So, this is my first author update. Seems weird to be saying that, because I suppose every other post is a lil’ update and insight into the wacky world of progress. Progress that occasionally appears like interval training for the masochistic author, but progress nonetheless. However, this formalises and crystalises it for anyone who happens to be paying attention. Here’s what’s happening…
The Website and Blog
Very much a work in progress, but the website (as you can probably tell) is up and limping like Bruce Willis at the end of every Die Hard. The blog will be fortnightly, on a Monday, with new posts ranging from occasional musings on things near and dear to my heart, the occasional insight into my writing processes and inspirations, and at least once month a little update about my writing shenanigans. Updates a bit like this!
Paperbacks
As much as I love the world of kindle and eBooks, in real life I am very much a Gwen-Stefani-esque Paperback-Girl. Already the first three books in the Heroes & Demons series have been released in paperback as well as eBook, so that is us off to a good start. Avalon and Insomniac, the first two novels in the New Knights novels are underway and should be released sometime next month (though the eBooks of each are already available). Avalon: Faerie Tales, which has never before been in print and only online, should follow shortly after. As the dark months grow closer, snuggling up next to the fire with a hot coffee and a paperback a la Rick Rawes will be easier. As will stabilising wobbly tables, no judgment.
Bastet
The next big release is now well underway, and I’m very happy about it. I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with writing different genres and styles (though somehow always manage to hear myself within them). In this case, we have an action-adventure of mythic stakes. The novel begins in Ancient Egypt, in a time when Gods and humanity lived alongside one another. The world is incredibly different and yet eerily familiar. A world of family strife, political intrigue and royal exploitation. That world will collide across space and time with another, as the novel moves to the present Egypt in 1923, during the so-called ‘golden days’ of Egyptology. Evocative of tales like the Mummy or Indiana Jones, with more than a touch of Agent Carter style British espionage. It’s hard to describe (and yes, I get that’s my job).
Underneath it all what I’m enjoying incredibly about this novel is getting a chance to write about the character of Bastet herself. As a deity I’ve always found her interesting, being a cat lover myself. As I’m finding her voice, she’s surprising me, challenging me and becoming one of my favourite characters to write for. And, without spoiling things for regular readers, getting a chance to write again the story of a certain martini-soaked lady of the lake is a dream come true.
Finally, the story is becoming one of love. There have been romances in other novels I’ve written. Artie and Matt of Avalon, Liam and Kate of Insomniac. They’re there, but they’re part of the tapestry. What’s emerging differently here is the core of the story is love. A queer love story between two powerful and glorious women, that I hope to do justice.
Bastet is scheduled for release February 16th, 2026 (perhaps the 103rd anniversary of a certain well known ‘cursed’ event…) and I’ll be letting everyone know when pre-orders go live. So excited to share more as time goes on.
’til the End of the World
Another new project underway is my companion short story ‘television series’ which is starting to find it’s feet: ‘til the End of the World. With the novels in the New Knights series taking place around 2018 onwards and Heroes & Demons existing around a decade after that; the chance is ripe to go back in time and explore the mystical threads of this universe in a shorter, more episodic format. Thus, returning to my very first writing project as a teenager, I’ve been drawing once more on my Linkin-Park-and-Nickelback-angst-ridden-youth to explore the early days of some background characters.
Specifically, Amy Donaldson of MOO (Avalon: Faerie Tales). We follow the tale of how she came to be the formidable head of the Magickal organisation we saw, back in her teenage days. In a small sleepy Lancashire town, nestled amongst the valleys, we find a world of hidden dangers and supernatural threats, ignored by a mainly ignorant adult world. Beneath, Amy and her friends begin to discover the dangers and threats that exist beyond the daylight hours – and, in true young adult style, begin to fight back. The project is a love letter to the influences of my own youth – Buffy, Supernatural – while bringing in the flavours of small town British life. The setting is circa 2005, the world in which I made the same journey between childhood and adulthood. A world before all-encompassing smart phones, where dialup and Wi-Fi existed side by side. As the world was transitioning from pre-to-post millennium it was a time of great shift. Technology rapidly integrating into people’s lives, events like 7/7 shifting people’s understanding of safety and radicalisation, views on the representation of minorities and LGBT issues on television – everything was change and shift. Our characters, like me and my friends growing up, will find themselves changing along with them in equally unpredictable ways.
Though, to be clear, I did not fight demons, vampyrs and the forces of darkness while growing up. Honest.
The idea is that this series will become more of a ‘short story’ compendium, each short-story or novella being like an ‘episode’ that will collate into a season at a time, with ongoing storylines and themes. The first episode ‘Stand By Me – Part I’ has already been written, and I’m hoping to make available soon – through this website. It will be online only for the foreseeable future, with subsequent episodes made available in the same way. If you’re a fan of YA, then definitely bookmark this space.
And Beyond…
There’s a whole world beyond this update. So many things to do and exciting projects to get stuck into. Doing this isn’t easy, balancing alongside a full time job, a Masters degree, a gorgeous fiancé and seven beautiful pooches. But telling stories will always be worth it to me. Knowing someone, somewhere may occasionally pick up something I wrote and feel some kind of way. Maybe smile a little. Maybe just get taken away from their troubles for a bit. That’s priceless.
My thanks go to you. For reading this, whether this is the first thing of mine you’ve read, or if you’ve worked your way through every word. Telling stories is a privilege, and any read gives it purpose. I’m going to keep doing it for a long time to come, as long as fate allows, and I hope to see some of you there along the way.
Take care, look after each other and as always, peace and love.
Rick Rawes
14th September 2025
Leeds, West Yorkshire
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Rick Rawes 
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