Friday, June 24, 2011

The End Of The World

Ah, Skulduggery, my old friend. Look how much you’ve changed my life. When you popped into my head six years ago (to the very MONTH) I had no idea what it would mean. Valkyrie came to me within sixty seconds of your arrival. In the next three minutes, I had China and Ghastly and Tanith and Bliss and Serpine- and suddenly I was writing a book. More than one, actually.

A nine book series. Thank GOD I envisioned this as nine books. What if I’d only envisioned it as a trilogy? Then it would have ended two years ago, and these characters who I love writing about would be finished, with no more stories to tell.

It isn’t JUST the nine books, though, because now there are a host of short stories I’ve written, and a lot more I’ve yet to write. These stories are a way for me to write about things or characters or ideas that I just don’t have the space for in the books. At the moment, these stories can only be found in the paperback editions, and while we’re looking into ways of making them available to everyone, for the moment the paperbacks are the only way you can own them. I’d love if there were a way for you to hand over a few cents or pence in a bookshop so you could take that short story home with you, but we can’t do that just yet.

However, next year you’ll be getting something a little special.

World Book Day is a worldwide celebration of reading and books. In Ireland and the UK it’s usually held at the start of March, while the rest of the world tends to hold it in April. I don’t know why it can’t be held on the SAME day, but there you go. To encourage people to pick up a book and start reading, a select few are sold for one pound, or exchanged for Book Tokens. They’re fairly small books, it has to be said, and so they’re REALLY a sort of extended short story… But even so, it’s a wonderful enterprise, and I’m honoured to have been chosen to write a BRAND NEW Skulduggery adventure for World Book Day 2012.

I’m writing it at the moment, actually, in between edits of Death Bringer. I’ve managed to get my publishers to agree to make it 15,000 words long- which is the most they could manage (the average Skulduggery short story is anywhere between 3000 and 5000 words). Frankly, I wanted to make it the longest book it could possibly be within the World Book Day limits because I want to make it worth your while to pick up. In terms of a page count, 15,000 words is roughly equivalent to 90 pages of the Mortal Coil paperback, so it’ll probably be around one sixth of the length of Mortal Coil. It isn’t a full length book, but it’s something cool and new and AFFORDABLE to add to your collection.

The story takes place a few months after Death Bringer and it’s called The End Of The World. Apart from anything else, it’ll be a nice way to bridge the gap between Death Bringer and Book Seven, which will be released in September 2012- as planned- and which is called, er… Dave.

4,480 comments:

  1. Oh my god that sounds so cool cant wait

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  2. oh im first first post ever and first

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  3. Hi Mal!

    Right, I have to go now and do some work- can't be staying here chatting to you all day...!

    Bye now!

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  4. So excited! Love short stories. They always consist of the best words in the best order in the least amount of space.

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  5. Wow! This is great! More Skulduggery at a cheap price! (which is great for people who are broke, like moi) how much is one pound in US money? *googles it* Dude! A Skulduggery Pleasant book for like a dollar! That's awesome!

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  6. Thats a great idea Kallista! its a nice way to give back ^^

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  7. DEREK CAN I FINALLY MEET YOU ON HERE??

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  8. Awesome Derek! I can't wait to read it.



    Now guys, could we go on the other one until it is full.

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  9. Awesome! World Book Day is now even better than it used to be!

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  10. awesome!!! cant wait! i dont know why they cant have it in the same month either. I cant wait until it comes out!! how do you get these books? its the first time i have heard of it

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  11. We should fill up the other one before we do this. Just saying...

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  12. OMG I JUST REALISED I WAS IN THE TOP TEN COMMENTS ON THE FIRST PAGE!! OMG!!

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  13. Awesome! I haven't gotten a book for WBD for ages - and this one shall make the others cry at their own unworthyness, and then they will be water damaged because they cried so much, and then your book will laugh at their pathetic puddle of tears... If your book is mean, of course...

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  14. Bones to the rescue!
    *stuffs unworthy water damaged books into Isabella's mouth*
    There! Job done ^^

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  15. Derek, i cant wait for you'r short story to come out. You always suprise us with thigs we dont expect, thats what makes you so amazing, along with the fact, that you'r AMAZING at writing books and are so good to you'r minions,

    Love me :)

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  16. DEREK DEREK DEREK DEREK DEREK DEREK DEREK
    Do your books have individual personalities?
    Yeah, it's an odd question but it just came to me. Maybe, Playing with Fire is shy? Mortal Coil could be arrogant? If you had to give them personalities, what would they be? ^^

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  17. *starts chewing books*


    *says with mouth full*


    Very interesting!

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  18. im good, a little bored, but im good lol

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  19. Opps, I think there were some hardbacks in there too Isabella!
    Don't hurt youre teeth!

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  20. EEERRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!
    *starts ripping hair out*
    I have nothing to read and not had anything to read for literally ages, as soon as that book comes out in september, i am SO reading it!!!!

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  21. Hey nights.raven, im good, how are you??

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  22. Hey Val wonna be how are you?? and how are you bones??

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  23. I'm good, thank you ^^
    How are you?

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  24. Im good thanks, how are you NJ and Bones??

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  25. hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii everyone omg world book day sp book I've never really do world book day but next year I'm definetly doing it the end of the world sounds so cool Derek (I'm your no 1 fan and best minion out of everyone) so hi anyone and THE GOLDEN GOD

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  26. Hmm... *strokes imaginary beard*
    I would say I can't choose, but I wanna say Dark Days...
    What about you?

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  27. my favorite sp book is book mortal coil but will end up being death bringer and so on

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  28. Mine is motal coil, they just get better and better!!

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  29. I hope they'll have it on Amazon after they publish it. I so want that book!

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  30. what sp book do you lot like the best out of book 1 or book 2

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  31. @ Jackskin - I'm talking to you guys, listening to music and breathing ^^

    @ Val - I love them all but I think there's just something about Dark Days... Maybe it's the zombies?

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  32. i'm talking to you guys and nothing else hehe

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  33. =_______________________________=

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  34. ^_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________^

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  35. by bones... not really
    so everyone but us left I think

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  36. Hmm...
    Okay then, guess what number I'm thinking of between 5 and 6!

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  37. by for real this time see later i might be on at about eight

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  38. ohh wait i know this one its 20000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

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  39. by bones like I said I might be one at eight

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  40. Okay Bye!



    It's was 5.49 by the way...

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  41. wow! i hated the crappy books from the previous world book days. now therell be an AWESOME one to show all the rest how it's done!

    AND THE DAY AFTER MY B-DAY TOO!

    :)


    ***

    Check me awesome toy! (if ye havent)

    rachelsanythinggoes.blogspot.com/

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  42. I can't wait to get the paperbacks, I mean I have all of the series up to this date so I couldn't get new ones just for the short stories but my mum is a teacher at a school in the outback (I live in Australia) and she has been trying to find a kid she teaches some books too read (he wants to be a writer) and I suggested Skulduggery Pleasant as that is my writing inspiration, so now I am giving him my old book as it is a small town and they don't have a bookshop, which means not only can I get the new ones but I can also share the love that is Skulduggery Pleasant to more people :-D

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  43. why thank you :D hello dogslikebones and rachel

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  44. Hi Rachel!


    I'll only be kinda half here - busy ^^

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  45. heya bones :)

    destiny- is it micheal jackson or someone? *pretends to have SOME idea of what it is*

    :)

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  46. no it's Gerard Way, Frank Iero, Mikey Way, Bob Bryar and ray toro

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  47. ahhhhh!

    lol- my guess was a fail :P

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  48. i love michael jackson as well, usually my picture is michael jackson, so you were kinda close XD

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  49. soo. im bored, what you peoples usually talk about?

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  50. lol- ill go with that :)

    ...wheres everyone else? should be loads o folk on by noo

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  51. sooooooooooooooooooo. how are you ? :D

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  52. hi destiny cool chemical romance picture or though I have to admit I did think it was michael jackson guess I was wrong oops :) hi rachel bones and anyone else

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  53. hey Jackskin- never met :)

    destiny- i dont really know tbh... i THINK its an odd kind of phoenix thing

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  54. i think everyone else in on the chat...

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  55. www.xat.com/web_gear/chat/go_large.php?id=145948982

    :)

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  56. no you didn't nights raven i'm here oh and pleased to meet you rachel hi raven and everyone

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  57. hiiiiiii we havn't met I don't think hi pleased to meet you

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  58. soooo what do you want to talk about?_?

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  59. i know how about what number am I thinking of from 1 to 100

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  60. wait sorry not long enough llllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllll"__________________________"

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  61. wait got to go dinner see you mabye at half past to seven a clock au'revior

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  62. ok bye, enjoy your dinner! and are you in france?

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  63. awesome to see you too kallista :)

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  64. g2g now bye bye :)

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  65. My English teacher always gives my those vouchers, so I will get it FREE. Mwahaha!!!

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  66. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! *almost starts to cry* WILL THIS SHORT STORY BE AVAILABLE IN THE US!?!?!?! OR ATLEAST AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.CO.UK???? I'M SOOOO JIZZED RIGHT NOW! DEREK I LOVE YOU! YOU ROCK!....... out of curiousity have you ever met JK Rowling?????

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  67. hi night raven I'm back and I live in devon in the uk hello cluainn fhada we havn't met so good to meet you hiiiiiiiiiiii everyone loooooooollllll +__+

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  68. hello saoirse equus good to meet you

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  69. ohh hi raven so oh wait a minute my dad needs the comp be bac in a sec

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  70. I'm back *trumpet noise in background* no I'm not important enough for trumpets If raven your still there then the flower or the soil

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  71. Awesome Derek, that sounds so cool!!

    and, Hi everyone (if anyone's still here)

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  72. hi again raven and taia-demars I don't belive weave met how do you do or just a simple hello:) lol

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  73. Oh wow, that sounds awesomenescafe! And the end of the world is always a great name for a book XD
    Though I'm not too sure about calling book 7 Dave...er...How about you re-think that one? To go from Death Bringer to...Dave just seems..well...er..You know...*reasuring smile*
    It must have splattered your brains across the wall when you thought of Skulduggery. You must have been like "Oh my god, talking ske- oh no...I've just forgotten how to spell skelliton...This isn't good...D:

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  74. Hi Jackskin! Nice to meet you!

    *offers a Jackskin cookie*

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  75. I noticed on your blog raven you joined in june this year... so did I you know what do want to make a team if so you may have to admin it because I don't know how heh

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  76. And Master Derek, if you read this, I was wondering what your take is on the Pottermore website-thingy? I can tell your someone who is a fan of Harrp Potter...I mean HP and SP are like best buddies, right?

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  77. thanks for the cookie it tasted great mmm cookie* drool coming out of my mouth* anyway nice to meet you

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  78. I crave some cheese...like proper nice cheese...

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  79. hp and sp can be twins because there both great books omg nice one cresent

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  80. sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooGOLDEN GOD I HAVE JUST COME UP WITH A NEW NAME HOW ABOUT THE GOLDEN CREATOR LANDY

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  81. just me or am I just being stupid

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  82. ......... Me: day twenty four no hope no one to talk to exept wind hi wind.
    WIND: I hate you.
    ME: shut up wind just shut up.*starts crying*

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  83. omg am i seriosly the only one on.

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  84. im here, srry for slow commenting

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  85. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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  86. I'm a bitdistracted at the moment, so I'll be responding pretty slowly..

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  87. raven you saved me from aloness *hugs raven in bear hug*
    Raven: stop..your killing me.
    Me: nonsence. just joking whats your favrotie sp chaecter

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  88. you both came*cartoon moment where I hug both of you you lot with manga tears*

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  89. My fave SP charater..,thats a hard one uuum...

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  90. May I just say that I think it would be better to go on the other one and fill up the available comments we can before we fill up this. It will give us more room to talk.

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  91. just so you know I'm going to be here for a while

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  92. or, when we finish this one, we go back to older ones? Either way works...

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  93. Golden God? GG? Master Derek? Mr.Landy? Derek? Derek Landy?

    Heeey "]

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  94. dragona what do you mean by the other one because i'm new so I don't know what other one

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  95. Thank ya derek!!! A LOT!!































    *pause*














































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    WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO



    THANKS DEREK!!
    Will say more later but dinner!
    Bye!

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  96. Hi & bye Sadhbh!!

    Jackskin: By 'the other one' we simply mean older posts on this blog.

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  97. could someone please tell me what dragona means by the other one

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  98. my favorite character would have to be Val, lol

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  99. ohhhhhhhhh if you tell me which one i'll go if other people are:)

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  100. Pine means the post before this one, cos the limit is 5000 comments, so we fill the other one up first

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  101. and what dragona means by the other one is the previous blog post

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  102. hey raven my favourite charecter would be a tough one out of tesseract sp or lord vile orrr solomon wreath

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  103. ohh are you two going because we can chat there

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  104. is anyone going to a different blog

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  105. oh well just me and my thoughts... dam don't any thoughts oh crap what can I do

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  106. the otehr post, so thats were eberyone is.. weel BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE got youth club

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  107. hi tanya we havn't met but are you talking about book seven or a different blog

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  108. srry, im reading, she means book 7, cuz derek joked about naming it 'dave' lol

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  109. ahhh.... what you reading raven also being Dereks followers he shoudn't joke about things like that... but then again he is the GOLDEN GOD who inspiered me to write a story

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  110. im reading The Belgariad by David Eddings and lol

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  111. I wonder wehere everyone ekse has gone

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  112. is it good if so what is it about

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  113. I'm waiting for a book at the libaray the medusa project its series is callded and thats good oviously not as good as sp

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  114. idk means i dont know, and its a really good book, up there with SP and its funny too :) cool

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  115. I'm watching friends right now then proberly going to re-read a sp book

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  116. seen the episode before though

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  117. so do you go to school if so where

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  118. that proberly sounded weird it' only because I'm home taught or do you go to college

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  119. other than sp and The Belgariad what other books do you like

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  120. i like Pendragon, Ranger's Apprentice, Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, and some more i cant think of, lol

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  121. OMG OMG OMG there for two things one both of us being homeschooled and I just saw the harry potter trailer

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  122. I like medusa project, alpha force, sp hp and loads more lol

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  123. I still can not get over the fact that were both homeschooled how old are you

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  124. yay next page you are still there because I've got to go:( it was nice talking I might be on later but don't think I will we should try to to do this tommorow au'revior

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  125. Wooohooo! ~does a happy little dance~

    I suppose that's the good news that couldn't be revealed the other day? Well, whatever - this certainly IS great news!

    *now looks forward to Death Bringer, and The End of the World, and, um ... Dave*

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  126. I
    CAN'T
    WAIIITTTT!!!!!!

    *Jumps up and down with childish glee*

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  127. Ah, Pandora, please don't call your OC Hawke or something, because I already have an OC called "Hawk".

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  128. raven if your on we should definetly try to chat like this again tomoorrow:) hi dragona and pandora

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  129. technically its already an oc :)

    from lady hawke

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