Monday, August 9, 2010

The Laura Interview: Part Two

“Now this is an interesting one," I say. "When it came time for Valkyrie to get a boyfriend, we actually did have a few discussions about it. At first you hated Fletcher- what do you think of him now?"

“Oh I hated him,” Laura nods. “He was irritating and annoying and needy and clingy, everything I’ve always hated about boyfriends. I’m all Team Caelan, like. Bad boy. Cool, mysterious... He has that “oh my God I so shouldn’t be doing this, but I will anyway” kind of thing. And he’s sexy, and he’s...” She pauses. “Fletcher is what is expected. Caelan is what is forbidden.”

“It’s so funny,” she continues, starting to smile, “because whenever you’re talking about Skulduggery not knowing about the Caelan thing, about the level of attraction and, kind of, flirtation that’s going on when he’s not around, I always think of the times when you’ve found out that I haven’t told you something, and you go all quiet. It’s just like that. You write it exactly the same as how you act. You do that scary quiet thing when you get angry.”

“Yes, well, enough about me...”

“What do you mean, enough about you? This whole interview is about you! Finally you get a reason to ask me all this stuff. But okay, back to the question, which was, uh... Fletcher. Yes. I hated Fletcher at the start, I hated his arrogance, I hated the fact that Val fell for him, because I never would have fallen for someone so in love with himself.”

“Has he improved?”

“He’s not as annoying. He’s not as cocky as... no, actually, he’s still as cocky as he ever was.”

“But if you remember,” I say, “in the first two books you seriously did not like Tanith.”

“She annoyed me, too. She was too cocky. She just... You have a habit of writing characters that annoy me, don’t you? Or maybe I’m just intolerant.”

“I think that’s what it is.”

“I think you’re annoying.”

“We really don’t have to go there. But while Tanith finally proved herself to you, Fletcher still hasn’t, has he?”

Laura makes a face. “Ah... He’s saved the day a few times, and he’s been in agony in The Faceless Ones, and he’s come through, so there’s probably not much more he could do to earn my respect. I’m probably just a bit, you know... tough on him.”

“We’ve seen Valkyrie start out as an Elemental and then take up the Necromancer ring- which power would you prefer?”

“Oh, now that’s a question I’ve been struggling with. I’d love to be able to keep the two. With Necromancy, I wouldn’t want to go down that dark path... Well, actually, it’s not so much the dark thing, I’d just hate to be part of the Necromancer Order. I don’t like them. It’s like being in church. I love the scariness of it and I love the coldness and the shadows, and I love all that. I’d love to be able to keep both kinds of powers- it’d be like something out of Captain Planet, where you’d be able to have them all.”

I laugh, impressed that she’s managed to reference one of the worst cartoons of all time.

“I know she has to choose,” Laura continues. “I mean, you obviously know which way she’s going to choose...”

“I don’t actually.”

“Do you not? Could you not make it so that she can have the two, no?”

“Nope. When she gets to 19 or 20, she’s going to have to make a choice.”

“It’s kind of hard. The problem with Necromancy is that it seems to be kind of limited- the shadows can come around and grab the guy and whatever, and that’s it. Whereas with Elemental magic, you give yourself a lot more options, especially because Skulduggery is learning all these new tricks.”

“So if you really had to pick?”

“Oh God... Okay, if you take out the Order, Necromancy. It also just sounds cooler.”

“So how does it feel to know that you served as the inspiration for one of the main characters? Is it weird?”

“It’s not... weird. I mean, when people say that, that I’m the inspiration, it’s... Okay, the personalities are very similar, even when I read it myself I laugh because the comments that she makes are me all over. Especially early on, it was funny, I used to put a little star beside all the things that I’ve actually said to you in real life. There are conversations in there that we’ve actually had. But because it happened- and I’ve actually been thinking about this question- because it happened the way it did- the book was written, you got a deal- it’s just kind of snowballed. So it’s not like if someone turned around and presented me with a book about my life. It’s not like that. It’s something that grew organically. There’s never been one particular day where everything had just changed overnight. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I go to respond but, in typical Laura fashion, she talks over me and continues. “Not that it doesn’t have the wow factor,” she says. “Obviously it’s cool, when you see little things in the book... I don’t think anyone apart from myself will pick up on all of these little things, but still, it’s nice.” She shrugs. “And you’re my friend, so I’m glad I could be of service.”

“Can you remember how you felt when I first told you I was writing a book about a skeleton detective, and that, basically, the lead female character was inspired by you?”

She looks a little sheepish. “I actually do not remember. Would you believe that? Like, I remember you telling me about the book deal... I was just like, “What? No way. Really?” I actually didn’t get excited about it until after you’d hung up, and I was sitting there in the car and I went, ‘Derek’s got a book deal...’ I couldn’t get my head around it. It came completely out of the blue. You’d told me that a few publishers had been on to your agent, but you were playing it very cool, very low key, you didn’t want anyone to get their hopes up, so I had no idea this was in the pipeline, you know?”

“I really regret telling you on the phone,” I say. “I regret not telling you to come over to the house, because I didn’t get to tell you to your face and see your reaction.”

“I know! It was like... ‘Oh right. No way. Cool.’ You know? I didn’t have the chance to go ‘What? Are you JOKING me?’ But yeah, anyway, that wasn’t the question. See, it was never, ‘hey look, I’ve got this book written, and this character is inspired by you’. It was ‘hey, I’m writing a book, I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it, but...’ Y’know?”

“So when did it hit you, about the deal?”

“It was probably the first time I saw you after that phone call, where it hit me that, wow, this is real, this isn’t a joke. But I don’t think I actually went ‘woah’ until I saw the book. The first time I saw the book on the bookshelf in Easons, I was all-” she changes her voice to a squeal- “‘Oh my God, look, it’s a book, and it’s hardback, that’s so cool...!’ And I can’t believe I just admitted that.

“I remember you were so excited when you showed me the book for the first time, we were both like ‘wooaaahh’. And the new books, you’re always excited about showing me the new books.”

“How much is Valkyrie actually like you?”

She laughs. “Ridiculously so. It’s ridiculous. Do you not think so? Well obviously you do. The conversations that Valkyrie and Skulduggery have, like, I actually sit and laugh because it’s like looking into a mirror at myself, and even the stupid comments, like oh my god, no, rolling the eyes, it’s all there. It’s ridiculous. It’s not how much she’s like me, it’s how much she is me. And even when I proofread the manuscripts, if the dialogue deviates from what I would say then I make you take it out, so by the time it arrives in book form, she is exactly like me. She’s younger, obviously, and I don’t have the magic powers, darn it, but apart from that, yeah. Ridiculous.

“And the times when Val and Skulduggery disagree about something, her reaction is identical to mine. Like, just sit and sulk. Do you know the way she’s like?” Laura folds her arms and proceeds to look very sullen indeed. “This is definitely my reaction. As much as I hate to admit it, I’d sit there and sulk, and you’d go all quiet... It’s funny. Unlike everyone else in the world, when we have an argument, instead of raising our voices, we do the complete opposite, it all goes totally quiet. What is wrong with us?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“There’s a lot wrong with you.”

“So, skipping over that, do you think you’d react in the same way that Valkyrie does in those situations? Like, the social situations, her interactions with people...”

“Yeah, like, she walks into rooms with Elders and sorcerers and Orders and she’s not daunted, at all, and I’m the same. I’d walk in anywhere, I don’t feel out of place, or intimidated...”

“You’ve always been like that.”

“Yeah.”

“Is there something about you or your life that you wish I hadn't put in the book?”

“God, I hate these questions, because they are all to do with you and how I feel about what you do and what you’re doing... It’s totally unfair how you get to ask me these things.”

“Yes,” I say happily. “I know. There are, obviously, elements of your life that I stay away from, that I don’t include, but in terms of who she is, her personality, you don’t try to get me to write her as super-cool, or super-nice, or super-anything. In fact, you get amazingly embarrassed if I go overboard on any of those things.”

“At the end of the day, if I’m reading it and she says something stupid, and I cringe and go ‘oh my God, I can’t BELIEVE you made me say that’, and it’s like, I’m not saying it, it’s not me, but I still cringe. I just cross out things like that, stupid things I’d never say, or something like poking myself in the eye when I’m applying mascara, like you had in Mortal Coil. I would never do that. I hope you took that out.”

“I did.”

“You had better.”

“I did, I swear.”

“I actually get embarrassed myself, and then I go ‘why am I embarrassed, it’s Valkyrie, it’s not me’, but that’s still the way I look at it. I refuse to let her do stupid things, or... And you remember, in an earlier book, you were going to have her getting dumped?”

“Absolutely. In fact my plan was, by the fourth book, she’d get a boyfriend and then he’d cheat on her. That guy obviously turned out to be Fletcher.”

“Yeah, and he dumps her, and when you told me that, and this was when you were writing the third book, I said no way, there is no chance of her getting dumped. That was a huge thing. It was obviously a part of the story you wanted to tell, but I wouldn’t allow it.”

“It turned out to be a major issue," I say, "because I had introduced Fletcher as this cocky character who was going to break Valkyrie’s heart, and suddenly I had to change my plans completely- and because of that, actually, Fletcher himself changed. He stopped being so arrogant and he developed real feelings for her and I was forced to view him through new eyes.

“It’s like what happened with Tanith- my original plan was to kill her in the first book, but my agent convinced me to keep her alive. So I had to rethink the whole thing, and Tanith became Valkyrie’s big sister, in a way. That wasn’t part of my original plan but I’m really happy it worked out the way it did, the same way I’m happy that Fletcher is so much different to how I’d intended him to be. But getting back to the issue, you were just not prepared to accept her being cheated on.”

“No,” Laura says, “no way. Because that makes her a victim. And Val is not and never will be a victim.”

“Is that because you are never the victim?”

“Yes.”

“And is that because no guy would ever cheat on you?”

“Exactly,” she says, completely matter-of-factly, “and if they did they wouldn’t be alive.”

“Okay,” I nod. “Okay. Kind of scary. So would it be right to say that you feel protective over her?”

“In a sense, protective is the wrong word, but the thought of someone cheating on her that time, it was ‘no, that’s not going to happen’. I think... I wouldn’t let you do something to her that I didn’t like. I’m not talking about people attacking her or anything, but someone cheating on her, no, that’s not going to happen. She says something stupid, no, not going to happen. I like the way when someone says something smart to her, she has a smart answer back. If she didn’t, yeah, I’d be offended.”

“So basically, you would be protective of her dignity. The core of the character itself. You don’t want that-“

“-to veer off,” Laura finishes, “and become something weak and false. No. Not going to happen.”

“Is there any aspect of your personality that, if I did write it into the books, you’d tell me to take out?”

“No. No, I’m fairly confident in who I am, and you’ve kept to that really closely. That’s what makes Valkyrie so good, it’s because she’s real. She’s not perfect, but she’s real. The same with Skulduggery. He’s you. You’re not making up stuff, it’s not fiction, this side of things. That’s why it’s so easy, like, that’s why it comes across as so natural.”

“Yeah,” I say, “yeah, the, uh, the...”

She watches me while I try to figure out what I want to say.

“That’s shut you up, hasn’t it?” she asks.

“It has, kind of, yeah.”

“Go on, next question.”

“You don’t tell me what to do.”

“Ask me the next question or I will kick you in the head.”

“Yes dear.”


Join us NEXT TIME for the third part of this interview, when Laura talks about all the things she makes me change in the early drafts of the books, why she doesn’t find me funny, and how many bones she’s broken while riding horses (hint: it’s a LOT).

77 comments:

  1. zzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz OMG FIRST COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. XD The last part made me laugh out loud.
    I like Caelan better than Fletcher, too, by the way...
    Nice interview again.
    Can't wait for part 3.

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  3. I RULE I RULE I RULE I RULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE
    lol my life sucks

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  7. Lord Derek, MIRROR!
    I kniw it's right! Val wouldn't kill her family!
    It's HER!
    You'll get it with the code...

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  8. LAURA THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTION !!!
    Hurray she on team caelan ^^ ( <-- my question)
    owch it must hurt to break a bone by falling off a horse, i havent broke a bone by falling off my welsh cob ( called lily ^^)

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  9. Grrr, my grammar is wrong with this keyboard!

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  12. OMG SHE GAVE AWAY A...welll... i guess a blooper thing...FROM MORTAL COIL!!! EEEEEEE!

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  13. OMG!!!! CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART! HORSES!!! :D :D :D. I'm glad you changed Fletcher from being someone who would break Val's heart to someone that cares for her. Thank you. :d Will you PLEASE put horses in the books!? :D Ohohoh!!!Whats Laura's horses name???

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  14. DEREK IF YOU DIDNT ASK HER MY QUESTIONS CALL HER AND ASK!

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  16. it souds like you two have kinda the same relationship me and vampirefreak have. we insult each other, cuss each other out and stuff. thats how u can tell when peeps are best friends. also, i think Val getting cheated on would be a wonderful idea. Fletcher's a little BUTTMUNCH and i like the idea of him getting his ass kicked. >;3 plus, it'd let us see just how protective Skulduggery REALLY is about Val. i think it'd be hilarious, and im all for it.

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  17. I Totally agree with Laura! Necromancy is like, completely Derektastic! Elemental is way cool too. But when I like 10 (and had the mental capacity of a six year old, yet would tear you t shreds with sarcasism) I'd be like "oooooooh! Lemme be a Necromancer!" And go grab a ring and be running round my house going "WHOOOSH!" (Yes,I was that sort of child.) Flicking the ring at stuff,with my nana sitting on the sofa drinking tea and eating digestive biscuts watching me with intensity, convienced I would fall over invisible things. (but I wouldn't, I'm far too graceful and poised.)around 3:30 when I should be doing my homework.Hehe. I was a strange child,and that was one of the many strange things I did.
    Yeah, you guys are like me and my cousin(who is 25, loves fosters home for imaginary friends, and dresses like David Tennant when he was doctor wh, Sonic screwdriver and all. He's pure awesome!) or me and anyone of my friends, but mainly Erin,Shleena and Geraldine.
    DEREK!YOU MAY BE OUR GOLDEN GOD, BUT YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE FLETCHER A, AS ME AND MY FRIEND LOUISE PUT IT WHEN WE PRETEND TO BE RAPPERS,HAND ACTIONS INCLUDED, "PLAYA'!!"?!?!?!? That would not be good! LAURA, THANK YOU FOR STOPPING HIM FROM MAKING THAT VERY TRAGIC MISTAKE, AND IF HE TRIES IT AGAIN, I give you permission to hit him.
    I know there's going to be, what,nine(?) books, but, somehow, I getting this feeling. (I just get feelings,sometimes.) That Fletcher'll die. PLEASE,SAY IT AIN'T SO!
    stay weird.
    Harly Ryker.

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  18. OMG lol i do acually really want to see how protective skulduggery is over valkyrie let fletcher like ... um let fletcher do SOMETHING to valkyrie to annoy skulduggery and show how protective he is over valkyrie also did u base any OTHER characters on real people?????

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  19. tee hee, am loving the interview so far. I'm snickering to myself in front of the computer and my housemate is looking at me wierd.... tee hee hee, ke ke ke, fu fu fu. It really is amazing how much you guys are like Val and Skulduggery, the similarities are hilarious! I really can't wait for the next book n interview so get typing!! ha ha. Peace out!!

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  20. I don't like Fletcher or Caelan (or however you spell his name) much. Caelan's boring. There doesn't seem to be much TO him. He's just there. Plus it would be totally cliche if the girl fell for the vampire. I hope it doesn't happen. :P

    Bravo, Laura,for keeping Derek from having Fletcher cheat on Valkyrie. It sickens me to read about stuff like that. I mean, a book should be an escape from gritty heart-breaking stuff like that, and I would have enjoyed the book less if it had happened. And NO Valkyrie would not cheat on Fletcher....At least, I hope not. I don't really know, but I'd hate her if she did.

    The last three lines of the interview were hilarious. =)

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  21. Valkyrie should go after skulduggery ;) Lol

    By the way, you and Laura are great together :)

    Will you tell us how long you have known eachother??

    Another fabulous chunk of interview :) :D

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  22. hey errr HOW CAN YOU PREFER CEALEN TO FLETCHIE fletcher just rules ok??

    You can see i'm team Fletcher right ...... i think i just point it out FLETCHER
    ^ ^

    and that XD

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  23. wooooo go caelan, !!!!!!!

    and i cannot believe she likes muse, muse is awesome!!!! :)

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  25. wow, that failed. um robyn was actually me, :)
    lol, soz

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  26. This is actually very amusing...

    I love how you write it, like an actual story. I can picture the whole situation.

    Someone may have asked this before, but does Laura look a lot like Valkyrie, or did you change her appearance?

    Probably a stupid question.

    I'm glad she doesn't like Fletcher. I don't like him either. He's so full of himself, and his not good enough to be THAT full of himself.

    I don't much like the vampire guy either. He's just so, like, dark and acts like he's always suffering and a loner. EMO much? What is it about Vampires that girls find so attractive?

    (I do not include myself in that group... just so you know... I prefer to hang around people who aren't so depressing)

    So Laura has broken a lot of bones. Does this, in any way, reflect the amount of bones Valkyrie has broken?

    Did you intend to base Skulduggery on yourself, or did it just happen like that?

    I was going to ask some other questions, but the flashing colourful ads on the TV are distracting me.

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  27. Lord Landy, I've just had an idea.
    Could you include some of us in the books?

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  28. But- But...Fletcher...is *developing*! Caelan is just *there*. And probably sexy too, but can a girl really fall for an attractive plank? ...Something to ponder...

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  29. oh, god SERIESLY please mr derek sir if u read this the last thing the reading community needs is another *shivers* twilight. i like Fletcher AND Caelan (no i'm not going to say i'm on a TEAM that just SOUNDS gay) i just really wanna see how protective skulduggery is over Valkyrie lol anyway aaaaahhhhhhhh bye?

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  30. that is SOOOO funny!
    like the last bit espesh.
    :)

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  31. this is a question my friend wants me to ask for him since hes to lazy to make a google account (yes, thats you josh)anyway 'if skulduggery is an elemental can he freeze water?' there are u happy bone head i asked for u now stop bothering me on msn, your annoying.

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  32. what a great idea Sarthacus! HOW COOL WOULD IT BE IF DEREK INCLUDED US IN SOME OF THE BOOKS? is he probs gonna do that? no.
    hmmm...but if Laura convinced him....
    HEY LAURA! YOUR SO COOL! DO YOU LIKE COOKIES? IF YOU DO THEN I CAN GET U SOME. I RIDE HORSES 2!

    this isnt going to work. ok groveling over.

    still working on second taken name. yeah Sathacus i do want something with Swift in the second name. i just think it suits ya know?
    oh!oh!oh! just got the e-mail bout the competition! im so gonna enter. although im not very good at that kinda thing. drawing and stuff. and writing. and ideas.
    but ill give it a shot. always wanted to have something i did on the big screen. ya never know. might get me a writers part on Sherlock or Doctor who.

    well...maybe not. but still it would be so cool!
    im gonna try my best even though i may fail. well,probs will fail.

    but i live in hope.

    erm im on team Caelan but it would probs be ok if skulduggery and val got together. but i dont think Laura would allow that. or derek for that matter.
    i. must. win. that. competition!
    sorry cant get it off my brain.

    im gonna go now and ponder over the competition and daydream about being on doctor who or sherlock or in the skulduggery plesant movie.
    how cool would it be if we all got background parts in the movie? soooooo cooooooooool!

    but not gonna happen. *sigh*
    geckogirl out.

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  33. and just in case you change ur mind derek and DO put us in the books then im Skylara Swift(something after swift that sounds cool not sure yet) and im a adept shapeshifter. i can turn into both animals and humans and plants and stuff.
    oh yeah!

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  34. great i got the hicups.
    they are so anoying.

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  35. and btw laura i also think muse are awsome.
    but coldplay are WAYYYYY better.
    and snow patrol.
    and take that.

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  36. I love Fletcher, but I agree with Laura. Cealen has that sexy... 'forbidden'... air around him. And Laura is pretty damn awesome.Tell he that, Derek. Tell Laura she is just about as awesome as Valyrie.

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  37. has everyone here figured out the mirror plot twist ?

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  38. This is Brilliant! Derek, Laura, you two are too much alike Skulduggery and Valkyrie. Hmmm... Laura doesn't like Fletcher hmmm... well he can be very stupid sometimes, and other times he's just stupid. Caelan... I agree what Laura said about. Very mysterious. Thanks for the answers.

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  39. OMG HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL US THAT THE SAMPLE OF MORTAL COIL IS HERE !!!!!!!! I HAVE READ IT % TIMES AND I NEED MORE!!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM........GOLDEN GOD THANK YOU BUT LET ME KNOW IN FUTRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





    SAMPLE OF MORTAL COIL IS HERE WOOP WOOP!!

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  40. u should have left in the bit with the mascara. that would have been funny!

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  41. Ahh, this is exciting. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like Fletcher.

    As much as I love the whole thought of Necromancy, I still think that Val should choose the Elemental powers. Like Laura said, they'd give her more options... Necromancy is limited. As cool as it sounds.

    Merlin, am I glad you changed Fletcher. Laura was totally right in making you change that and I actually really like her view on it. Had Fletcher cheated on Valkyrie she would have become a victim and that's not something she should ever be.

    I think that's all... it's probably not, but I can't think what else I wanted to say... oh. Yes. The competition is a rather good one. Made my friend and I squee. Y'know, kind of a lot.

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  42. must ask- why has the Dark Days cover been changed?
    because, it was WAY cooler the way it was before.
    it had more VALKYRIE on it!
    im gonna sulk now...

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  43. I really must comment on your blogs more, they are brilliant! I'm loving the interview so far. Your's and Laura's friendship really is just like Val and Skulduggery :)
    Although I'm not a huge Fletcher/Valkyrie fan, I'm glad he didn't cheat on her!

    Oh, I've been asked by the creators of the fan made Skulduggery movie to post the link to their page. They've put a trailer up now, it looks great.

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skulduggery-Pleasant-The-Movie/139771579384020

    One last thing: I am super depressed that I am too old to enter the competition! 18 or under?! That's just made me all the more depressed about turning twenty in a couple of months... :P

    Can't wait to read more from you :)

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  44. Angel Prince i like totally agree with u caelen is just like the forbidden apple from the bible (my nan wants me to a be a nun like her so i moved to england with my parents) and valkyrie hehehe (eve) will pick it in the end .... u kno i really hate that team Fletcher and team caelen thing it really gets on my nerves how can ppl be so sad any way !! GOLDEN GOD YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO MAKE FLETCHER A PLAYER (heheheh) SO THAT VAL WILL BE WITH CAELEN AND IF LAURA HAS A PROBLEM WITH THAT SHE WILL HAVE ME TO DEAL WITH!!!!

    plus tell laura that i also like muse!!!

    MUSE IS AWSOME LALALALLA!!

    FLY ON KEEP WRITING! ALEKS!

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  45. I JUST READ THE FIRST 2 CHAPTERS OF MORTAIL COIL! CAN'T WAIT!
    Also there was this interview with Derek in The Sunday Times Culture mag about 2 weeks ago. Did you know he owns the cape from the original Superman movie? I bet he wears it and runs around the house making whoosh noises. Do you, Derek? I know I would.

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  46. Do you pronounce Caelan as in Kahlan in Sword of Truth?
    If I were Valkyrie, I would like choose a different thing other than Necromancy or elemental magic. forgive me if i suck.
    Hoi Derek you go to Japan ok then you can eat
    Hanate wakuso shiseo tatashte teriyaki suzuki honda civic sushi sashimi unagi don crispy very crispy your teeth drop I also don't care you go xiao I lagi happy see your face go a;legohwhglshh glwgha;oglraegiwa;g dslgzdgwhg h h zoghzrgihrig irhdgnibeygiuverybighkshg hilgeyiuyerghkghjkhdfkgl syrigerhgksyekugy ierygiuenyybigbeirvk gg regigs7lebrigesi yfhghfdnhafkhkhhhfksskjhhahklkfbaiueybl gggl fiiyfialeiygiaghf hffhjdKh flauyfleyfyhk
    NIce books Derek pls write more... ()() <-infinite no. of books write until your hands drop I also don't care. I like yourr books and SP.
    Thanks for reading lah.
    : )

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  47. Is the cover for book 4 changed? I still prefer the one in which Valkyrie was grabbing Skulduggery's skull, the one in which she is not smiling(is she?). Seems unfair that only UK and Eire could participate in the trailer thing. Why not include South Africa? :)

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  48. WTH Derek? I just read the extract of Mortal Coil, and yeah it was great as usual but Im pretty gutted that Skulduggery already has a face. I wanted a big reveal you know? I was looking forward to that bit. I also thought he would get over the pain of bringing back his old face and get that one. This disappoints me. But apart from that, awesome.
    And Laura sounds like my type of person. We even share a love of ridiculous slippers :)

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  49. can i just say u 2 sound like me and 1 of my friends from skwl, always taking the mik out of eachothere and winding eachothere up. great fun! lol

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  50. Moon shine i do believe you are rather scary lol

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  51. OMG PEOPLE AT MY SCHOOL ARE TOTAL MORONS
    get over it, I'm wiccan big bloody deal and I would never put a curse/hex on the girls dog and no I didn't kill her dog either.I really wish people would stop saying that.... OH great now they are egging my house. FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THINGS HOLY IT IS'NT EVEN HALLOWEEN. SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! guess what they have started calling me its very original....NOT they are now using my nickname(Jinx) to insult me how very clever -claps sarcastically-

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  52. By the way Chinese Crested dogs rule. they are weird looking things but they are still very cute and adorable. So ha

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  53. im sorry but i hate chiniese crested dogs.
    i love all other dogs (especially huskeys :D) but NOT those little ratty ones.
    im sorry Laura,im sure Ruby is very cute. Ugly but cute. like...like...ok i got nothing.
    to world of warcraft!
    geckogirl away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  54. If Val started dating cealan it would turn into twilight and two of my fave books are NOT about to colide! I somtimes think of val as a bit like me, to, Laura

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  55. Please let Fletcher/Val not work.
    It's disgusting. JUST WRONG DAMN YOU, WRONG!!!
    And let Val/Cealan happen. You can do such a better job of Twilight :D XD I HATE TWIGHLIGHT SO MUCH, so do it. It'll make me laugh. GO ON DEREK. omg im hyper. I bet you love having weird fans, dont you? DONT YOU??!?!?
    Anyway, i love this interview.

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  56. i agree with you Laura, Val will never be dumped, at most she will be the one dumping!

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  57. I guess you've all already watched P.J. and the lightning theif, It had a good plot but wasn't done properly, y'know

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  58. Damn you derek if you do not obey me I will hunt you down and expose you to the skeleton you realy are! muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
    heeheehee.

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  59. NO NOT ANOTHER TWILIGHT- DIE EDWARD CULLEN YOU STUPID SPARKLING VAMPIRE- SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT CAN NEVER BECOME TWILIGHT.THERE WILL BE A MUTINY AND DEREK LANDY SHALL BE THE GOLDEN GOD NO LONGER!!!!

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  60. I will join you penguin -die Edward Cullen-

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  61. Oh littlepsychobunny... have a little FAITH....!

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  62. OOOOOOOOOOH!!!! I JUST SEEN THE EMAIL!!!! OMG, I'M SOOOOOO ENTERING!!!!!!AHHHHHH!!!!!ideas are hitting me, left and right! Time to re rererere-speed read skulduggery pleasant. but I DIDN'T FIND IT VERY CLEAR, SO DEREK, PLEASE EXPLAIN MORE!!!
    THANKS!
    Stay weird.
    Harly Ryker.

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  63. My questions now got everyone on sides........ im sorry golden god, i only wanted lauras opinion
    mind you caelan is 100X better than a twilight vamp
    A. he doesnt sparkle , thank the lord for that
    B. Hes mysterious and a hidden monster
    C. hes sort of lonely and valkyrie seems to be the only person who talks to him and doesnt treat him like a monster.
    it wouldnt really be like twilight, bella cant kick people and set them on fire , theres no talking skeletons, no teleports and no faceless gods that hate people..... ( just my opinion )

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  64. hi Laura

    one quick question: what did you think of Fletcher kissing Val for the second time? ya know, at professor grouse's med wing. just thinking about it makes me laff so hard, im laffing right now =].

    thanks for the answer that i know will come,

    imightbecrazy AKA Lizzy

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  65. TANITH. WAS NEVER... COCKY!! TANITH. IS. AWESOME!!

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  66. LOL... But gr8 interview so far...

    N Caelan, Fletcher... meh. Boyfriends suck... I'm 14 n neva had 1, neva want 1! >:D

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  67. Fletcher is sooo annoyinly funny he kinda reminds me of jedward especially wit his hair...caelan is soo cool but is out of bounds to valkyrie..r is he...

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  68. I'm afraid I'll have to disagree. Team Fletcher, all the way. Caelan's an annoying, brooding vampire boy. Remind you of anyone? Like, oh, Edward Cullen, per say? He doesn't sparkle, granted, and he is, quite literally, a monster, but still, the similarities are striking.

    Caelan's a crowd pleaser, I get why he has such a huge following. I mean, there's the whole 'dangerous' factor, the fact that he is admittably stronger than Caelan, etc. But I find him bland and predictable.

    Fletcher, I daresay, has more of a personality. I like how he and Val argue. It's much more entertaining than hearing how Caelan rants about being dangerous and bad. He consists of more than saying that he's an awful person and telling Val how much he loves her. Besides, Fletcher as a character is much more believable. There are so many real guys like him around,he's someone people can relate to, and he's someone more realistic than a vampire whose devoted to Val the point of obsession.

    This is my biased opinion, though everyone's opinion is somewhat biased. I don't really like Valkyrie and Caelan as characters, which has probably made my view on this rather biased. However, it is still my opinion, so I'm sticking to it.

    Flame all you want.

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