Newsletter

Latest note and all previous issues.

Jern’s story about love, friendship, and the delightful absurdity of being human is completed with the release of The Curse of TIme, and Eddie starts a series on indie book production.

November: From Birmingham to the Universe – header image

Jern’s update

Over the years, I’ve had more story ideas than I can count—some passing through quickly, others lingering for tea. A few even came with dramatic entrances and impossible demands. But none of them ever made it onto paper. Not even a line. Not even a note on the back of a napkin.

Until Tobias & Stuart.

I’ve always been drawn to MM romance and speculative fantasy, and since this was my first novel, I thought I’d start with something I knew well—academic life. It’s a world full of eccentric characters, strange rituals, and an endless supply of questions without clear answers. In its own way, academia already feels a bit fantastical. My challenge was to combine all three into one story.

Tobias & Stuart became the kind of book I wanted to read myself: an MM romance that doesn’t just flutter hearts but nudges the mind awake. At its centre is Tobias, an academic who’s built a perfectly sensible life for himself… until he hasn’t. His journey is one of confronting emptiness, finding courage in vulnerability, and slowly becoming the truest version of himself—all while the world threatens to unravel around him.

It’s a story about love, friendship, and the delightful absurdity of being human. Those small, stubborn things that—when you really think about it—might just be what saves the world.

I hope you’ll come along for the journey with Tobias and Stuart, and of course with Music, Death, and Time, who have a way of turning everything upside down just when you think you’ve figured it out.

Jern Tonkoi

Eddie’s update

I’ve reached a point where I can support Jern well with the tools I have developed for editing and publishing, so I feel I can spread my wings a little and explore my version of creativity.

I am enjoying creating articles for the NosillaCast about my craft, channeling my love of teaching to create a series that I hope will be of benefit to anyone who is also embarking on a self-publishing adventure.

All this stemmed from a joyful return to creating audiobooks. Having narrated, produced, and published Lanta a while back, I now have my sights on the Treggan Bay Mysteries series and others. I have a setup, I have some time put aside, and I am really enjoying the processing of bringing Jern’s stories to life in audiobook format. Plus, it’s such a delight to play them back to Jern and hear her laugh, see her smile, and let her enjoy her writing all over again.

Eddie Tonkoi

Latest releases

We continue our busy period, with books Jern is re-editing and books she has written fresh. We’re also exploring new avenues.

  1. The Curse of Time (Tobias & Stuart 3)
  2. Mord in Treggan Bay: translation available in Kindle Unlimited in German
  3. Murder in Treggan Bay
  4. The Watchman’s Secret

Eddie has also started contributing to the NosillaCast at podfeet.com. It’s a technology podcast so may or may not be of interest to you, but I will post links briefly in the newsletter.

  1. Shure MV7+ microphone review. Bought for recording audiobooks, and I’m about 10 chapters into Murder in Treggan Bay as I write.
  2. Hugo website framework. About how and why I created the new website design at jerntonkoi.com. This one is on the sister-podcast, Programming by Stealth and is even more technical. A lighter version coming around Novemeber 18 on the NosillaCast.

Upcoming

Jern has just completed writing a new novel, her shortest so far at just over 50,000 words. I have done my initial edits and Jern is going to have a final look soon. We hope to get it out mid-December.

Jern is also working on final edits to a beautiful trilogy she a while back. I’m really excited to announce that one, but we’re not quite ready to tease it fully (especially with all the other work coming out right now).

In closing

Our publishing project is powering on with an incredible output still as Jern polishes off works she has been holding on to whilst weaving in new books to allow herself that creative release that pulls her towards writing. Expect a lot more over the coming months.

Thanks, Jern and Eddie Tonkoi

All issues

Footnote: Podcast Articles thumbnail
I have started contributing to the NosillaCast podcast, hosted by Allison Sheridan over at podfeet.com. It’s a technology posdcast, so doesn’t directly link to Jern’s fiction, but the articles are all going to be about the things I do (which is everything that does not involve writing the stories).

I have started contributing to the NosillaCast podcast, hosted by Allison Sheridan over at podfeet.com. It’s a technology posdcast, so doesn’t directly link to Jern’s fiction, but the articles are all going to be about the things I do (which is everything that does not involve writing the stories).

The first one was released last week, and is a review of the Shure MV7+ microphone, which I bought as I embark on recording audiobook editions of Jern’s books. I’m 6 chapters into Murder in Treggan Bay, by the way.

I’ll post brief notes here as episodes come out, so pop back to see what’s new. I also provide a summary of what has come out in our monthly newsletter, so please sign up for that.

Happy reading,

Eddie.

Nov 9, 2025

October: Sea Mist & Footpaths thumbnail
This month we have been busy finishing off projects long-since started. I have also been busy getting a new website ready. As part of this. I will send out a newsletter, just one per month, summarising key information including book launches. More on that later.

This month we have been busy finishing off projects long-since started. I have also been busy getting a new website ready. As part of this. I will send out a newsletter, just one per month, summarising key information including book launches. More on that later.

We start, though, with Jern’s reflections on the books of the moment, the Treggan Bay Mysteries.

Jern’s update

Each summer, I find myself wandering the coast paths of Devon—those ribbon-thin trails that flirt with the edge of the sea—wondering what secrets might be tucked beneath the rocks and gorse. The air smells of salt and wild thyme; the cottages huddle together against the wind, their stone walls crusted with sea spray, their roofs furred with lichen in the afternoon sun. Tiny gardens bloom between them—lavender, mint, and mischief. It’s the sort of place where stories don’t need to be written; they simply rise from the soil like mist after rain.

And it was there, between the leaning chimney stacks and gossiping gulls, that I stumbled upon Noah Yalland—London journalist, resourceful enough to untangle Parliament but somehow incapable of boiling an egg without supervision. He arrived in Treggan Bay like an uninvited guest at a wake and, naturally, tripped over a murder before he had his first cup of coffee.

Among the so-called ‘charming’ residents, Noah found himself reluctantly untangling one mystery after another—if only to make it back in time for supper with Leo, who has the patience of a saint and the griddle of a tyrant.

Jern Tonkoi

Eddie

It’s been a super-busy few weeks, with the launch of Jern’s summer writing, along with final editing of her Tobias & Stuart series.

What really got me working and focused, however, was building the new website. I have moved away from other services and decided to create it myself using a fascinating little ststem called Hugo. Let me know if you want to know more, but what’s most important is it should now be easier to keep up to date, keep pretty, and keep active.

Latest releases

It has been a period of releases for us, as Treggan Bay Mysteries got underway with a buzz.

  1. Murder in Treggan Bay
  2. The Watchman’s Secret

Upcoming

Jern’s original books from last year have also been completing final editing and I’ve been getting these ready. The last in the trilogy, The Curse of Time, is slated for mid-November.

  1. The Curse of Time (Tobias & Stuart 3): November 2025

In closing

It has been an epic couple of months and we are now in a place of relative clam and rest. Jern is plotting her next novel, I’m setting up a regular newsletter, and we’re both loving our project together. We hope you are too.

Thanks, Jern and Eddie Tonkoi

Stay in the loop

New releases, behind-the-scenes notes, and occasional freebies.