It is a ghastly hot day here. I have done little but gather in another batch of elderflowers and pop them in the freezer to make more wine from later in the year. I am hoping I will get six or seven batches of flowers to keep me going all year. 
I also had to pop some champagne yeast into the elderflower champagne this morning as it was not beginning to ferment on its own.
OK, some *sigh* book news. I have just accepted an offer from HarperCollins for worldwide publication of a standalone novel called The Devil’s Diadem, probably published worldwide in May of 2011. This will likely be my final foray into fantasy – I seriously doubt I will ever write another fantasy novel. After this I am off to do something different. As so often happens, when you are faced with a life-threatening situation, your priorities change, and I am afraid that fantasy is part of the ‘out-the-door’ changes. But before I left, I wanted to do that single novel I’d always wanted to write but for various reasons never did.
So this one’s for me.
The Devil’s Diadem is set in 12th century England – well, actually mostly in the wild Welsh Marches at the castle of one of the powerful Marcher Lords. It is a historical fantasy with, when you come to think about it, relatively little fantasy – in the Mists of Avalon tradition, really. The story begins in the Dark Ages, when a mad old monk found his way down to Hell and stole the Devil’s favourite diadem.
Now the Devil wants it back.
I’m looking forward to it. I’ve already begun writing it and am loving it. This one is going to be the fun one.
Oooh how exciting a new book…and then a new direction.What ARE you gonna be when you grow up??…grin
I want to be a fireman when I grow up, Bronnie. 🙂
(Oh my lord, I have been asked the same sum twice in a row, now. I should add that since adding this feature spam has been cut to virtually zero.)
I want to be a big kid 😉
I hope you enjoy your new project, and what ever comes next!
Book launch at Fullers???
Best of luck Sara for wherever life’s journey takes you – enjoy the ride.
Cheers
I’m glad this will be the fun one for you, and then whatever you desire after that!
Zelda, probably Ellison Hawker rather than Fullers – Fullers is waaaaaaaay too upmarket for me! LOL
I did my stint at writing today and have since been engaged in pulling up the carpet from my office floor. I am afraid the cats have, um, wrecked it. By foul means and fouler.
God knows what my dear housekeeper will say tomorrow when she sees it. Likely nothing as she tends to accept whatever is thrown in her path.
Well, Sara, I’m sad that we won’t know the rest of the Maxamillian/ Ishelle story. But I’m still really excited for you, and I will happily read anything you write (including blogs on gardening).
PS I like how “ghastly hot” in Tassie = about 30 degrees? It’s 35 here in Melbourne!
Ishelle? Who’s Ishelle? You know who I mean … *nervous laugh*
The trilogy is completed, final book coming out in May next year. That was written well before I developed cancer, just got held up in editorial stages while I had treatment.
So devil’s diadem is the one after.
Unfortunately the Maximilian/Ishbel trilogy ends on a, um, uncertain note, so now you will actually never know the end of the story. 😉 I wrote it with an opening for a further book in mind, but now there won’t be.
Ms. Sara,
Thank you so much for taking the time out to reassure us that the final book was coming out in the Serpent bride Series. I myself had to have a hysterectomy and have ovaries and other stuff dissected off of my diaphragm here in the USA, Last October. That was when I discovered your book; The Serpent Bride. The US cover was so intriguing that I had to have it. I bought it at the hospital gift shop on the first day they let me out of bed. I sent my husband to Barnes and Nobles the Next day for the Twisted Citadel. The next week when I got out of the hospital I was in love with your books so as soon as they let me drive (the dr) I decided to go to Barnes and Nobles and see what I could find. I began with Axis and purchased over the next three or four weeks all of your books and have now read them all.
Your books have certainly helped me recover, and if going in a new direction helps you recover, I can’t wait to see that new direction. Thank you for keeping us involved and up to date on everything that you are doing. I love the garden, and I love translating the recipes into Standard units from metrics ( 😛 )
I get my kids involved so that they get some exposure to conversions.
Thank you again for sharing your life and your garden with us, your fans.
I am sorry I should clarify, as I cant edit my other post. When I say Axis was the next book I picked up, I mean BattleAxe and the Books of the Axis Trilogy. After reading the Darkglass Mountain books, I wanted to get to know him and see and feel his story. I am sure that you gathered that, but I am worried that I sound silly.
I am babbling on, but its impossible for me to express in a few words how much being able to escape into your worlds’ has helped me over this past 13 months and 6 days. I cant say thank you enough.
At last Sara. I’m glad to know that the single book will finally be written. Take you time & enjoy.
I also want to know what you will be when you grow up 🙂
Thank you for the update, I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the end of the trilogy and now the Devil’s Diadem. Thank you for all the great fantasy books you have given to us, they are a great escape from the everyday world.
Sara,
The story of your garden has enough twists and turns for me!
How have you found the change in climate from Bendigo to Hobart. Has it forced many changes on your gardening regimen?
Who can wait till MAY … I will pencil that in 🙂 GL on your new endevours looking foward to reading it all
Dear Sara
I was so very sad to hear your Fantasy writing days are coming to a close, your books have given me years of pleasure, I can’t wait for the last Darkglass Mountain to be released & then will be waiting for the new book but it will be tinged with sadness as there will be no more. However I have also loved watching you transform Nonsuch & spend my lunch break having a look at what you’ve been up to in the garden each day, I’m amazed that you have created such beauty. A real fantasy brought to life.I can’t wait to see the direction you choose for your next endeavour, you are an amazing woman who has already achieved so much & given such joy to thousands of people. May your health continue to bloom along with your garden. xxx
May! Oh, I am really excited to hear that the third Darkglass Mountain book is on its way! I will be very sad to see you depart from fantasy writing. I have spent so many hours reading and rereading your books, as well as sharing them with other people. Thanks for contributing so much! Especially the Icarii. I love them dearly.
Hi Sara
I am just about to start your book Threshold that a friend gave to me. I was amazed to find out you live in Tassie, I live up the North West part of Tassie and understand totally what you mean by the weather this year it has seemed to rain and rain and rain and the get hot. I love reading about your garden, my Grandmother was an avid gardner and also did a lot of preserving. You remind me a lot of her, when you talk about your garden.
Dear Sara,
Pleased to hear another book on the way, sad to know that fantasy has come to an end. However I must express great appreciation and respect for your efforts. I am a huge fan of your writing, your books dominate my bookshelf. I must admit it has been hard to read others (my cousin has been pushing me to read ‘Twihlight’ of all things, I find it quite juvenile like Harry Potter :P.)it would not be the same so I think I’ll need to grieve but I will get over it :).
Many thanks for your stories and updates. I wish you all the best and hope your new turn will be fulfillng. 🙂
Please excuse any typing errors, my 1 year old is a handful lol.
I am sad for me that you are not doing fantasy writing any more, but I am very happy for you. Sometimes you just have to do what feels good for you, not what is expected of you. I myself am an avid reader, and I am delighted just to be able to read your trials and tribulations in your garden. They encourage my own attempts in my own garden. If something makes you happy then go for it! I wish you the greatest of joy, in whatever you do.
Dear Sara,
I want to start out by thanking you so much for the wonders you have created in your books. I still remember the day I picked up The Wayfarer Redemption. I was heading to find a friend in Barnes and Noble and the spine caught my attention (Probably had to do with the red bar across the top saying $3.99). It sounded interesting so I bought and read it. Before I knew it, I had finished all 6 books, Beyond the Hanging Wall, and Threshold. I got my mom, step-mom, one of my cousins, and a few of my friends all hooked and went to find more. I then started The Crucible Trilogy and finally The Troy Game (my favorite series). After that, there was a space where I had no more of your books which made me sad. I got excited when I found out about The Darkglass Mountain trilogy and read both books as soon as they came out. When I found out about your cancer I was upset. Something like that shouldn’t happen to someone as amazing as you. I expected that you wouldn’t want to write any more so I settled with the fact that I wouldn’t see the end of The Darkglass Mountain. On a whim, I decided to check on your gardening website again and saw this post. Made my day completely. One again, thanks for everything you do and I hope you keep strong.
Hi Sara,
While I love knowing that a book (in a trilogy I am yet to read – must read it to see what happens to the SunSoars and Maximilian) will be out soon, I am more interested in knowing whether freezing the elder flowers for ‘later’ is/will work. Have you tried this before? I’m not sure I have enough flowering just yet to attempt brewing anything.
ps, its wonderful to know you are a ‘real’ person with dying seedlings and hunting cats (just like me!)
I read on a website that you can freeze the flowers for later, so I am trusting to it. I haven’t yet tried to make anything from the frozen elderflowers.
Hi Sara,
Just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful series of Axis, Wayfarer and The Troy Game. I am happy that there will be a third in the Darkglass series, I too have been reading about your marvelous garden and am very envious of it, (my garden is a jungle of weeds)Once again many thanks for the endless hours of losing myself in your world, you are an amazing woman.
Wow I didn’t know you could leave comments. I am so glad you are feeling so much better. I would have wrote sooner but I didn’t know how to contact you. I have read all your books so far and think you are great.
Theresa
I have spend the last hour and a half trying to track down the last book of the darkglass mountain series. I was afraid I was going to have deja vu (Issobelle Carmody’s Series, the final book of which I have been waiting for the last 10 years) and thank goodness I can now rest my head tonight knowing that the trilogy will be out soon.
Sara so sorry to hear about your health scare and I hope everything is ok usa with you now. I have read most of your books and they have been an oasis I can run to when things get too overwhelming in my life (3 kids, working full time, yada yada).
I still hope you finish off the darkglass series if the last book leaves an opening for more.. maybe you can have a 3 year break and then come back and finish it 😀
Pretty please :D:D:D
Cheers,
Helen
Sara,
I, like the person above me, have spent the last hour and a half trying to locate Infinity Gate (US), and I am happy to hear that it is/ will be available. I had a similar experience with Ann Bertin’s trilogy, of which the last installment was never written (10 years ago). I just tore through the first trilogy with Axis/Azhure and have been sucked into this new world with Axis/Maxel/Ishbel that you have wonderfully told. I admire your writing ability and style immensely; how you develop characters and make the reader love, hate, empathize, distrust, or trust them with your writing is real and rare talent. I have shared my books with my husband, who is reading the BattleAxe series now.
I am sorry to hear about your health situation, and I hope that you are doing okay. I certainly understand about life-changing experiences and the need to close the chapter and start anew. . . Given the fact that many are in love with the characters in the DarkGlass series, maybe Maxel and Ishbel could foyer into Sci Fi or Romance genres?? 🙂
No matter which genre you choose next, your character development and forshadow skills are unparalleled. Please keep introducing us to new worlds of complex races and characters!
Dear Sara,
I am happy to hear you are doing better. I wanted to share my Axis story with you. Years ago I was dating a boy who let me borrow the first Axis book. I quickly went out and got the other two. As I live in Ohio, US I did not have access to Sinner, Pilgrim, Crusader and would not for three more years. Thanks to the internet I was able to order them from an Australian bookstore, wait 6 weeks,and read to my hearts content. Thank you for all the wonderful stories over the years, I appreciate it.
Dear Sara, I would like you to know that I finished reading the Infinity Gate just yesterday. It was the perfect start for this new year. Because of some problems with my local book stores I wasn’t able to get this novel until last week. I live in Belgium and unfortunately your novels are very rare in my country. But thanks to amazon I am now only Threshold away from a complete collection of your fantasy novels. And I am looking forward to the devil’s diadem. I keep asking myself where do you find your inspiration. I have to admit, I find mine in your novels (Proof of this are the wings tatooed on my back) I wish you the best of succes for 2011. Your biggest Belgian fan.