Derek Landy's Blog, page 21

TV And Me

I STILL don't like this new-look Blogger. I haven't figured out how to sort out the comments section- I can't even READ your comments after the first 200, but I'll have to do something soon... grrrr...

Anyway...

I got a call just before 6 PM yesterday- my publicist, wanting to know if I could POSSIBLY make it onto a plane the next day to go to London to appear on the Alan Titchmarsh Show on ITV. Me, being the true professional that I am, eventually stopped crying and said absolutely, no problem. Never mind the fact that I'm writing a book. Never mind the fact that my deadline is approaching. Never mind all those little details. I'd be delighted to get up early and get on a plane and go to London and sit around for a few hours and appear on air for FIVE MINUTES... and then get on another plane and fly home, waving goodbye to a full day of work... Sigh. Such is the life of a  super-genius.

As it turned out, though, I had a lot of fun. Yes, the traveling and the waiting was as boring as ever, and yes I did have to miss a day of writing, but I was on the show with John Barrowman, from Dr Who and Torchwood- awesome! He's a lovely guy, and his sister was equally lovely, and I had a really funny five minutes on stage with them, being interviewed. They've written a book for young people called Hollow Earth, and it actually sounds pretty cool. John is everything you'd expect- charming, funny, friendly and engaging- so I wasn't at all disappointed. He was just like Captain Jack Harkness, in fact. Which obviously poses a problem, since if I ever get to meet David Tennant or Matt Smith I'll be expecting them to be wonderfully intelligent people with the ability to time travel. Hmmm.

Matt Cardle was also there, but he's not much of a "book-person". Nice chap, though.

But now I'm home, and I might actually try and get some work done. The book is going well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know. 60,000 words and counting. Whether or not it'll continue the tradition of every book being longer than the one before, I don't know. Hopefully it will, because I like giving readers more pages for their money every time, but a book's length is a book's length, and the story itself will dictate how long it'll be.

I also have a possible title... that I can't tell you about just yet! My agent loves it, my editor loves it, I'm pretty sure the marketing people love it... It's completely different to the style of titles I've been using up until now, which is what I'm after. I'm sure I'll be able to tell you what it is soon enough, and then we'll show you the cover closer to September, just to torture you even more.

But for now, I'm concentrating on writing the thing, fully conscious that The End Of The World is out on March 1st. You guys have caused such a storm with this, actually, because thousands of you have pre-ordered it on Amazon UK, and apparently that has never happened for a World Book Day book before. I've heard that Amazon were a tad stunned...

Well done, Minions. You stunned Amazon.

Be proud of yourselves.

Two things...

First of all, is everyone else having trouble going beyond the first page of Comments, or is it just me? For some reason I can't find any "Next page" button...

And I've just been going through the comments marked as "Spam"- even though none of them were spam. For some reason, at various times Blogger reckons you might be spamming the comments section and so doesn't show what you've written (which might explain some missing posts). But I was going through it and I found a message from Teena, my Thai translator. Hi Teena! I think translating the short stories is a lovely idea, and you're so good to even offer to do it. You might have to check with the publisher that it's ok to go ahead, but you absolutely have my permission (if you haven't changed your mind by now...)

And, because no short Blog post is complete without a picture, here's a little doggy.

Writing Books. And Haywire.

So much to do, so little time...

You may have noticed a distinct lack of updates since, er, the last post. This is MOSTLY because I was knocked off the internet for a few days, which allowed me to focus on writing. The latest book is going well, you'll be pleased to hear. Still don't know what it's called, but I'm sure it'll come to me, and it'll be typically brilliant.

I'm writing this one in sequence, which is unusual for me. Usually I'll skip forward and back, writing the cool stuff and then fitting it all together later, like a jigsaw. But this one is different. This one, I started with the first chapter and just kept going. I'm leaving gaps as I go- maybe I'll write half a chapter and move on, or maybe I'll just write the dialogue in a scene and add in the actions somewhere down the line. It means I'm moving quickly, getting down the CORE of the story as I go. Assuming I continue like this, it means that when I'm done I'll have the bare essentials of the book written, and I'll just need to go back and flesh everything out.

I'm not sure why, after six books, I've suddenly changed my approach. Possibly because there really is no more room for error. I only have three books left, and everything has to be set up and in place. I need to be a lot more disciplined in my storytelling or else I'll get to the final book and realise I've forgotten to mention something in an earlier book, and it'll ruin EVERYTHING...

My mind is basically on Skulduggery and nothing else at the moment. When I'm driving, I'm thinking about plot. The moment I wake up, I'm thinking about scenes. Publication is September 1st (or thereabouts) and I really don't have any time to waste.

A few days ago I was in the car, thinking about books 8 and 9, and I realised something MAJOR. Something HUMUNGOUS. I'm not saying if this story development is fantastically fun or utterly devastating, but it'll happen somewhere in Book 8- probably around the middle. And this is a development that wasn't in my overall scheme of things. When I planned these books, this development did not happen. But now, because of the slight changes and shifts that come with writing any book, I realised that this development was essential. I know this is all a gigantic tease to you, my Minions, because I'm talking about something you won't get to read about until 2013, but dear GOD I can't wait to write it. Oh wow it's gonna be brilliant. But I can't tell you what it is. Sorry.



And that's pretty much all I've been doing. Oh, I went to see Haywire the other day. Haywire is a spy/action movie, some of which was filmed in Dublin, and it stars Gina Carano, a UFC fighter. It's an odd movie, very low key, very non-flashy. I absolutely loved it. And I have a new crush, bringing my Crushes on Actresses to a grand total of two.

1. Alexis Bledel.

2. Gina Carano.

That's a very exclusive list right there. They both should be honoured to be on it.

If you're over 15 (or whatever rating your country has seen fit to bestow onto Haywire) go watch it. Don't expect explosions and car chases, and you might like it as much as I did.

Blogger Bah

Okay, I have done SOMETHING with the comments section...

Now when you comment, a new window should pop up. It isn't perfect, but at least there are pages now, and you don't have to keep reloading to get to the newest comment...

This is all VERY annoying.

Odd Blog

The Blog is Odd. It's started misbehaving, and I don't know why. I know my Minions have broken the internet before, but even I don't think this is (entirely) your fault. I will ask my publishers to look into it on Monday.

In other news, Molly, your tale of woe concerning the author you have to have brunch with had me laughing. I can't wait to find out how the story ends.

In yet other news, I watched the final Sherlock tonight. Much better than last week's, thank God. A relentless plunge into second-guesses and secret plans. Liked it a LOT.

And in even MORE other news, five minutes ago I crossed the 20,000 word mark on Book 7. I don't think I've ever written this fast before. Looks like I'll have it done on time after all...

And to top it all off, here is some religious humour...


... some existential humour...


... and some cat humour...

SPARKY AND JOSIE! URGENT!

My publishers are about to start printing the A/NZ version of The End Of The World, and I've just realised I don't know your real names, so we can't credit you with coming up with the characters!

Does anyone know Sparky's real name? And I haven't heard from Josie, so I don't even know if she came up with her character... We have HOURS!

The First 10,000

Just thought you'd like to know, because you are eager Minions who care about these things, that I have apparently started Book 7. Ten thousand words written since Friday.

And some of them even make sense.

Hmmmm

Hypothetically, if a writer had to fill 16 pages in the back of a book with "extras"- like DVD extras but for, like, a book- then what should he fill those pages WITH?

An interview? A list of his influences? Deleted/discarded scenes? Something else?

Or maybe you'd just like 16 BLANK pages at the end of a book. You know, for your own doodling and such...

Winners!

Okay then, I had wanted to wait for confirmation from Josie about whether a New Zealander came up with Tane, but I've run out of time. So, basically, I have chosen the two characters who seem to work best with each other, regardless of who thought them up.

The male character is Tane Aiavao, as put forward by Josie. This was her description:


Tane Aiavao. (Pronounced Tah-neh Eye-a-voh)

Since this is an entry from New Zealand, why not chuck some ethnicity in there? This dude's Maori.
As per usual, Tane is dark skinned, huge brown eyes (so they can do the eye-popping pukana at the end of rugby hakas to scare the crap out of you) and has short tousled dark brown hair. He can also have tattoos, maybe even a Maori pattern on half his face. Around mid twenties. Oh, and huge grin. 

He's pretty laid back, takes things as they come, never has a plan (eg, never knows what he's doing until he's doing it) and pretty happy with everything. Probably a bit of a coward, but hilarious without knowing it. Interested in girls, food and explosions (especially those on video games). I would reckon he is an Elemental. Little bit of a rookie with the magic, but is a brilliantly quick learner.
The female character is Hayley Skirmish, as created by Sparky Braginski. I have a feeling Sparky will be a tad delighted to have won this...  This was her description:
Hayley Skirmish

Appearance- 17, Athletic build, Taller than average. Wears a leather jacket at all times. Blue eyes. Her hair is brown with blondes streaks. Has perfectly white teeth. Wears scuffed jeans. Never wears shoes.


Magic- The ability to run up walls and and upside down. She can also flip with ease. Basically her magic is and combination of Tanith's and Springheeled Jack's.


Personality- Has very strong opinions, and you can't change what she believes in. Always says what she thinks, regardless of how other will respond. She is Australian and has an Aussie accent. She is good, but is involved in a feud against the Aussie Sanctuary, because she's a bit like a modern Robin Hood.

As usual with these things, the standard was EXTREMELY high. In the end, it came down to picking two characters who would make the most unlikely- and therefore the most fun- partners. So now we have Tane's laid-back attitude contrasted with Hayley's no-nonsense approach, and when we put them in a highly dangerous situation we get, well, a story...
Hopefully...
Well done to the creators, and hard luck to those whose ideas weren't picked. Remember, it's not because your creations weren't good enough, it just came down to what I need at this particular time.
You've never failed to impress me with your imagination and enthusiasm and talent. Be proud, Minions. 

2012

Happy New Year, Minions!

There are fireworks outside my window. Not directly outside, because that would be noisy. But over there, in the distance, over the town that I live beside. It's one hour into 2012 and someone is still letting off fireworks.

As you can tell, I stayed in this New Year's Eve- as I do every year. I stayed in and wrote, because I like to start the year as I mean to continue, by writing. So that's what I did. I was working on the Australia/New Zealand short story because I've pretty much figured out which characters won that little competition. Before it's announced, I just have to check with Josie about who came up with Tane Aiavao, because that's my favourite male character so far. So, Josie, if you could let me know in the Comments section, that'd be just super.


So... 2011, eh? What did it bring you?

It brought me great sales for Death Bringer- the best yet, to be honest. It brought me a flood that ruined my car, refurbishments that swallowed three months of my time, and a trip to London to see the new Twilight. Ahem. It also brought me a brand new niece to add to the collection (yay!) and so much joy as all four of them entertained my entire family (by falling over a lot).

2011 was the first year I had to stay for any length of time in hospital, so that's a new year's resolution right there: "Don't do that again." It sent me away on tour, nearly robbed me of my voice halfway through said tour, and got me meeting a whole bunch of you guys.

It brought us the last Harry Potter movie, which I thought was really well done. It brought us the uncannily good X-Men: First Class, and Thor, which was superb- and much better than Captain America (though even that was streets ahead of the abysmal Green Lantern). I thought Attack The Block was good fun, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was surprisingly great, and The Adjustment Bureau gets my vote for best romance. Plus it made me fall in love with Emily Blunt. Which is a good thing.

2011 brought me a load of great books that I tore through far too quickly, and quite a few dreadful books that I couldn't make myself finish. One of the best new YA authors of 2011, I reckon, has to be Veronica Roth, who emerged with Divergent. And no, I don't just like her because she's pretty. That's just, like, a coincidence, or something.

All in all, it was a good year for me. Nothing terrible happened to my family or my friends. The world faced so much upheaval during 2011, from financial crises to revolutions and rebellions and earthquakes and floods- but my friends and family are safe and well and happy, and that's what I reckon to be a good year. I know that not all of you can say the same. I know that some of you lost loved ones, or suffered through whatever hardships the year threw at you. For those who had a bad 2011, I hope 2012 is better. And for those who had a good 2011, I hope 2012 is better still.

Nothing wrong with being a little greedy every now and then.