The Enchanted Quest - Chapter Two

By Allan | Monday, 30 November 2009 at 10:52
Category: Writing, book excerpts | Tags: , ,

I know the wait has been driving some of you crazy, and I know the new chapter I’ve just posted won’t make you any less impatient for the new Faerie Path book to come out…but here it is at last: Chapter Two of The Enchanted Quest.

I suppose the best thing about this new post is that it marks the point where I can tell you: Only Two Months To Go! The Enchanted Quest is due to hit the bookstores on 1st February 2010.

So, what else can I tell you about this new book without giving the game away entirely? Well…I think that by the end of the book the question of Tania/Connor or Tania/Edric will probably have been answered one way or the other. Also answered will be the question as to whether Tania will ever be able to get back to the Mortal World again. The Dream Weaver will make her presence known again. In the course of the journey, Tania, Rathina and Connor will encounter some dangerous enemies and some unexpected friendships, as well as being confronted by people they already know but whose allegiances are uncertain.

I think that’s about it for now.

Other news. The Charmed Return has now been through its UK edit and has been sent to the Publishers in New York for their verdict. I don’t imagine I’ll be hearing back from them before the end of the Year - but I’ll keep you in the loop regarding progress on the final book of this second Faerie Path trilogy.

Warrior Princess. I’m getting some very positive feedback about the new Warrior Princess book: Destiny’s Path. It’s great to know people are enjoying this new series as much as The Faerie Path.

Book four of the Warrior Princess series has been plotted out, thanks to a couple of long sessions with my friend and collaborator James. This week, the full storyline will be sent off to the New York publishers for their opinion. Hopefully, they’ll like it as much as I do. I plan on starting writing it early in the new year.

I have also been sent early copies of the UK editions of the first two Warrior Princess books. The covers are similar to the American ones, but with a different typeface - and on the cover my name is Allan Frewin Jones - not Frewin Jones as it is in America. Also, the first book is called Warrior Princess: Rhiannon of the Spring. This is the original title of the book. The American Publishers weren’t keen on it, so they dropped the “Rhiannon” stuff - but the UK publishers think it’s great.

These UK editions are not officially due out in England till October 2010, but they will be available in Australia before that date.

Other stuff? Well, I’ve been invited to a Christmas Party at the UK Publishers on December 2nd - Gary Chalk, the guy I’m writing Sundered Lands with is coming over from France (tomorrow!) and staying with me for a few days, so we can both go to the party. We’re planning on hinting to the important people at the party about a few new ideas we’re working on together. A new series or two, hopefully.

Well, that’s about it for now - hope you like the new chapter - and I hope it will keep you going till the book comes out on the 1st February 2010.

And The Winner Is…

By Allan | Monday, 16 November 2009 at 13:00
Category: Writing | Tags: ,

Well, plenty of you decided to enter the competition. For those of you who missed out and are wondering what this is all about - it all began when a fan asked where Edric got the White Rose that he gives to Tania in The Lost Queen.

I asked for you guys to come up with explanations, the prize for the answer I liked best being a signed copy of Warrior Princess book 1.

A lot of you went with the idea of Edric using the Dark Arts to get back into Faerie, which I think is a perfectly good explanation. One of you suggested that the rose appeared because it knew he was sad (after fighting with Tania) - which I actually thought was quite a cute idea - empathic Faerie flowers, I can see that.

But in the end, I found two particular entries that I particularly liked. In fact, I liked them so much (for quite different reasons) that I’ve decided to announce joint winners and send them a signed book each. (I am such a sucker like that!)

My favourite idea was so simple and so quirky and so unexpected, that I couldn’t resist it.

It came from Reese.  She wrote:

“I think Edric borrowed it (the rose) from Shakespeare, who isn’t really dead but is hiding out somewhere in Faerie writing plays.”

I love that idea!

But then I got a message from another fan: Regina Peters. Her idea wasn’t quite as original as the Shakespeare one, but she had written the idea up in full as a fanfiction story. You can find it on http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4760377/1/The_White_Rose

At least, I hope that link works! The reason I have awarded her joint first place is because the story is so well written, and fits really well in the world of Faerie Path - and could actually have happened, I think! Now, I know I didn’t ask you to write stories as such, but Regina just went for it - so I’m partly giving her joint first place for initiative and dedication.

To all of you who took part but didn’t win, don’t worry - I’m sure I’ll be setting up more competitions soon. In fact, if any of you have ideas for competitions to win signed books, why don’t you let me know?

So, finally - if Reese and Regina will mail me from the Contacts page, letting me know what name they would like on the book, and where to send it, I will get the prizes in the mail.

Speak to you all soon.

Allan

Warrior Path & Faerie Princess, more or less…

By Allan | Monday, 2 November 2009 at 10:08
Category: Writing | Tags: ,

It’s been a busy couple of weeks over here.

I got two parcels from my UK editors recently. One had a bunch of new hardback Warrior Princess 2: Destiny’s Path books in it, the other had a batch of Warrior Princess book one paperbacks. Some of the latter have now been sent off to the winners of that competition that was running in the fan site. (The one about the mountains, not the story competition).

Speaking of competitons, I have a new one for you to try out. Kyra posed the question: where did Edric get the white rose from that he gave to Tania in The Lost Queen. I have a signed Warrior Princess paperback to send to the person who comes up with the explanation that I like best. I’m going to give you guys two weeks to respond - so answers please, by Monday 16th November. The Lucky winner will get the book. Oh, and please send your answers as a message through the Contact page, that way no one but me gets to see what you’ve said. Suggestions already given up to this date will be accepted, though, so you’re fine, Shannon!

What else? Well, I think most of you have a pretty good idea by now of the process that gets a book out of my head and into your hands. Well, I received back a few weeks ago, the suggestions and comments from my UK, London-based editors, Karen and Rosie for The Faerie Path Book 6: The Charmed Return. They know the books really well, and they had some great ideas, most of which I agreed with and worked on.

Just to give you an idea of the kind of stuff I’m talking about, they would let me know if there were things they didn’t quite understand. It’s really easy for a writer, who knows the plot inside out, to forget that new readers may not be able to figure out who does what or why unless it is explained really clearly. So there were a few places, where Rosie and Karen asked me to explain things a bit more clearly. They will also tell me when I’ve repeated myself or contradicted myself. (That’s easier done than you might think in a book as long as Faerie Path!).

Then there would be sections where they think I spend too long describing something, or where a conversation goes on for too long, and then they’ll make suggestions for cuts - where I agree, I make the cuts, where I don’t, I explain why not, and usually the stuff stays in. An easy thing to do in a scene where there are five or six people, is to lose track of one of the characters. That’s how books are different to movies. In a movie, a character can just stand there doing nothing in the background, and everyone can see them - but in a book, if a characters isn’t doing or saying anything, they can kind of disappear. So what I do when a character in a scene gets lost, is to give them something to do - either some small piece of action or a snatch of dialogue, so that readers are reminded that they are there.

So, as you’ll see from the above, these editorial suggestions are all pretty minor, and don’t have any impact on the plotlines at all. But there can be quite a lot of them, so working on edits takes a while.

What will happen now is that my UK editors will take another look at the book and maybe get back to me on unresolved issues - and when everyone is happy over here, the book will go to the American editors of Harper Collins in New York.

Something you need to know about editors, is that they all want to make their own little changes. You all probably know someone who always wants to make little changes to things you do. Brothers, sisters, friends, parents - teachers, they can all have ideas for how you could look better or act better or be bettter. Editors can be a bit like teachers - you know, giving you 7 out of 10 and making comments about how your homework could have been improved. It’s like, you hardly ever (never?) get 10 out of 10 - there’s always something they think you could do better. Well, editors can be like that. If a book went through the hands of 20 different editors, each of them would have a whole list of “improvements”, and each list would be totally different to any other. It’s a little strange to have to deal with, but it’s all part of being a published author, and I’m not complaining at all!

So, what now? Well, I have a couple of things to do in the next few weeks. I have Sundered Lands book 6 to tinker with. I also have the Teach Yourself Writing book to look at again. Oh, and of course, I have a couple of meetings set up with my editor pal James, to discuss the finer points of the plot of Warrior Princess book four.

And by the time I’ve finished all that, it will almost be Christmas - and then it will be New Year, and then it will only be one month to the publication of Faerie Path 5: The Enchanted Quest.

Oh, and I have a few sketches of characters to do, I guess. Oh, yes - I almost forgot! I will be posting chapter two of The Enchanted Quest here on 1st December.