The Chronicles of Iona

Hi everyone!

You may have noticed that the website is getting a bit of a ‘glow-up’—I’m in the process of adding some exciting new features to the site which I hope will help you, my gorgeous readers, immerse yourselves even more fully in the early-mediaeval world of The Chronicles of Iona. I will let you know when those features are fully loaded and ready for you to explore!

In the meantime, I’m here in Crete, hard at work on Book 5, a good part of which takes place in the Hebrides and the Orkneys—deeply evocative locations which I had the absolute pleasure of re-visiting recently while doing preliminary on-site research for the new book.

One of the things I love most about writing these stories is that Aedan and Columba had such a far-reaching and long-lasting impact on their world, both in their own lifetimes and for the subsequent history of Europe as a whole. In a period of history which is often impenetrable to the modern gaze—the Early Middle Ages, that is from about 400 to about 800 A.D., has been called ‘dark’ for a good reason; few primary sources remain—these two leap out. For me, this happily means that, as their stories widen in scope over the course of the books, so does the fictional world I get to create for them.

Next up, in Book 5, will be the west and north of Scotland, as I’ve said. And, after that, we get to Scotland’s Pictish east. By the end of the series (I’ve got 8 books planned), we’ll have had the opportunity to explore the furthest most reaches of 6^th-century Britain and Ireland …

I hope to have Book 5 out by Christmas. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at the glorious cover, which I very much love, designed with the help of the supremely talented Victoria Hamilton (thank you Vicki!). I hope you like it as much as I do!