In less than a month I have managed to publish two books. Admittedly I expected to publish both of them last year and then didn’t… But still its been a busy time with years worth of work coming to fruition all at once, which has left me both newly reinvigorated and back behind the keyboard with Gothe, the much awaited the follow up to Maybe, and hiding beneath the bed clothes waiting for feedback of any kind on the new Hannibal novel A Squid on the Shoulder and my first and for the moment only planned dalliance with none fiction Lexinomicon.

I hate waiting for reviews, or feedback. Not least because I always imagine I will get the worst possible reaction from readers… Or even worse no reaction at all…

This is particularly true in the case of Lexinomicon because I have genuinely no idea if anyone will like the book, find it informative and thought provoking, or just consider it the wittering’s of an idiot with a jumped up idea of their own self-importance best consigned to the trash…

I mean this quite literally, I have no idea what kind of reception my book on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft will receive. At least with the third book in the Hannibal series I can be reasonably sure that anyone reading it will have read the others, and want to read more, and so can expect a degree of positivity in the reviews it is likely to get. Besides which steampunk satire in general is something I believe I am good at. Certainly I think this third Hannibal novel is up there with the previous ones, if not better. It’s fiction, I am reasonably established as a writer of fictions. I have readers who I know like my fiction…

Non-fiction, that’s just opinions for the most part. My opinions, presented with humour, and a degree of self-defacement, but just my opinions at the end of the day… And opinions on the work of a writer who divides opinions and has some rather rabid fans…

There’s also the issue that Lexicromicon was designed for the print market. The paperback version had lots of artwork and clever typesetting. It looks pretty, in other words, while the kindle version for reasons to do with ebook formatting is somewhat more basic than the paperback and lacks the artwork. Its just words… And while I have faith in the words, I know the paperback is the best way to read those words… I’m not sure if I would have been better just publishing it in paperback, but i like to be inclusive of as many readers as possible, so I am where I am.

Lets just say, I worry, and leave it at that.

But all that aside, in case you missed the fanfare… Both A Squid on the Shoulder and Lexicromicon: A Bluffers guide to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft are available now on Amazon, and in some other places.. So far as I know at this point, they are being well received…