Chris d'Lacey's Blog, page 3
May 14, 2012
This week's word is: CHANGE
Hello, dragon fans. Gadzooks is still in deep consultation with the other dragons, so once again it falls to me to write his blog post this week. As you can see, it's 24 hours late. Humans, unlike dragons, are not always very punctual.
I thought I might say something this week about where we go next. When you finish a big series like The Last Dragon Chronicles, the temptation is always to close the laptop and take a break. Fair enough, really, after twelve years of non-stop writing. Well, it's now been six months exactly since Zookie and I completed the initial draft of THE FIRE ASCENDING, and it's time to start something new.
Years ago, when Snigger was still chasing nutbeasts and Gwillan was watering Mrs Pennykettle's house plants, I had lots of different ideas for new stories. Some of them were novels. Some were humorous young readers. There were even some picture book texts floating about. All of them were put aside to concentrate on writing THE FIRE WITHIN. At the time, no one could have predicted that seven books would appear in Wayward Crescent, but as the series grew and became very popular, all other ideas were shelved - until now.
So one of the things Gadzooks is doing is going back through some of those old ideas to see which, if any, might be polished up before we tackle another fantasy series. He is quietly confident that a new series will go into production in the near future. But before it does, you may see one or two different types of stories emerging. We'll keep you posted about that.
It's always a difficult decision to make when you're thinking about something new. Letting go of what you know and love is probably the hardest part of all. The plain fact is, we will never write again about David, Liz, Lucy and Zanna. Their time is done. Their story is sealed. But this doesn't mean that we can't explore other narratives involving dragons. Commercially, it's a sensible thing to do, because that's what Zookie's followers associate us with. But don't be surprised if we experiment a little. After all, when have we ever produced anything straightforward? That said, I would expect the new series to be a little easier to follow than the Chronicles. But until I start tapping away, I won't know.
So all I would say is, stick with us through this period of change. We will always try to bring you interesting, dramatic, challenging stories. Books that will make you think. For all you know, what comes next could be the big blockbusting movie series we all hoped for with the Chronicles. Gadzooks has just written the word TWO on his notepad, which sounds to me as if he has TWO promising ideas he wants to explore. (He's just said hrrr! in my ear, meaning 'yes'.) So guess what we'll be doing for the next few weeks? Yep, trialling them. Stick with it, dragon fans, it might be about to get a whole heap better... Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
I thought I might say something this week about where we go next. When you finish a big series like The Last Dragon Chronicles, the temptation is always to close the laptop and take a break. Fair enough, really, after twelve years of non-stop writing. Well, it's now been six months exactly since Zookie and I completed the initial draft of THE FIRE ASCENDING, and it's time to start something new.
Years ago, when Snigger was still chasing nutbeasts and Gwillan was watering Mrs Pennykettle's house plants, I had lots of different ideas for new stories. Some of them were novels. Some were humorous young readers. There were even some picture book texts floating about. All of them were put aside to concentrate on writing THE FIRE WITHIN. At the time, no one could have predicted that seven books would appear in Wayward Crescent, but as the series grew and became very popular, all other ideas were shelved - until now.
So one of the things Gadzooks is doing is going back through some of those old ideas to see which, if any, might be polished up before we tackle another fantasy series. He is quietly confident that a new series will go into production in the near future. But before it does, you may see one or two different types of stories emerging. We'll keep you posted about that.
It's always a difficult decision to make when you're thinking about something new. Letting go of what you know and love is probably the hardest part of all. The plain fact is, we will never write again about David, Liz, Lucy and Zanna. Their time is done. Their story is sealed. But this doesn't mean that we can't explore other narratives involving dragons. Commercially, it's a sensible thing to do, because that's what Zookie's followers associate us with. But don't be surprised if we experiment a little. After all, when have we ever produced anything straightforward? That said, I would expect the new series to be a little easier to follow than the Chronicles. But until I start tapping away, I won't know.
So all I would say is, stick with us through this period of change. We will always try to bring you interesting, dramatic, challenging stories. Books that will make you think. For all you know, what comes next could be the big blockbusting movie series we all hoped for with the Chronicles. Gadzooks has just written the word TWO on his notepad, which sounds to me as if he has TWO promising ideas he wants to explore. (He's just said hrrr! in my ear, meaning 'yes'.) So guess what we'll be doing for the next few weeks? Yep, trialling them. Stick with it, dragon fans, it might be about to get a whole heap better... Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
May 6, 2012
This week's word is: ENDING
Hello, dragon fans. This week it's the turn of me, Chris d'Lacey, to post a few words on the blog. Gadzooks is in heated discussions with some of the other dragons about where we might go next. Gosh. While they're being all creative and clever, I thought I would take this opportunity to write something about the ending of THE FIRE ASCENDING.
A lot of you have read the book by now and most of you have been very pleased with it. The first few sections, in particular, have met with great enthusiasm. As always, it's the ending that has caused most controversy.
First of all, the final sections of the book were written no differently from the rest of the series. They weren't pre-planned, they were just allowed to happen the way they wanted to, 'organically' as writers will say. The reason for this is that I wanted to stay as true as possible to the way Gadzooks inspires David in the early books. Any writer will tell you that one of the most exciting things about progressing a story is the way it begins to unravel as you write. Plot ideas flash into the mind apparently from nowhere, and it's very hard to explain to someone who hasn't tried to write just where those ideas spring from. In The Last Dragon Chronicles they spring from Zookie's notepad; in 'real' life they come from the writer's subconscious (we think). In other words, Zookie is the material embodiment of David's subconscious, the physical vehicle of David's inspiration. All David has to do to express his creativity is place his faith in Gadzooks and listen to him. Simples.
Now, although I have a lovely clay model of Gadzooks, he's really in my head for the majority of the time. He's always active, even when I'm sleeping, and he was never more busy than when we were writing the last few sections of THE FIRE ASCENDING. At the time, I was alone in my mother-in-law's empty house in Leicester and I had an horrendous cold. The last thing I wanted to do was sit at my computer with a couple of tissues up my nose and write. But my deadline was approaching, and generally when I'm ill I would rather be doing something than nothing. So I opened the laptop, and this is how it went. I began at 2pm one Sunday afternoon. I wrote Part 8, The Loaf Everlasting, in about an hour. I thought it would be one of the most difficult pieces to get right because I knew it would have to deal with David's reaction to what had happened to Liz (for the sake of anyone who hasn't read the book I don't want to issue any spoilers here). But the moment Alexa came to sit on David's knee and they began to talk as father and (very young) daughter, the piece took off as though I wasn't really there. I rang 'Mrs Author'. Jay was 200 miles away in Devon. She said, "How are you feeling?" I replied, "Terrible - but I've just written one of the most moving scenes of the whole series. I have no idea where it came from." She said, "Yes you do. Are you going to stop for the day or does Zookie want you to go on?" I said, "I think I might go on. Maybe just sketch out the interview sequence, see how it goes." She said, "Good. Call me when you're done." And she put down the phone.
Two hours later I rang her back and said, "You won't believe this. I've done the interview with Alexa (the only part I 'knew' about before I started the book) and I think it's pretty much perfect. It answers just about everything in the series and it just flew off the keyboard." She said, "Gadzooks knows what he's doing. Is that the end, then?" I remember looking at the laptop screen and shaking my head. "No," I said, "the interview has thrown up an interesting query - why isn't Bergstrom in the book?" And Jay said, "Well, you'd better ask Gadzooks about that." So I did. I was too weary to type any more that day, but early the next morning I sat down and I wrote the final part of the book, which also took about one hour. Then I sat back and read through the final three sections as one piece - and I hardly changed a word. It was so strong, but most importantly it felt so right. Hand on heart, I have never felt more 'connected' to the universe than I did during those final stages of the book. It was just amazing.
But that feeling, no matter how extraordinary it was for me, doesn't necessarily transfer itself to the reader's mind. Inevitably, there will be some fans who will be disappointed, perhaps because the series didn't end the way they hoped it would, or they simply didn't 'get' it. That's fair enough. As soon as I'd written it, I had to try to understand it, too - weird as that sounds. This is how I see it...
At the end of Part 7, Isenfier, the Ix Shadow is defeated and the Guardians of Quantum are brought into our space-time when the core of the Earth (the fire eternal) is breached and a hole opens in the 'known' universe. Granted the Guardians have never been mentioned before and their powers are never explored when they appear, but they clearly have the ability to manipulate time and matter, and that is exactly what they do. They undo all of Gwilanna's meddling and reset the natural timeline so that all of Earth's history progresses as it should, right into David being at Wayward Crescent. However, they do make one significant change, which is that they set the timeline in motion from absolute zero i.e. there is no 'missing' time that can't be traced before the 'big bang'. What this means is, rather like the situation in FIRE WORLD, all the same people and events are present in this timeline, but there are subtle changes. David is not a lodger at Wayward Crescent, for instance, he belongs there as Liz and Arthur's son. And in this timeline he doesn't go chasing dragons or turning into polar bears, he's just an ordinary man - but, and this is a big, BIG but, he has an etheric memory of that other David, somewhere deep within his subconscious, which is strong enough to drive his imagination into rebuilding that world on paper, as a series of books, so mirroring the hero he really wants to be. Some of you have said, "Oh, it's all just a story within a story in the end." Of course it is. How could it not be? If you think about it, it's entirely appropriate. All that my subconscious has had me do is create a rather clever echo of THE FIRE WITHIN. These books have always been about TWO questions: Where does inspiration come from? and Are dragons real? The ending I've written, the final few lines of it, in fact, answer both queries. David uses the power of his mind to focus his thoughts and imagineer Gadzooks into being. He creates a dragon out of nothing. He 'dreams' it, as Liz would say. He makes his 'dreams' come true.
Really, what you should be asking yourself about the ending is, how close were we to another book? In the new timeline, anything could have happened. The fact that it's all very ordinary and domestic (though tragic) is kind of reassuring in a way. David gets his family. Zanna gets her true love. Alexa, although not a creature with wings sprouting out of her back, does fly very high. But what about that transmorphic crystal that David pulls out from under his skin? That tiny 'spike' that could have been, well, a shard of ice? Didn't that make anyone go, "Hang on a minute, what's going on here? David involved in some sort of thought experiment, controlled by Bergstrom...? That's a bit sinister." And why did Bergstrom turn up in the graveyard at the same time as David? And why does he think so much of Liz when he's apparently never really known her? And what does Gwilanna/Aunt Sibyl know about Lucy's father. Unless...? Well, you can follow those thought trails if you wish, but I'm afraid we had to stop. I looked at Gadzooks and he simply said, "It wouldn't be right if we didn't leave a few stones for the readers to turn, we've done enough." And I agree. Guys, enjoy TFA for what it is. If you want a different ending, imagineer it. That's your choice. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
A lot of you have read the book by now and most of you have been very pleased with it. The first few sections, in particular, have met with great enthusiasm. As always, it's the ending that has caused most controversy.
First of all, the final sections of the book were written no differently from the rest of the series. They weren't pre-planned, they were just allowed to happen the way they wanted to, 'organically' as writers will say. The reason for this is that I wanted to stay as true as possible to the way Gadzooks inspires David in the early books. Any writer will tell you that one of the most exciting things about progressing a story is the way it begins to unravel as you write. Plot ideas flash into the mind apparently from nowhere, and it's very hard to explain to someone who hasn't tried to write just where those ideas spring from. In The Last Dragon Chronicles they spring from Zookie's notepad; in 'real' life they come from the writer's subconscious (we think). In other words, Zookie is the material embodiment of David's subconscious, the physical vehicle of David's inspiration. All David has to do to express his creativity is place his faith in Gadzooks and listen to him. Simples.
Now, although I have a lovely clay model of Gadzooks, he's really in my head for the majority of the time. He's always active, even when I'm sleeping, and he was never more busy than when we were writing the last few sections of THE FIRE ASCENDING. At the time, I was alone in my mother-in-law's empty house in Leicester and I had an horrendous cold. The last thing I wanted to do was sit at my computer with a couple of tissues up my nose and write. But my deadline was approaching, and generally when I'm ill I would rather be doing something than nothing. So I opened the laptop, and this is how it went. I began at 2pm one Sunday afternoon. I wrote Part 8, The Loaf Everlasting, in about an hour. I thought it would be one of the most difficult pieces to get right because I knew it would have to deal with David's reaction to what had happened to Liz (for the sake of anyone who hasn't read the book I don't want to issue any spoilers here). But the moment Alexa came to sit on David's knee and they began to talk as father and (very young) daughter, the piece took off as though I wasn't really there. I rang 'Mrs Author'. Jay was 200 miles away in Devon. She said, "How are you feeling?" I replied, "Terrible - but I've just written one of the most moving scenes of the whole series. I have no idea where it came from." She said, "Yes you do. Are you going to stop for the day or does Zookie want you to go on?" I said, "I think I might go on. Maybe just sketch out the interview sequence, see how it goes." She said, "Good. Call me when you're done." And she put down the phone.
Two hours later I rang her back and said, "You won't believe this. I've done the interview with Alexa (the only part I 'knew' about before I started the book) and I think it's pretty much perfect. It answers just about everything in the series and it just flew off the keyboard." She said, "Gadzooks knows what he's doing. Is that the end, then?" I remember looking at the laptop screen and shaking my head. "No," I said, "the interview has thrown up an interesting query - why isn't Bergstrom in the book?" And Jay said, "Well, you'd better ask Gadzooks about that." So I did. I was too weary to type any more that day, but early the next morning I sat down and I wrote the final part of the book, which also took about one hour. Then I sat back and read through the final three sections as one piece - and I hardly changed a word. It was so strong, but most importantly it felt so right. Hand on heart, I have never felt more 'connected' to the universe than I did during those final stages of the book. It was just amazing.
But that feeling, no matter how extraordinary it was for me, doesn't necessarily transfer itself to the reader's mind. Inevitably, there will be some fans who will be disappointed, perhaps because the series didn't end the way they hoped it would, or they simply didn't 'get' it. That's fair enough. As soon as I'd written it, I had to try to understand it, too - weird as that sounds. This is how I see it...
At the end of Part 7, Isenfier, the Ix Shadow is defeated and the Guardians of Quantum are brought into our space-time when the core of the Earth (the fire eternal) is breached and a hole opens in the 'known' universe. Granted the Guardians have never been mentioned before and their powers are never explored when they appear, but they clearly have the ability to manipulate time and matter, and that is exactly what they do. They undo all of Gwilanna's meddling and reset the natural timeline so that all of Earth's history progresses as it should, right into David being at Wayward Crescent. However, they do make one significant change, which is that they set the timeline in motion from absolute zero i.e. there is no 'missing' time that can't be traced before the 'big bang'. What this means is, rather like the situation in FIRE WORLD, all the same people and events are present in this timeline, but there are subtle changes. David is not a lodger at Wayward Crescent, for instance, he belongs there as Liz and Arthur's son. And in this timeline he doesn't go chasing dragons or turning into polar bears, he's just an ordinary man - but, and this is a big, BIG but, he has an etheric memory of that other David, somewhere deep within his subconscious, which is strong enough to drive his imagination into rebuilding that world on paper, as a series of books, so mirroring the hero he really wants to be. Some of you have said, "Oh, it's all just a story within a story in the end." Of course it is. How could it not be? If you think about it, it's entirely appropriate. All that my subconscious has had me do is create a rather clever echo of THE FIRE WITHIN. These books have always been about TWO questions: Where does inspiration come from? and Are dragons real? The ending I've written, the final few lines of it, in fact, answer both queries. David uses the power of his mind to focus his thoughts and imagineer Gadzooks into being. He creates a dragon out of nothing. He 'dreams' it, as Liz would say. He makes his 'dreams' come true.
Really, what you should be asking yourself about the ending is, how close were we to another book? In the new timeline, anything could have happened. The fact that it's all very ordinary and domestic (though tragic) is kind of reassuring in a way. David gets his family. Zanna gets her true love. Alexa, although not a creature with wings sprouting out of her back, does fly very high. But what about that transmorphic crystal that David pulls out from under his skin? That tiny 'spike' that could have been, well, a shard of ice? Didn't that make anyone go, "Hang on a minute, what's going on here? David involved in some sort of thought experiment, controlled by Bergstrom...? That's a bit sinister." And why did Bergstrom turn up in the graveyard at the same time as David? And why does he think so much of Liz when he's apparently never really known her? And what does Gwilanna/Aunt Sibyl know about Lucy's father. Unless...? Well, you can follow those thought trails if you wish, but I'm afraid we had to stop. I looked at Gadzooks and he simply said, "It wouldn't be right if we didn't leave a few stones for the readers to turn, we've done enough." And I agree. Guys, enjoy TFA for what it is. If you want a different ending, imagineer it. That's your choice. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
May 1, 2012
Today's word is: PUBLICATION!
Hello, dragon fans. This is it! If you live in America, today is the day THE FIRE ASCENDING is published. If you haven’t pre-ordered it (ahem), rush out and buy it now! There are lots of signed copies in Barnes & Noble, Provo, and The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. I know, because I watched the author sign them in Utah last week!! If you keep hearing a clunk while you’re reading this post, that will be him falling asleep again. Since we returned from our US tour of Texas and Utah, he’s slept on the sofa, the lounge floor, and at the kitchen table (where he nearly put his forehead in a bowl of soup). He has ‘jetlag’, a common sympton humans suffer from after a period of extended air travel (dragons, of course, understand time and are therefore immune). There is a seven hour time difference between Utah and England. So his mind is thinking in UK time, but his body clock is firmly across the Atlantic. He is ‘out of sync’, he says. But if you’ve lived with him as long as we have, that would come as no surprise, really. So, here we are, back in wet and windy England. But what a time we had in the US. We spent the last two days of our trip in the relaxed city of Provo, where the author did a clutch of school visits, rounding off his trip with an event at the fantastic Provo City Library. In their impressive ballroom, he talked for an hour about the dragon books, then signed for a further hour before whizzing to the airport to catch a flight home. We must extend a huge thanks to Gene, Malia and Courtney (the most energetic community relations person we’ve ever met!) for looking after us so well. It was a pleasure to meet you guys. Hrrr! Trips like these are all defined by the people you meet and the places you go to. So to round off, here are a few more pictures, and a couple of links to follow, which will tell you something about the time we had in the USA. The first link is to a wonderful piece of art by a fan we met in Houston, and you absolutely HAVE to visit the second link, which is a message board for the 39 Clues website, written up by author Peter Lerangis. There’s a lot of info on there, but scroll down and play the SECOND video. You might see something amusing. So this is it, dragon fans, the books are OUT THERE. Don’t forget to let us know what you think. And remember, you can always post reviews on Amazon or other online stores if you want to. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
http://hereliesdeadsquirrel.deviantart.com/art/David-and-Zookie-297577202
http://www.the39clues.com/messageboard/show/21589
Fans in Houston, Texas!
The saloon, where we had buffalo burgers!
The amazing Provo City Library building
Provo - red hot on the street, snow on the mountains!
Peter Lerangis and the author swapping notes
The author with Jim, one of his brilliant media escorts, taking a breather in Park City
http://hereliesdeadsquirrel.deviantart.com/art/David-and-Zookie-297577202
http://www.the39clues.com/messageboard/show/21589
Fans in Houston, Texas!
The saloon, where we had buffalo burgers!
The amazing Provo City Library building
Provo - red hot on the street, snow on the mountains!Peter Lerangis and the author swapping notes
The author with Jim, one of his brilliant media escorts, taking a breather in Park City
April 22, 2012
This week's word is: TOURING
A bunch of renegade authors...Hello, dragon fans. Phew! What a week. It's hard to know where to begin. After a lengthy sleep on Monday, the author poked his head through the hotel room curtains to discover that Houston was dull and overcast, which was completely at odds with what we'd expected of Texas. But everything was soon to change. After a couple of muddling days, the sun came out, the temperature soared and the cowboy hat went on (him, not me). Up until then, we had only done a couple of small events including one at the very welcoming Beth Yeshurun school where we met author Adam Gidwitz and saw him give an hilarious presentation about his book A Tale Dark and Grimm. Then on Wednesday the big stuff kicked in...Last time the author was in America, he was touring alone. This time, he was part of a package of authors which included Jennifer A. Nielsen, Sarah Mlynowski, Michael Northrop, Augusta Scattergood (wonderful name), Elizabeth Eulberg, Siobhan Vivian and Maggie Stiefvater. American fans will know there are some pretty talented writers listed there. On Wednesday morning, the authors were invited to present their latest books to a crowd of 250 librarians. But rather than simply stand up and read, each author was asked to select a piece of text which could be dramatised and performed from a script. The authors were split into two groups. The author found himself paired with Jennifer & Sarah. First off, the group performed a scene from THE FIRE ASCENDING, with Sarah as the evil warlord, Voss. It went very well, judging by the 'oohs' when we reached the end, as did a piece from Jennifer's book The False Prince (which we highly recommend, very 'Merlin-esque'). But the highlight was the performance of a scene from Sarah's book, Whatever After, which is basically a topsy-turvy retelling of the Snow White story. The author was cast as 'Evil Evelyn' who tries to persuade Snow White to eat a poisoned cookie. Let's just say he won't be winning any oscars for his performance as the wicked Evelyn, who first appears as a little girl in pigtails, but the librarians of Texas will certainly remember him for it.
Later that day, five of the authors visited the wonderful Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, where they each gave a brief presentation of their books and not only signed the books for sale, but signed the bookshop wall as well. See if you can spot the author's attempt here.
Thursday rolled around, and with it the opportunity for our hero to speak on a panel with the engaging and erudite fantasy author, Blake Charlton. In front of an audience of about 200, the two of them answered some tricky dragony questions, such as: How do you decide on the characteristics of the dragons in your stories? Erm, he doesn't. We show him! And: How do you start the process of building your worlds? Answer: I write something down on my pad for him. Next! After the panel, the author signed for an hour and met and chatted to a whole bunch of librarians, charming them mercilessly with his English accent until I prodded him with my isoscele and reminded him we needed to go on to an event at a public library in Houston.From here on in, the week really becomes the story of two very dedicated female fans, Lauren and Rachel... Blog followers will perhaps remember how we reported that a few weeks ago, the mom of Lauren wrote to the author telling him that the dragon books had helped her daughter through treatment for lymphoma. Well, on Thursday afternoon they turned up, dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with the word HRRR! Next week, we will hopefully show a picture of them - or the author dressed in one of the shirts they presented to him. Meetings like this just prove what a small place the world can be and how books can bring people together. Hrrr!
That event in Houston was the last before we got onto another plane and flew to the amazing Salt Lake City in Utah. Salt Lake is built on a flat basin of marshland cradled to the east and west by the snow-capped Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges. A quick call home to Gwendolen confirmed that The Winter Olympics were held in SLC in 2002. The author, while he thought the mountains were beautiful, could not understand how it could be 80F on the sidewalks of the city and yet snow could be seen on the mountain peaks, "they don't seem high enough, Zookie" he said. I then reminded him that we were actually some 4,000 feet above sea level and had he brought his oxygen mask...?
By now, we had met our wonderful media escort, Marisa, who drove us to a Barnes & Noble store in Layton, UT, where we met acting store manager Blaine, who worked extremely hard all night to bring people to the author's signing table. It was a great event in two ways because we got to see the lovely Jennifer Nielsen again and we sold a fair number of books. Amazingly, people were buying the WHOLE SET, which is one of the benefits of writing a series, folks.
But what of the other girl, Rachel, we mentioned? Well, she turned up at the fantastic King's English Bookshop in SLC where the author gave a presentation to a small but willing crowd the next day - out in the bookshop garden, no less. Rachel had been following my blog posts and had persuaded her mom to drive for TWO HOURS to come and meet me. That's dedication for you. Hrrr!
And we can't let this post go by without thanking the Costco store in Orem, who invited us in for a couple of hours to sign books for any shoppers who happened to be intrigued by the strange Englishman next to the cut flower shelves who was promoting his latest dragon book. UK fans, think of seeing him in a branch of ALDI and you've got the picture.
And we are STILL not finished with the tour! Just a couple more days to go. If anyone out there is still keen to see the Last Dragon Chronicles author, his final event is at 6pm in Provo City Library, one we are very much looking forward to. Until next time, happy reading. Hrrr!
The author tries not to fall into Utah's great salt lake...
April 16, 2012
This week's word is: HOUSTON
Weird or what?Hello dragon fans. Apologies for the non-appearance of a blog post yesterday. This is because we were caught between time zones on our way to America! At the normal time we would be posting a message, the author was flat out in his plane seat, wearing an eye mask. It would have been cruel to have woken him (good job Gretel isn't with us).So, yes, we are here in Houston, Texas. Tornados and poor weather couldn't keep us out. And we knew as soon as we reached the hotel room that we were in the right place. Look at the pic of the water bottle. If it doesn't make sense to you now, it will when you read TFA. It was a little strange, and slightly poignant, to be flying across the North Atlantic ocean on the very day when, one hundred years ago, the great ship Titanic so tragically sank after striking an iceberg. As we approached Newfoundland on the flight map, we added our thoughts to those of the people holding special ceremonies to mark the disaster. The dragons sent a big hrrr.
We are primarily in Texas to promote THE FIRE ASCENDING at a big librarian's conference in town, but the author will be putting in several other public appearances and if you'd like to go along and hear him speak about us or read from one of the books then we'd be very pleased to meet you. The final details of his schedule are below. Just TWO WEEKS now before TFA officially comes out in America. So far, the reaction to it from the UK (and Australia) has been excellent, with readers only slightly divided about the ending. One reviewer on Amazon described it as 'catastrophic' (though the rest of the review was very positive), whereas most of the fans who've written to us have really liked it, and been surprised by it. The word 'genius' has been used, which is very flattering. The ending was written no differently from the rest of the series i.e. as it came to me on the notepad. All the author wants to say, at this stage, is that it felt very right and very powerful at the time. And that's the gut instinct we've always followed: if it feels right, write it. Let's see what American fans make of it before we say anymore.
Here's the updated schedule. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
Monday April 16th, 4:15-5:30pm
Houston Public Library, Kendall Branch
(609 N. Eldridge)
Presentation & book signing
Tuesday April 17th, 4:30pm
Literacy events, not open to the public
Wednesday April 18th, 7:00pm
Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston
14532 Memorial Drive
281 497-8675
Multi-author presentation & book signing
Thursday April 19th, 10-10:50am
George R Brown Convention Center
1001 Avenida de las Americas,
Houston 77010
General Assembly B, Level 3
Panel event "Here be Dragons"
with author Blake Charlton
Thursday April 19th, 1:30-2:00pm
Texas Teens 4 Libraries,
Hilton Americas, Level 4, Ballroom JK
An opportunity to meet with teens attending
the Texas Library Conference
Thursday April 19th, 4:15pm
Houston Public Library, Stella Link Branch
7405 Stella Link
Presentation & book signing
Friday April 20th, 6:00pm
Barnes and Noble bookstore
1780 North Woodland Park Drive
Layton, UT 84041
Saturday April 21st
Costco Book signing (not a presentation)
648 East 800 South
Orem, UT 84097
Saturday April 21st, 5:00pm
King's English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801-484-9100
Monday April 23rd
School visits with the King's English bookshop
Tuesday April 24th, 6:00pm
Provo City Library
550 North University Avenue
Provo, Utah 84601
Presentation & book signing
April 8, 2012
This week's word is: ITINERARY!
Okay, dragon fans. Hot on the heels of the UK publication of THE FIRE ASCENDING three days ago comes this: the schedule for the author's American tour. Yes! One week from now, he will be flying to HOUSTON, TEXAS, to attend a librarian's conference, plus a few other things besides, including some public appearances. Mrs Author can't wait! Once again, she gets the house to herself and 'things' will get done, she says! Mmmmm.
And there's an unexpected BONUS, the author's US publisher has extended the visit with a few days in UTAH as well. Salt Lake City here we come!
Here's where you can see everybody's favourite dragon hero. Some details are still being updated. Please note, some things are liable to change. If in doubt, ring the library or the bookstore.
Monday April 16th, 4:15-5:30pm
Kendall (609 N. Eldridge)
Not sure where this is! Might be Houston Public Library.
Tuesday April 17th, 4:30pm
Houston Public Library, 609 N. Eldridge
Wednesday April 18th, 7:00pm
Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston
14532 Memorial Drive
Thursday April 18th, 1:30-2:00pm
Texas Teens 4 Libraries, details tba
Thursday April 18th, 4:15pm
Houston Public Library, Stella Link Branch
7405 Stella Link
Friday April 20th, 6:00pm
Barnes and Noble bookstore
1780 North Woodland Park Drive
Layton, UT 84041
Saturday April 21st
Costco Book signing
details tba
Saturday April 21st, 5:00pm
King's English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801-484-9100
Monday April 23rd
school visits, tba
Tuesday April 24th, 6:00pm
Provo City Library
550 North University Avenue
Provo, Utah 84601
Remember, dragon fans, this is a PRELIMINARY schedule. We will try to update on a regular basis.
Wow, the author goes to the deep south. Yi-haa! We can't wait. Until the next post, happy reading. Hrrr!
And there's an unexpected BONUS, the author's US publisher has extended the visit with a few days in UTAH as well. Salt Lake City here we come!
Here's where you can see everybody's favourite dragon hero. Some details are still being updated. Please note, some things are liable to change. If in doubt, ring the library or the bookstore.
Monday April 16th, 4:15-5:30pm
Kendall (609 N. Eldridge)
Not sure where this is! Might be Houston Public Library.
Tuesday April 17th, 4:30pm
Houston Public Library, 609 N. Eldridge
Wednesday April 18th, 7:00pm
Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston
14532 Memorial Drive
Thursday April 18th, 1:30-2:00pm
Texas Teens 4 Libraries, details tba
Thursday April 18th, 4:15pm
Houston Public Library, Stella Link Branch
7405 Stella Link
Friday April 20th, 6:00pm
Barnes and Noble bookstore
1780 North Woodland Park Drive
Layton, UT 84041
Saturday April 21st
Costco Book signing
details tba
Saturday April 21st, 5:00pm
King's English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801-484-9100
Monday April 23rd
school visits, tba
Tuesday April 24th, 6:00pm
Provo City Library
550 North University Avenue
Provo, Utah 84601
Remember, dragon fans, this is a PRELIMINARY schedule. We will try to update on a regular basis.
Wow, the author goes to the deep south. Yi-haa! We can't wait. Until the next post, happy reading. Hrrr!
April 5, 2012
Today's word is: OUT!
Hello, dragon fans. Unless you've been on another planet, you'll know that today, April 5th, is a hugely significant moment in dragon lore. It is the day, officially, that THE FIRE ASCENDING is published in the UK and Australia. You guys in America and Canada only have another 3 weeks to wait - but it's worth it!
We are hugely proud to see this book out there. It will answer so many questions for you, and hopefully leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling about David! Anyway, we could witter on forever. It's up to you now to get hold of a copy and read it. Do tell us what you think! Until Sunday, when we will be posting the author's Texas and Utah tour schedule (yes, he's going to Utah as well, now), happy reading. Hrrr!
We are hugely proud to see this book out there. It will answer so many questions for you, and hopefully leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling about David! Anyway, we could witter on forever. It's up to you now to get hold of a copy and read it. Do tell us what you think! Until Sunday, when we will be posting the author's Texas and Utah tour schedule (yes, he's going to Utah as well, now), happy reading. Hrrr!
April 1, 2012
This week's word is: PUBLICATION!
Hello, dragon fans! Great excitement. Yes, it's HERE! The Fire Ascending is out in the UK, a week ahead of its official publication schedule. Time to rush out and get it!
To celebrate, we are showing one thing and one thing only this week: the mark of Oomara. SOOOO many of you have asked what it looks like over the years that the author asked his publisher if we could commission a proper drawing of it for the frontispiece of TFA. They agreed, and here it is, in all its ragged glory, the symbol that is both respected and feared throughout dragon kind and the high Arctic. Until our next 'sometimes'. Happy reading. Hrrr!
Sometimes....
To celebrate, we are showing one thing and one thing only this week: the mark of Oomara. SOOOO many of you have asked what it looks like over the years that the author asked his publisher if we could commission a proper drawing of it for the frontispiece of TFA. They agreed, and here it is, in all its ragged glory, the symbol that is both respected and feared throughout dragon kind and the high Arctic. Until our next 'sometimes'. Happy reading. Hrrr!
Sometimes....
March 25, 2012
This week's word is: UPLIFTING
Hello, dragon fans. Oh, boy. What a week it's been in the den. Last Monday morning, the author woke up with a cough. Not a nasty cough or a ribcage rattling cough just...a cough that seemed to have no end to it. He went to the bathroom, where he coughed again and managed to hack up a pea-sized lump of green gunko. Gretel looked at it and reeled back sharply. One word left her mouth - dragonpox.
By midday, our hero was feeling wuzzlier than a sock. Mrs Author pointed straight to the stairs. "Bed," she said. "But...?" he protested. "I've got things to do." But you don't argue with one of Mrs Author's glares. Off to bed he went ... where he stayed for the next four days.
The author is not a good patient. He moans, he grumbles, he pushes the bed clothes around a lot. Fair enough, for two of his days confined to bed he was pretty feverish and could barely unscrew the top from a bottle of water. It's when the boredom kicks in that he gets unbearable. Then you'd gladly break a plate over his head, trust me!
On the fifth day, it all changed. He was feeling well enough to get dressed and sit on the bed rather than in it, and Mrs Author let him have his laptop. This meant he could tweet, read a manuscript, answer email. It was during the latter activity that he came across two messages that not only uplifted him, but also put his week into perspective.
I watched him reading the first of the messages and saw a tear filming in his eye. I immediately fluttered over. "What's the matter?" I asked. "Read this," he said. "It's from the mom of a little girl called Lauren." I put on my spectacles and read the following,
I thought you might enjoy hearing about my daughter, Lauren, whose life you have touched in a profound way through your dragon series. In August of 2010 she was diagnosed with lymphoma. It took us 5 months to figure out what was wrong with her and she is currently in the maintenance phase of a two year treatment plan. I'm telling you this because during the most difficult phase of her treatment she stumbled across The Fire Within and was instantly hooked! She has devoured every single one of the dragon series book and is anxiously awaiting The Fire Ascending. She even spent hours upon hours creating her own clay dragon complete with a clay doughnut, pillow and teddy bear! Unfortunately, the accessories that went with the dragon were not made with the type of clay that can be baked so they melted in the oven (oops!) but the dragon survived and is proudly displayed in her room. I just want to say thank you so much for sharing your imagination and gift of writing with us - your books helped my precious girl forget for a while the needles, drugs, hair loss... all of the nastiness that goes with cancer, and escape to the world of the Pennykettle's and the magic of Wayward Crescent (and beyond!).
Brilliant letter, eh? I looked at the author and he looked at me and said, "Here's me whinging all week about nothing in particular while this brave girl is fighting off a dreadful illness." I nodded and blew a quiet smoke ring. That's the power of dragon auma, for you.
So it was rather fitting that one of the next messages we read worked like a tonic for us. This one came from a long time fan called Clarissa who, wait for it, has READ The Fire Ascending. How she got hold of the book, we don't know. Sometimes the author's publisher will do a deal with a book club which allows the club to have the book exclusively a week or two in advance of official publication. Whatever, Clarissa had it, and she'd read it, and she LIKED it. A lot. Here are a few small quotes from her message:
I stayed up all through the night reading it. It was amazing. Your series is so unlike any other, seriously. I can't... I can't... it's rendered me speechless. The way you tie everything in together so smoothly is incredible. It's like you've created your own genre! You are seriously one fearless writer. There were so many ideas in the story and you made it work together. I would be scared witless. Scared that it would descend into a pile of unintelligible mush. Cool, eh? We really liked the line about creating your own genre. Wouldn't that be something? Don't worry all you disappointed fans reading that, we are speeding towards the UK release date of APRIL 5th. It's just eleven days away. Very soon, you'll all be able to send us your emails or tweets about the book, or post your reviews online etc. Finally this week. No snippet, but another lovely drawing sent in by a fan. Many of you have been inspired by Thoran and the watch story. Here's Lindsey's take on it. Love the colours, Lindsey. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
By midday, our hero was feeling wuzzlier than a sock. Mrs Author pointed straight to the stairs. "Bed," she said. "But...?" he protested. "I've got things to do." But you don't argue with one of Mrs Author's glares. Off to bed he went ... where he stayed for the next four days.
The author is not a good patient. He moans, he grumbles, he pushes the bed clothes around a lot. Fair enough, for two of his days confined to bed he was pretty feverish and could barely unscrew the top from a bottle of water. It's when the boredom kicks in that he gets unbearable. Then you'd gladly break a plate over his head, trust me!
On the fifth day, it all changed. He was feeling well enough to get dressed and sit on the bed rather than in it, and Mrs Author let him have his laptop. This meant he could tweet, read a manuscript, answer email. It was during the latter activity that he came across two messages that not only uplifted him, but also put his week into perspective.
I watched him reading the first of the messages and saw a tear filming in his eye. I immediately fluttered over. "What's the matter?" I asked. "Read this," he said. "It's from the mom of a little girl called Lauren." I put on my spectacles and read the following,
I thought you might enjoy hearing about my daughter, Lauren, whose life you have touched in a profound way through your dragon series. In August of 2010 she was diagnosed with lymphoma. It took us 5 months to figure out what was wrong with her and she is currently in the maintenance phase of a two year treatment plan. I'm telling you this because during the most difficult phase of her treatment she stumbled across The Fire Within and was instantly hooked! She has devoured every single one of the dragon series book and is anxiously awaiting The Fire Ascending. She even spent hours upon hours creating her own clay dragon complete with a clay doughnut, pillow and teddy bear! Unfortunately, the accessories that went with the dragon were not made with the type of clay that can be baked so they melted in the oven (oops!) but the dragon survived and is proudly displayed in her room. I just want to say thank you so much for sharing your imagination and gift of writing with us - your books helped my precious girl forget for a while the needles, drugs, hair loss... all of the nastiness that goes with cancer, and escape to the world of the Pennykettle's and the magic of Wayward Crescent (and beyond!).
Brilliant letter, eh? I looked at the author and he looked at me and said, "Here's me whinging all week about nothing in particular while this brave girl is fighting off a dreadful illness." I nodded and blew a quiet smoke ring. That's the power of dragon auma, for you.
So it was rather fitting that one of the next messages we read worked like a tonic for us. This one came from a long time fan called Clarissa who, wait for it, has READ The Fire Ascending. How she got hold of the book, we don't know. Sometimes the author's publisher will do a deal with a book club which allows the club to have the book exclusively a week or two in advance of official publication. Whatever, Clarissa had it, and she'd read it, and she LIKED it. A lot. Here are a few small quotes from her message:
I stayed up all through the night reading it. It was amazing. Your series is so unlike any other, seriously. I can't... I can't... it's rendered me speechless. The way you tie everything in together so smoothly is incredible. It's like you've created your own genre! You are seriously one fearless writer. There were so many ideas in the story and you made it work together. I would be scared witless. Scared that it would descend into a pile of unintelligible mush. Cool, eh? We really liked the line about creating your own genre. Wouldn't that be something? Don't worry all you disappointed fans reading that, we are speeding towards the UK release date of APRIL 5th. It's just eleven days away. Very soon, you'll all be able to send us your emails or tweets about the book, or post your reviews online etc. Finally this week. No snippet, but another lovely drawing sent in by a fan. Many of you have been inspired by Thoran and the watch story. Here's Lindsey's take on it. Love the colours, Lindsey. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!
March 18, 2012
This week's word is: MOM
Hello, dragon fans. Don't know about where you are, but in our part of the world today is Mother's Day. It's the one Sunday of the year where you have to take Mom out, or buy her flowers, or do the washing up for her. The author's mom passed away many years ago, but Mrs Author's ma is still alive (aged 86, or older than Gwilanna as we often say!) so we all went out to ... a garden centre to buy some pot plants and have a cup of tea and a slice of cake. This is the done thing in England. Hrrr.
While we were at the garden centre, the author remarked that it reminded him of the scene in The Fire Eternal where Liz, Lucy and Zanna go to such a place and Liz has to defuse a typical Lucy/Zanna argument. Almost at the same time we both sighed (well, I blew a smoke ring) and we said, "Isn't Liz a great mum?" And the author smiled and nodded, but I could see he was a little sad. "You're thinking about The Fire Ascending, aren't you?" I said. He nodded again, but said, "More about the emails about Liz, really."
What he meant by this was that ever since Dark Fire, many of you have been writing in asking 'What happened to Liz?' If you remember, in the original timeline, a spark of dark fire entered her body and Gwilanna foolishly released it. Fans have been asking us ever since if Liz was okay after that. Did she survive Gwilanna's meddling? Well, you'll know by now that we can't reveal too much, but what I can tell you is that the question is answered and forms a massive part of the true role of David in the books. Ooh... Anyway, as a little tribute to Liz (everybody's favourite dragon mom) we thought we'd give you a little snippet from The Fire Ascending, and a piece involving her. It's very surreal and will definitely have you scratching your heads, but it all fits in. Fans in the UK have only got ELEVEN more days to wait for the book; elsewhere in the world it's a month and 11 days. Is it worth waiting for? You bet!
So here is Liz - with the character known as Agawin. No explantions! Just enjoy. Until next time - when there will be another TFA snippet - happy reading. Hrrr!
She made angels in this timeline. Angels, not dragons. Flying humans, inspired by the firebirds, she said. She liked to experiment with different kinds of media. Paper. Card. Strangely, not clay. Clay was not appropriate here, she said. She painted them, too. In various states of flight. Hands lifted to the sky. Soft violet in their eyes. Just like the beautiful tapestries of Taan, they hung in every room throughout our 'pod'. Wherever I looked, a new one would appear. Yet I saw no signs of brushes or paints, even though she was wearing a paint-stained smock. More puzzling still, no hammer or chisel for the Isenfier sculpture. No 'stuff' existed at all in the pod. Just us, the firebirds and Elizabeth's creations. I had yet to see Arthur the cat.
On the second day, after a very long sleep, she sensed I was finding the pod confusing and asked if I'd like to use the tele:computer.
The tele:computer?
"Where is it?" I asked.
"Right here," she said.
There, taking up the whole of one wall, was a huge screen. How, I wondered, could I have missed it?
"Watch for as long as you want to," she said. She tousled my hair and straightened a piece just above my ear. "You know where to find me."
As she drifted away, a gradient of colours swept across the screen, leaving behind a small row of icons. I stepped forward and touched an image of a pod. Its title was simply 'Home'.
It told me I lived at Wayward Crescent, in the 'burrow' of Scrubbley, 'position' 42. A clock with a dateline faded up. The year was the same as the one I'd left behind, right down to the nearest second (for some reason, I seemed to instinctively know it).
42.
Wayward Crescent.
Scrubbley.
3:15 and 22 seconds.
Home.
Next to 'Home' was a flashing icon of a planet. Blue one moment, grey the next, but not keeping to any regular pattern. The wording underneath was flickering too, between 'Earth' and the slight alternative, 'Erth'. I prodded a finger.
The icon stayed grey. The screen came back with a strange message:
Information pending
While we were at the garden centre, the author remarked that it reminded him of the scene in The Fire Eternal where Liz, Lucy and Zanna go to such a place and Liz has to defuse a typical Lucy/Zanna argument. Almost at the same time we both sighed (well, I blew a smoke ring) and we said, "Isn't Liz a great mum?" And the author smiled and nodded, but I could see he was a little sad. "You're thinking about The Fire Ascending, aren't you?" I said. He nodded again, but said, "More about the emails about Liz, really."
What he meant by this was that ever since Dark Fire, many of you have been writing in asking 'What happened to Liz?' If you remember, in the original timeline, a spark of dark fire entered her body and Gwilanna foolishly released it. Fans have been asking us ever since if Liz was okay after that. Did she survive Gwilanna's meddling? Well, you'll know by now that we can't reveal too much, but what I can tell you is that the question is answered and forms a massive part of the true role of David in the books. Ooh... Anyway, as a little tribute to Liz (everybody's favourite dragon mom) we thought we'd give you a little snippet from The Fire Ascending, and a piece involving her. It's very surreal and will definitely have you scratching your heads, but it all fits in. Fans in the UK have only got ELEVEN more days to wait for the book; elsewhere in the world it's a month and 11 days. Is it worth waiting for? You bet!
So here is Liz - with the character known as Agawin. No explantions! Just enjoy. Until next time - when there will be another TFA snippet - happy reading. Hrrr!
She made angels in this timeline. Angels, not dragons. Flying humans, inspired by the firebirds, she said. She liked to experiment with different kinds of media. Paper. Card. Strangely, not clay. Clay was not appropriate here, she said. She painted them, too. In various states of flight. Hands lifted to the sky. Soft violet in their eyes. Just like the beautiful tapestries of Taan, they hung in every room throughout our 'pod'. Wherever I looked, a new one would appear. Yet I saw no signs of brushes or paints, even though she was wearing a paint-stained smock. More puzzling still, no hammer or chisel for the Isenfier sculpture. No 'stuff' existed at all in the pod. Just us, the firebirds and Elizabeth's creations. I had yet to see Arthur the cat.
On the second day, after a very long sleep, she sensed I was finding the pod confusing and asked if I'd like to use the tele:computer.
The tele:computer?
"Where is it?" I asked.
"Right here," she said.
There, taking up the whole of one wall, was a huge screen. How, I wondered, could I have missed it?
"Watch for as long as you want to," she said. She tousled my hair and straightened a piece just above my ear. "You know where to find me."
As she drifted away, a gradient of colours swept across the screen, leaving behind a small row of icons. I stepped forward and touched an image of a pod. Its title was simply 'Home'.
It told me I lived at Wayward Crescent, in the 'burrow' of Scrubbley, 'position' 42. A clock with a dateline faded up. The year was the same as the one I'd left behind, right down to the nearest second (for some reason, I seemed to instinctively know it).
42.
Wayward Crescent.
Scrubbley.
3:15 and 22 seconds.
Home.
Next to 'Home' was a flashing icon of a planet. Blue one moment, grey the next, but not keeping to any regular pattern. The wording underneath was flickering too, between 'Earth' and the slight alternative, 'Erth'. I prodded a finger.
The icon stayed grey. The screen came back with a strange message:
Information pending
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