News & Events

Made in Dorrigo Day, December 8

For folks on the North Coast of NSW, I’ll have a stall at the Made in Dorrigo Day, 8 December (ie the Saturday after next). Hope to see you there. If you’re missing any of my books I’ll have all of them. If you want something signed, I’ll be ready. if you just want a chat, come along. Info: https://www.facebook.com/MadeinDorrigo/

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Manuscript Assessment and Mentoring

November 17, 2018

I’ve done a lot of manuscript assessment, story editing and mentoring over the past twenty years, and I’m now offering it as a regular service. Find out more on the services I offer, how it works and what it costs, HERE.

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A Miniature Christmas

November 5, 2018

I have a story – Goblin Christmas – in this illustrated Christmas anthology for kids, out today (though some sites are saying December 1). I had such fun writing it.

Other contributors include Pamela Freeman, Dianne Bates, Juliet Marillier and George Ivanoff. More info here.

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Where to buy my Books

November 4, 2018

People often say that they can’t find where to buy my books – perhaps because they don’t come up properly in an online bookseller search, or they don’t know where to buy my books in their own country.

The best place to start is the relevant page on my new website – because the designers put in more than 700 individual book and audiobook links!!! It took ages.

Please see the sidebars for each of the 33 individual book pages, eg A Shadow on the Glass.

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Do you Love Maps?

November 1, 2018

All the maps for my fantasy novels (including my children’s series The Runcible Jones quartet and the humorous kid’s fantasy Grim & Grimmer quartet) can be found on my Maps page. There are also some early draft maps, hand drawn.

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What are the Glyphs, Anyway?

October 31, 2018

Even after twenty years, people still ask about the 33 ‘runes’ around the covers of the original four books of The View from the Mirror. They’re actually glyphs, and are the same as the glyphs around the border of the mysterious, dangerous and deceitful ancient artefact, the Mirror of Aachan.

The 33 glyphs here form part of the syllabary of an ancient Charon language which has 98 glyphs. A syllabary is a script where each character represents a syllable rather than a single letter. I’ve done a brief post on them on my blog.

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Do Research on my Books – or on Speculative Fiction

October 30, 2018

If anyone is interested in undertaking university research or study of my books, or SF/fantasy in general, Fisher Library at The University of Sydney has all the drafts of all of my first 29 books, and my shorter stories and articles, plus all my other writing papers and correspondence from the past 25 years – and I’m currently preparing the latest material for donation.

The Laws of Magic

October 28, 2018

An authentic and believable fantasy world has to follow consistent rules. It must seem as if magic (mancery, wizardry, the Secret Art, etc) really exists, and both author and readers have to know what can – and more importantly, what can’t – happen in this world. Here are the rules I follow in my Three Worlds epic fantasy series, my other fantasy novels and my children’s books.

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Three Worlds Timeline – by popular demand

October 25, 2018

For the many readers who’ve asked for a chronology of the Three Worlds, I’ve put together a rough guide. I’ll update it from time to time.

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The Fatal Gate Audiobook

October 24, 2018

The Fatal Gate audiobook is now available for pre-order from all the usual places, and will be available for download from early November. CD versions available later in November.

It’s read by Grant Cartwright, who has read most of my audiobooks, and contains 22 hours and 7 minutes of drama, excitement, suspense, passion and action and terror, some heart-achingly poignant moments (if I say so myself) … and a BIG surprise or two at the end.

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New Song of the Tears Covers

October 20, 2018

I’ve just received the last of the updated Song of the Tears covers, for The Destiny of the Dead. The three covers can be seen on the Song of the Tears page.

It’s been a huge effort getting the right look for these covers, and getting them done to my satisfaction. I’m particularly pleased with this cover, which illustrates one of the key scenes in the book, and depicts why the title is The Destiny of the Dead.

It also brings to fulfilment an enigmatic statement made by a key character at the end of Chimaera, the final book of The Well of Echoes quartet.

The new print editions will be available in hardcover and trade paperback late in 2018.

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The Gates of Good & Evil Quartet

October 17, 2018

The third book became so big that I had to take a break from it for a while to think things through (a similar thing happened with the third book of what was intended to be The Well of Echoes trilogy, and it turned into a gigantic quartet – such is the writing life!).

I’ve decided to split the third book into two and make The Gates of Good & Evil into a quartet. Book 3 will be called The Pinnacles of Skyrock, and Book 4 The Sapphire Portal. Both books will be published towards the end of 2019.

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Other Forthcoming Fiction

October 11, 2018

I’ve completed a brand new fantasy novel, set in an alternative version of our world, but I’m not saying any more about it right now.

I’m also working on a thriller set a couple of decades in the future, a standalone, called The Trial (Nuremberg for Climate Criminals). It’s a short book and it’ll be finished this year. I have no publishing details at this stage.

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Forthcoming Non-Fiction

October 2, 2018

I’m currently working (in what’s laughably known as my spare time) on a book based on my long article The Truth About Publishing, which has been republished in abbreviated form by various Australian and international writers’ centres, and referenced in many creative writing courses. Parts of the article are a bit out of date and I also plan to add quite a few new sections dealing with topics such as ebooks, print-on-demand books, audiobooks, book contracts and pitfalls, and how the publishing industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. I’m hoping the book will be available late next year.

I’m also planning a book called The Art of Storytelling, based on dozens of articles I’ve written over the years on various aspects of the craft. The book will list each of the common storytelling weaknesses I find in books and manuscripts I read (including my own work), and describe simple ways to fix each of these problems. I have no publishing details at this stage.

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Events

I have no public events scheduled at the moment.

If you’d like to equire about booking Ian for speaking events, please contact Helen Bain at Speakers Ink.