Publishing News

There are many books and projects about to descend upon the world in 2008 due to the darkening nights we’ve spent writing this autumn and for many months before, since the delayed books are also coming. We've been shamefully too busy to attend to our friends at all much, what with stacked-up writing that can only happen when publishers all call at the same time, instead of spacing themselves out usefully!

Many of you ask why on earth we’re writing so much for children? What happened to our practical books? Well, to be honest, no one will publish any serious esoteric books any longer. According to the present market forces in publishing all books have to, 1. be for beginners, 2. hit the biggest possible market, 3. make huge returns or 4. be understandable to 12 year olds. Frankly, we won’t play ball with these expectations or what it does to our style. Most of our books have been successful over many years, but times and goalposts have changed. Even some of our ethical publishers have been forced to let our esoteric books go out of print because they’re not performing well enough for these new expectations. No publisher keeps books in print for the long returns any more, only for the short ones. If you rather fancied one of our books but never got round to it, ORDER NOW, because we can’t assure of any book’s long continuance! This is why we write for the children’s market more and more, since they constitute books for a new generation, help us inspire young imaginations in a time of imaginative dearth and give us a longer lease of life. We both read a lot of children’s books, neither of us having had much chance to when we were younger. (We both come from bookless households, which would be readily apparent if you ever visited us at home - known to our friends as ‘the Book Cave!’) If you want to experience our esoteric teachings we are becoming strictly ‘oral tradition’, so come to a course and get the latest research!

Caitlín’s novel Troytown Dances is being published by R.J.Stewart Books. The publisher’s blurb reads: ’Troytown Dances is a major novel by one of the leading writers of Celtic tradition. It is packed with magical themes, ritual elements, folkloric magic and the mysteries of reincarnation, fusing sexual and spiritual love. This is a magical novel with hidden inititiatory depths, comparable to the multi-level consciousness of Dion Fortue’s Sea Priestess.’ From www.rjstewart.net later this year or next.

Arthur of Albion, John’s book of stories for all ages based on the older Celtic world of the Dark Ages. The text is shimmeringly illustrated by renowned Russian artist Pavel Tartanikov whose luminous paintings of Arthur, Merlin and others reveal a new dimension to the Arthurian legends. The artwork is now completely finished but the publisher wants to bring it out for the Christmas market, which means that it will be now be published in September 2008, which is a shame, since this contains some of John’s most wonderful writing. We promise it will be worth the wait.

Caitlín’s teenage novel, The Secret Bride and the Runaway Princess, set in medieval Rwanda has finished copy-editing and awaits an illustrator. This book has entailed researches beyond the ordinary, including gaining a little linguistic familiarity with Kinyarwandan. Barefoot Books wanted African princess stories from her, but, if you are at all familiar with any African culture, you will know that ‘princesses’ rarely feature! This interlinked mother and daughter myth is framed within the modern experiences of refugees from the Rwandan troubles, revealing a little known period of Rwandan history and bringing the light of hope to all survivors. Caitlín is frustrated by the slowness of the post-production, sorry. We hope that it will appear soon!

John has finished the first draft to produce what will, he hopes, be a series of Arthurian graphic novels. Provisionally entitled The Chronicles of Arthur: The Young King, these will be illustrated by well-known graphic artist Mike Collins, who has illustrated Dr Who, Green Lantern and many others. John and Mike have been talking about this for 10 years, so they are both delighted to be finally getting under way. The first volume will appear sometime in 2009

Caitlín has finished the Celtic Wisdom Box, a gift box that includes a book outlining rituals and meditations for the Celtic Year, a Brighid’s cross which can be worn as a pendant and a brooch. Though is for the general market, it will include new work and translations, and enables readers to personally rediscover the lore of the many-coloured winds – a tradition that has been largely lost as a diagnostic of augury and spiritual health.

Together we’ve been finishing a long-term children’s project called The Story Box. This is being published by Templar Press. We first dreamed up this storytelling project over seventeen years ago. Hopefully to be published 2008, but no date yet. We are embargoed from telling you more, since new publishing ideas are liable to being copy-catted if announced too early!!! (Yes, it’s a dirty world in publishing!)

We are both especially pleased to have been working with so many wonderful artists this year as we hope you will see. John is also working with the wonderful American artist Charles Vess, whose work has graced the pages of many a fine book, including those of Neil Gaiman, and inspired the hit movie ‘Stardust’, which some of you may have seen last year. John & Charles have been winging words and images back and forth to each other for the last year, and hopefully the end product will get to you sometime in 2009/10.

FEATURED BOOK

We’re featuring one of our books each issue, either a book written by one or both of us, starting with KING ARTHUR: HISTORY and LEGEND
(Folio Society only.)

There are two extracts from the Introduction and from Chapter 4, The Arthur of Myth. The book traces the many faces of Arthur from Roman to modern times.

Click here to read the extract.