As was recently pointed out to me, "Nerdy Dalek" is an anagram of my name, so I suppose it's only fitting that my birthday should be the day my Doctor Who story comes out on ebook. The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage is a Tenth Doctor adventure and I had unimaginable fun writing it. For those of you who don't read ebooks, fret not- a physical book, containing all eleven stories by eleven writers, will be arriving late next month.
Ah yes, my birthday. I am 39 today. Some people might worry about reaching that age — just one more birthday till 40, after all. But not me. I shall live forever. And I don't mean in a metaphorical sense. I don't mean I'll live forever in the hearts and minds of my readers. I mean I will literally live forever, drawing as I do from your pain and suffering.
Your pain makes me strong.
Today is the day I knuckle down and officially start Book 9. I've been writing bits and pieces of it for the last few weeks — I've got close to 10,000 words done — but today it kicks off properly. October 23rd is, of course, the day Skulduggery died, hundreds of years ago. Once again, I think it's only fitting that I begin his final book on such a date. Poignant, even.
Sniffle.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Heh... Nieces...
My sister just sent me this video of my niece Becca getting VERY upset because her dad keeps getting the snorting from Peppa Pig wrong...
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Mystery Project One
A few weeks ago, I outlined my writing schedule for the next year or so. Included in this outline were Mystery Project numbers two, three and four. I never mentioned Mystery Project One, because that had already been completed. Today, I am finally allowed to talk about it...
This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who. To celebrate, Puffin Books asked eleven different authors to take a Doctor and write a story. When I was asked, I said I'd only do it if I could write for the tenth or eleventh incarnation. Puffin gave me Ten. I was a happy bunny.
It was such a joy to write this character. As you all know, I've been a fan of the show since I was a kid, and David Tennant holds joint top-spot with Matt Smith as my favourite Doctor. In my opinion, it was Tennant's era when the Doctor's love of dialogue really came out— that quick-fire patter that he does so well — and it was an absolute pleasure to channel that.
The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage will be released as an e-book on October 23rd (my birthday! Skulduggery's deathday!) and then it, along with the other stories, will be collected into a PHYSICAL book which will be out near the end of November.
There will be a video released in a week or two where I talk more about it, but in the meantime, here's a link to a snippet (which explains where the somewhat old-fashioned title comes from...)
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/interactive/2013/oct/01/doctor-who-mystery-haunted-cottage-derek-landy-extract
This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who. To celebrate, Puffin Books asked eleven different authors to take a Doctor and write a story. When I was asked, I said I'd only do it if I could write for the tenth or eleventh incarnation. Puffin gave me Ten. I was a happy bunny.
It was such a joy to write this character. As you all know, I've been a fan of the show since I was a kid, and David Tennant holds joint top-spot with Matt Smith as my favourite Doctor. In my opinion, it was Tennant's era when the Doctor's love of dialogue really came out— that quick-fire patter that he does so well — and it was an absolute pleasure to channel that.
The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage will be released as an e-book on October 23rd (my birthday! Skulduggery's deathday!) and then it, along with the other stories, will be collected into a PHYSICAL book which will be out near the end of November.
There will be a video released in a week or two where I talk more about it, but in the meantime, here's a link to a snippet (which explains where the somewhat old-fashioned title comes from...)
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/interactive/2013/oct/01/doctor-who-mystery-haunted-cottage-derek-landy-extract
