***

This story has been a long time in the making. Some of my characters were conceived back in the early 1980's, when I was Tunnel Master in a game of Tunnels and Trolls (some of the Tunnellers of those days will remember their creation). I first began writing them into a story when my older daughter was a newborn; her own teenage daughter is old enough to read about them now!

Book One has had several revisions over the years; sometimes it got stuck, sometimes bits just didn't read right. A publisher's reader suggested I scrap the first five paragraphs and rewrite the whole of the beginning – which I did. He/she was right! Book Two just flowed - apart from a few more recent tweaks, it went from start to finish in around a month. The characters more often than not just took over and started writing it themselves, surprising me at times.

Book Three got stuck in the middle for years while I was occupied with other things.

Many thanks to all those who acted as beta readers for me, proofreading, commenting and suggesting. Mostly members of my family.

As for myself, I was born and bred in Southern England, and live in a fantasy world occupying the same general area as the New Forest. I'm kind of middling: middle height, middle weight, and middle-aged. Over the years I've been owned by animals of various species, both domestic and agricultural. Many of my family have been journalists and writers; my younger daughter has started writing her own books, and her son is already showing promise in his wordcrafting. I'm somewhat of a recluse; I like to remain fairly anonymous as far as my writing is concerned; it helps me to keep my fantasy world and The Real World separate.

"MarkAsh" is a pseudonym behind which I hide; it's actually a local place name.