For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been back with some old friends. I’ve laughed with Wren, Robyn and Mila. I’ve rooted for Tommy, and I’ve been wondering just what the hell gets into Mike’s head sometimes. In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m immersed in Safe Haven – Neverland (Part 2).

The story is developing well, and if all goes to plan, it should be ready for my target release date of the end of October. In some ways, it feels like I never left Safe Haven. In others, I feel like a stranger in a strange land after writing two books from The Burning Tree saga back to back.

Rise of the RAMs came out in early 2017. In that particular universe, that’s when billions of human lives came to an end. As a result, the impending doom caused by global warming that faced everyone in The Burning Tree would have been staved off. Of course, in the end, an asteroid strike sped the whole process up, but I think it raises an interesting point. Is the virtual extinction of mankind the only way to save the planet?

I think this is why I love post-apocalyptic fiction more than any other genre. It deals with some truly immense issues, and it makes readers and writers alike think about how they would deal with them. I know writing The Burning Tree made me contemplate my relationship with nature to a much greater extent than I ever had in the past. As a result of writing the book, I have changed a great number of things in my life in an attempt to make my negative impact on the environment a little less harsh. In the great scheme of things, it will make very little difference if the disastrous global warming effects that aviation, intensive farming and so on have on the planet are not brought under control. But on the other hand, every little helps.

So, being back in a land where mankind is on the brink of extinction at the hand of flesh-craving monsters is a nice change of pace. Returning to these characters really feels special for me. Some readers have contacted me in the past to say how Mike, Wren and the gang feel like close friends and, in some cases, family. Well, I feel exactly the same. I love being with them, and I love writing them. They make me happy. They make me sad. They worry me. While I’m writing, I’m there with them, seeing everything as they do, experiencing everything they do. When we say goodbye to a character, it’s truly gut-wrenching. I know there are some people who are still working their way through the series and others who haven’t even started it yet. So, to avoid spoilers, what happened to a certain character at the village hall in “Safe Haven: Is This The End of Everything”, really tore me up.
 
I was pretty down quite a while after writing that scene. Now, that might sound a little dramatic to some, but whenever I write a character, there is a huge personal investment for me in each one. Some of their experiences are actually derived from my own, so there is a little bit of me in every single one, and that makes saying goodbye to them a little harder–especially when they’ve been there since the beginning.

Safe Haven is always a rollercoaster to write, and Neverland (Part 2) is proving to be no exception. So far, I’m having a lot of fun with it, but the chances are that I’ll shed more than a few tears before it's over.

My pal Christian has come up with another astonishing cover which I’ll share with you a little closer to the time. I’m excited for you to see it, and I really can’t wait for you to read the next Safe Haven adventure.