More Robin Hood? More Vikings? Something new? What to write next
I’m nearly done with the first draft of Book 2 of my Mongol Knight series – Templar Assassin, the sequel to Templar Traitor (below) – and I am pondering what to write next while I wait for my editor to read it and give me his comments. So I’d like to invite my fans to tell me what they think I should write over the next couple of months. I can’t promise to do what you tell me but I will be influenced by what you suggest.
Another Robin Hood?
I think I am going to stop the Outlaw Chronicles at twelve books. That’s enough. As many of you know, Robin dies in The Death of Robin Hood – hey, nobody can accuse me of spoilers! But since that 2016 novel, I have written three more self-published books in the series, starting with Robin Hood and the Caliph’s Gold (below). See the full list of Outlaw Chronicles novels and short stories in chronological order here. Do you want the last one now? It will be titled Robin Hood and the Holy Grail, and I will be tying up all the loose ends as well as doing a good, gritty story set in southern France and (possibly) Spain. That Holy Grail is not going to burn itself! (Inside joke for the really dedicated Outlaw Chronicles readers.) Let me know.
Another Viking story?
I am also mulling another crack at the Viking genre. Let’s call it Son of Bjarki. I enjoyed writing the Fire Born series, which kicked off with The Last Berserker (below). But given how it ended, no spoilers, I can’t continue with that series. I was thinking of a spin-off: Bjarki’s son Erik (who has inherited his berserker “gene”) goes to England and sacks Lindisfarne Priory in AD 793 and becomes embroiled in local politics. I sensed a waning of interest in the Fire Born series after five books – do you want to read some more?
Something new?
I have a couple of ideas that I am considering for a brand new historical series. Firstly, I have done some work on a Victorian crime series, featuring a con man (based on a historical guy) who operates a Swell Mob – a gang of trickster criminals who impersonate posh people to steal their money. I would love to do a sort of Dickensian novel, full of 19th-century slang, and Fagin or Bill Sykes characters set in the filthy slums of London. I have done a bit of research on real crimes (and confidence tricks) perpetrated by real criminals back then, and I am intrigued. Does that appeal to my current readership? Let me know. Secondly, I am considering writing a historical fantasy series with a sort of time-travelling James Bond who goes to various battles, Waterloo, say, or Rorke’s Drift, participates in the fighting and has adventures at these famous conflicts. It would be an excuse to write about my favourite battles, and I think it could be fun.
More King Arthur?
I wrote the first book in a low-fantasy King Arthur series last year, The Broken Kingdom (see below), and the response was not great. Maybe because I released it in dribs and drabs. I pictured the series as a trilogy, but I’m not going to write any more of the Wormkind Chronicles if there is not sufficient interest. Let me know if you want to read more of these books. I am going to count the votes and I will be majorly influenced by what you all say. So talk to me. Give me your opinion. What book should I write next?
Templar Traitor, a novel based on the true story of the Englishman who fought for Genghis Khan, is out now in paperback, eBook and audio version. Templar Assassin will be out in the summer of 2026.
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