It's out.
I'm on tour at the moment, hovering somewhere beyond exhaustion, and I have less than six hours of sleep ahead of me before I have to get up, so all I'll say is that I hope you like it, and the comment section for this post shall be for your Demon Road reactions.
If you're going to include spoilers, please warn people ahead of time, and don't spoil anything TOO badly. Let people discover what happens on their own.
And now... goodnight.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
10 Days And Counting...
Waiting for your book to be released is always an interesting time for a writer. But behind all the excitement and the impatience and the work, there is one question — one ever-present question — that shouts louder than any of the others.
"Will they like this one?"
Because what if they don't? What if this book is the book where they finally realise you're not a writer? Or that your best work is behind you? What if the enthusiasm you have grown accustomed to finally runs out?
It's a possibility. I started my career with Skulduggery Pleasant, a series that ran for nine books with one spin-off and one short story collection. That's how I got my readers, and my readers have a genuine love for those characters and that world. That's what I'm used to. That love and enthusiasm is now what I expect whenever I release a book.
But Demon Road is different. Demon Road is new.
It doesn't have the advantage of being part of a long-running series. It's part of a trilogy, yes, but it's the FIRST part.
There is an unwritten rule in publishing. It's not a particularly nice rule, but it's an understandable one. This unwritten rule states that your second series will not reach the heights of the first series — at least not at first. Given time, it will gather its own fans and its own readers and it might even surpass the first, but upon its release it will flounder when compared to the heights previously scaled. My publishers told me about this rule years ago. I have had a lot of time to absorb it.
And I'm okay with it.
I think Demon Road is a good book. Of course I do, I wrote it. I think it will gather its own fans. A lot of these will be Skulduggery readers. Some won't be. Regardless, it was written to stand apart, to begin a new adventure, to introduce new characters and a new world, and it will rise or fall on its own merits.
This, to me, is the essence of writing. Each new book is a brand new lie, and each new lie brings an age-old truth. If a writer is lucky, he'll get multiple opportunities to tell these lies to an audience that is willing to give him the chance. Nobody wants to read a book they don't enjoy. Everyone wants the book they're reading to be the book that changes their life forever.
I've been very lucky in the past, and I reckon I'm ready for what's to come.
"Will they like this one?"
Because what if they don't? What if this book is the book where they finally realise you're not a writer? Or that your best work is behind you? What if the enthusiasm you have grown accustomed to finally runs out?
It's a possibility. I started my career with Skulduggery Pleasant, a series that ran for nine books with one spin-off and one short story collection. That's how I got my readers, and my readers have a genuine love for those characters and that world. That's what I'm used to. That love and enthusiasm is now what I expect whenever I release a book.
But Demon Road is different. Demon Road is new.
It doesn't have the advantage of being part of a long-running series. It's part of a trilogy, yes, but it's the FIRST part.
There is an unwritten rule in publishing. It's not a particularly nice rule, but it's an understandable one. This unwritten rule states that your second series will not reach the heights of the first series — at least not at first. Given time, it will gather its own fans and its own readers and it might even surpass the first, but upon its release it will flounder when compared to the heights previously scaled. My publishers told me about this rule years ago. I have had a lot of time to absorb it.
And I'm okay with it.
I think Demon Road is a good book. Of course I do, I wrote it. I think it will gather its own fans. A lot of these will be Skulduggery readers. Some won't be. Regardless, it was written to stand apart, to begin a new adventure, to introduce new characters and a new world, and it will rise or fall on its own merits.
This, to me, is the essence of writing. Each new book is a brand new lie, and each new lie brings an age-old truth. If a writer is lucky, he'll get multiple opportunities to tell these lies to an audience that is willing to give him the chance. Nobody wants to read a book they don't enjoy. Everyone wants the book they're reading to be the book that changes their life forever.
I've been very lucky in the past, and I reckon I'm ready for what's to come.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Extra London Date Added
On August 26th, just twelve short days away, we will be kicking off the tour with a NEW, special event in Waterstones in Hampstead. Apart from the fact that you'll be able to snag a copy of Demon Road a day ahead of its release (you'll even be able to snag one of the limited Platinum editions), and for a full TWO POUNDS off, we'll also have goodies to give out on the night, I'll be yammering on about writing or some such nonsense, and then I'll be signing whatever you want me to sign.
Reserve tickets in store or on www.waterstones.com/events.
This is IMPORTANT, and it applies to all of the signings and events — I will sign WHATEVER you bring. I don't care what the book is (so long as I've, y'know, actually written it) and I don't care how many are in your bag. If someone, at whatever signing you turn up to, tells you I'm only going to sign books you buy in their store, let me know and I'll sort it out. That rarely happens anymore, but some staff members are over-eager. Obviously time is sometimes an issue, so if the queue is long as I have to jet off to the next signing, we'll impose some limitations — but that's always a last resort.
Demon Road is coming...
Reserve tickets in store or on www.waterstones.com/events.
This is IMPORTANT, and it applies to all of the signings and events — I will sign WHATEVER you bring. I don't care what the book is (so long as I've, y'know, actually written it) and I don't care how many are in your bag. If someone, at whatever signing you turn up to, tells you I'm only going to sign books you buy in their store, let me know and I'll sort it out. That rarely happens anymore, but some staff members are over-eager. Obviously time is sometimes an issue, so if the queue is long as I have to jet off to the next signing, we'll impose some limitations — but that's always a last resort.
Demon Road is coming...
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Change to Galway Signing Time
As the subject header suggests, there has been a change to the start time for the signing in Galway on September 4th, changing it from 4:30 to 3:00, in an attempt to get to sign for everyone who can make it.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Forgotten Trail Winner
In June, I ran a competition to win the chance to appear as a character in a video game called Forgotten Trail. This is a game that, basically, teaches you maths while you have fun completing quests and solving puzzles, and the whole thing is steeped in Native American culture. The company that makes these games is run by Dr AnnMaria De Mars, who some of you will know as Ronda Rousey's mom.
I said the winner would be announced at the end of July but, because the entries kept coming, I kept it open another month. All in all, we had over 800 people entering — some more than once — and picking a winner was NOT easy.
But a winner I did pick. And here, to help me announce, is Ronda, her mom, her sister Maria, and lead artist Justin...
"And the winner is... Brinley Marrs!"
Congratulations Brinley! Your mom put your name forward and told me why she figured you should win, and I agreed! Hailey, your email has now been sent to AnnMaria and they will take it from there.
To everyone else who entered, commiserations — but if it's any consolation, please know that some of your entries made me grin...
I said the winner would be announced at the end of July but, because the entries kept coming, I kept it open another month. All in all, we had over 800 people entering — some more than once — and picking a winner was NOT easy.
But a winner I did pick. And here, to help me announce, is Ronda, her mom, her sister Maria, and lead artist Justin...
"And the winner is... Brinley Marrs!"
Congratulations Brinley! Your mom put your name forward and told me why she figured you should win, and I agreed! Hailey, your email has now been sent to AnnMaria and they will take it from there.
To everyone else who entered, commiserations — but if it's any consolation, please know that some of your entries made me grin...
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