As I've been working on character studies for various illustrations, it occurred to me that we needed one for the mysterious, mercurial David Menlo. Here is our favorite one-handed Sorcerer looking intently at something unnameable while holding an antique thurible (a device for burning incense and used in many holy — or unholy! — ceremonies.... We'll be spending lots of time with David in The Maelstrom and I think readers will be pleased to get to know David a little better and to see his and Max's friendship grow. David might even find himself a girlfriend....

Still working on illustrations and recently did this character study of Max for one of the interior plates. We haven't scene an entire drawing of Max like this in quite some time and thus it was fun to do. I'm working on one of David at the moment (as part of another, larger drawing) and will post it shortly. The Maelstrom is really coming together nicely - can't wait to see the finished product and share it with you!

I'm still working away on drawings for The Maelstrom. Here's a fun concept sketch for a baddie we'll be meeting in the story.... Lots of fun to experiment with something in the Steampunk realm (what else would result when Prusias controls the Workshop?!?)

I'm happy to announce that there will be a fifth book to complete The Tapestry series. The development occurred as I was working on the manuscript for The Maelstrom and realizing that there were too many interesting aspects of the world and interesting story lines to explore to wrap up the series in a fourth book of manageable size (i.e., not a a thousand-page book). It's a tricky topic to broach with one's publisher - after all, they thought the series was originally going to be a trilogy - but fortunately they were open to expanding Max's tale.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am. As I was writing The Maelstrom - and thinking it would be the last book - I was agonizing over how best to economize certa [...]
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Scathach is one of the more intriguing and mysterious characters in The Tapestry. The warrior maiden plays a prominent role in Irish mythology and it's been fun to incorporate her into Max's story.

One of the more common questions I tend to get from readers has to do with Max and Scathach's relationship. We'll be learning more about that relationship and Scathach's own history in The Tapestry's final book. Needless to say, she's a compelling character as one would expect from anyone whose name means "shadow"...

Here's a sketch I've been working on for Scathach's entry into the character guide.