2026 will be a good year for dragons, they said. Someone said. Or perhaps I saw it on TikTok? Dragons of the Chinese zodiac; not actual dragons. The year of the fire horse was meant to be great for us. Professionally. That’s the problem with the internet these days; a lot of shallow statements without the deeper exploration of facts.
Despite my severe lack of professional achievements this year, I am focusing on the wins: first edit of Pendragon done, second edit done, new readers for The Future King series (who have been propelling me through the ball pit that is writing a novel – you know who you are, thank you!), book cover designed – and the realisation that I just need to enjoy this process. I am, after all, attempting to accomplish what I previously accomplished in a timespan of about 5 years in 2 (and now also with children). And, as a more in-depth astrological dive tells me, in the year of the fire horse dragons need to beware of burning out.
At least my current unemployment has given me more time than I otherwise would have had to actually work on Pendragon (despite, of course, the endless job applications). Fuck you, AI. Though perhaps it’s unfair to put all the blame on the thing that the fuckwits say will either be our saviour or our doom; it’s people who are choosing to throw others in the bin for the sake of this new snake oil machine whose sole purpose (as far as I can tell) is to steal words and faces and lives and to fuck the planet and make sure you will never be able to think again at all.
All this is to say that Pendragon is unlikely to be published in what little is left of 2026; I am just starting my next major rewrite (this one will get every scene and chapter “book ready”, and I will also recklessly cut even more words I spent the last two years or so writing). It’s likely to take at least a month and a half, which lands us in November, and then my manuscript will need to go to my beta readers, be edited again, be formatted and proofed… you get it.
Onwards and upwards, as they say. It would be foolish to rush the final stages of the editing process just for the sake of avoiding a 7-year gap between Logres 2 and Pendragon. I apologise, though, to anyone who is eagerly awaiting the next book in The Future King series – you’ll have to wait a little while longer yet. But I can assure you this – when the book does finally come out, I’ll make sure it’s bloody good.
M. L. Mackworth-Praed 