Michael Wombat passed away from cancer on the 21st of December 2025. Before he became unable to do anything on the computer, I asked him to fill out a Q&A about our collaboration on The Summer Realm. This is what he had to say about it.
Who is Michael Wombat as a
writer? What inspired you to put words on the page, and publish books?
I wrote my first book in secret. None of the family knew
about it until I published it in 2012. Warren Peace was inspired by stories I
told my daughters about unlikely adventures of our pets at the time. I was
urged by friend and fellow author Alex Brightsmith to self publish, and have
never looked back.
What was your initial inspiration
for The Summer Realm? When did it begin?
I was reading Much Ado About Nothing, Hero’s words in Act 3:
“And bid her
steal into the pleached bower, where honeysuckles, ripen’d by the sun, forbid
the sun to enter, like favourites.”
The word
‘pleached’ (intertwined vines) struck me. I asked myself, what if stories could
be pleached and intertwined? It all stemmed from that. And then Victoria
Pearson wrote Sun Dust* and my Sundust* were probably the seeds of my interest in
entwined stories, and indirectly led to the Summer Realm.
What came first – the
worldbuilding or the character development?
One of the greatest things about this collaboration is the
way the Summer Realm world grew organically along with the characters as the
four of us wrote and exchanged ideas, picking up prompts from each other and
shaping them into something more. A minor character in one author’s tale often
turns up in another strand in a major role. Everything grew together, and that
is rather wonderful.
What made you decide to make it a
collaboration with other authors?
Well, if I was intertwining stories, it only made sense for
other authors to write the stories that would intertwine with mine.
How did you choose the authors?
Easily. I asked the three authors I know best, who are also
the most talented, and fortunately they all saw the potential in my proposal
and jumped on board. Thank goodness, because our resulting four leading
characters are all wildly different, but spark off each other brilliantly.
Did you find it easy working with
three other authors? How did you collaborate and decide on things? Were you the
main decision maker, or was it all unanimous?
It's an absolute delight working together. We natter away in
our WhatsApp group brainstorming and supporting each other. I don’t really know
whether I’m the chief arbiter: maybe at first while we were all finding our
feet, but I’ve always been keen to stress that this project belongs to all of
us, not just me, so I think by now we’re all making decisions.
Tell us more about you character,
Cleaveskull – how did he evolve as you were thinking and planning and drafting,
and were there any surprises along the way? If so, what were they?
He was almost fully formed in my head before I started,
being based on a D&D character* I role-played in the 1980s. He’s a lot more
nuanced in the books than he was then.
*Michael shared this picture of a tiny figurine he has had since the 70s of Cleaveskull's character.
Did you envisage it being a
trilogy at the beginning? Did you think it would be a longer or shorter
project? Have you been inspired to write any other stories in the same world?
Crikey, no. I thought we’d struggle to write a book thick
enough to have a spine title. The Realm, though, grew so beautifully into a rich,
deep universe that in the end I think we’re lucky to contain it in just three
books. There’s plenty of scope in the saga for sequels and spin-off too, with a
possible sequel already being roughly planned. I’ve half-written a spin-off
feel already, which may or may not see the light of day.
If you had to choose one place in
the Summer Realm to go on holiday to, where would you pick and why?
I think Shasym, the desert city. Bustling narrow streets,
loud colourful bazaars, a strong educational and artistic output, and a large
airship port.
Is there a place in the Summer
Realm there you’d like to live?
High Vebren, the city of trees, without a doubt. It’s in the
middle of a forest, with different levels, walkways and buildings all fashioned
in and among the crowded, living trees. It sits by a lake, from which the River
Vebren flows through the rest of the Realm. In my head it’s stunningly
beautiful.
* The Duo of Sundust ready by Victoria Pearson & Michael Wombat
On the 21st of December Michael Wombat lost his battle with cancer and I lost someone I had been writing alongside for more than a decade. I wanted to mark his passing by sharing how our friendship came about and developed.
I met Michael Wombat (Wombie) online, on Twitter, in 2011, and first met up with him in 2013 at a writers meet up I organised in Nottingham (top middle, and middle middle). And then the last couple of years, since his diagnosis, I have travelled over to the UK to visit him.
The last two years I have also been working on a Steampunk Dark Fantasy trilogy (we had no idea how long it would be until we wrote it), he had asked me, Victoria Pearson and Lisa Shambrook to join him in writing. We love it (cover of first one bottom left). We all have a different character and part of the map - which Wombie created, along with many more. And created excel sheets about how we would weave it together. Fortunately we finished the first draft in October, which was when he let us know he was too ill to get to his computer. I spend a frustrating couple of weeks putting all three books together into a special edition, and getting it printed and into his hands before it was too late (middle bottom picture). It's something I'll always be grateful I was able to do.
I was lucky enough to star on the covers of a couple of his books (middle left) All his books are middle right- yes I have them all, he's a brilliant writer.
And he also provided some stories in a collection of Weird, Dark, & Sci-fi fiction, I published called Slipping Through (bottom right).
He was my editor (he had superb understanding of grammar and caught everything), and he was who I turned to about my cover design. Losing him in my life will leave a big hole. He was gentle, funny, flirtatious and loved to gather people into communities, through running funny weekly online events, like Sausage League & Pie Cricket (both games guessing how many sausages/pies were on display in his takeway, creating a points system & winner each season), and Twanta (Twitter Secret Santa). To say he will be missed is a huge understatement. He touched many people's lives and souls.
My thoughts are of him today and his lovely wife Mary, and their two daughters, Ellie & Kit. All of our hearts are broken just a little bit on their behalf.💔
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have only read Jack Rollins shorts up until now, but this book made me want to dive into the first in the series of the Victorian Vampire Chronicles.
It can be read as a standalone, but it is a prequel to the series, and even crosses over with an exclusive short through Jack's website, called Tender Morsels.
We follow Father Herbert Haddon as he investigates a thief's strange reaction when receiving medical care. The tension grows when he connects some dots and contacts a friend, ending up witnessing a bizarre supernatural and bloody event in the backstreets.
Jack's use of words and ability to create the perfect old victorian city feel with dark, cobbled streets and paupers living there really makes this story work. And with the right amount of intrigue, coupled with a few dramatic and bloody fight scenes, you can't help but keep you turning the page.
If you are a horror fan, especially of vampires, don't miss it!
Book One of The Summer Realm Trilogy, Agents of Secrets and Lieswill be released on the 26th of December 2025.
The ebook is available for preorder, and the price will be discounted for pre-orders & the first 24hrs of release!
The Summer Realm is a dark steampunk fantasy series I've been busy writing in collaboration with three other authors, Michael Wombat, Victoria Pearson and Lisa Shambrook. It's about a quest to save the realm because it's under attack from Cockatrices (a real life mythological creature that look like a cross between a dragon and a rooster). We each have a different character and a different part of the map (yes, there's a map - in fact we have lots of them!) where our story takes place before they all meet at the end - though lots of smaller characters and events criss-cross, weaving it together. Tricky (the main character of my Tricky's Tales series) has been called in from her world to help, due to her ability to communicate with trees, so if you enjoyed those books, you might enjoy this too.
Here is the cover for the first book!
The dates for the following two books are also already known, as are the titles.
Book 2 - Savage Invasion will be released on February 6th 2026
Book 3 - Battle of Wind & Fire will be released on March 20th 2026.
I did open a Payhip shop, but when I finally sold something I realised that the amount of money they take didn't make it viable, so I shut it down.
So I've moved it all over to Ko-fi. I have all my ebooks available to buy and am going to be putting up signed copies of my paperbacks too over the next week. Why not take a look? There are a couple of things on sale. Click on the image below.
I've watch Gary Stevenson on YouTube and am familiar with what he is trying to do, which is help people understand why the economy is failing and why we need to tax the ultra rich, and stop believing the narrative being fed by them about immigrants. It made me curious about him, and after hearing him talk on a podcast about his book, and them saying it is as much about the class system as being a trader, I decided to buy it and read it.
I though it might be a bit beyond my understanding, all the maths and financial stuff, but like with his videos, Gary explains it in easy layman's terms, about how he became a trader, what that means and also what it involves. It helps that I come from London, and have worked in large banking institutes like Citibank, and know a few people who are traders and brokers. I understand the lifestyle and the type of people - though Gary explains that really well, and is funny with it.
It's a book that documents the financial crash of 2008 - and explains why it happened and why the economy won't recover from it. It also details how the rich are holding all the cards and ordinary people don't have a chance. This causes an emotional and moral dilemma for Gary, who comes from a poor background, and it ultimately leads to him wanting to leave Citibank who he works for, but it turns out they weren't going to let him go quite so easily. He had a fight on his hands.
An interesting insight, and enjoyable book which made compelling reading. It is very much written in Gary's tone and style of speaking, although I do feel that the publishers could have proofed it better as there are sentences that don't make sense as they are missing a word, and some terms could have been explained better. (Gary refers to the 'Square Mile' a couple of times, this is actually the colloquial name for the financial heart of central London where all the banks are, it is literally a square mile, but it is never explained, so if you aren't from London, you wouldn't know).
I was super lucky and managed to snag a signed paperback of this book while at the Indie Horror Chapter's third event at The Royal Hotel in Weston-Super-Mare.
This is a completely gripping book, from start to finish, and right up my alley with being supernatural based horror. The main character, Angela is a 'spirit painter' which means she channels visions from beyond the veil through her art. But when they turn into images of horror, with one being identical to the real life death of a right wing TV presenter, things get very scary. Her sister, Becky, returns from Italy just in time to help her untangle what is going on.
Set in the British countryside, with very real characters I loved this book. It's dark, fast-paced, with a background of political narrative that's very satisfying. It's the best thing Kev Harrison has released to date.
I've been so busy I almost forgot to post this to my blog - here are the new covers for The Jester series! 🥳
I've been looking forward to relaunching The Jester series
every since my cover designer showed me the images they thought might work. And
it's been interesting doing an overhaul of the contents too, and tightening it
up. I was reminded how mind-bending the sequel gets and how much it made my
head hurt writing it! My editor also did a great job teaching me where my
weaknesses lie even when it comes to doing minor changes. I might be an
accredited proofreader but that doesn't change the fact that every writer needs
an editor.
To celebrate the relaunch, they are both on sale for the
whole of September! You can find out more here or click on the covers to grab
the books.
The Jester two-book series is a dark, dystopian sci-fi fantasy and time travel thriller. And these new covers reflect the sinister side of the books, and how they are playing a game and not knowing who is behind the mask.
Here's what it's about:
David Sinclair has been pushed out of his own time, and finds himself slipping through parallel times to try and get back home, but first he has to find and catch The Jester, a sinister depraved man who enjoys these sick games.
David is led through dark dystopian times, and discovers there is a larger game at play, one that challenges his understanding, and threatens the existence of his world.
If you like sci-fi fantasy, evil villains and time jumping, this might be for you. But The Jester is not for the faint-hearted, he likes to partake in depraved acts of horror too.
My first book from this author. Very compelling read and novel idea, but one, like 1984, which leaves you with no hope. Some real shocks in this book, and it left me quite upset and extremely disturbed. I have to remember it's a piece of fiction. I'd dread this to ever become reality.
I was left a little unclear on a few things. The Samaratians, what were they actually doing? And at the end, why were they doing what they were doing? It's a short book that could have been more developed in my eyes, even though it was written through first person, though there are more in the series so I'll just have to read them to find out.
It left me curious, and for fans of The Walking Dead, they might like it. For me, with the current state of the world, it left me upset and a little scared.
This was a long, but worthwhile read, and it's been a while since SK wrote such a long tale. It felt like it was in two parts to me, the first about the main character Charlie Reade in the current world, and the second half in another world he discovers.
Stephen King back at his finest with developing loveable characters - including a dog. And I love how he intertwined fairy tales with it, and many of our cultural concepts around them too. And he even managed to mix in some Edgar Allan Poe in there too.
There's fantasy, there's horror, there's even romance. Written in first person, as the main character telling an incredible story, we travel with him through all sorts of life experiences and see his journey through them. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
This is the second book I have read of Robert J Ryan's and he has some great information, and explains things so well. The only downfall with this book is he constantly refers to the previous three books he has written in the series, so you have to have read them first - I have only read Book 2 in his series. He also keeps telling you to google things he talks about if you want more information, rather giving more explaination in the book. They are marketing concepts, and really I thought that was the point of this book. So although this is packed with information for self published authors there are parts that could be better. It's like he has become a little cocky at this stage - or bored with writing these books.
This is a peculiar book. On the one hand it has some fascinating stories, and on the other it's what I refer to as a 'money grab' book.
I had never heard of the author Toure, despite being a devout fan of Prince's since When Doves Cry became No.1 in the UK. And when I look him up, I see that he has been making a lot of money off Prince since his death - like many of the people who took part in this book - but then again I couldn't be sure they did actively take part in this book - except for Susannah Melvoin, who wrote the foreward. I'll get to her later.
I can't decide if this is a compilation of stories found on the internet by a lot of the people who spoke about Prince after and before his death, because some of them spoke of him as though he was still present and some were clearly after his death. Some clearly were and other pieces weren't. And Toure interjects himself between these stories with his own third party observations, and sorted them into categories. And he uses quotes and pieces out of Mayte's book.
But what I really didn't like about this is the pop-psychology that Toure does of Prince, which was very critical and judgemental - he even had a whole chapter of hearsay quotes from people who had slept with Prince, about how he was in bed. I found it very disrespectful and a little perverse, especially from someone who purports to admire Prince. He continually refers to Prince's childhood trauma and claims he had an inability to connect to anyone. And then later in the book you realise where his bitterness comes from: an interview with Prince he did where Prince didn't give him any of the personal details he was looking for. If Prince were alive he'd sue his arse off.
And then to Susannah Melvoin, someone who had an off and on relationship with Prince in the 1980s. On the one hand she gushes about Prince and how special their relationship was and how important he was to her, and on the other she makes Prince out to be the bad guy. Clearly she had no boundaries and kept going back for more. She talks as though she was significant to him his entire life, but it seems the last twenty to thirty years of his life she had no contact with him - except for a funeral of mutual friends here and there. Much like her twin sister Wendy, and Lisa who left the band in the 1980s.
I don't disbelieve anything they shared, but the majority of it included people who didn't actively engage with him in the last twenty plus years of his life, which made the final chapter so sickening. They all lament the events of Prince's death, blaming it on the people who were in his life at the time. They claim to know something was wrong with him from the moment they'd heard his plane had an emergency landing two weeks before, and that his death wouldn't have happened if they had been there. But not one of them did get on a plane and go to him when it happened. And then they were all upset that they weren't invited to his funeral - a small religious affair - though they all flew in and had their own get together to celebrate him. But again they continually go on about how lonely he must have been and how awful his life must have been at that time - yet none of them knew.
So on the one side I enjoyed the stories of Prince and his genius musicianship and how he was a workaholic. The rest was like reading people sharing their grieviances and making observations and judgements on someone who had suffered a really awful childhood trauma, as though any of them had a clue what that had been like (none of them had), and claimed they knew what addicts were like and what you had to do, but none of them did, because they weren't actively in his life for the last couple of decades of it. I'd have loved to have heard from people who had been, but it seems this book was only really about the revolution - or maybe those were the only quotes that Toure could find, or people who would speak to him. Maybe those that had been actively in his life had more respect for him than to share their dirty laundry in this book. He would have hated this book.
The only books worth reading about Prince are Mayte Garcia's book, The Most Beautiful; Morris Day's book, On Time, and Prince's own book, (even if it is just the beginning), The Beautiful Ones.
I've been waiting for over five years for the next instalment to The Reaper's Bride, and it doesn't disappoint. The Trouble With Spain, picks up where the first left off and brings with it a couple of new characters.
The Reaper's chronicles are about a reaper of souls named James. In the first book he recruits an old lady to help him cross souls, and it goes array, ending up with a recruit who is anything but suitable for the job. And although the second book does focus a little on this, it mostly deals with another issue that arose in the first book - missing souls.
The story that develops from James's right-hand man, Alex, going to spain make compelling reading, and reveals a much deeper story. It kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through, with great suspense, story telling, character development and humour.
I had a chat with author C.M. Rosens as part of her Author Spotlight series. I talked about my writing, why I write what I do, and about my writing process.
I've had some big news this month, Sleep has been accepted for a BookBub Feature Deal! 🥳
BookBub is a site where you can get huge book bargains on new books and old, especially from big name authors, such as Ramsey Campbell, Dean Koontz, Stephen King etc (I've seen discounts recently from all three). All you have to do is sign up (it's free) and get their daily offer emails. (Don't forget to follow me there if you do - M K Boers / Miranda Kate)
For a self-published author like me, it's the Holy Grail of book promotions - only 1% of Indie authors get accepted as they mostly cater for the big publishing houses. I've been trying for about 18 months to get one of my books accepted, and it's finally happened. Hooray!
So how do you benefit? Well this in turn means Sleep is going to be free for a whole week! I haven't given this book away for four years, and I'm unlikely to again for a long time, so don't miss out!
Another compelling read from Dan Howarth and a full novel this time. The concept is mind-blowing. It's about four lads who go on a stag-do in the north of England, and come across a local group of lads who sets them up for a particular forfeit ...
It's an utterly gripping, edge-of-your-seat, brutal, occasionally gory, horror, and not for the faint-hearted. I was tense and anxious, while reading, and struggled to stop turning the page because I just had to know what would happen next. And when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Like watching an accident in slow motion, it's very much a 'can't look away' read.
Written in first person POV, switching between characters for each chapter, you are lead into a shocking concept that will forever have you wondering whenever you drive around beautiful countryside and idyllic villages. Never be fooled about what might go on behind closed doors!
As always I look forward to whatever Dan Howarth will be writing next.
If that's your kind of thing, I urge you to grab a copy.
I've released a new book, aimed at authors. It's part of my 'Author Aid' series that I am developing. The first book being How to Create a Wraparound Cover using Canva. This book is for those authors who wish to feel more
confident about going through the first draft of their manuscript and improve
it before sending it out to anyone to edit or proofread.
It's a simple
guide with grammatical and practical tips, but covering the less conventional
aspects of writing and editing. Aspects
that most authors struggle with, but which, if they became more aware of, they
could encompass during the writing process.
It can be used as a reference book,
or it can be read cover-to-cover.
Why not grab a copy? Click on the picture below. 👇
I'm a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and have been for some time, being a subscriber to his Daily Pump newsletter and enjoying the helpful health and mental health tips and advice. This book sort of combines that with his life story.
Arnold uses the events in his life to highlight how to take control of your own life and push through. How to be inspired and how to follow your inspiration. How to go about getting excited about your life and getting disciplined.
His voice and manner of speaking comes through clearly in this book, and there was so much to absorb. If you find him inspiring it's definitely worth a read.
Reading this was a slog! I love Terry Pratchett books, and though I've never read Stephen Baxter, the combination clearly doesn't work - for me at least. As another reviewer said, the result is that it came out flat.
It is a brilliant concept, that there are endless identical, parallel worlds which we are able to 'step' to, but the writer spent too much time repetitively explaining it, and describing it, losing what could be a dynamic story in its midst. I had hoped that something amazing was going to happen at the end, but it didn't really, just the usual human destruction. And it didn't feel like a climax of any kind, it was told in the same monotonous monotone narrative used throughout the book.
There were elements where it attempted to get interesting. They kept returning to characters, but not quite building anything substantial besides the main narrative of the lead character and some strange human robot, which felt like a cross between CP3O and Hal 9000, who was unlikeable and spent most of the book over explaining everything.
It was a real shame, and I have the rest of the books in the series, but I'll be returning them to the charity shop I found them in.
Not a recommendation from me. I think people rave about it because of the authors involved, rather than on the merit of the book.
I probably bought this back when it was released, or a couple of years after. As with many book on my ereader, I tend to buy them and then promptly forget about them, unlike my shelves of unread paperbacks, which stare at me silenting telling me to read them. And at the end of the year, I decided to have a look through to find some short tales and I spotted this one.
Written by Joe Hill and his father Stephen King in dedication to Richard Matheson, the director of many films, including Duel, which this is a sort of homage to. I know the film Duel, having seen it at some point in my teens, and so I understood that something was going to happen with the truck, when it appeared, but it was still pretty shocking.
There were a lot of characters, but they were handled well as we started to understand the story through dialogue and interaction. A group of bikers have been scammed out of a lot of money, and when confronting the perpetrator, things went array and a murder took place. They are on their way to Vegas, debating whether to confront a connected person to try and get their money back, when a trucker overhears them - at least that's what they believe, we never really know. What follows is grim, and tense and there are few survivors.
I really enjoyed this, it's definitely in the King wheelhouse. Worth a read.
I have had this story sitting on my Kindle for a LONG time, but, like sometimes happens, you forget they are there. This is a short novella I read over two nights. I loved how this story unfolded. My first book of Stephen King's was Firestarter and this was similar, but told in such a way that you aren't quite sure what has happened, what is currently happening and what will happen - though you suspect the longer it goes on. Full of tension and suspense, Burn, builds and keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat. Brilliant writing.
