It’s been a year since New Year’s Eve came out… and, to my shame, it’s also been a year since I’ve posted on my blog! Seems like my posts are very much related to promotion. (Although, I hope you’ll agree, there’s much more to my promotional posts than just a link to an amazon page!)
I know that every author says this, but I WILL be better at this in 2022 (promises, promises). If I’ve been absent, it’s all because I’ve been busy working on novels and short story projects. Which is, hopefully, the best excuse I could possibly give you.
In any case, these projects give me more projects to promote, and therefore more of a reason to post my particular brand of geeky nonsense!
While we wait for that happens, I just wanted to give an update on my current projects- all of which I’m VERY excited about!
Fantasy Project: Blade of Ghosts
We are mere weeks away from the first installment of my very first fantasy novel. It is called Blade of Ghosts, and is the first in a trilogy called The Lost Sect. And here, exclusively, is the cover… which, I hope you’ll agree, is WELL SEXY. (I tried to think of a more author-y, posh way to put it, but that didn’t quite convey my excitement…)
As you may have picked up, I have used a different pseudonym for this project. This is at the behest of my publishers, who didn’t want me to muddy the waters. So I picked all the parts of my name that weren’t included in my thriller writer name of JG Murray, and was left with Julian Gyll.
There will be an audio version on Audible, as well as a paperback version available on Amazon. This has been a long labour of love— as it turns out, fantasy books are longer than thrillers for a reason— and I’m so excited for it to finally see the light of day!
It tells the story of Jason, who lives in the Hollow, a valley in the expanse of the Canyonlands. His tribe is constantly attacked from the Void, who are creatures emerging from the surrounding caves and bringing Jason’s people to the brink of extinction. Jason has to learn the art of summoning shadows and shaping them into weapons in order to protect the ones he loves…
Blade of Ghosts is a result of my love of fantasy, which was my first literary love, and the influence of the subgenre of cultivation, an Asian-flavoured take on the tradition. (If that makes no sense to you, don’t worry: I will be making a post on what cultivation is, and what it means to me, very soon).
Short Stories Update
Between novel projects, I tend to write a short story as a palette-cleanser. Something short to reset my energy before the next all consuming title.
I hope to have more news on this front, but I CAN confirm that a short story called The Bedlam Undesirables will be published in Aurealis Magazine in Summer 2022!
It’s one which is highly personal to me, and I’m very proud of it. It’s also fantasy- flavoured, telling the story of a magician who has been imprisoned in the hellish confines of Bedlam, and so I have decided to use the Julian Gyll name once again.
But… what about thrillers?
The response to New Year’s Eve and The Bridal Party have been overwhelming; it has been an absolute joy to see readers react to their twists and turns.
So I can assure you that the JG Murray thrillers are definitely still part of my life. Indeed, I am working on a project which I cannot wait to sink my teeth into…
It is thriller which will be set in Sussex, where I have moved since the release of New Year’s Eve. All I can say is that it is all about the legacy of the ghost story, and the appeal of it; it is my hope to explore the supernatural all within the confines of psychological thriller for maximum spooky, twisting effect.
Both my agent and I are extremely excited about this project, and we hope to find a place for it soon. I will keep you posted…
julian gyll-murray 