Charles de Lint, author of the 'Newford' novels.

Charles de Lint is an author of 54 novels, novellas and short stories. His novel by the name of Trader was the first one I ever read, and it was a part of the series that de Lint sets in the mythological town by the name of Newford.

Trader brings us the idea of a man who is in the body of another person, a not very much liked person, and how he deals with that dilemma. While not as involved in the various fairy worlds of European and Native American folklore, the very nature of someone waking up one morning in another man's body is not so untypical for a book coming from Charles de Lint. When you pick up a book by this author, you come to expect the unexpected, and for it to be delivered to you in a way that is believable, in a world, and with characters, who are believable, and who you could actually know in real life.

In other books in his Newford 'series', it is easy enough to pick any of them up out of order. Things that you can expect can range from trading bodies, to ghosts, fights between fairies from different countries, to men who turn into dogs, or deer, or birds. Some of his books are aimed towards young adults, and others towards adult readers. There's a broad range of fantasy and fairy tale stories covered in his books, and just a look at the back cover blurb will tell you all you need to know before turning over that first page. :)

Nikki Watson.

World building and submissions

For my works in progress, I have lately been working on the next series of stories that I plan to release after the three Of Elves and Men titles are released and doing well. :)

I have said before that the Of Elves and Men trilogy was based on the idea of following the passage of magic through the ages: -- contemporary, Dark Ages, and Georgian Age. I've done that, and I'm very pleased with the mythology and characters created around that idea. I also think that that series has opened the way for what I'm working on now.

The books I am working on now do not share the same world as Of Elves and Men. I think this is a good idea, because there always gets to a point in a series of an author's books where the reader just starts to lose interest, and so stops buying. I think three or four books in a series is the perfect amount, before the author should pick up his or her pen and start on a new idea.

It has also crossed my mind that one of my new series of fairy stories might fit in with Tease Publishing's Dark Tarot submissions call. There is one big reason why this tempts me, and I'll tell you what it is: If I get accepted by Tease, this book might be released sooner than it would with New Concepts Publishing after my books Ascent and Haunted come out with them. Tease's Tarot submission call is open till March 31st of this year, which means that I am likely to hear back from them regarding an acceptance or rejection before I hear back from New Concepts even hinting that they might be ready for a new title from me.

This new idea I currently have is not so structured as Of Elves and Men. I had such trouble in finishing the third book in that trilogy, and didn't want to put myself in the situation again where I had an obligation to the publishing house, and to myself, and my readers, to finish what I had started. This series is open ended. In just choosing to follow through an established mythology, I feel as though I am going to take a leaf out of Canadian urban fantasy author, Charles de Lint's, writing style.


As I like his books set in Newford, and the world building evident in these books, I can't complain.