Teaser...

It was a surprise yesterday to get an email from Will, my editor at Macmillan. I am so deeply into The Last Free City at the moment that it's easy to forget that The Dog of the North still has a commercial existence. Will's email was to show me the a first proof of the cover for the paperback edition. I hadn't seen it before so I opened it with some anticipation but also a little trepidation...

I can't share it the image at this stage, because it's still in draft, but what I can say is that it's significantly different from the hardback. It's also, and this is purely a subjective judgement, bloody brilliant! It's more obviously a fantasy novel, but manages to avoid the garishness which mars so many fantasy covers. Where the hardback used black, orange and blue-white as its palette, the paperback is a study in what might be called "burnt sepia". It's a restricted palette but it's also a very effective one. I'm delighted that the "city in flames" illustration, while updated, remains on the paperback too. I've never written a story in which something hasn't caught fire, and to see flames on the cover thrills this closet pyromaniac...

Now, back to The Last Free City, where I am hoping to write the key scene of the novel tomorrow.