Expanding Universe

About a year ago, my agent and I had the bright idea of expanding the Faerie Wars universe into graphic novels. This wasn't a question of converting Faerie Wars into a graphic novel (although that could happen yet) but rather examining the lives of certain characters from the mainstream novels in graphic form.

Well, it now looks as if it's going to happen. Bloomsbury, who publish the mainstream books, are putting a toe in the water with a picaresque story about Brimstone when he was a boy. No further details beyond that at the moment, but the full story will appear on the main Web site as soon as I have information on publication date, artist and final format.

Edinburgh

Feeling a bit smug today: I've just been invited back to speak at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year. I've been a couple of times before and loved it. Edinburgh's an attractive and manageable city and the book festival is just one part of the much wider Edinburgh Festival which ensures there's something of interest going on day and night.

As an invited author you get to pontificate on just about anything you like to an enthusiastic audience (mostly kids, in my case) then sign copies of your books for readers and collectors. My agent advised me years ago to sign books on every possible occasion, since once you do, nobody can send them back.

I'll let you know more details when the programme solidifies.

Happy Yule

Friends in tonight and a quiet day tomorrow, God willing. Have a lovely Christmas with lots of pressies and do your best to over-indulge in food and drink. I certainly plan to.

Shadow Realm

Did I mention that when any book I'm writing passes the 10,000 word mark, it usually goes the distance? Well, 'Shadow Realm' (working title of my new one) just hit 11,000 this morning and it's gathering speed. It's an altogether darker vision than anything in the 'Faerie Wars' series. Be interesting to see if anybody wants it.

Meanwhile, the final copy-edit of 'Faerie Lord' went through yesterday with a revised glossary, so that one is on target for an Autumn, 2007 publication in the States. My German publisher, DTV, is excited about it as well.

It's been a busy run-up to Christmas. On top of the 'Faerie Lord' approvals for Bloomsbury, I've been having discussions with my editor at Faber about something very special: 'The Wizard's Apprentice,' a non-fiction investigation which Faber will announce with the words 'There are REAL WIZARDS working REAL MAGIC hidden in the world today. There are secret schools of wizardry across the globe... and you can learn the basics of their magic from this handbook.'

They've created a fabulous cover and publication is planned for next summer, around June or July. Can't wait. Can't wait for Christmas either. Have a good one.

Out of Body Experience

Another talking head, I'm afraid. I took time out on this sunny Saturday to reminisce on video about some early out of body experiences. The result is at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6zHbeMhuRA

New Book. Maybe.

I think I've started a new book, provisional title 'The Third Realm.' I say I *think* I've started, because you can never be sure it's going to work until it works. In the old days, I reckoned that if a book passed the 10,000 word mark it was going to go the distance. Now I can usually spot a goer a bit sooner. At the moment the word count is under 500, so you can appreciate the hesitation. But I'm hopeful. The central character is interesting and so is the overall theme.

May not move fast, however: I'm horribly diverted by 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.'

Plans

In my last post I said 'Faerie Lord' was to be published in the autumn of next year, 2007. Turns out this announcement was a little premature. The book *will* be published next autumn, but only in the United States where it's scheduled to appear in hardback. U.K readers will have to wait until February, 2008, when a 'Faerie Lord' paperback will be issued as part of a general relaunch and repackaging of the entire series under some of the most stunning fantasy covers you will ever see.

So is that it? No more Faerie Wars? Well, not quite. 'Faerie Lord' certainly completes the story begun in the original 'Faerie Wars' but there are several plans afoot to revisit the Realm in a whole new different and exciting way. It's all under wraps at the moment, but I promise you'll be the first to know when things are finalised.

Meanwhile I've got an idea gnawing at the edges of my mind for a new book and maybe a new series. I'll let you know about that one too if it solidifies.