The Rights and The Pluff (Mar 31, 2026)

This week I learned that my US publisher, Tor Books, has agreed to revert the rights to the four books in the Sword of Shadows series. This means I’m now free to move forward with publishing Endlords and reissuing A Cavern of Black Ice, A Fortress of Grey Ice, A Sword From Red Ice and Watcher Of The Dead. As soon as I know more, I’ll let you know.

Your lady author has also started work on an entirely new book. I need something to do while I wait to hear from various publishers. I’m already one fifth of the way through it, and hope to have it finished by July, when I will return to writing the final book in the SOS series, A Sword Named Loss.

The new book is about a sorcerer and the baby he conspires to be abandoned. It’s like Three Men & A Baby meets Game Of Thrones. You can read the first five chapters or so here and let me know what you think.

Yours, JV

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New Site, New Journal (Mar 27, 2026)

Thanks for stopping by. My brother Paul and I have been working on the new website design for a couple of months. It’s not completely built-out yet but you’re welcome to kick the tires, open the doors and get in touch. We’re glad you’re here.

It’s been a while. I finished Endlords in September, after a year of working round-the-clock. The manuscript's a long one, weighing in at 260,000 words and a whopping 67 chapters. Library Journal once described me as writer who ‘gets better with every book’ and that’s definitely how I feel about Endlords. It’s the best book in the series and the best book I’ve ever written. All the character we know and love—Raif, Ash, Effie, the Dog Lord, Raina and Angus Lok—are back. And a couple of new ones, too.

The Endlords are stirring, focusing the vast turning wheel of their attention on the North. Evil rises. The Unmade walk the earth in unimaginable numbers. The book asks two questions of its characters: What will you do to survive? And when will you step forward and fight?

I write without an outline so I’m never sure what’s going to happen from page-to-page. Some characters surprise me with their boldness, others with their bravery or recklessness, or ingenuity.

Some do not survive.

I cannot wait for you to read the book.

So what’s happening with the manuscript? Good question. Neither my US nor UK publisher will be publishing Endlords. They decided the wait between books was too long. This surprised me, but luckily we live in 2026 where there are other ways to get Endlords to you. That’s what I’m working on right now, researching the best way to get the book to you as quickly and economically as possible.

Thank you for sticking by me as I went through some pretty difficult years. I’m very grateful for your loyalty and support. I never lost sight of my readers or the need to finish the book. As soon as I was able to write full-time I went to work and got Endlords done.

Now I have to go to work again, to get Endlords out into the world.

So that’s what I’m doing. I’ll let you know what’s happening every step of the way. Stop by for updates. As soon as I know something you’ll know it, too.

Yours, JV

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