What to write next? The results
Last week I asked my fans via my social media channels to vote on what I should write next. I have more or less finished Templar Assassin, the sequel to Templar Traitor (below), my novel based on a true story about an Englishman who fought for Genghis Khan, and it will be a couple of months before I get the edits back from my publisher Canelo. So what should I get stuck into in the interim, I asked. The choices I put before them were these, plus, in reverse order, the percentage who voted for them.
Time-travelling James Bond – 4%
This is pretty much a Ronseal idea. A British secret agent travels back in time by some “quantum” mechanism to “fix” various battles, and make sure the good guys (ie, the British) win. A chance for me to write stories about Waterloo, Rourke’s Drift, Agincourt, etc. But there was little enthusiasm of this idea.
More King Arthur stories – 12%
I wrote a low fantasy King Arthur novel last year, The Broken Kingdom (below), but it didn’t do all that well. Maybe because I released it in dribs and drabs of five chapters each. A bit like Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles but with dragons. Anyway, there doesn’t seem to be much support for more of these.
Victorian crime novel – 12%
I wanted to do a crime series set in Victorian London with Dickensian characters a bit like Fagin, the Artful Dodger and Bill Sykes, but with a clever confidence man (based on a real guy) as the hero. Might still write this one day. But few people wanted this. Maybe I didn’t explain the high concept well enough.
Continue with Gates of Stone – 16%
This came as a bit of a surprise. I didn’t mention it in the original blog but a fair chunk of people wanted me to continue my epic high fantasy story set in an imaginary 18th-century Indonesia. This might very well happen. Watch this space. I really want to finish this story I just need the time and energy to do it.
More Vikings – 20%
I suggested writing a spin-off of the Fire Born novels, which began with The Last Berserker (below), basically a Son of Bjarki story, but based in Britain. This is still something I might do one day.
And the clear winner is . . . More Robin Hood – 36%
I published the 11th Outlaw Chronicles novel this year, Robin Hood and the Heretic Prince (below), and the largest number of people who voted said they would like me to write the 12th and final novel in this long-running series. So this is what I’m going to do. I shall begin work on Monday on Robin Hood and the Holy Grail. And I expect to have a full novel ready for self-publishing in the spring/summer of 2026.
So, more Robin Hood it is. Thanks to everyone who voted. The people have spoken!
Comments (2)