QM: Blog

The Bach that is, Chapters 6 to 10 are queued up in the submissions queue and will appear every other day.
Magician is still an ongoing project and whilst it's only up to chapter 43) on SOL I'm currently writing chapter 73)so there's a long way to go yet and I'm enjoying a lot of constructive feedback, which is why in a sense I'm writing so far ahead of posting, as I'm often having to edit earlier chapters to take into account the later plot twists. With a bit of luck I'll get it finished this year, if that's the case I'll speed up the delivery, but not until... naturally.

As some have noted I chose to conclude Valerie. Whilst it would appear to be an awkward place to stop, frankly I couldn't see the story going realistically forward and there's only so many ways you can describe various sex acts and situations.
For the record, no, John never gets caught.
Jan never finds out.
Ginny never tells.
Essentially John is the perfect fantasy as a guy who gets to keep his cake and eat it.

I may return to him one day, just not soon.

Had some feedback asking what the difference was and why I haven't mentioned any witches and witchcraft.
A Mage uses the enery interactions at the sub-molecular/quantum levels of physics to give them the power to do what is neccesary, their mind and imagination does the rest. The major problem for the Mage is controlling that power, get it wrong and the chances are they'll burn up from the inside out a bit like putting too much current or voltage through too small a conductor, assuming they are unlucky. Get it too wrong and they explode with devastating results. That's essentially why the apprentice/journeymanship process takes so long.
A Theurgist/Thaumaturge chooses/is chosen by a higher power (angel/demon etc) their power comes from their source and they are unnafected by the process. That means if they have a very powerful source they can do some spectacular things within and without the spiritual realm. Their host (for want of a better word) also protects them and can extend their lives. What a Theurgist/Thaumaturge has to do though is 'ask' for the power hence the chants which are requests for the hosts power to be used in a specific way. This limits them to an extent as it can take time for their full powers to be brought to bear.
Witches etc. are simply Theurgist/Thaumaturges who have a tie to a minor power. Their powers are limited and a Mage could deal with one fairly easily if they step out of line unlike a Theurgist/Thaumaturge who has ties to a higher power who is so protected by their host that a Mage could barely detect one, never mind raise the power to hurt one.
Hence Mages tend to stay well out of the way of the realms spiritual. Their are exceptions, but you'll have to wait for that in later chapters.

A number of commenter's I've had email me over my recent story 'A return to sanity' have asked for a few more details on that benighted country.
Well, that England is a republic, the royal family fled when the military took over from the then elected government. It has a two tier governance system of with a lower house run more or less by the group I call the New Coalition, most of their MP's are authoritarian and pragmatic using any means necessary to hold onto power, aggrandise and enrich themselves. Any seized goods from the Brigade campaigns end up lining their pockets.
The upper house is the Army Council and has far more power than the current House of Lords in the UK. It is they who negotiate the use of the Brigades, run the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Think Gestapo) and are a very shadowy confederation of ex-Army officers who are determined to hold onto power at all costs.
I'm deliberately vague about the New Compact, but it's a set of 'freedoms' initiated by the English Parliament to remove the need to pay for a police force, or rather the Bobbies on the beat part of it. Essentially it permits individuals and societies the right to mete out their own justice. What it led to was a bullying culture where might made right. The Army Council permitted it because they believed it would keep the nation divided.
Enforcers were the English Parliaments answer to the growing unrest caused by the unexpected result of the New Compact, think of them as elderly versions of Judge Dredd, pretty much all of them are ex sergeants and NCO's of the now defunct British Army, though a few are recently of the Brigades.
The conspirators of Bewl Water were mostly not caught… well for that crime anyway. Nor were their sponsors ever fully identified, the Islamic nation which did is keeping a very low and fearful profile because the English government has promised nuclear retribution on the perpetrator.
There are currently around half a million men in the Brigades under arms and that many young women tied into the system. Only the English (or non-Muslim) can retire.
The Brigades invaded Argentina by sailing in ships under a flag of convenience after the English Navy deliberately sunk neutral shipping making most flee to safe ports.
Other stories will follow eventually, not all will have happy endings…

The land under the long white cloud or New Zealand in English and also to be my new home.
A couple of months ago I went off jobseeking half a world away from my beloved England. I was successful and will start my new job on September the first. The move with Lady QM to Auckland will take up a lot of my time and it might be a while before we get settled permanently in a new home.
Fortunately I'm well ahead with Magician having just had chapter 31 proofed and so I'll keep posting as and when I get internet access, probably from a local library.
If there are delays in posting I apologise now, but it will get out there and it won't (hopefully) end up in the graveyard of incomplete and unfinished stories.
Anyhow, wish me luck and I'll write again on the other side (of the world)