Haven Chronicles Book 3

24th August 202324th August 2023

The rewards of writing a fiction series

a typewriter that has typed to be continued on a piece of paper

I’ve blogged before about the challenges of writing book two and those challenges haven’t diminished as I work on the third book of the Haven Chronicles. What I haven’t written about is the rewards of writing a fiction series.

Writing a series isn’t easy, but it can be incredibly satisfying. It’s certainly given me a sense of accomplishment, but it’s also helped me to grow as a writer.

So in this blog post, I want to share with you some of the rewards that I’ve enjoyed while writing my series. These aren’t the only rewards, of course, but they are some of the most important ones for me.

Exploring the world of the Haven Chronicles

When I wrote Haven Wakes, I fell in love with both the futuristic and magical aspects of Caercester and Darkacre. In Magic Bound, I got the chance to extend that world beyond the city limits and dive deeper into the magical culture.

Building a world that has elements of both fantasy and sci fi is an absolute joy. I have the chance to play with robots and technology that is being developed in our world right now or is only theorised about at the moment. I can also indulge my love of all things folklore and magic, including characters from the mythological tales I devoured as a child.

Writing a series allows me to wend my way through that world, further and further afield with each book, and explore the intricacies of both the magical and workaday** cultures. With each new instalment, I can return there and share those locations with my readers.

Revisiting the characters of the Haven Chronicles

It’s not only the world of the Haven Chronicles that I can revisit; there’s the characters too. Writing a series allows me to follow the journeys of Steve, Hartley, Blessing, and the darkling, plus some well-loved side characters like James and Frobisher too. With each new book, I can explore their development, their relationships with each other, and how their views of the world change over time.

What’s more, I can create companion stories that feature those characters too. Hartley Keg and Frobisher turn up in my short stories, The Hidden Knowing and A Shadow Falls in Darkacre. And I’ve plans to write a novel about Hartley’s adventures long before he meets Steve in Haven Wakes.

Serving the readers of the Haven Chronicles

Before my novels were published, I always worried about how they’d be received. Would readers like them and want more? Or would they post horrendous 1* reviews and my books die a literary death? Thankfully, the feedback I’ve received from beta and ARC readers, bloggers, and book reviewers has been encouraging.

And instead of simply accepting the praise, I’ve done my best to listen to what readers want to see in future books too. More action. More future tech. The most common question from readers has been ‘where are Steve’s parents?’. I’ll answer that in the third book in the series.

Challenging myself as a writer

Writing a series has meant continuing an overarching storyline and making sure that my characters are consistent but also develop with each new adventure. It’s also meant:

planning ahead for the entire series, not just one novel
learning how to keep my characters acting like themselves but changing over time too
planting seeds that will reach fruition in future books
keeping the plot of each novel relevant to the overall story arc of the series
making each book bigger than the one before
keeping track of what’s happened in previous books so I don’t make continuity mistakes

It’s a completely different skillset to writing one stand-alone story but it’s a challenge I’m enjoying immensely.

Writing a series has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life as a writer. I’ve loved exploring the world and the characters of the Haven Chronicles, serving my readers and listening to their feedback, and challenging myself to grow and improve as a writer. I can’t wait to share the third book in the series with you.

** a term used to describe non magical people in my novels

14th June 202314th June 2023

Lost down a rabbit hole: What I researched for Book 3 of the Haven Chronicles

I’m one of those authors who likes to prepare as much as possible before I begin to work on a new novel. One aspect of that preparation is plenty of research. You might think that because I write fantasy stories, the whole concept will be born from my imagination but I’m a firm believer in the value of grounding a story – even a fantasy story – in reality and possibilities that are believable to the reader.

Before I started on the third book in my YA futuristic fantasy series, I spent a lot of time on research so that I wouldn’t have to stop mid-way through to find out what was scientifically possible or historically correct. Here’s what I researched.

Haven Wakes and Magic Bound

Yes, I know I wrote both books, but over time the edges of your creations begin to blur. So I needed to check certain facts from the first two books to make sure I got it right in book three. Facts like:

what the travelling door in Hartley’s kitchen looks like
the layout of Darkacre
the entrance to the magical council controlled area, the Confluence (including golems)
Kiri Ema’s and the dancer Mariana’s appearances

and much much more.

Flying cities

Magic Bound was predominantly set in the magical portion of Steve’s world so I wanted to feature much more of the workaday (non-magical and futuristic) portion in book three. One expression of that high tech culture is a flying city. Research unearthed several possibilities:

aerostatic lift, involving lighter-than-air gases to provide buoyancy and lift
aerodynamic lift, with aerodynamic features that generate lift
anti-gravity, using technology that manipulates gravitational forces
tethered aerostat, a lighter-than-air structure anchored to the ground
static lift structure, generating enough buoyancy to keep the city afloat without a tether

It’s all very exciting and the technology I’ve chosen has definitely influenced the design of the city. And no, I’m not telling you what it’s called yet – you’ll have to wait and see.

Ostriches pulling carriages

Yes, that’s a real thing – look. I can’t include an image in this blog post for copyright reasons, but there are so many vintage images of ostriches pulling carts, traps, and carriages out there.

Now, there are no ostriches pulling a carriage in book three but there is something similar to an ostrich. That’s as much as I’m going to say. Again, read book three.

Cruise ships

Fi Phillips standing in a Norwegian setting with the cruise ship Iona in the background

This was a lovely topic to return to after my cruise of the Norwegian fjords last year, but I was especially interested in vintage cruise ships like Queen Mary 1 and 2, the RMS Aquitania, and yes, even the Titanic. It was the sumptuous interiors that piqued my interest.

Venice

I’ve been promising to feature Venice in my novels since I finished writing Haven Wakes and it finally makes an appearance in book three. This was one of my favourite research topics to dive into.

I’ve visited Venice several times and it’s a city that I still find fascinating and mysterious, so I’m taking Steve and co there this time round. Having said that, it may not quite be the Venice we all know.

So yes, those were the rabbit holes that I disappeared into last year. I have to say that I loved researching all of these topics. In fact, I probably spent way too much time down these rabbit holes because, well, shiny things and all that. Once book three is finished, I’ll be straight into research for book four and I already know that’ll include… Hang on. That’s a completely different blog post.

26th April 202326th April 2023

A catch up in April

It’s been a while since I wrote a catch-up blog, so I thought April was the ideal month to let you know what’s been going on in the Life of Fi. 2023 has been hectic so far – generally in a good way – but that hasn’t stopped me from working on my novel or taking on new creative challenges.

Writing book 3 (and 4)

I began writing the third book in my YA futuristic fantasy series last year. I mapped the whole book out before I made a start and even back then, it did seem a lot to fit into 300 odd pages. Having written a generous portion of book three, I now realise that what I’d mapped out was not one book, but two. My challenge now is to decide where I can satisfactorily end book three (with a big, exciting finish) and begin book four.

What this means for you as a reader of course, is that there should be less time between the release of the two books. Hopefully.

Book 5 of the Haven Chronicles

Since I finished writing Haven Wakes, I’ve known exactly how I wanted to end the series. Clues have been dropped in books one and two and there’ll be more clues in books three and four. Book five will be the end of one journey but will leave plenty of doors open for more adventures elsewhere. Sorry to sound vague and mysterious but, you know, spoilers.

Creative Fi

2022 was a brilliant year in so many ways, but it was also a year that demanded I spend a lot of time at my desk, head down writing and planning in an attempt to keep ahead of my schedule as a copywriter and an author. There was little time for side projects. So I decided that this year would be all about new creative outlets that are fun.

First, I came across a flash fiction write-athon on Twitter called #7DayTale. Write a story in seven tweets, one each day for a week, on a provided theme. It’s a monthly event that I discovered thanks to the wonderful poet and author Lily Lawson.

The second new creative outlet for 2023 is my craft business. I used to make semi-precious jewellery for a living and while I gave that up several years ago, I’ve always wanted to return to working with beads and charms. As I’m an author and all about books, you probably won’t be surprised to discover that I’ve started a business making bookmarks. It’s called Bookmarks and Charms by Fi.

Finally, I’ve returned to a platform I first discovered about a decade ago – Tumblr. I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to use my new author account – Magical Possibilities – but it’ll probably include:

work in progress news and snippets
requests for beta and ARC readers
book reviews (not my books)
flash fiction and small stones
book cover reveals
news from other speculative fiction authors and my publisher
thoughts and musings
photos from the Life of Fi

If you’re a Tumblr user, then I’d love to connect over there.

Final Words

I’ll finish this catch up with a snippet from my work in practice, book three of the Haven Chronicles. This scene happens in Darkacre just when Steve desperately needs to be cheered up.

***

“It really smells rounds here.” Steve covered his nose as a sweet, pungent stink wafted through the air. “What is that?”

“It’s not me,” said James. “I’ve washed today. Maybe Widow Wefan has been using goat manure on her garden plot again.”

There was a ‘ping’ and a scrabbling of claws as a squirrel materialised in the air in front of Steve’s face and then dropped to the cobbled road.

“Squirrel mail,” said Steve.

“Blimey,” said James.

With a chirp, the squirrel ran up Steve’s trouser leg, circled his torso, and came to rest on his shoulder. With a flourish, the squirrel pulled a note out of the air and gave a quick bark.

“I think it’s for you,” said James with a grin.

***

4th January 20234th January 2023

What you can expect from me in 2023

2023 spelt out in gold numbers surrounded by gold stars on a dark blue velvet background

Sh! I’m still on festive break officially but I thought I’d take advantage of the lull before I return to my desk to say ‘hi’. 2022 was a good, if exhausting year. I saw my latest novel published, got a wonderful new cover and relaunch for my debut novel, and even went off on a Norwegian fjord cruise with my other half.

2023, however, is a clean page that I’m keen to get scribbling on. Just in case you wanted to know, here’s what you can expect from me over the next twelve months.

Writing Book 3 of the Haven Chronicles

Last year, I started to write the third book in my YA futuristic fantasy series and there’ll be more of that in 2023. One question that many of my readers and reviewers have asked after reading Haven Wakes and Magic Bound is, ‘where are Steve’s parents?’. That question will finally be answered in book 3.

There’ll be new places to go, old and new foes to outsmart, and plenty more revelations about Steve and his family.

The festive break brought a new epiphany about the path of this series but that’s something to share once book 3 is published.

Social Media for Authors

My book of social media advice for authors remains in the hands of Burning Chair. Fingers crossed, it will be published this year.

In the meantime, if you’re an author looking for social media advice, head on over to my copywriter blog.

Subscriber treats

In December, subscribers to my Author News received the links and passwords to my fantasy novella, A Shadow Falls in Darkacre. The plan is to release at least one short story or novella in 2023 too.

By the way, if you’re not subscribed yet, you can sign up here. New subscribers receive a free short story set in the same world as my novels.

Book reviews

Writers are readers too and I’ll be attacking my to-be-read pile with the usual enthusiasm. I didn’t read as many books last year as I’d have liked to (only nine) so fingers crossed, I can do better this year. The target is twelve.

Here’s a taste of the first nine books I’ll be reading.

book covers of Prisoner of Paradise by Rob Samborn, Babes in the Woods by Mark Stay, Ghosts: Being the experiences of Flaxman Low, Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, Exiles by Daniel Blythe, The Shepherds Crown by Terry Pratchett, Blackbirch 1 by K M Allan, Master and Apprentice by Susan Mansbridge, All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

As usual, you can find all of my book reviews over on Instagram.

My search for a literary agent

With two novels published and a third in the works, I feel that it’s time to find a literary agent. In 2023, I’ll be sending out submissions to UK literary agents who are interested in YA fantasy. I don’t have much more to say about that other than, wish me luck.

And that’s it – my authorly plan for 2023. Fingers crossed.

15th August 2022

Tackling the third book in the series

paperback copies of Haven Wakes and Magic Bound on a mountain backdrop with the words Tackling Book 3

If you follow me and my writing, you’ll know that the second book of my YA futuristic fantasy series was released at the beginning of August. Magic Bound picks up the story a few weeks after the end of Haven Wakes. Steve and his friends face the consequences of their actions, head off on a new adventure into a bigger slice of both the magical and non-magical worlds, and struggle against two new big-bads.

With Magic Bound out in the world, it’s time to tackle the next novel in the series. In a lot of ways, writing book three isn’t so different to writing book two. It involves:

giving Steve a reason to start another quest
showing more of both the magical world and the futuristic world
lots of research into new topics like anti-gravity and world tree mythology
listening to reader reactions to the book before
revealing more about Steve and his family’s connection to magic
creating a complete adventure that leaves enough undone for the story to continue

Book three picks up almost immediately after the end of Magic Bound and addresses an issue mentioned by several readers – where are Steve’s parents? That is Steve’s reason for continuing his journey into magic.

In book three, you’ll read about many of the familiar locations you already know – Darkacre, the Haven Robotics Corporation offices, and the Council controlled Confluence too – but Steve will visit plenty of new places too, both magical and workaday.

There’ll be more information on Steve and his family, and revelations aplenty about their connection with the world of magic.

There’s an old foe to parry with and a new threat too, more powerful than any that Steve has faced before.

While there’s always room for change when writing a novel, one thing I know for sure is that this isn’t a trilogy. Book three is not the end for Steve and his friends.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with my writing news, and receive a free short story too, why not sign up to my Author News.

17th January 2022

What you can expect from me in 2022

Does anyone else feel like 2021 was a practice run for 2022? Not that it was terrible; plenty of good stuff came into my life last year. It just felt like wading through mud in fluffy slippers whilst balancing an overfilled suitcase on my shoulders. That’s why my phrase for this year is ‘back on course’. Back on course with getting out into the world, back on course with writing books, and back on course with getting those books out to you, dear reader.

Book 2 of the Haven Chronicles

Unfortunately, my publisher’s schedule for 2021 meant that the second instalment in my fantasy series didn’t make it out of the stalls last year. The good news is that book 2 will definitely be published in the first half of 2022.

Over the next few months, I’ll be asking for beta readers to help me polish my novel and ARC readers to get the word out to the reading community. I’ll also be revealing the book’s title and cover design. If you want to get involved as either a beta or ARC reader, drop me an email or register with Burning Chair’s reader group.

I can’t wait to share Steve’s continuing journey into magic with you.

Social media for authors

My book of social media advice for authors is in the hands of Burning Chair. In the meantime, you can find plenty of advice for authors on my copywriting blog.

Social Media for Authors will be published in 2022 or 2023.

Writing Book 3

While I waited to hear back about book 2 last year, I began to write the next novel in the series, and that will continue in 2022. I greatly admire authors who can write a first draft in a couple of months, but unfortunately that isn’t me. The target is to have the first draft of book 3 finished by the autumn. Fingers crossed.

Subscriber treats

In my December newsletter, I let subscribers access a deleted scene from Haven Wakes. The plan is to get subscriber eyes on deleted scenes regularly throughout the year – perhaps on a quarterly basis.

If you haven’t signed up for my Author News yet, you can subscribe here.

Writers are readers too

Last year, I only managed to read ten fiction books. In 2022, I want to increase that to at least twelve. Christmas presents and shopping got me off to a good start with my to-be-read pile. I have nine physical books and one e-book (Ghosts: Being the Experiences of Flaxman Low by K and Hesketh Pritchard) so far.

That means lots of 2022 book reviews on my Instagram and plenty of book recommendations in my newsletter too.

So that’s my writerly and readerly 2022 mapped out. Fingers crossed, it all goes to plan. I’ll keep you posted.

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

24th July 2021

The Summer Life of Fi

Summer time, and the living is ea-zee… ♫♪

Or at least it is if you don’t have to write a blog post when you’ve nothing much to say. You see, while I wait for my publisher to get back to me on Book 2 of the Haven Chronicles, life is just normal and un-writerly. Well, kind of. Let me explain.

Writing something else

Okay, the summer life of Fi isn’t totally un-writerly because I am working on another book, a non fiction offering that brings together my author and copywriter hats. Having said that, it’s almost finished and will be flying off into the inbox of my publisher by the end of July.

Copywriting, as usual

Ok, so my normal working life is reasonably writerly. I create articles and blog posts for clients under my copywriter hat. Articles like this – How To Find Profitable Work From Home Jobs and my own blog posts too. This one is for authors – How Authors Can Find Out Where Their Readers Are Online.

Cutting down my TBR list

I’m desperately behind with my TBR list so I’m tackling that over the summer. Expect lots of book reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and on my social media too. My current read is the chilling, ghostly, and very theatrical I Am Dust by Louise Beech.

Thinking about the next book to write

While my publisher has the second book in the Haven Chronicles series, I’m planning out where I will take Steve next, who will accompany him, and how much more danger I can throw at the poor lad. It’s looking good so far.

Walking the hound and making memories

My morning walks with Bailey are a brilliant way to gently wake up my brain before the day’s work begins. Early evening dog-walks mark clocking-off time.

The summer weather and my teens being off over the holidays gives me the perfect excuse to drag us all out for a trek or two. Yesterday I took them to the zoo. We saw alpacas, and snakes, and an owl called Bovril.

So there you go, the summer life of Fi. What about you? What are you doing over the holidays?

22nd January 202116th November 2021

What you can expect from me in 2021

I meant to write this blog post at the beginning of January but time got away with me. In fact, I think that’s a sign of what the rest of my year is going to be like – busy, busy, busy.

While much of the world was on hold in 2020, it feels like 2021 is the year when we pick ourselves up and ask, ‘what’s the best way to cope now that we know what a pandemic looks like?’. That’s how I’m tackling it.

So where will the Life of Fi go in 2021?

Book Two of the Haven Chronicles

The still unnamed (I know, I know) second book in my fantasy series is with my publisher for edits. I’m doing my best to stay calm and button-lipped while I wait, but I’m honestly excited to see what they think and how they feel my baby (sorry, manuscript) could be improved.

The plan is to release Book Two later in 2021. So, as they (someone?) say, watch this space.

I wrote about my editing process back in 2019, in Once upon an edit.

Book Three of the Haven Chronicles

One of the challenges of writing a series of books is ‘shiny object syndrome’. I’m happily working on book two and my mind wanders off to all the things I could do in book three, four and five.

So while my current focus is on getting Book Two out into the big, wide world, I have a brimming notepad filled with ideas on how the series will unfold. In fact, I may soon be moving onto a second notepad.

Once Book Two is polished to its final version, I’ll be getting on with writing Book Three. I already know exactly how it starts. Steve and the darkling are still in hot water and it’s only going to get worse.

2020 Together and 2021 Still Together

Along with all the other contributors, I’m still doing my best to promote two anthologies of shorts created to raise money for the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 appeal. To date, we’ve raised over a thousand pounds for the NHS appeal.

By the way, none of the contributors make any money from 2020 Together and 2021 Still Together. All profits go to the NHS.

Find both anthologies here.

My Other Book

I’m also working on something else, a book that will bring together both my experience as an author and as a copywriter too. It’s a non fiction book for a group of people that I love to support.

Writing it is a completely different experience to penning a novel, but I’m enjoying the process immensely.

More about that later this year.

So there you have it – my focus for 2021. Oh, and just in case you’ve assigned yourself a word for the year, here’s mine,

progress

What have you got planned for 2021 and what’s your word for the year?

Image by iXimus from Pixabay

6th January 2020

My writerly plan for 2020

So here we are again at the start of a shiny-new year. The Christmas decorations are packed away in the attic, the chocolates have all been eaten, and I don’t want to see another mince pie for at least 11 months (okay, maybe 10).

Today is my first full day back at work and I’ve spent it doing a lot of looking back, looking forward, and generally re-assessing my writing goals for 2020 and beyond.

Haven Chronicles Book 2

With Haven Wakes published and out in the big, wide world, my biggest goal in 2020 is to complete the next book in the series and hand it over to my publisher, Burning Chair.

Book 2 has a working title of ‘Haven Journeys’ which might give a slight hint as to what Steve Haven does next.

I used last November’s NaNoWriMo to kickstart writing that novel and while I didn’t complete the full 50,000 words needed for the month’s challenge, I still wrote a respectable chunk which allowed me to see whether the initial premise for this book actually worked. The answer to that was, “yes, partly”.

So with a re-jigged plan, a new geographical destination, and an altered ending, it’s all go on the second book in the series. Wish me luck.