry for such a long answer, which is probably more suited to be a blog post. I’ve often wondered if I should write a blog post to explain my situation, but though I composed it many times in my mind, I never got round to actually doing the blog. It felt awkward just announcing it out of the blue, but since you’ve contacted me, I feel I owe you an explanation. Apologies too, to all my readers, and hoping that I will be able to resume my writing career eventually.
Kind regards

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