My next book is to be published on 30th September.
Already showing as an eBook for pre-order through Amazon and the paperback will appear very soon.
Thank you in advance for choosing to read this second installment of my Snow Globe series.
In June 2013, when I posted my first picture to Flickr in the hope the local paper would select it to publish, that was all it was: a picture. No words, no explanation of what it was a picture of.
Thirteen years later, following the online meeting of many, now friends, who encouraged me to write, I did, and shared my time during the care for our son between creating a garden that he could more easily access and writing.
I started by adding words to my pictures, then I wrote articles for an autism magazine, and then, with that gentle push, I wrote a book. Then a second, then a third. I can’t quite believe that my fourth is also ready to roll.
All these books are available as an eBook and paperback.
Marc’s Garden, a memoir about raising our son and understanding his disabilities. Strange Conflicts, a work of fiction, which explores questions medics cannot answer. Retribution continues the story of those characters in Strange Conflicts. Battling darkness, love, and loss.
If you have read them, thank you so much. If you intend to read them, I am honoured that you are.
Retribution will be available very soon, and my fourth book will hopefully be available sometime next year.
Retribution is my second fictional book, which expands into a sweeping dark fantasy that deepens both its mythology and its emotional core, following Theo as he confronts the full impact of his ancient purpose. Bound to his severely disabled physical body yet awakened to immense spiritual power, Theo exists between worlds, fragile in flesh, formidable in spirit. After surviving a devastating medical crisis, he begins to remember who he has always been. The reincarnated guardian who once banished Chaos beyond the boundaries of creation.
That banishment is failing.
As cracks spread between realms, demonic forces long imprisoned begin to rise. Led by ancient entities such as Lamashtu, Typhon, and Erebus, the darkness seeks retribution against the one who condemned it to exile. While villages are attacked and fear spreads like a contagion, Theo is drawn ever deeper into the spiritual realm, where his presence is both a beacon of hope and a provocation to the underworld’s void.
Theo’s journey is one of descent, literal and symbolic. When the fragile thread connecting his spirit to his physical body is severed, he finds himself trapped beyond the living world, forced to navigate limbo and hell without the comfort of knowing he can return. The underworld is not merely a place of torment, but a vast, ordered domain whose ancient guardians have grown stagnant, resentful, and corrupted by the very darkness they were meant to contain. To survive, Theo must confront them not as a weapon, but as a ruler reclaiming an authority he barely remembers how to wield.
Yet power alone is not enough. Theo’s greatest fear is not death, but becoming something cold and merciless, another tyrant shaped by the abyss. Throughout his descent, he clings to the relationships that have defined him. The unconditional love of his parents, Natalie and Adam, the quiet strength of his allies, and most powerfully, his love of Clementine. These connections remind him that compassion, not dominance, is what once allowed him to defeat Chaos. In hell, where empathy is treated as weakness, Theo learns that it is, in fact, his greatest strength.
Above, the battle continues without him. Natalie and Adam awaken fully to their own forgotten roles as guardians, charged with protecting Theo’s vulnerable body in the physical world while demonic forces circle ever closer. In another realm, Clementine, Annie, Tobias, Naomi, Stephen and others rally a besieged village, discovering that fear fuels the enemy, while unity and love strip it of power. Each confrontation reveals the cost of the war, not just in blood, but in spirit, as hope is tested and faith nearly breaks.
Loss becomes unavoidable. When Stephen is claimed by the darkness, the war ceases to be abstract. His believed death reverberates across realms, sharpening the resolve of those left behind and reminding them that survival is not guaranteed, even for the brave. For Theo, the loss is devastating, but it also clarifies his purpose. He understands that saving creation does not mean preventing death, but ensuring that love, memory, and meaning endure beyond it.
In the depths of hell, Theo confronts the escaped mother and father of all demons and the darkness at its source. Rather than destroy it through force, he turns its nature against itself, commanding the guardians of the underworld to restore balance and accept responsibility for what they allowed to fester. In doing so, Theo reclaims his role not as a conqueror, but as a steward, one who governs through understanding rather than fear.
When the realms finally begin to stabilise, Theo learns that his compassion was never bound to a single lifeline or body. It exists in every bond he has forged, every life he has touched, and every act of love that defies despair. Even as the immediate threat is contained, the world is irrevocably changed, and so is Theo. He emerges not unscarred, but resolute, aware that the war against Chaos is not a single battle, but an ongoing choice.
I am delighted to announce that the sequel to my book, Strange Conflicts, titled “Retribution,” is now under contract and will be released as an eBook and a paperback in the coming months.
The story picks up where Strange Conflicts left off, taking Theo on a journey you cannot imagine.
My publisher wrote, “Thank you so much for sending us your story, “Retribution.” Your writing expands the story into a rich, dark fantasy that balances sweeping mythology with deep emotional resonance. What shines is the way Theo’s journey blends epic stakes with human vulnerability, creating a protagonist who is powerful because he feels. Your worldbuilding is vivid and assured, moving confidently between realms while keeping the emotional core strong. An excellent read. Well done!”
I’ll keep you posted on upcoming details.
Retribution …
The second book in my snow globe trilogy, provisionally titled Retribution, it will be a bit darker than the story covered in the soon-to-be-published Strange Conflicts.
Yes, it continues to reflect both the realities and my hopes for our son’s life journey, which includes multiple complex health issues such as autism and epilepsy. It captures an inner strength and a love he is unable to recognise as his own. Yet I see it every day as I support him.
Please remember to subscribe to my newsletter, which will launch on 1st September. Simply follow the link on my website ‘Newsletter’ page and subscribe. I will discuss my writing, gardening, and Marc’s health in greater detail in the newsletter than I do on my social media.