The new Star Wars Episode VII trailer arrived today, a mere 8 weeks before the film hits the cinema and I'm as excited as anything. I've got all my fingers and toes crossed that J.J. Abrams knocks this one out of the park.

It certainly looks exciting as it opens with Rey scavenging through the belly of a crashed star destroyer. "Who are you?" a voice asks. "I'm nothing."

Then there's Finn, a stormtrooper who becomes a Jedi. "The Force is calling you."

And finally Kylo Ren, our new baddie. I think one of the many things wrong with the prequels was the lack of a cool bad guy like Darth Vader. Hopefully Kylo will make up for that... Star Wars is back, baby.

I used to get really annoyed when I followed blogs and the writers stopped updating them for ages, then a new post would appear and claim life stuff had gotten in the way. And yet, here I am, months after my last post, about to use the same excuse.

A lot has happened. A lot.

The big stuff - a new baby ( a girl, gorgeous, very chilled), a new job (great ad agency, looking after lots of countries, working on exciting, big clients) and a new country (Dubai).

So yes, big life stuff but all exciting, all wonderful things.

On the book side of things, it's been slow. I'm on version 6 (I think) of He Who Fights but all that stuff above has impacted on my writing time but I'm hoping to have the latest version finished by December 1st - nearly a year after I finished draft 1. It's a very different book. A much better book.

Once finished though I have to begin the tedious task of getting another agent. Rob, the wonderful man who signed me up last July, has shut his agency to concentrate on writing himself. It's a shame on many levels, not least of all because I really enjoyed working with him and this book wouldn't even exist without him. His feedback, encouragement and support has been so helpful to me. I wish him all the best.