The young man shuffles into the workroom wearing the familiar despondent look. He looks at the floor and fiddles with the cuffs of his frock coat. Delta looks him up and down while his attention is fixed on the rug. His fine clothes and tidy hair give him away as a visitor to the Underground […]
the necromancer's apprentice
Who are the mysterious dog-headed men?
Dog-headed men, or cynocephaly, are a true curiosity within myth and legend. Not to be confused with werewolves, the beings are literally men with dogs’ heads. The Greeks named the creatures, apparently taking their inspiration from Egyptian gods. Most famously, Anubis boasts the head of a jackal. Although, in recent years, scholars realised his head is […]
The Occasional Table (short story)
The Academy boasted many fine laboratories, practice suites and classrooms, but if Jyx had to choose his favourite place, then it was surely the library. For one thing, it was the only room in the entire building where he didn’t feel out of place. His shabby and mended robes matched the cracked spines and moth-eaten […]
The Plague Doctor (Free Story)
Doktor Pinaldi swept along the close, his waxed leather cloak swishing behind him. He peered through the eye holes of his moulded mask, the scent of flowers drifting up from its beak to his nose. Other medical men believed the smell warded off the plague, but Doktor Pinaldi knew that was ridiculous. He just preferred floral […]
Just Why I Love Edinburgh
As some of you know if you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, I went up to Edinburgh at the weekend for a research trip. A visit to its Mary King’s Close attraction back in 2012 gave me the inspiration for the Underground City of The Necromancer’s Apprentice, and I […]
Winning at NaNoWriMo
You’ve probably seen plenty of Facebook statuses or tweets about rising word counts for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this November. For those who don’t know, the general point is to write 50,000 words in thirty days. I’ve ‘won’ NaNoWriMo in 2008 and 2010, but I had to drop out in 2009 after being made […]
