Magical Possibilities

The bletherings and creations of a fantasy author

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We’re halfway through the summer already, so I thought it was time to catch you up on what stories I’m tackling this season.

Find out in Familiar Roads and New Paths:

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A Shadow Falls in Darkacre takes place a year before Haven Wakes and offers a glimpse into one of the most magical corners of the Haven Chronicles.

If you're new to the series, it's a low-commitment way to explore the world.

If you've already travelled through the Haven Chronicles, it's a chance to spend a little more time in Darkacre.

This short story is available now through my Ko-fi shop on a free or pay-what-you-want basis.

Find it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/d0e32e7dc5

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It took me a while to finish this tome of a book but it was time well spent. I loved delving into Charlie’s story. This is fantasy rooted in real, human experience, growth, and heartbreak. King has always been talented at writing characters and relationships that we as readers can relate to and it’s that recognition of real people – not simply villains and heroes – that drives this novel so well.

But Fairy Tale is also complete, magical escapism. Folklore, otherness, magical worlds, portals, strange beasties. It’s all in this novel.

Fairy Tale is one of those reads that will definitely stay with me. Brilliant.

*****

The blurb:

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student.

But when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. When Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe - inside the shed is a portal to another world.

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The books I reach for in winter are completely different from the type of read I’m drawn to during the summer months. Maybe it’s the chance to spend longer in a book during a getaway or read in the garden while it’s still light, but summer reading always feels gentler, more relaxed, and full of discovery.

However you spend the season, here’s my guide to match your fantasy read to the shape of your summer:

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Every reader has a particular flavour of story they return to time and time again. For me, it’s the kind of fantasy where the world looks perfectly normal on the surface until you tilt your head, peer into the shadows, or do a double take. That’s when you realise something’s just a little bit off and strange.

Find out more (plus my top 6 reads) in The Kind of Fantasy Adventures I Keep Coming Back To: https://fiphillipswriter.com/2026/05/03/the-kind-of-fantasy-adventures-i-keep-coming-back-to/

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I’ve just finished Haunted, Hexed and Dead by Bella Colby. Here’s what I thought:

*****

Another wonderful instalment in the Witchy at Fifty series. This time, all the fun of the fair leads to a dead body in the haunted house. Josie does her usual friendly sleuthing, with plenty of magical baked goods and, of course, the assistance of Einstein the cat. There’s a lovely helping of romance, a houseful of entertaining guests, and lots of clues to follow. Brilliant. *****

And here’s the blurb: A travelling fair has rolled into town, and rookie witch, Josie Appleton, is looking forward to candy floss and carnival fun. A dead body in the haunted house wasn’t part of the show. But Josie’s curiosity spins faster than a Waltzer when the crime looks more hexed than human.

The local DI may roll his eyes, but Josie’s enchanted baking is about to uncover fairground secrets the fortune teller’s crystal ball never saw coming.

Can she spell out the killer before the rides move on, or will she end up as the fair’s final fright?

Haunted, Hexed and Dead is the rollercoaster fourth book in the Witchy at Fifty midlife paranormal cozy mystery series.

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I always like to pause a few months into the year and look back at what I’ve been reading.

You can find out what I’ve read so far in 2026, the patterns I’ve noticed, and what I’m planning to read next over on my blog:

What’s been your favourite read this year?

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I’ve just finished reading horror novel Closure May Never Come by P D Doling. Here’s what I thought:

If you like your horror served with a large helping of love and friendship, this could be the novel for you. Alongside the growing and torturous danger that Vikki finds herself in, we’re guided through the history of her relationship with Rob. We’re also introduced to Rob’s closest friends and how their lives work out as Rob and Vikki grow closer. It’s a precarious balancing act between normal, everyday life and doom-filled horror.

And here’s the blurb: When a romantic holiday ends in tragedy, Rob Wyatt is determined to help his wife, Vikki, recover from her accident.

As he fights to restore her to her former self, an ancient evil begins to manipulate their lives.

Rob's growing suspicion leads him to a chilling realisation: that the soul he's trying to save may no longer be human...

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Fantasy worlds don’t stand still. They grow and evolve with each new instalment.

From the hidden magical community of Darkacre to the further afield journeys of Magic Bound and Haven’s Deceit, the world of the Haven Chronicles has steadily expanded, revealing new layers of magic, history, and danger.

With Book Four almost finished, I thought it was time to look back over how the world contained in the series has grown since we first met Steve.

Find out more here:

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I’ve just finished reading Run to the Blue by P N Johnson. Now, I’m (impatiently) waiting for the next instalment in the series to come out later this year. Here’s what I thought:

*****

This crime thriller has journalist Tess Anderson in constant fight or flight mode. I mean, who wouldn’t be with a dangerous thug on your tail and possibly around the next corner?

Incredibly well written, exciting, and in the wonderful setting of the Greek Islands around Corfu, this was a novel I just couldn’t put down. With betrayal, romance, friendship, government intrigue, and a gutsy journalist thrown into the mix, this was always going to be a brilliant read.

I can’t wait for the next one in the series.

*****

What are you reading at the moment? Any good?

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Here’s my 5 star book review of sci fi novel Echoes by Phil Oddy.

*****

Poor Estrel. He just wants an easy life but what starts out as a standard sales trip soon turns into a mystifying run for his life. What is he meant to be doing? Why is he meant to be doing it? And who exactly can he trust?

This is time loop sci fi used to its full, intriguing potential. A brilliant start to the Entanglement series.

*****

The blurb:

Who can you trust if you can't trust yourself? Estrel Beck doesn’t want to be a software salesman. Yet here he is, newly arrived in the city-state of Trinity, for a make-or-break meeting with the local Administration department. Under-prepared, under-motivated and over-sensitive, every little thing about this strange place seems to stress Estrel out. When he discovers a message scrawled on the back of a napkin, in his own handwriting, telling him he’s trapped in a time loop, he knows for sure that he’s in over his head. Then the Administration building explodes. As Estrel struggles to make sense of his situation and find an escape, he is drawn into Trinity’s bizarre underworld and the struggles for power against Trinity’s corrupt Mayor Chaguartay. Echoesis a story about being trapped by your past choices and what it takes to break free.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about how the world of the Haven Chronicles has changed since I first wrote Haven Wakes.

When you begin a series, you only see part of the map. The rest reveals itself slowly. That might be through the politics and culture of the world you’re writing about, the magic systems, the back history of your protagonist and friends, or the consequences of your characters’ choices.

The world contained in book four seems so much more immense and rich now. The characters have grown and learned about themselves. We know more about the different types of magic.  The stakes are higher and that world seems to be less forgiving than at the beginning of this journey.

The way that fantasy lets a world grow alongside the people living in it is just one more reason to absolutely adore this genre.

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I’ve seen a lot of people sharing photos from 2016 online. I may be a little late to the trend but here’s mine.

This is the year I turned 50 and my husband took me to Venice to celebrate. At the time, I wasn’t a published author yet. I was still wrestling with the story that would eventually become Haven Wakes.

What I didn’t know then was that Venice would become the heart of one of my novels. Both the real city and a futuristic, floating version turn up in Haven’s Deceit, book three of the Haven Chronicles.

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My monthly newsletter is for people who love fantasy, bookish chat, and behind-the-scenes peeks at a series in progress.

If that sounds like your kind of thing, you can sign up here:

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Fantasy stories are often remembered for the worlds they take us to, but for me, the main thing that keeps us returning to a series, book after book, is the people we find there and how they respond to each other.

Read The Relationships at the Heart of the Haven Chronicles to find out more:

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Fantasy is such a big, dramatic genre, but so much of it starts here, quietly, with a mug of tea.

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I just finished reading Fatman Blues by Richard Wall. It’s a brilliant read, especially if the Blues is your taste in music and you love historical paranormal fiction. Here’s my 5* review.

***** As you'd expect from any Richard Wall story, this novel is steeped in the Blues. This is a deep dive into 1930s American culture with a paranormal slant. When Hobo John makes a deal with Fatman, he has no idea what he's getting himself into. This is a rich and immensely enjoyable read that doesn't shy away from heartbreak and darkness. And is all the better for it. 

*****

And here’s the blurb:

‘Hobo John’ is an English blues enthusiast on a pilgrimage to present-day Mississippi. One night in Clarksdale he meets the mysterious Fat Man, who offers him the chance to see the real blues of the 1930s. Unable to refuse this offer, Hobo John embarks on a journey through the afterlife in the company of Travellin' Man, an old blues guitarist who shows him the sights, sounds and everyday life in the Mississippi Delta. Along the way, the Englishman discovers the harsh realities behind his romantic notion of the music he loves and the true price of the deal that he has made.