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.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Just This Once...

I do have  a rule that I only respond to comments within the comments section itself, but just this once I'm going to make an exception before I go to bed.

First of all- Ann Marie, I hate losing pets, no matter what sort of pet it is. A pet is a pet, and for those of us who love animals, we all know what it's like to lose one. You poor thing.

Second of all- Lenka, get back here, young lady. Do not let some unimaginative teacher tell you that writing is a waste of time. I spent my entire life dreaming about things and people that don't actually exist- and now that I'm a writer, I do the same thing but I'm paid for it. And one of the nicest things about being a professional writer is that, occasionally, I get to inspire someone else to write. Lenka- you've got talent. Don't let it fade away.


As for the rest of you, why don't you fill the LAST comment section before you fill this one? That gives you ten thousand comments to make.

(oh dear God...)

Woohoo!

I've got nothing to say!!

Ahem. Sorry. You probably read the title of this entry and thought to yourself "Ooooh he has good news that he's going to share with us!"

Well, no. I mean, yes, I have good news, but no, I won't be sharing it quite yet. I have to wait until I CAN share it, you see?

And before you all start thinking that this is about a Skulduggery movie- it isn't! It IS Skulduggery related, but it's not about a movie. But I can't tell you what it IS about. Sorry.

Which leaves me with nothing to say. Er. How about a nice photo instead?

I found this, bizarrely, somewhere on the internet. I have no idea where. But it shows a certain somebody- who may resemble a certain detective- in the days before the Bentley.

(Warning: the following image contains nudity.)

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Ow I'm Sore

Just got in from training...

Every muscle aches... I may have a black eye in the morning... I desperately want to take a shower and feel normal again...

But before that, my Minions, I have decided to let you know what's been happening in the Wonderful World of the Me. On the desk before me is my editor and agent's notes on Death Bringer, which I have been reading and thinking about and then applying these changes to the manuscript. I just got off the phone to Laura, and she assures me she'll have her notes by Friday at the latest.

Which means that this latest edit of Book 6 will be sent back to my editor on Tuesday, and then we'll go through it once more quickly, and then the long process of printing can begin. (And yes, I have not forgotten my plan to let you read a sample chapter before it's published!)

In other news...

I was in London on Monday morning, meeting with Big American Studio People about possibly making the Skulduggery movie. They were hugely interesting, and very enthusiastic, and they were putting forward their view on why they'd be the best people to make the film. It's early stages yet, and I made it absolutely clear that I won't be making a decision for another few months, but it was a wonderful first meeting. Next week I'm heading over again to meet with another set of Movie People, with the same understanding that I'm not about to sign away the movie rights until I've considered every angle.

But still, it's so much fun being back in Movie Mode.

Of course, it means a lot more work for me. I thought the second half of this year would be calm, allowing me to write something non-Skulduggery. But apparently, that's not going to happen. In fact, the rest of this year is going to be jam-packed FULL of Skulduggery stuff. It's a good thing I love my job, I swear to God...

I go now. My shower calls to me. My shower is weird.