Kathy writes…

I do not know how much involvement you have with the printing of the books once you have written the story but I am very unhappy that the last three books in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (Viper’s Daughter, Skintaker and Wolfbane) do not match the previous six books on the spine.

The first six books published by Orion have the book title first followed by the author while the last three books published by Zion have the author first followed by the title.

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree this has no bearing on the content of the books, it is a bitter disappointment for those of us who wanted to collect all nine books and have them matching.

Perhaps this is something to think about for future books series.

I might just add I am a lady of advanced years and I am loving the series so far (up to book four) and have enjoyed several of your other books (Thin Air, Wakenhyrst, Dark Matter). I wish you good health and much power to your wonderful imagination. Kind regards, Kathy Lambert.

Michelle Replies…

Dear Kathy, Thank you very much for your message, and I’m so sorry about the names and titles on the spines not matching across the nine books.  You’re right to point out that the final three books are published by a different publisher (Head of Zeus) from the previous six, and I can confirm that I don’t have much input on the production of any of the books, although the publishers did kindly consult me on the cover design.  At the time of publishing the final three books, the main focus was to ensure that the original artist, John Fordham, was available to create the designs, so as to ensure consistency across the series (and because he’s a terrific designer) – so I fear that aligning the title and my name on the spine with the spines of the earlier books appears to have been overlooked.  Perhaps, as you say, this can be remedied for future series. And again, I am sorry that it disappointed you.

On a happier note, I am delighted that you have been enjoying the series, and that you also liked Dark Matter, Thin Air and Wakenhyrst.  I do hope you continue to enjoy the Wolf Brother books, and thank you again for getting in touch. With very best wishes, Michelle