Remember that ARC copies of Jern’s novels are currently available on BookSprout and BookSirens, just search for Jern Tonkoi. There is also a link to the subscriber-only extras at the end of the email.
Jern’s update
Summer arrived early this year. That may sound delightful if you live somewhere sensible and temperate, but in Thailand, early summer simply means the heat from yesterday lingering in the air like a guest who has missed at least four increasingly obvious hints that the party is over.
And so I began spending my daylight hours drifting between coffeeshops and bars. Iced tea became less of a beverage and more of a constitutional requirement. Even the trendiest cocktail bars—the sort serving drinks with names like Velvet Sin, Daddy Issues, or Kiss Me In The Panic Room—will still hand you a glass of Thai iced tea without judgement. As they should. Civilisation depends on it.
I had a plan for 2026. I was going to dust off one of my older trilogies, Black Fire, and finally prepare it for publication. But plans are delicate little things, and reality tends to take a personal interest in ruining them.
One afternoon, while sitting in a coffeeshop in downtown Bangkok, scrolling through the seventh draft of Black Fire and quietly dying of embarrassment at my own prose, two men sat down at the bar across from me. Instead of editing, I spent the next hour shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation. A terrible habit. Deeply unethical. Tremendously productive.
And that was how Metastable began: two men discussing particle physics over iced tea. Not exactly the sensational beginning one imagines for a novel, but there we are.
Originally, it was meant to be a standalone book. But, part way through Book 1, I found Carter and Tan far too fascinating to leave alone. The story, unfortunately for all of us, decided to deepen.
– Jern
Eddie’s update
From my side, I have mostly been working on finishing touches to the website, returning to develop the newsletter, and updating my book database. Lots of behind-the-scenes work that no one really sees or cares about, but it all helps keep the project organised.
Oh, and translations. How did I forget translations?
The Memento Mori trilogy is now available in German, which was a mammoth task, and more challenging than I first realised. Trying to maintain Jern’s voice in a foreign language is hard enough. Trying to do it in a language with its own grammatical intricacies makes consistency a real challenge as well.
There was also the question of localisation. The original uses Irish phrasing that would likely feel out of place in German, so translation was the only real option. Across three books totalling around 300,000 words, I needed to maintain a voice from start to finish that kept readers inside the story.
It took a lot of time, but the results seem to have come out very well. I am really pleased to have those editions finished and available.
– Eddie
Latest releases
Memento Mori (The Mason Trilogy)
- The Boy with the Crow
- Judas and the Ghost
- The Boy the Wolves Took
Treggan Bay Mysteries
- Murder in Treggan Bay
- The Watchman’s Secret
- Murder at Torre Manor
Translations
- Lanta (German)
- The Watchman’s Secret (German and Spanish)
- Murder in Treggan Bay (German and Spanish)
- The Boy with the Crow (German)
- Judas and the Ghost (German)
- The Boy the Wolves Took (German)
Upcoming
Jern is currently working on Metastable, and there is a strong chance of more Treggan Bay coming soon, but time will tell.
I will be waiting patiently for Metastable to reach me, and clearing the decks for when it does.
In closing
We are moving at a steadier pace now, but there is still plenty happening. Thank you for reading along with us.
Please get in touch if you have any questions, or if you just want to say hello.