Sarwat Chadda's Blog, page 17

Goodies! Many of them!!

It just goes to show how darn DEDICATED I am to my blogging that, within minutes of getting home from holidays, here I am. Well, the other reason is that the rest of the house is (literally) a huge building site. But, did I have a bunch of goodies waiting for me when we stumbled through the door and thought, "Gosh, that wasn't the colour we agreed for the halls/stairs/landing/bedroom/kitchen/playroom/study/conservation/west wing/attic/north wing/swimming pool/helicopter landing pad."

Anyway...

Billi's ancestors

I know there's a trend to draw elaborate histories to fictional characters. Long family trees that go way back and show how everyone's related to evil Aunt Edna and the such.
So, in the same spirit as Tolkien and Rowlings, I've decided to fill you in on how Billi came about. What's more is I'm going way, way back.
Conan the Barbarian is probably the first recognisable ancestor of Billi SanGreal. I loved the old Frazetta covers and spent many an hour trying vainly to copy them. Some of you may ...

ooh, Shiny!

Well, the US edition is out, like, by the time you read this. Disney Hyperion have done a fabulous new website with many, many opportunities to win copies of the new edition with its glamourous cover (which will look very cool next to the blood red cross of the UK version, don't you think?). Do check it out immediately! I did want to do the presentation dressed up as a knight, or Batman, but alas, it was all a bit too short notice.
I've had so much amazing support in getting to this new stage of

Why the Knights Templar are cool

Just finished reading this book and would throughly recommend it to anyone who:1. Loves historical fiction.2. Loves stories about the Knights Templar.3. Loves stories set in 12th Century Sweden.4. Loves stories.It is my firmly held belief that any story can be improved by adding Templars. I know mine certainly was.I've got book 2, The Templar Knight, right here beside me and will start it tonight.There's a few things I wanted to discuss, the main one being today is MY FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSARY of b

Summer Reading and preparations for the Fall

The builders are in and the blogging's going to be fairly haphazard for the next few weeks, so time to discuss what being read on the beaches this summer. Here's my list, feel free to add yours too.
Firstly, THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Bulgakov. It's a Russian cult classic and it's all about what happens when the Devil comes to Moscow. Macabre and satirical. Reading this almost made me rewrite The Dark Goddess from scratch.
HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. Like, absolutely everyone is reading thi

Summer Holidays and REWRITES.

Well some people accuse me of being on holiday all the time (yes, Mrs. Chadda, that means you) not realising me lying eyes closed on the sofa is 'plotting'. When I'm doing that and snoring it's called 'deep plotting'.
School's out and we've just spent the last week in sunny Southwold. Beach-huts, freezing North Sea dips and a very, very nice fish and chip shop.
Trying to squeeze in the rewrite as we proceed and it's a fairly major shake up, not a little polish.
REWRITES.
1- Does it make sense? First

The Bodmin Accord, Part 2

Bloody werewolves.
If there was any creature that Gwaine really, deeply hated, it was the werewolf. Mindless, bestial, savage like nothing else. They were machines of slaughter, which was why the Templar Rules clearly stated that any werewolf hunt should include a full lance per werewolf. Three knights per Hairy Scary.
So of course Arthur wanted them to take out an entire werewolf pack. Gwaine shook the mud off his boot, but it did no good. The field was just one huge quagm

Research (yes, really, not a holiday at all)

Back from Moscow, and it was pretty cool. Amazing city and I'll feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.
I went because a large part of The Dark Goddess is set in Moscow and I needed to get a touch of gritty authenticity into the story. Devil's Kiss was easy, set in my home town of London. But having now set that presidence, the next book had to have the same street-level appeal.
Can't get that out of a guide book.
Where to begin? Monolithic. Noisy. Epic. Marble train stations. Fire dancers. Drunks. V

Russia, Harry Potter, and me.

Just back from Simon Mayo's FiveLive radio show where I talked a bit about Harry Potter and what he means to me. Also there was Julia Eccleshare from the Guardian and Boyd Hilton from Heat.
The converstaion was interesting but, with time being short, didn't really get into any nitty-gritty stuff. So I'll do that here.
1. How great a hero is Harry Potter in the pantheon of children's characters? Okay, he has to be near the top, but I do prefer Bilbo Baggins. Scout from To Kill a Mocking Bird is al

FAQ and NOT FAQ

This is going to appear on my website shortly (no, not the photo, very nice that it is) but a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. However, some are very common and I'll just go through the motions on those, but some may not be, and those will be the interesting ones... So, rather than me just list out what I'm usually asked (and have probably answered somewhere already) I would like you to send me YOUR QUESTIONS. I'll see if I can intergrate them seemlessly into my FAQ page. To get the ball