Welcome to 2024, everyone! I’ve already been booked for a couple of things this year, and I have some big Dark Heavens news as well!

‘Serpent Princess’

Really, really, 100% done and finished. The Patrons on Patreon have been reading it, and I will provide the high-level patrons with draft copies, but the novel is complete and I have given it to the lovely Shannon, who is senior editor at Harper-Collins, for his perusal. Now to wait and find out if they like it! (I’m sure they will, one of my friends who has been reading it has said that she ‘can’t put it down’.)

GenreCon, 23-25 February 2024

I will be attending all three days of GenreCon 2024 at the State Library of Queensland/Queensland Writer’s Centre. This is different from a pop-culture con like Oz Comic-On in that it is more a ‘trade’ meetup between authors, agents and publishers of all types of speculative fiction – sci fi, fantasy, horror, crime and romance. All the juicy stuff! I will be part of a panel on Fantasy Worldbuilding on the Sunday morning, but the con in general is a terrific way to network within the speculative literary community – and better than that, everybody who attends is imaginative, curious, and lovely to talk to. Highly recommended!

Year of the Dragon: February 10

This coming year is a Year of the Dragon! Dragon years are regarded as the most lucky year in the Chinese cycle, and the twelve animals cycle through the five elements as well – so this year is a Wood Dragon.

My son was born in 1988, which was considered particularly lucky. That year was a ‘metal dragon’ year, and the main metal is regarded as gold – so he’s a ‘golden dragon’. The year also had the double lucky 8 (1988) in it, so people rushed to have babies that year.

Yes, it did influence our choice to have a child that year.

Interestingly, there’s a god who’s jealous of people who are born in the same year as the current one, called ‘Tai Sui’ (or ‘Fung Shui Fan Tai Sui’). If you were born in the year of the dragon (or one of the cardinal years to dragon, which are dog, rabbit or ox, he’s offended by your existence.

To avoid bad luck from annoying Tai Sui, there are a number of prayer and fung shui rituals you can undertake, or you can wear an amulet to ward him off. You cannot purchase this amulet for yourself: someone has to buy it for you. It can be as simple as a red thread bracelet or a red stone bracelet… or it can be a credit card-sized amulet to go in your wallet.

Here’s the one I bought (off ebay!) for my son:

The back has prayers asking him to not be offended by the awful person who happened to be born in this year, and this style of calligraphy is written on rice paper to create demonic seals as well – just like in Dark Heavens. (If you know why there’s a sheep there as well please share because as far as everything I know, sheep isn’t affected by Tai Sui this year?)

It looks like gold, but it’s made of copper. It cost AUS$5.

So hopefully 2024 dragon year is auspicious for everyone! I hope you all enjoy ‘Serpent Princess’ ($5 says the title will change at least twice) when it finally is edited and released.