I have just pressed SEND.
By pressing SEND, I have emailed off the completed book to my agent and editor. It will now be sent to the copyeditor who, amongst other things, will be checking for grammar and spelling mistakes that I've missed but, more importantly, will be ensuring that everything I've written makes sense.
She will be checking facts and figures and timelines, scouring her notes on the other books to make sure I haven't contradicted myself... A good copyeditor in invaluable, and I have a great one.
It's done. I wrote the two Scapegrace chapters that I'd left until last. Oh, and I ALSO included the winner of the Die Horribly competition...
It took me until last night to pick a winner. I was sent 30 finalists out of everyone who entered. Of those 30, I quickly whittled it down to 15. Then, not so quickly, down to 10. Then it took me ages to narrow it down to 5. Then 3.
There were some great entries. Lots of funny reasons why people reckoned they should be the reader I pick to kill horribly in the book. But I needed something specific. I needed something that would fit in with what I'd written. And there was only one reader who fit PERFECTLY.
So congratulations to Lewis Holmes, from the UK. You shall have the distinct honour of being Horribly Killed in The Dying of the Light.
Lewis' death was the last thing I had to write. Now it's all over. Sure, I'll be sent the copyeditor's notes to approve, and there'll be a little more fiddling around between now and printing time, but...
... but it's over. I have finished writing Skulduggery Pleasant.
I think I need to lie down now.
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«Oldest ‹Older 3401 – 3600 of 4942 Newer› Newest»*Screams as the nail is yanked out, and blood begins to run from where the nail used to be*
*lifts Silente into the air with blue energy and slams her back down into the ground, hard*
*shadow-walks*
Agony: Hello, children.
*groans as she is slammed down*
*laughs*
That's not as much of a toy.
*gets up*
*suspends her in the air and fires at her again*
*looks at Agony*
Hm. Never hey you before. However if my files are correct you would be..Agony?
**met
*is shot*
*grunts and grins*
Can it be true?! Can the great and mysterious Mr. Landy finally be done with the brilliant series that is Skulduggery Pleasant?! I don't know if you heard it just now, but my heart just shattered. I am torn between utter excitement and utter sadness. Your books were really something for me to look forward to. I haven't been this attached or emotionally committed to a book series since Harry Potter, and I need to take a second to just thank you, Mr. Landy, for all the wasted hours just poring into your novels instead of being productive, like homework and socializing and whatnot. I have no idea what kind of emotions may be stirred in this next installment, but I await its coming with bated breath.
Again, many thanks to you for the laughs, tears, rage, and overall entertainment induced by your splendid books over the years. I refuse to think this will be the last I ever hear from you, so please put your brilliant mind to work on something I can proudly be a fan of).
*throws a ball of energy at Silente - it causes an explosion of energy as well as starting to rip Silente apart at a molecular level*
Less of a toy indeed.
Agony: How do you know my name? *his voice is a whisper, yet it seems to be heard no matter what* Who told you? Grand Mage Kerias is too soft to deal with me.
*groans and looks confused*
Well that's not good..
*cries out slightly*
What did you do?!
*laughs at Agony ignoring the fact she's being Sir apart*
I have my sources.
**torn not sir
Did someone-
Ah, I see, my apologies.
That would be called warp. It will rip you apart. *throws a shockwave of energy at Silente*
Sorry Sir!
*Squeezes her eyes shut*
*screams*
*blinks*
And here I thought you were a good girl.
*laughs*
Guess not.
*hits Silente again with another warp, quickening the molecular decaying process*
I told you that you would not escape. And I never say things I dont mean.
*grunts*
*tear start streaming from her eyes behind the mask*
So your going to, what? Kill me? Use magic to rip me apart? That's rather cowerdly.
Agony: *grabs Silente* ((you will feel pain, you will feel like I have ripped your skin open, sewer it back and stabbed your skin again breaking each bone, inch by inch)$
*screams out long and loud*
*struggles against Agony's grip*
*tears fully streaming from the eyes*
*suddenly go silent back arches and mouth open but producing no sound*
*body locked in a ridged position*
Now, now, now. I am not stupid. You want me to stop so you will live. Despite what you think of my methods, I get results. And by the way, this is no magic. You're getting ripped apart by dark energy and electromagnetic fields.
Agony: *grips tighter, and with other hand grabs neck*
((The more I am touching you the worse it gets))
*raises gun at Agony* There is no need for this. She is going to die.
*body's locks tighter*
*no scream comes out but a high pitches whine is*
*tears don't stream anymore, the pain is to much for even them to express*
Agony: *smirks* Kill me, I dare you. *lets go of the vampire, and draws knife* Kill me, and I kill Olivia.
*Stares*
*Has absolutely no idea what's going on*
*slumps and takes deep breaths*
*coughs and curls up*
*still taking deep breaths*
*shivering*
Threats? I hope you understand my job involves getting results by any means necessary. Threats mean nothing to me.
And, may I ask, will you kill Olivia if I have killed you?
*stops Silente from being ripped apart and traps her in a stasis field instead*
*turns to Agony* I opposed her because she was doing, just as I oppose you. Don't test me.
((Question, what exactly happens when your torn apart on a molecular level? I mean obviously you die but like do you fall apart, do you just experience pain..))
((Oh nm doesn't matter.))
(Silente: no pain and its a slow process so you've probably just lost a hand and maybe part of an arm)
*Quietly*
Uh
Could someone untie me?
*is frozen in the status field*
*growls* In a moment, Sam. I'm trying to stop the glorified torturer.
**stasis
((How long does this stasis field last?!
*Gulps*
(Silente: like up to a minute)
*reapplies the stasis field*
((Oh okay. I'll just wait for you to forget to redo it then..))
*speaks to the frozen Silente*
We have our differences. You're a kidnapper, I'm a soldier. You open portals, I control dark energy. I use guns, you prefer darts. But this Agony has to be stopped. We can continue our fight at a later time and instead focus on our common enemy.
*reapplies the stasis* Or of course you could just be frozen until I decide to kill you
*doesn't reply*
*she is, after all, frozen*
Agony: I shall be gone, and you shall be dead.
((Msd))
Bring it on. *puts away rifle and draws pistol instead* *arms begin to glow with blue energy*
*Really, really hopes that there won't be a lot of collateral damage*
*feels the stasis starting to wear off*
*turns to Silente* Answer?
*feels the stasis wear off*
My answer? Bye!
*runs to Sam*
*undoes her bonds as quick as possible while one handed*
*taps her nose and takes Sam with her through the portal*
*it closes behind her*
*taps her nose again and pushes Sam through dumping her in the clearing*
*traps Silente with stasis on the word "bye"*
Hint. If you want to make an escape, do it then announce it.
*puts a bullet in her head*
*starts ripping her apart again for good measure*
((Hey I was helping Sam that time! Wait does that mean I'm dead..?))
(Silente: bullets haven't affected you before. And it'll take a while before the warp does fatal damage - I didn't mean for it to kill you. Maybe just teach you a lesson)
((A bullet to the brain is a different matter though, even a vamp wouldn't really be able to survive that..and being ripped apart is pretty sever too..))
(Then *changes it to chest*)
*Blink blink*
*Still has no idea what's going on*
((Okay then.))
*is shot in the chest while frozen*
*blood slowly flows from the bullet wound*
*left arm resumes falling apart*
*doesn't react due to inablitiy to do so*
I could have killed you then. But I didn't. I'm not one for showing mercy. That was no act of mercy. It was an acknowledgment that you are in no way the biggest threat here. I saw you attempting to torture Sam. And here there's someone who has the magical ability to torture. I offered you a way out. You refused.
*the stasis wear off*
*clutches at chest and hisses*
Fucking hell mate!
*look at her left arm*
*its all but a shoulder now*
Oh. My arm. Again.
*absently applies pressure to her chest wound*
*Slowly*
*Unsteadily*
*Rises to her feet, and stumbles as far away from Silente as she can*
*Her foot seems to crack each step*
*She clutches at her fingernail, which is still bleeding*
*And she can feel a horrible, dull throbbing from where the staples punctured her skin*
...
*Looks at Sophia*
Do you know the way out? She... Closed the way in.
(I have to go now. Bye!)
Oh boy. Well, bye, Dragona!
((I'm going to presume you've stopped me from falling apart then,,BYE!))
*looks at Sam*
Hello again.
*grins*
(*clicks pause on the rp*)
((Oh. Can we just..finish it here? No. Fine!))
Hi peeps!
Hello, Dugglyn!
Hey Dugglyn!
Darn! Just miss Masky! If only I hadn't gone back and read all the comments!! ((It was over 400 and I read them all!!))
How be's yous!?
Not so good. SOMEONE decided to torture me...
Oh that's fine, it'll be resumed tommorow I presume. Plus masky isn't looking too good.
I'm fine thanks. Apart from a slight headache IRL. And a missing arm. And a bullet in my chest. At least there's no more agony..
My teacher gave me a huge compliment today!!! Do you know what it was?! She told me; You have a dark and twisted brain, Dugglyn! (She didn't say Dugglyn, she said my real name, but you know....)
Yey! Well done! I got asked if I was a satanist once by a teacher!
Yeah, everyone's doing great.... :P
Oh.
Congrats...?
Hey we could all be worse, Sam could be missing the rest of her fingers and masky could be dead so..
Nice! Yeah, I love my teacher, she is awesome! She graves an assignment where we had to stalk someone. It was really fun!!!
She gave you an assessment where you had to stalk someone? That's..okay! Your teacher ROCKS!
Turn, finger nails grow back! The summer before kindergarten I slammed my thumb in a heavy screen door and my thumb nail fell off! It was painful, but the funny thing was is when my dad was carrying me down the stairs I stopped crying when I saw the snails on the sidewalk! Also, I was with my grandma and when my mom said the whole thing came off my grandma almost faintest because she thought it was my whole finger! Looking back on it it was funny!
Oh wow. That's really interesting, Dugglyn, I never knew that. Thanks for sharing!
I've lost a fingernail before, though it wasn't nearly as dramatic! I'm afraid I must leave now :( bye!
Well, we had to which some random person and write down observations about them! If they moved (which sadly my person didn't) you had to follow them!!
Aw, well, bye Silente! See ya later!
Bye Silente!! I was wondering when you would leave! It being 12 where you are!! (Or somewhere around there!)
Sam, what time zone are you on? (If that's not to stalker-ish)
**true
EST, actually. What about you?
Oh, and Sam, your welcome for sharing that wonderful story!
I don't know the fancy name, but it is west coast of the US time! (EST is east coast, right?)
Yyyyyep.
I think west coast is PST.
Oh, that sounds right!!
*Nod nod*
Yeppers, Google says I'm right.
The reason why my teacher called me dark and twisted is because of my vampire drawings (Skulduggery style!) And we were talking about the short stories we're writing and she was saying don't included unnecessary parts like a girl walking down a hallway unless something important happens and I told her that you should include that part because she steps on a caterpillar and kills it so then she is sad so she brings it back to life and then it is a zombie caterpillar and then it goes up people's noses and eats their brains!!!
It was pretty cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you hear that I am a wild banshee ninja?!?!?!?!
...
Zombie caterpillar...
That is VERY terrifying.
And yes!
Yeah, zombie caterpillars!
*wistfully imagines that*
Hmmm maybe I could make zombie caterpillars my minions! Crows are also my minions!!!
Maybe.
I mean, they wouldn't be hard to fight, but they'd be great if someone was sleeping...
Yesterday I went crazy!! I mean I am crazy but yesterday was really crazy!! I think that after reading LSODM something in my mind snapped. I have been completely addicted to Skulduggery Pleasant, I have gotten crazier and more violent/disturbing! I have also read that book 10 times! 10!!!
Oh wow. Well, maybe.
Oohhh..... Silente is sleeping right now! Should a set a herd of zombie caterpillars on her?! It would be funny......
So... how are you?!
I don't think she's appreciate that.
Well, I, for one, feel pretty good. Still getting used to the weirdness of this body.... And there's the torture thing, but I'm just ignoring that for now.
Have you heard about the Blogland awards?! I have been nominated as poetic! I think the person was joking, though....
The only thing remotely poetic I have ever done on this blog is say hello yellow fellow who likes to eat jello and bellow!
That is not poetic!
Yeah, getting tortured is not fun, yesterday it was me getting tortured!
*looks at scar on her arm*
I did manage to stick a knife in Masky's side, though!
Well, it rhymes, which is poetic enough for me!
Not everything that rhymes is poetic and not all poems rhyme!
I guess so.
...
I didn't manage to do anything to Masky...
Yeah, that's ok, Masky is very sneaky and skilled with fighting.
Defiantly not human.....
Sorry for poofing, forced to do homework! Oh, the horrors!!
It's okay. You should probably focus on your homework.
And you think so?
Naw, I can work!
(Do you mean about Masky not being human? If so, yes! Definitely!!!!
She is way to strong and graceful!
I have time for my homework!
Hrm.
Well, I've got no idea what she could be, then.
Almost like a vampire.....
But who would it be? I don't know any vampires that would do that.
Masky broke My sword!
*looks down at the two halves of the sword and sighs*
Good thing I have extras!
Hm, a shame.
Well, we'll figure out this mystery, eventually.
Yes, if we can we should try to pull off Masky's mask. Then we will find out who they are!!!!
*Frowns*
If we can get past Masky's general magic and fighting abilities.
Hehe, yeah. How could I forget!
Ok, now I should start doing my homework, so bye!!! See you later or tomorrow!!
Alright, bye!
OMG! I just listened to the light behind your eyes and it is so awesome! So Skulduggery!!
oh no. oh no. oh no. oh no.
YES!!!!YES!!!!YES!!!!!
it's coming.
IT'S COMING!!!!!
what am i going to do.
What am I going to do!?
*curls up in a ball and cries*
*whispers softly*
it's coming, it's coming
GERONIMO!!
Hey...?
Hey
Wbd, msd
[hugs]
Hello Snow.
Hello. *hugs*
I'm writing a blog post on a topic that's extremely important and probably sensitive for a lot of people.
Okay.
I'll read it when its up.
Oh dear...
Well, I'm not sure I'll actually end up posting it, but okay...
*shrugs* I would have read it anyway. Im constantly checking your blogs
Oh. I'm not sure whether to feel flattered or nervous. :-P
Um... Thank you?
I'm gonna sleep now. G'night.
Hello?
Hellooooo?
Snow!!! *flyingtacklehugs*
Going through the Blogland awards
Hello everyone! I haven't commented for a couple of months now! It's been too long
I don't think anyone is here o_o .
Its only 8pm in Australia..
oh well...Just putting this out there, try cinnamon tea! it's awesome!
They were going to set zombie catapillars on me while I slept...well that's just charming!
You welcome!!!
*not really here!*
Hello.
Hello if you haven't poofed. How are you?
*waits for Sam to come so we can press play*
Somebody say my name? :D
I'm fine, thanks. How are you?
And she magically appears! Im either magic or we all have amazing timing! Now let's see if dragona's still here.
Yes she is! Okay wanna press play?and I'm fine thanks dragona!
Ok, press play.
And currently I'm a boy - until play is pressed, that is :P
Right. Girl for rp, guy for rl. Got it.
*presses play*
*stumbles to her feet*
*only has one arm now*
*freezes Silente in stasis*
*Hyperventilates*
*Really doesn't want to die*
*Since, you know, she's only been alive for a couple of days*
*is frozen*
*still manages to glare at her from behind the mask*
*frees Sam*
*hits Silente with stasis again*
*still frozen*
*glaring even more*
*right foot falls off*
*Gulps, and hops behind Sophia*
*fires at the frozen Silente*
Bleeeerg.
Okay. Uh.
I dedicate to Adra, because I saw her previous ded and also think that she's awesome!
*is shot numerous times*
*jerks every time a bullet impacts with her body*
*is just waiting for the stasis to wear off..*
(Nice ded, Sam)
*hits Silente with stasis again*
*throws a shockwave at the wall, blowing a hole in it*
Go, Sam. I'll be right behind you.
((hear hear!))
*is only bleeding slightly*
*eyes are shifting colour slightly to black*
*glares*
*mentally envisions ripping Dragona apart*
*right knee falls off*
*Turns around*
Uh... I don't see an exit... She closed the rocks...
I just blew a hole in the frigging rocks. Go!
*hits Silente with stasis again*
*eyes go fully black*
*grits her teeth*
*envisions ripping her Dragona's out and feeding them to her*
**dragona's eyes not her dragona's
*hits her with stasis again*
*Blinks*
*Looks at the two*
...
*Sprints to the outside of the cave*
*raises hands and arms glow blue*
*all the pieces of rock that had been blown apart lift into the air*
*throws a grenade into the room so it lands next to Silente, then throws the rocks in*
*runs after Sam*
*wonders if she's just going to keep freezing her*
*envision ripping her throat out*
*rest of the right leg falls off*
*falls onto her side*
*grenade explodes*
*rock is sent flying everywhere*
*along with an arm, leg, ear and other general body parts*
*screams as the stasis wears off*
*starts sobbing*
*still falling apart on a molecular level*
*the mask remained intact*
(Silente: So you don't like, die, we can say that the effect of the warp has worn off)
((okay then. Little hint, run.))
*runs*
*Gets out of the cave*
*Gasping and heaving*
*She should probably start working out or something*
*Decides to take a quick break, leaning against a tree and panting*
*starts shaking and shuddering under the rocks*
*smiles as fantom white limbs take the place of the missing ones and become solid*
*claws tip the hands*
*fangs rip through her gums*
*reaches up and rips free of the skin and clothing springing to her feet*
Sam, if you stop running I swear I will throw you across this clearing myself.
((not a good idea Sam..))
*comes running out of the cave with an animalistic snarl*
*looks around at the landscape*
*sees Dragona and Sam running away*
*starts bounding towards them, three times as fast as they could ever run*
*hears the bounding of Silente*
*turns and launches a shockwave of energy in her direction*
*Gulps, and redoubles her sprinting efforts after Dragona*
*is thrown back slightly by the shockwave*
*lands on her feet and continues bounding towards them*
*fires pistol at Silente*
*continues running*
*the bullets simply bounce of her skin*
*the upside to being a shed vampire*
*even a cleavers scythe would struggle to get through this skin*
*bounds faster*
*only a few metres behind Sam*
*Looks at Sophia*
*Then Silente*
*Sophia*
*Silente*
*Sophia*
*Silente*
...
*Suddenly makes a sharp left*
*changes direction and collides head on with Silente*
*swipes at Dragona's neck*
*pushes him aside and bounds after Sam*
*ducks out of the way of the swipe and is pushed out of the way*
*hits Silente with stasis*
*arm lights up with a holographic blade*
*slashes at the frozen Silente*
*is frozen*
*the blades make hardly a scratch on the skin*
*Continues sprinting, a town slowly coming into sight*
*Stares*
*Wait*
*There's a vampire behind her*
*Moans, and angles her sprint away from the town*
((brb! Gotta feed da cats!))
*holographic blade disappears, and then reappears*
*stabs Silente through the stomach with the new stronger, and much sharper blade which could rival a cleaver's scythe for sharpness, if not exceed it*
((back!))
*hisses*
*turns and swipes for Dragona's head and stomach*
*kicks off from his chest*
*continues chasing Sam*
*pauses seeing the town*
*bounds towards the town*
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