Mat Dinning

A modern urban fantasy series that reimagines the myths of Baldr and Orpheus. Featuring romance, found family, music, mythology, road trips, magical realism, and a stubborn belief that people can heal.

Meet Jude Valentine: thirty-something, half-French, and the troubled frontman of the seminal band Valentine’s Day.A decade into rock stardom, Jude is trapped in a loveless and violent marriage to Alexa Morgan, haunted by his childhood, and plagued by a recurring dream that seems to predict the course of his life. Then, on a rain-soaked night out, the world-weary rock star finds himself enchanted by Sophie Mia Darling — she of the Karaoke Glow.A modern urban fantasy reimagining of the myths of the Norse god Baldr and the legendary Greek musician Orpheus, The Take Off and Landing of Everything moves backwards and forwards through Jude’s life, revealing the choices, wounds, loves, and gods that have led him to this moment.Beyond the ordinary world are the Pookas — pagan gods, spirits, and strange powers who pull strings, make bargains, and interfere in the lives of the flesh folk. As prophecy tightens around him, Jude must ask whether he can escape his destiny, his abuser, and the gods who have already begun to claim him.Can Sophie be the key to his redemption? What god is coming? And what does the prophecy of the Norns truly mean?‘One will rise, one will fall, one will be transformed.’Meanwhile, Jude stands beneath a streetlamp in the drizzling rain and moonlight, while Sophie stands in her window, bathed in the unearthly glow of a neon sign.This is the moment.This is the beginning or the end.Either way, this is the moment.

Jude Valentine escapes Alexa Morgan bleeding, broken, and lucky to be alive.As he slowly rebuilds his life, Jude grinds on through exhaustion, trauma, and the wreckage Alexa left behind. The world sees a rock-star scandal and laughs along with the headlines, but behind the press campaign, the rumours, and the public humiliation is a man trying to survive long enough to become himself again. Meanwhile, ancient gods walk among mortals, monsters stir beyond the veil, and the dream that has haunted Jude since childhood refuses to let him go.Three years later, Jude stands on a balcony beneath the neon lights of Tokyo and believes he has finally won. He has survived. He has rebuilt. He has found love, and it is love that opens his eyes. For the first time, Jude truly understands the shape of the fate that has been waiting for him all along.Moving backwards and forwards through time, A Song for the Lovers follows Jude as he gathers powerful allies, uncovers ancient mysteries, and searches desperately for a path away from the destiny that awaits him. Yet every road he follows seems to lead back to the same place.Back to the same prophecy.Back to the same choice.Three are joined.One will rise.One will fall.One will be transformed.The question is no longer whether the prophecy is real.The question is whether Jude can survive it.

Dear Reader,Any blurb or description for the final book may spoil your enjoyment of the series. So, instead, please enjoy this excerpt from A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.- From A Psalm of Life

Mat Dinning is a writer from Coventry whose work blends urban fantasy, mythology, romance, and magical realism.Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, writing was never the obvious path. What followed was a long process of trial and error, developing techniques, confidence, and stubborn persistence to overcome challenges that others might have seen as limitations. Today, Mat views dyslexia not as a weakness but as one of the forces that helped shape his creativity and the way he sees stories.His work draws inspiration from mythology, folklore, music, film, television, and art in all its forms. He is particularly fascinated by the way old myths continue to echo through modern life, and many of his stories explore the meeting point between the ancient and the everyday.Mat has been working on the world of The Karaoke Glow in one form or another since around 2008. What began as a single idea gradually grew into an interconnected mythology that now spans multiple novels. The Karaoke Glow Trilogy forms the heart of that world, while earlier novels, including The Broad Gleaming and The Girlfriend Experience, were originally published under the pen name Jack A Rabbit and are planned for future revision and republication as part of the wider canon.When he isn't writing, Mat can usually be found listening to audiobooks, obsessing over music, film and television, adding to his ever-growing collection of tattoos, spending time with his dog Max, or finding time to write between work, caring for family, and the general chaos of everyday life.He lives in the Midlands and firmly believes that stories matter, songs can save your life, and there is probably a myth for everything.