FAQs

The first thing to be aware of is that each country has its own publisher and therefore its own schedule, jacket design, sales, marketing and various other individualities. I'm from the UK and it's my UK publisher that usually publishes my novels first as they're the one who I work with most closely. Publishers in other countries then licence the completed novel, translate it into their native language if that isn't English, or tweak the spelling and grammar in the case of North America. Even with the best will in the world this often means that the UK edition is published long before other countries. 

Sadly, the publisher who released the previous Victor novels in North America has elected to discontinue the series. He apologies profusely for the delay and the frustration caused but this is wholly the publisher's choice and Tom has no say in their decision. 

However, he has been working on alternative arrangements and Victor will return in 2024. 

T W Ellis is a pseudonym under which Tom has written the standalone psychological thriller A Knock at the Door. It's a very different kind of novel to his Victor series, so he's using a pseudonym to differentiate the two.

The Hunter aka The Killer, The Enemy, The Game, Better Off Dead aka No Tomorrow, The Darkest Day,  A Time to Die, The Final Hour, Kill For Me,  A Quiet Man,  Traitor, and Blood Debt (coming 2023).

Nope, the books were written to stand on their own two feet. But it can't hurt.

They're ebook novellas set before and after The Enemy, respectively. And no, Tom didn’t just cut off the start and end to sell them separately. Although, that is a good idea and he wishes he had thought of it and saved himself weeks and weeks of work. They're not currently available in print or audio, but hopefully that will change one day. Whilst they are set before and after The Enemy, it's not necessary to read them chronologically. Gone By Dawn wasn't written or published until several years later.

He didn’t. He doesn’t publish his books; he just writes them. But he has different publishers in different countries and they don’t always like the title he comes up with (actually, they NEVER do – Tom) and so sometimes they change the title to better suit their own market. This has always happened in publishing, but now we’re in the internet age and sites are naughty and sell multiple editions of the same book. Tom hates that people get caught out by this but there really isn’t anything he can do about it. The same applies to Better Off Dead aka No Tomorrow

He was raised by ninjas.

Alas no, as advised by his blood-sucking lawyer, in case you decide to sue him for also writing a story about a man who did a thing in a place.

He’s almost certainly too busy writing the next book but will when he has time, or you didn’t enter your email address correctly and Tom’s lengthy and heartfelt reply has been bounced back, leaving him in a volatile rage. Alternatively, you hated one of his books and being a lovely human being thought Tom should know, so he’s opted to ignore you while he takes a bath in champagne and contemplates whether to buy that new yacht.

You bet he would. Ping him an email.

You’ve cracked the code. Well done. Tom was originally published with his very own long and unwieldy surname. Then the slick guys in sharp suits decided Wood was a whole lot catchier and his true identity was lost. He’s kind of like Victor in that regard.

The prologue section of the novel is actually set AFTER the rest of the story, not before, which is why the events of the prologue are never referred to subsequently, and explains why the limp Victor is suffering from is not mentioned again until he is injured by the mercenaries towards the end. The prologue is even titled A Price Worth Paying, which is significant as on the last page Linnekin, after hiring the team, says, ‘Let’s see if the price of crossing me was worth it.’ It wasn’t Tom’s intent to confuse, and he apologies for being too clever for his own good.