When Characters Grow Up and Change (and My 2026/2027 Schedule)

I'm in editing stages of Jewels of the Crown, and I haven't "taken" to the editing of it as quickly as I usually do. It's taken me a few days to figure out why, and here's the conclusion I've come to:

Lawrence's voice has changed. It's been five years since the end of Eye of the Storm and he's grown so much. In Jewels of the Crown, he's a father, a pack Alpha, but he's also a king and he's thinking like a king. He's friendlier now; he has discussions about the future with various people; he's diplomatic and he's very definitely pragmatic about all matters that affect his land and family. And good lord, he loves his family. That might sound like a strange thing to say, but remember how he was in the first two books? He'd shut everyone and everything out, and having a family in the future was such an impossibility for him, he never even contemplated it.

So, in short, it's taken me a bit of time to get used to his new voice from a reader's perspective (I have two hats when I create a book: the writer's hat which I use for actually writing, and the reader's hat which I use for read-throughs and editing). I've had to stop and ask myself, Would he say that kind of thing now? Is this who he is now? Etc, etc.

And I'm having so much fun with this! I absolutely love that his voice has changed and that's he's grown so much. I love that this allows me to stretch him (and other characters) even further, and I love that this gives me more to play around with when I write the new series to come. (More on that below...)

I was a bit worried I'd get somewhat bored writing the same characters, but they are not the same anymore, so it's a non-issue.

Pre-order available from select platforms.

More platforms will be added early November.

And if you've been out of the loop, this is the fourth and final novelette in the After the Storm mini-series, of which a collated paperback can also be pre-ordered from the link above, with more retailers being added to that list mid-January.

Drumroll, please...

New Reign: Eye of the Storm Legacy

That, above, is what the new Eye of the Storm series will be called, the first book of which (currently untitled) I'm planning to bring out in 2027 (I know, but I have other important books to write first.)

And I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you my writing and publishing schedule for 2026 and going into 2027...

Let's start from now:

2025

• 11th December: Jewels of the Crown eBook is published.

2026

• 26th February: After the Storm paperback is published.

• 30th April: Fathom's Deep is published (this is the standalone novel that will compete Selena's story).

• 27th August: Untitled - a book about Hendrickson and Amelia's past. We heard it summarised when Amelia told Lydia what had happened in Return of the Wolf, but she would have left out some important things and I want this book to give depth to their whole tragic situation. I estimate it to be between 40 and 60K words (so, a short novel).

• 17th December: Untitled - book 2 of the Blood Surge series.

2027

• April: Untitled - book 1 of the New Reign: Eye of the Storm Legacy.
• December: Untitled - book 3 of the Blood Surge series.

I also plan to bring out more hardback editions over the next two years, but they will take less of a priority to creating the new books listed above.

All future updates to the above schedule can be found on my website. And there we have it - that's the plan!

Things You Might Have Missed

Virtual signing for the Blood Surge hardback ends 6th November.

The Blood Surge paperback can be pre-ordered right now. It is released on 30th October.

I'll be at the Otherworldy Love Events book signing in London, June 4th-6th, 2026. Use code OLEDH for an early bird discount on your ticket. This is promising to be a wild and fun few days (all info and attending authors are on their website linked above) and I hope to see you there!

Have a lovely Halloween and November :)

Bright wishes,

Dianna x