Chris d'Lacey's Blog, page 6

This week's word is: DARNIT

Hello, dragon fans. You probably guessed from the subject word that a certain someone HASN'T finished THE FIRE ASCENDING - but then again he still has a day to go. People always ask at this stage 'How much more do you think you'll write?'. The answer to that, of course, is, 'How long is the average novel?' Erm... Honestly, it's impossible to say. While I keep coming up with ideas and he's still keen to write them down, the word count just creeps up and up. The important thing is let the story flow at its natural pace. If that means being a few days over the delivery date, so be it, because what we all want is a decent read. The book is into the nineties now. 91,500 in fact. That's longer than DARK FIRE by nearly 2000 words; shorter than FIRE WORLD by about 7,000. So about right, really. Are we happy with it? Yes, very happy. Is it weird? Of course it is! Is there lots of adventure? Tons. Is it gory in places? You bet. Do David and Zanna get back together? Not telling. Does Gwilanna get her come uppance? Yes - and no. Does anyone die? Yes. Anyone important? Yes. Who???? Ah, you'll have to read the book. Agh! When's it out? Next April/May. When will it be finished? ................. Next weekend. Promise? Yes. With knobs on? YES!

YAY!!!

But that won't be the end, of course. There will be editing and proofing and a bit of chopping and changing to make sure the continuity is right. But the crucial thing for the fans, the publishers, Agent Ed and all is that it's NEARLY there. Seriously. This has been a long hard year for the author what with moving the den to the sea and everything, and though we rarely admit it we're all secretly proud of him. Looking back through the book there are moments of great tension, but it's impossible to compare this book to the others. It doesn't have the twists and turns of DARK FIRE, the emotional thrust of THE FIRE ETERNAL or the sheer weirdness of FIRE WORLD. Instead, it has a mix of those things and more. Up until the last two sections it's narrated by Agawin, the mysterious character from FIRE WORLD. Don't worry if you can't remember Agawin, you don't need to. You'll become very familiar with him as you read the long first section, which actually forms about one fifth of the book. Only towards the end do we break away from him. You'll see. Anyway, gotta go and keep the author awake- I mean, ticking over. Next week. The big celebration. Until then, happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: COUNTDOWN

Hello, dragon fans. Yes, can you sense the tension in the air? Just 8 DAYS to go before the author is officially supposed to hand in the manuscript of THE FIRE ASCENDING, the last of the Last Dragon Chronicles.

So, how's it going, I hear you ask? Well, he stayed very calm last week (despite trying to fiddle with the central heating boiler and spraying water all over the kitchen) and tapped away consistently, producing just over 1000 words every day. That's pretty good for him. Some of them he's chopped out again this weekend. But we're fairly happy and looking forward to finding out exactly who gets bumped off and who doesn't! The big conflict is about to happen. Everyone will be involved, of course, David, Zanna, Lucy, Tam, Alexa, Gawain, Gwilanna, the darklings, the ice bears (yep, they're back), the wonderful firebirds and erm, there has been a suggestion that a certain SQUIRREL might make an appearance. Oh, dear... He's complaining about his fingers, by the way (the author, not the squirrel!). His knuckles hurt when he types, he says. Mind you he types like he's playing the xylophone (badly - hah!) Bash, bash, bash. After TFA is done, he'll be taking a rest...

And did the listener get a name? Yes, he did! It was hidden in a box in the fridge all the time (no, it's not Electrolux). There's a very sweet (if weird) section at the end where he helps Alexa to help the bears to help her father. You'll see when you read it. Absolutely nothing else to report. It's just full steam ahead to the magic two words... THE END. Next Sunday, we'll know definitively where we're at. Until then, happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: 81

...as in 81,000 words.


Hello, dragon fans. It's me, Gadzooks. Don't believe a word he tells you about me having 'three weeks off'! This is my blog and I'm going to write it. So there.


The author didn't do any 'proper' work this morning, but instead concentrated on 'tweaking' his last 10,000 or so words - this after Mrs Author had cast her scowl- I mean, her critical eye over the manuscript. As always, he did a word count at the end of the session, which reported that he'd got 80,997 words of THE FIRE ASCENDING in total. Annoyed, he went back and added 6 more, which took him to 81,003. That made him feel so much better! Authors, eh? I blow a smoke ring in despair...

Mrs Author is very pleased with what she's reading of this final section. The narrative splits for the first time here and alternate sections follow David and Alexa. Would you believe the author STILL doesn't know exactly what's going to happen at the end? ('Cos I won't tell him!) This makes him fretful, which just makes Mrs Author come back with one of her favourite sayings, "The story is already written somewhere, you've just got to listen for it." Ooh err. That's a weird concept: the idea that stories and characters are floating around in some sort of creative cloud and all we have to do is catch them in a bucket when it rains... Or is that a metaphor too far? We liked the wry tweet after the author's notebook posting last week which asked, "Does this mean that TFA is going to be as confusing as the other six?" Absolutely! But weirdly, it's also much more together. And it explains a lot of things, of course. But maybe not everything... Erm...


And talking of listening... is the listening dragon in the Pennykettles' kitchen about to get a name...? I was thinking about it this morning. Could one of the biggest unanswered questions in the Chronicles be about to have a resolution? Hmmm. Watch this space...

While the author has been tapping away (just two weeks now to his deadline - agh!) Agent Ed has been at the Frankfurt book fair (in Germany) trying to sell the Chronicles overseas. The latest country to pick up on us is Brazil (school visit, anyone???) but we'd like to get a few more in Europe if we can. Maybe this poster of THE FIRE ASCENDING will help to do the trick. Note the size of it! That's Agent Ed standing underneath the display. Pretty big, huh?

Right, back to pondering on the windowsill for me. And kitchen duties for the author. It's cauliflower cheese for tea, I believe. Can't wait. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: SURREAL

Okay, dragon fans. Hands up (or even paws up) anyone who thought The Last Dragon Chronicles couldn't get any weirder? Wrong! This final section is probably stranger than ANYTHING that's gone before. And I do mean anything. This is Chris d'Lacey, the author, by the way, in case you're missing Zookie's laconic style. I'm taking over from him for the next few weeks while he sorts out what the heck is going on in my crazy head (erm...?) Take this morning, for instance. I embarked on my usual 750-1000 words, but I wasn't really looking forward to it. As I've said before, much of this book is historical in nature and takes place waaaay back in time and well away from Wayward Crescent. But you'd have hunted me down in giant packs if I hadn't brought the narrative back to the Pennykettle house at some stage. The problem was, what to do once I got there. This book eventually picks up from the incidents at the end of DARK FIRE. Forget Scuffenbury for a moment. If you remember, Liz had fallen ill at number 42 (after Gwilanna had meddled and released the dark fire by mistake from her body) and Arthur had ended up in the wardrobe! So I did have some strong loose ends to tie up and sent Alexa back to sort it out. But then Gwilanna changed the timeline and...well, as you can imagine, everything went a little strange. Don't even ask about David and Lucy. Their story is even more bizarre. Messing around with time makes me feel like I'm writing an episode of Doctor Who. If I gave David a sonic screwdriver I think he'd be on TV every Saturday night. So, loyal followers, I can't tell you what happens, I can only give you hints. Watch out for some real peculiarities in this book. And when it's all done, don't ask me to explain a WORD of it. Time is practically impossible to wrap your head around. You just have to read it, enjoy it and totally ABSORB it.

Have to go. Tons of stuff to do in the new house. Yesterday was all about buying bath mats. Today it was a leaking radiator. What fun. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: SOMERSET

Hello, dragon fans. Apologies for the lack of a message on the notepad last week. It was one of those strange days when there was so much going on in dragon world that we all ended up asleep on the sofa by 8pm on Sunday night, even Gwendolen, which is rare indeed. Anyway, we're back this week to report on two of the author's events. If you were out and about in the lovely English county of Somerset this weekend you might have seen our hero TWICE. On Friday he spoke to a large gathering of primary school teachers at a wonderful venue called Dillington House. See the picture above! He was there to open a literacy conference. Authors like nothing more than to talk about what they do and he managed it for an hour without boring anyone (we hope). We stayed the whole day for the rest of the lectures, which were all informative and entertaining. We particularly liked it when one lady put up a slide of the kind of non-fiction topics children like to read about (e.g. football, 'Glee', rockets) and asked, "Can anyone suggest any other topics?" There was a pause, and then a quiet voice said, "Tractors." Somerset has a large farming community…

We were back in Somerset again yesterday, in the historic Roman city of Bath, to take part in the Bath Children's Literature Festival. This time, the author did not have a solo slot, but shared a great event with eminent dragonologist Dr Ernest Drake (author of the exquisite 'Dragonology' books) and the witty Jasper Fforde. Jasper is best known for his adult novels, but his latest book 'The Last Dragonslayer' is really for children and young teens. It's an amusing mix of magic and dragon lore. A great read. We recommend it. Each of the authors read from their latest books (ours read the section from FIRE WORLD when David is attacked outside the librarium by the red firebird) then answered questions from the audience. "Have you ever been bitten by a dragon?" one person asked. The author replied no, but he had been SPIKED by an isoscele on several occasions. Mmmm. I wonder why. Our favourite question was the last one: "Do dragons wear hats?" What?! I have never seen a dragon in headgear, ever, but it does beg the question what type of hat would we wear if we did…? Thank you, on the author's behalf, to everyone who came to the event, both newcomers to the books and dedicated fans alike (hello Katie). Without you, we couldn't go on. Next week, it's back to THE FIRE ASCENDING and the thorny matter of the final section. Lots and lots of pondering to do. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: FLOORED

Hello, dragon fans. Chris d'Lacey, the author, here. I've given Gadzooks the evening off after he put in a marathon session of thinking, pacing and smoke ring blowing today to give me the inspiration to finish part 6 of THE FIRE ASCENDING. Just one more part and an epilogue to go and that's it: the end of The Last Dragon Chronicles :( Boy, it's been tough in the past couple of months. A tip for any wannabe writers out there: don't ever try to write a novel while you're moving house. As you'll know from previous blogs, me and Mrs Author have been up to our ears in electricians, decorators and plumbers. This week it was the turn of the carpet men, which obviously means we are progressing with the new house if we're putting carpets down - and we were, until we reached the kitchen floor, which was rotten and had to be replaced. This meant the units had to come out, the sink, the lot. I was going to put up a picture of the work in progress. But who wants to see what was basically a pit? Anyway, we're getting there, slowly but surely.

Quick update on Burrito, the stone gryphon who broke his wings. We managed to glue them back with some kind of industrial-strength bonding gunko. He's a little bruised but he's doing fine. If I can find some appropriate masonry paint I'll touch up the chips he lost. He says hrrr!

So, nothing much to report on the books this week. Catherine, my lovely editor, did send me the full cover artwork for TFA. It looks GREAT. A bit more purply than the pic you can find on one of the previous blogs. When I've got time this week, I'll scan it and put it up here as a page.

Anyway, in the absence of having much else to say, I'll answer a couple of questions. These are things I'm asked EVERY week in fan mail. Forgive me if you've already had or know the answers; some of you haven't.

Is there going to be a movie of the books? No news on this at all yet. We have had interest in the past, and I'm sometimes asked to invent my dream cast, but there is no movie scheduled. What I am planning to do, however, is write a screenplay based on the series as a whole which I will then take to Hollywood.

Will there be another book after DARK FIRE? Honestly, I do get asked this all the time. Yes, guys, FIRE WORLD, the sixth book, is now out in paperback in the UK and is due out soon in the USA.

When will THE FIRE ASCENDING come out? TFA is scheduled for release in hardcover in April/May 2012. That's a definite for the UK. Not sure yet about the USA, but it shouldn't be far behind.

Why are there colons in some of the words in FIRE WORLD? This is just a style thing. FW is set in an alternate world that is like Earth but not quite the same. The people there have a slightly different vo:cabulary, that's all.

Will the 'real' David, Zanna etc. appear in THE FIRE ASCENDING? Yes - and no. David is in the book for sure, and the others make appearances. But TFA is mainly an historical book about how things came to be as they are. Don't be disappointed. It's a great book with some terrific storylines, particularly involving Gwilanna, but it's not overtly like the first five books. I had the opportunity at the end of DARK FIRE to finish the series and not leave a cliffhanger. But there were still things I wanted to explore (particularly alternate worlds and some of the early stuff about dragons) so I ran the series on. And I'm glad I did, because FIRE WORLD was just fantastic to write. And TFA has been very interesting too. If I'd had the choice, I would have taken as long as THREE YEARS to write TFA, because I think it deserved a sort of Lord of the Rings saga approach. What you've got instead is a potted history, told by Agawin. Maybe next year I'll sit down and start planning out a saga. I'd like to stick with dragons because I'm fascinated by them now (they're all looking at me). But I can't write about the Pennykettles, obviously. Their 'zeitgeist' is now. They will be done with after TFA - unless I ever write the extended Dragons of Wayward Crescent series. We'll see.

Well, that was a much longer blog post than I was expecting. Hope you enjoyed it! Till next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: BURRITO

Hello, dragon fans. The author is in everybody's bad books this week. All because of the picture you can see. It's well known that there are lots of dragons in the Crescent, but Mrs Author likes to collect stone ornaments of all kinds. We have eagles, dragons, a badger and even an otter called Valentine in the garden. We also have Burrito, who is a Gryphon. Earlier this week, Burrito was perched on his stand (a stone plinth about three feet high) when the wind got up and the shed door blew open. SOMEONE hadn't shut it properly. Poor Burrito was knocked off his perch and his wings broke in two places (not his ears as the author tweeted earlier this week). Fortunately, the breaks were clean and we hope to be able to glue them back. If not, the author will be sleeping in the shed from now on...

As a result of this, he's kept himself to himself most of the day. He spent most of the afternoon painting the lounge and most of the morning murdering characters! Don't worry. None that you know. As we revealed a few weeks ago, there are several historical sections in THE FIRE ASCENDING and one of them, which is all to do with Gwilanna's upbringing, is pretty gruesome. If you thought it was bad when Gawaine sank her claws into a character in DARK FIRE, you ain't read nothing yet. The new book has a very strong hint of Brothers Grimm about it. We're really looking forward to seeing it on the market.

There have been some fantastic tweets about FIRE WORLD this week. Thank you, everyone, for reading it and taking the time to tell the world what you think. If TFA gets the same sort of positive feedback that FW is getting we're in for a spectacular end to the series. Time to go. He needs another paint brush. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: SEVENTY

Hello, dragon fans. Tempting as it is to suggest that the reason for the subject header is to do with the author's age, it's actually to do with the number of words reached in THE FIRE ASCENDING. (You have to multiply the seventy by a thousand (hang on, calculator...)) At 3:38 this afternoon our hero was still 309 words short of the 70K, which means he's actually written (don't put the calculator away) 69,691. He's so frustrated at not hitting the 70 that he's gone off to have a cup of tea and a bun. (It's a Sunday afternoon thing.)



Progress on the book has been so slow over the past two months that you'd be inclined to believe that a clever dragon had suspended time (ahem). The house move is the main reason that things have been patchy, but the middle section of the book has required a lot of thought. He is keen to make sure that TFA can be read by anyone new to the series, but we also want to avoid too much trawling over old ground for all of you who are familiar with the books. So what you get is a potted history of the first six novels, told by Alexa. The trick is to make it interesting and add in new information along with the historical stuff - and, of course, it must be seamless. The explanation of the origins of Co:pern:ica (the 'fire world' of the book title) is probably the best and, strangely, the funniest section. Not LOL funny, just faintly humorous. Without giving too much away, the Fain conceive Co:pern:ica but get it wrong. It turns out that the race of 'superior' thought beings are not quite as perfect as they thought (hah) they were. And now a new force is emerging to take control and put the novel through it's final paces. Again, no clues, but the hint was present in DARK FIRE...



Good news for American fans: Mrs Author has finished the US edition companion book to the series (RAIN & FIRE) which will be sent off to the publisher shortly. Bad news for American fans: we don't expect the companion book to come out until the series is finished (i.e. after TFA's release). But hey, at least you'll have had TFA by then.



Thanks again for all your great emails and tweets about FIRE WORLD. Don't forget the paperback is out right now in the UK. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: EDINBURGH

Hello, dragon fans. You may have gathered from the subject header that this week's blog is something to do with Scotland. And you'd be right. The author has just returned from a visit to the fantastic Edinburgh Book Festival, where he did two talks - one to an audience of schoolchildren and another, sell-out talk, to a mix of children and adults. What is there to say about the Edinburgh festival that hasn't already been said? Well, this year, we got to stay in the wonderful Roxburghe Hotel, one of the oldest and grandest hotels in the city. The author was pleased to discover a healthy supply of shortbread biscuits to go with his tea. A big thumbs up there. The only downside was we had to leave for a flight to Exeter at stupid o'clock in the morning and so missed breakfast on the second day. And no matter how good room service might be, he can't bear to wake them up for a bowl of soggies at 4am. Well done the Edinburgh Airbus service for running buses that early in the morning, too! And believe it or not, in all the six times we've been to Edinburgh, that morning was the only time it has ever rained...



One of the best things about the festival is the atmosphere. Charlotte Square, where the action takes place, is buzzing non-stop with people wanting to talk about books. Proper treebooks, not ebooks. Everywhere you look there's something happening. Every theatre or marquee has a programme of at least six events, to satisfy all tastes. There's a fantastic bookshop, coffee shop and ice cream stall. Photographs of authors hang all over the place. For the authors themselves there's a special 'backstage' area called a yurt, where they can sit around and chat to fellow writers, use the internet, drink tea and coffee (or wine) and nibble away at fruit or flapjacks and other tasty treats. For the first time ever the author took the plunge and had a bowl of haggis (a kind of sausage mix with attitude), neeps (boiled swede, we think, though they sound like they ought to be turnips/turneeps) and tatties (potatoes). Very enjoyable. What took us so long to latch onto this brilliant Scottish dish? Well, this is the man who was 28 before he had a Chinese takeaway. Not exactly adventurous, eh?



Our favourite experience at a big festival, of course, is meeting the audience, both during the talks and afterwards at the book signing. People often ask him 'what's the best bit about being an author?' and he always replies, without fail, talking to the fans. We'd like to extend a big thank you to everyone who bought a book or came up to chat or simply just listened to the talks. We hope you were entertained and inspired. And if you've sent a message through the website, we'll try and get back to you as soon as we possibly can. Things are a little bit busy right now. Mrs Author is reaching the final stages of the US edition of RAIN & FIRE, and he of course is rattling away at TFA. But he will reply.



One last thing. He promised on Twitter that he'd put up a picture of 'Gable' today, a dragon figure he bought to go on his roof! You know how you often see gargoyles on buildings? Well, if you're ever in the Torbay area of England look out for Gable. Very soon he'll be right on the apex of the author's house. Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!

This week's word is: EXTRA

Hello dragon fans. Before we start, just a quick reminder that the author is appearing at the Edinburgh Literature Festival this coming Friday, August 26th. It might be difficult to get tickets now, but if you have and you're coming, don't forget to bring any books you want signed. Hrrr!





Believe it or not, the author has just appeared in a movie! Don't get excited. It's nothing to do with us. Still no news about the Chronicles yet. The film in question is a project of the author's good friend Rod Duncan, who, you may remember, has written a zombie flick called, 'How to Make a Movie for 43 Pounds' or just '43 Pounds' for short. Well, tonight they were shooting the final scenes, which all took place in and around a cinema cafe. Now, it's a well known fact that the author is about as good at acting as a polar bear is at threading a needle, but thankfully he didn't have a single line to say. In movie-speak he was what is known as an 'extra'. In other words, he was one of lots of people sitting in the cafe chatting aimlessly in the background - which he can do brilliantly. (You had to be there.) Things got a little more difficult when he was asked to do the same thing - in silence. You try having a conversation where you have to move your lips but no words come out. It's hard! But his real breakthrough came when the director singled him out, along with five other people, to be filmed walking down the street and entering the cinema. He said to the director, "What's my motivation for this?" The director said, "Erm, you're going to see a movie." The author said, "How do you want me to look? Thoughtful? Intelligent? Slightly mysterious?" The director said, "I want you to look like you're going to a movie." The author nodded. "Glasses on or off?" The director frowned. "I could choose someone else for this role if you like?" The author took the hint. He left his glasses on, but took them off and put them into his glasses case as he was filmed approaching the cinema. Genius. We foresee an Oscar. (Not.)





Book news. Well, he's been tinkering all week with Part 5 of THE FIRE ASCENDING which at present is titled 'Being Alexa'. It will probably surprise none of you to hear that Alexa is the character who explains everything. Not only does she tell us how and why Co:pern:ica came into being, she also reveals where Guinevere came from - along with a host of other things. How can a five year old know so much? Well, fans of the books will have guessed by now that there's a bit more to Alexa than meets the (dragon) eye (hah). All will be revealed next year. Plus, Mrs Author has been hard at work on the US version of the Rain & Fire companion book. This is an extended version of the UK edition which will take in ALL seven books of the series. We think it will come out in America after TFA.





This week, the number of people following us on Twitter overtook the number who follow the blog. We like tweeting. It's a good way to keep in touch with the world at a moment's notice. But all the BIG news will still be here. In case you missed it earlier in the week, here's a joke the author liked: What do you call a man who used to like tractors? An extractor fan! Until next time. Happy reading. Hrrr!