Quick update: Good news, bad news and exciting news.

 I've had a busy summer with little time for blogging but there are a few updates I want to share:

First, the good news:  JKR  has released another epigraph for The Hallmarked Man, and it is another quotation from Oxenham's A Maid of the Silver Sea. 

Moreover, the quotation appears to be the epigraph for Part nine of the book, as the previous MoSS quotation was for Part seven.  Thus, it seems that MoSS may play the role of Grey's Anatomy in The Ink Black Heart, providing epigraphs for the book's major divisions. Interestingly, this quotation 1) is a mere 15 sentences after the Part seven epigraph and 2) comes even closer to the disastrous mine collapse that kills Old Tom in the book. Hopefully, that doesn't bode ill for our heroes. 

The bad news, of course, is that Rowling indicated she was still working on the book during her recent vacation, meaning the chances of it appearing before year's end are slim. 

But, the exciting news is, another book will be coming out before the end of the year. 

The Rowling Library Press* is coming out with a book of scholarly essays on JKR's original outline for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and I was honored to contribute a chapter. I even got a first-ever mention by name in the press release and was certainly pleased to be included in this company. 

My contributed essay is "From Dark Dementors to Luna's Light: Brightening a Nigredo Through Positive Psychology." I even managed to work a footnoted mention to the Strike and Ellacott series in my essay. So, those who overlap the Potter/Strike fandom will have something new to read, at least. 

I am also presenting on this topic at the Harry Potter Academic Conference at Chestnut Hill College in October. 

This essay joins two other chapters  (here and here) that I have published in the last year. 

All for now:  I am hoping to be back to posting more about John Oxenham books and Combating Cult Mind Control soon. 

*not affiliated with JK Rowiling