I'm pie-eyed. Just this minute finished my new teen novel, Sohanti. (Working title.) Just over 95,000 words in this draft and I've been buried in it so deeply I hardly know what it's about. Next step a read-through, then off to my lovely agent Sophie in the hope she'll sell it for a fortune.
Meanwhile, Faerie Lord, which was supposed to be out in the U. S. in September, now seems to have been postponed until December 26. Needless to say, nobody told me, but I got that date from Amazon.com, who are usually very reliable. U.K. publication remains unchanged at early February, 2008.
Following on my little talk at the Edinburgh Book Festival next month, I've been asked to speak at Cheltenham Literary Festival in October. Subject matter for both talks is my new non-fiction, The Wizard's Apprentice, and it's about time I got down a few notes.
Finally, my darling Orla Melling, author of the best-selling Chronicles of Faerie, has been elected Summer Queen -- a hugely well-deserved honour. See her Book Blog for details. There's a link on thispage.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Shameless plug for latest book
Well, as you can see from Herbie Brennan's Bookshelf, I've started to push my latest book 'The Wizard's Apprentice' which Faber are bringing out in the first week of July. And since my opportunism knows no bounds, I've made a promotional video that centres on a fascinating experience mentioned in the book. Feel free to view at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvbWNJbMD-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvbWNJbMD-w
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Recommended reading
Just finished a book by Timothy Findley, the Canadian novelist, called 'Not Wanted On The Voyage.' It was recommended to me by the marvellous Orla Melling when the two of us found ourselves contributing to an anthology of essays which will be published to promote the launch of Philip Pullman's 'Dark Materials' movie.
Orla plans an analysis of Pullman's literary influences. My essay, a History of Hell, was triggered by the extraordinary image of a senile God in the final volume of his trilogy. Orla (who is frighteningly well read) pointed out that essentially the same image was used by Findley in his novel, so I hunted down a copy for research...
...And found myself reading one of the remarkable books I've ever come across. It's the story of Noah's Ark as you've never heard it before, harrowing, funny, emotional, memorable and, above all, thought provoking. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Orla plans an analysis of Pullman's literary influences. My essay, a History of Hell, was triggered by the extraordinary image of a senile God in the final volume of his trilogy. Orla (who is frighteningly well read) pointed out that essentially the same image was used by Findley in his novel, so I hunted down a copy for research...
...And found myself reading one of the remarkable books I've ever come across. It's the story of Noah's Ark as you've never heard it before, harrowing, funny, emotional, memorable and, above all, thought provoking. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Done and Dusted
Just finished the proofs for Faerie Lord and a bit of a marathon it was. The word count is higher than any of the other books in the series (by quite a bit actually) but they've managed to squeeze it into slightly fewer pages -- 425 in total -- without changing the layout or type face as far as I can see. I've always wondered how they do that. Publication date in the States is now September 18 this year, in Germany probably a little later in the autumn and in Britain early February, 2008.
Another one almost done and dusted is The Wizard's Apprentice, a stand-alone non-fiction title that Faber are bringing out on my birthday (July 5, if you want to send a card) this year. It's a lovely production, beautifully illustrated and I'm sort of excited about it. It tells the real story of wizardry in the world today and gives some of the basic magical training and techniques. Not at all what you'd imagine from reading fiction, but hopefully timely with all the interest generated by Joanne Rowling.
Meanwhile, what started as The Shadow Realm has suffered a bit of a train crash and is being rewritten as a wholly different book. It's all go!
Another one almost done and dusted is The Wizard's Apprentice, a stand-alone non-fiction title that Faber are bringing out on my birthday (July 5, if you want to send a card) this year. It's a lovely production, beautifully illustrated and I'm sort of excited about it. It tells the real story of wizardry in the world today and gives some of the basic magical training and techniques. Not at all what you'd imagine from reading fiction, but hopefully timely with all the interest generated by Joanne Rowling.
Meanwhile, what started as The Shadow Realm has suffered a bit of a train crash and is being rewritten as a wholly different book. It's all go!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Back in Trouble
Well, I've done in my back, haven't I? (And am feeling in the mood for a whinge.) Sat on the floor to screw together a little nest of tables and when I went to get up I turned into a victim of the Spanish Inquisition. Since then, I've been hobbling round like a centenarian and complaining bitterly. Off to the osteopath this morning in the hope of a miracle. I'll let you know if I get one.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Trees
Although I'm probably the least hearty individual on the planet, I do try to take a walk with Jacks each morning (when it isn't raining) in a rather nice public garden a couple of miles from our home. This morning while we were en route, the road was blocked by a massive JCB scraping at something over a low hedge. As we waited for it to finish, the driver turned the arm on a hedgerow tree and pushed it over, then manoeuvred to take out a second tree.
Jacks, who gets very emotional about these things, burst into tears. Both trees looked perfectly healthy and since they were growing in the hedgerow itself they were clearly in nobody's way.
It did occur to me that since we're now apparently living in a world where existing forest cover is unable to cope with the amount of carbon we're pumping into the atmosphere, it might make sense for Governments to enact legislation forbidding the uprooting of trees without a special (costly, difficult to get) permit. As the Tesco ads keep telling us, every little helps.
Jacks, who gets very emotional about these things, burst into tears. Both trees looked perfectly healthy and since they were growing in the hedgerow itself they were clearly in nobody's way.
It did occur to me that since we're now apparently living in a world where existing forest cover is unable to cope with the amount of carbon we're pumping into the atmosphere, it might make sense for Governments to enact legislation forbidding the uprooting of trees without a special (costly, difficult to get) permit. As the Tesco ads keep telling us, every little helps.
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