Marc Nobbs: Blog

I released A Loving Light on ZBookStore on April 24th - just over two weeks ago. I watched it climb up the 'Best Seller' list on the site for a week, and in the middle of last week, it hit the number one slot.

And it's still there.

So a massive thank you from me to everyone who purchased a copy. I really do feel honoured to have hit that Best Seller slot, and I hope everyone who has read it has enjoyed it.

This is also now my highest-earning quarter ever on ZBS. So, again, thank you for that.

I've just altered the posting schedule slightly on A Loving Light. Chapter 6 was posted earlier today, and Chapter 7 was scheduled for Thursday, 7th May. But because Chapter 7 is a continuation of the meeting started in Chapter 6, I've just changed this to be posted "ASAP", which hopefully will be later today.

Similarly, Chapters 8 & 9 are the same 'event' split into two distinct halves, so I've now rescheduled them to post together, on Thursday 7th May.

I'm tempted to do the same with Chapters 25, 26 & 27, which are all related, but the difference there is that each chapter ends on a very natural break in the narrative, which isn't quite the same with 6/7 & 8/9, so I may not choose to group them. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Either way, I just wanted to let you know that, admins willing, chapter 7 will be up later and then there will be two chapters on Thursday instead of one.

I submitted the first chapter of the fifth Paul Robertson book, A Loving Light, to the site yesterday, and I've since queued the next 8 chapters, which cover the first third of the book — essentially, Act One.

The post schedule is every other day, so these first nine chapters take us to June 11th. I'll keep adding more chapters to the queue whenever I get a few minutes spare. I currently have 'clean' HTML files up to chapter 20, with 9 more left to 'clean.'

What do I mean by that? Well, I write in Word, then use Calibre to convert the file to an ePub and format it ready to upload to ZBookStore and the rainforest retailer. An ePub is just a wrapper for HTML files, but those files contain CSS and other tags that are stripped out by SOL's submission wizard, so to maintain the formatting of, for example, text messages, I need to strip out the CSS manually and replace it with the equivalent SOL in-line tags. It's not a particularly difficult process, but it is time-consuming, and if you do a lot of files in one go, it's easy to start making mistakes, so I tend to do them in batches of four or five.

So, I hope you enjoy the book. You'll find the big question in it isn't 'who is Paul's long-term partner?' but more, 'when will Paul realise it is already obvious to you, the reader and *every other character in the book*?'

Posting will be complete on 20th June, all being well.

If you can't wait that long to find out how Paul's journey to become Version 1.0 of the man he was always meant to be, you can read the whole story now by purchasing it at ZBookStore.

Maintaining the integrity of a sprawling book series is no small feat. By the time you’re deep into the fifth instalment of a saga—like my Paul Robertson Saga—the sheer volume of lore, character arcs, and minor plot points can become a logistical mountain.

Recently, I’ve integrated a new tool into my workflow that has completely changed the game: Google’s NotebookLM. Here is how I’ve been using this "AI research assistant" to keep my storytelling sharp and my intentions clear.

Maintaining the "Source of Truth"

When writing the fifth book, my biggest fear was breaking continuity. Did Paul mention a specific childhood event in Book 2 that contradicts a revelation in Book 5? Did I change the eye colour of a side character from Book 1?

I uploaded the manuscripts of the first four books into NotebookLM. This turned the AI into a dedicated expert on my own universe, and it gave me:

Instant Fact-Checking: Instead of digging through thousands of pages, I could ask, "What was the specific model of the car Paul drove in the opening of the saga?" and get an instant, cited answer.

Thematic Tracking: I used it to track the evolution of Paul’s internal conflicts, ensuring his growth in the fifth book felt like a natural progression rather than a sudden shift.

The "Mirror Test" with Audio Overviews

Now that the fifth book is finished, my use of NotebookLM has shifted from technical continuity to thematic analysis. This is where the Audio Overview function shines.

If you haven't tried it, the Audio Overview creates a deep-dive, podcast-style conversation between two AI voices discussing your uploaded material. For a novelist, this is the ultimate "Mirror Test."

Checking Intentions: I listen to how the AI "hosts" interpret the themes of my fifth book. If they pick up on the subtle melancholy I intended for Paul’s final chapters, I know I’ve succeeded. If they focus on something I considered a minor detail, it tells me I might need to recalibrate my emphasis.

Series Synthesis: By feeding the entire saga into the tool, the Audio Overview helps me see the "big picture." It’s like hearing two literary critics discuss your life’s work—it reveals patterns and connections in the narrative that I, as the author, was sometimes too close to see.

Why it Matters

Writing is often a solitary endeavour, and it’s easy to lose perspective. NotebookLM doesn't write the book for me; rather, it acts as a high-level consultant that knows my work as well as I do.

Whether it's ensuring that a minor plot point from years ago is honoured or hearing a "second opinion" on the emotional resonance of my finale, this tool has become an essential part of my creative process.

The Paul Robertson Saga is better for it, and as I look toward what’s next, I can’t imagine navigating a complex world without my digital co-pilot.

Here is a link to an example of what the Audio Overview is capable of. In this 20-minute " podcast, two (AI-generated) speakers discuss how Paul should approach his search for enduring love in book 5, following the events of the first four books. One speaker insists that he should treat the search for love like a business deal or a corporate hire, while the other is convinced this is completely the wrong approach. I found this a fascinating listen.

The final book in the Paul Robertson Saga is now available at ZBookstore.

I’ve begun editing chapter 26 of 29 of A Loving Light, which means I’m in the home stretch. This particular chapter—this whole closing sequence of the book, actually—is something I worked very hard on ‘getting right’ when I wrote it. So I don’t anticipate that revising these final few chapters will take very long.

I’m hopeful that by the weekend, I will have a polished manuscript that I can work on transforming into an ePub ready for publication.

I’ve already designed the book cover, so I’m getting closer. I’ll reveal that in a couple of days.

This book has three ‘acts,’ really. The first act sees Paul coping with and recovering from the events of the end of A Healing Love. The middle act sees Paul go on an unexpected business trip, and the final act depicts Paul finally embracing his role in life and stepping into his future.

That final act marks not just the end of the book, but the end of the series.

Yes, I have already written a sixth book, which follows directly on from A Loving Light, but I’ve decided it is the start of a new series. I haven’t decided on a title for that series yet—although I do think I know what it should be. But that also means the current title of the first book in a new series needs to be changed.

Yes, yes, I know that’s all very cryptic, but I don’t care. You’ll just have to wait and see.

You need to read A Loving Light first.