Okay, we're over a week into the new year now and I'm getting back to work!

I hope you've all had a relaxing break and that 2026 has been kind to you so far. I managed to catch whatever illness was going around over the holidays, so I wasn't as productive as I'd like, but art briefs have been sent to the portrait artist and map artist. I'm looking forward to sharing updates on those in the coming weeks. Massively excited, honestly, they make great art!

I'm working on the fake TV guide for the digital reward tiers. If you don't know me well enough yet, I tend to go overboard with these things, so it's not just a list of TV shows in the world, but a full magazine with articles and interviews as though it came from the real city of Aefenhold. My aim is to introduce you to this world, its characters, and the magic you'll find via the medium of a gossip magazine. Yes, it's a little extra 😂

Here's a sneak peak at the cover WIP:



Next week, I also aim to send out the first surveys for people awaiting their digital rewards. I'm new to Backerkit and crowdfunding in general, so I want to make sure I get this right, especially as the book itself will be released separately. Thank you for your patience while I navigate this!

In the meantime, I'm being harassed by my kitten - literally as I type - so enjoy some kitty pics to tide you over:





I'll be back with more updates soon!

Hi everyone! It's been two weeks since the campaign ended so I wanted to give an update for The Chosen One Con. Funds have now all been taken except for a couple that have failed. If you're not sure if your payment has gone through, double check, as I'd hate for you to miss out on your goodies! If you're having issues with payment, feel free to drop a comment or contact me and we'll work something out.

Thank you to everyone that has supported the campaign! With these funds in my account, I'll be able to throw money at my artists in exchange for magic (that's how it works, right?). However, as we're almost a week away from Christmas and well into the holiday season, I won't be pestering them yet as we all deserve a break.

I promised that the digital rewards would be available when fulfilment is complete, but I imagine most of you are going to be busy with your own festivities. So instead of sending our surveys now, I'm going to wait until the New Year and send out surveys for the digital rewards at the start of January.

And that's when the real work will start!

I've finished this second draft of The Chosen One Con and will be working over the holiday season and well into the New Year to prepare the book for feedback and editing. I'll keep you updated on the book's progress and on any art - as soon as I have art to show and send, you'll be the first to know!

For now, enjoy your holiday break, and I'll be back at the start of January with your digital rewards! Here is one little gift from me...

Last year, I commissioned Aowna (who will be taking on the portrait of Max) to design a full-body look of Max in his mage outfit as it appears in The Chosen One Con, but I've jazzed it up a bit for Christmas (sorry, Aowna!):



Happy Holidays from me!

The campaign has ended (while my British arse was sleeping, of course!) and I'm grateful to all 101 of you for joining me along this journey! Thanks to you, The Chosen One Con campaign was fully funded and met its stretch goal for map art and a character portrait, as well as my unofficial third stretch goal to pay for ALL the editing this book will need.

I couldn't have done it without your support. Thank you for taking a chance on me and this book!



A MASSIVE THANK YOU to The Book Bazaar 2025 and especially Aimee Cozza of The Lucky Machine for running a tight ship. All 22 projects that took part in The Book Bazaar fully funded on time, raising over $50k for indie authors! That's incredible, and I'm glad to have been part of such an excellent community for my first ever crowdfund campaign.

Now, Backerkit will start charging your bank cards and collecting funds for those pledges, so make sure your card details are updated! This process takes a couple of weeks.

Then, I can start sending out surveys for the digital rewards. Remember, this book isn't ready yet, which means the paperbacks and some physical rewards won't be sent this side of 2025. Once I get the funds, I'll reach out to my artists for the map and portrait art, but since we're heading toward the holiday season now, they won't be commissioned until the new year. We're saving the magic for 2026!

But until then, applicable backers will get a copy of the TV Guide digital reward to introduce you to the world of Aefenhold, and those who opted for add-ons for my Cruel Gods series will also get those hopefully before Christmas. If you chose to 'name a thing' I'll also be in touch!

While I continue to work on The Chosen One Con, I'll drop updates periodically to let you know the progress, but you can also join my newsletter if you'd like for any additional updates. I also share cat pics and recommendations for indie books.

Speaking of cats, you've earned yourself a kitty pic:



I'll be back in touch soon with those digital rewards! You can sit back and relax while I get back to work.

Until then, stay magical!

With just three days left on the campaign, I'm super grateful for all your support and can't wait to finish this book and get it in your hands. Thank you to everyone that has pledged this far or otherwise shared the campaign. I couldn't have made it this far without you!

There's still time to update your pledge, convince your friend and enemies to pledge, and take a look at what funky add-ons we have to offer.

In case you missed it, the Aefenhold map and Max character portrait have been added to applicable tiers and also as an add-on. But that's not all! I've also added one more super special tier for these final view days...

The Chosen One tier!



This digital-only tier gives the same rewards as the Silver Mage License tier, including The Chosen One Con eBook and digital rewards, but also adds the stretch goal digital rewards AND all my eBooks, including future eBooks yet to be written! This means all my Cruel Gods series eBooks that exist now and future ARCs of The Chosen One Con's sequel after it's written and any other future bodies of work. As I plan to write MANY more books in the future, this is a guarantee you'll get all of these first.

Everything could be yours, but pledge soon! There're only three days left!

It's incredible to think we've hit 80 backers and 250% funded on this project with 9 days to go!! I couldn't have come this far without your support. As a reward for following the project this far, let me talk about my cats.

Yes, my fluffy balls of chaos.

You see, this project is still in development, and one reason for that is because cats are very demanding and distracting and I have two of them.



The tabby kitten on the left is the new addition to the house, Gustave, named after Gustave from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. He is chaos incarnate and has recently started climbing walls. To the right is three-year-old ragdoll Bayley, named after audiobook narrator RJ Bayley, who mostly gets on with the kitten when Gus isn't jumping on his face. Both like to terrorize me in their own way.

By continuing to back this project, these cats will get their treats!

Speaking of RJ Bayley, I'll be hosting a stream later today via The Book Bazaar's Twitch channel, where RJ will be reading out the beginning of Chapter One from The Chosen One Con. Tune in to get a feel for the story. And if you like what you hear, keep on supporting the campaign so we can make an audiobook happen!

Until then, I've got a new fun poll that introduces some of the TV (Or MV) shows in the world of Aefenhold. Which show do you want to watch?