Menewood has now been rewritten twice and is in the hands of my editor and agent. It’s a long book, so it’ll take a while to read. Then they’ll both have to do some thinking before I get edit letters. Then I’ll have to read the letters and think about those. Then I’ll have to rewrite it once or twice more (with ensuing rounds of reading, editing, thinking, etc). Then there’s all the paratext to prepare: the maps and glossary and family trees and so on. Deciding cover art, cover copy. Catalogue copy. Copyediting—which for Hild took three rounds. Then proofing—don’t even try to count those. Bound galleys, Advance Reading Copies, pre-publicity, publicity, and finally: Launch! At which point it gets really busy…
You’ll understand, then, why I have absolutely no clue of a publication date.
However, if I were Empress of the Universe I’d plump for November 14, 2022—right before St Hild’s feast day, and almost exactly 9 years after the publication of Hild. But on top of the novel’s insane length, there are so many things to consider, such as the fact that I already have a book coming out in 2022—Spear, due from Tordotcom in April—and there are the three Aud novels which await reissue. Not to mention the collection of short fiction which is almost ready to go.
So while I want it to be 2022, Menewood might not appear until 2023.
So as a tiny little treat I’ve written a map-heavy post about Cadwallon—his origins, battles, and faults. It’s going up on Gemæcce, my research blog, on Friday morning, and includes juicy little details about events in Menewood. Fair warning, though: if you’re not familiar with the broad Wikipedia-level outlines of British history c. 631-635 you might find it a bit spoilerish.
If you do choose to go read it, you’ll see I’ve been experimenting with map styles and beginning to lean more towards topographical maps which ultimately make the most sense in this context. I’ve used various types and levels of stylisation and am curious about which readers prefer.
Enjoy. And let me know—either here or over at Gemæcce.
Nicola Griffith 
Love all the news,and really looking forward to Spear. !! Dorothy
The strategic outline over on Gemaecce all sounds reasonable to me. I think I prefer your topographical maps, though only marginally over the Jorgensen GIS one. What they both offer over the larger scale or more outline-ish ones is a better feel for the slopes. The rivers and roads are important for strategic level manouevring, and the rivers and fords are also important tactically, but it’s usually going to be the slopes that determine where you choose to put your position, and how difficult it is to assault.
@DavidG I definitely prefer the topo maps, especially closer in. I’ve found GIS animation (not shown in the post) extremely useful in terms of attack and defense.
@Dorothy Me too! Especially all the illustrations
Speaking as the person with an array of Works in Progress waiting to be finished, I’m in no position to criticize…(wry grin) It takes a lot of work to finish a book, and you’ve raised the bar for yourself with the excellence of your previous publications. (another wry grin) Good luck!
And thank you for the link, taking the time to put this together for us!
Nicola, if you were Empress of the Universe, it would go round a good deal faster — and smoother! — than it does. Also, more happy kitties! 😻