When I was in London in May visitng my brother, I had an idea for a short story. It was one of those idle musings ” I wonder how it would be to travel with a wizard?”

And then the idea popped up, fulfledged.  That there was a wizard with the gift of Teleportation. And he liked to use it.  His daughters were exasperated.  The Wizards Council as well as the Witches Council was furious.

I also knew that the story would be about mollifying the Council.  I wasn’t certain how they would manage that, though, so I let it sit.

In November I was reaching the end of Cauldron Bound. As a result I was thinking about what to write next. I dismissed Frosthold, the prequel to Brownie Liason, a prequel to a historical fantasy I wrote a while ago. Finally, I settled on this story since it wasn’t a prequel, and it was slightly different from what I have written the last year. Most of all, it will be fun. After the very grey November I needed fun.  Less than five minutes after  I decided that, I realised how they would convince the Council.

There are a lot of foggy details, but I am looking forward to share this story with you early next year.

Oh. I do have a series title, of sorts: The Shattered Ward, which is what the bundled up version will be called.

And, since it is Friday here is the opening paragraph:

Xenia leafed through the mail. Bill, political pamphlet, bill, letter from the Wizards Council and the Witches Council, bill. She froze, and leafed back to the letter. The letter was addressed to Xenia and Nike Philips. Not father, Xenia noted.
She grimaced. Considering how their Father had ignored the Councils previous summons, she wasn’t surprised that they tried a new angle. She dropped the rest of the letters on the table next to the door.