This week I finished writing my first television pilot – an adaptation of Ambit and Snarl. Well, the first part of it, anyway. I’ve sent it off to my agent. A friend suggested it could make a good animated series, and I agree. Let’s see what happens!

I’ve also recently had another tattoo applied; the largest and most detailed one yet. Here’s a picture of it – not a great one, but I’ve found it’s pretty hard to photograph your own shoulder in the mirror.

Why, yes. Yes, it did hurt. A lot.

Can anyone guess what it is?

No? Well, okay, it’s pretty obscure. In The Dark Griffin, Arren and Bran meet up at a tavern called the Sign of the Red Rat. This is the tavern’s sign, which I designed. It was then redesigned by the tattooist, a cool guy with a very impressive beard. I thought he did a great job. In any case, this tattoo combines two things I love: rats and beer! It also symbolises something.

The line just above it is a comet. The Red Rat is from the beginning of the series – the place where it all began. The comet appears in the very final trilogy, and is seen by some as an omen of the end of the world. So this tattoo is a symbol of both endings and beginnings.

Plus it involves rats, beer and pub signs, and the tattooist added a couple of swords, so it’s just plain cool even if the symbolism is a tad esoteric.

~KJT, gearing up to write another novel, and trying to obey the instruction to not scratch her shoulder