Wow - February already! For the time being all the snow we’ve been getting in England has gone away - and we were getting plenty! Up to 16 inches in the Counties around London. I’ve had to trek to the bottom of the garden to break the ice from off the bird-baths, but apart from that, I’ve learned that working from home can be really great when there is four inches of snow outside!
I have been working on the suggestions for The Charmed Return (Faerie Path book 6) that came to me from the American editors, and the manuscript is back with them again at the moment. I think the book is not due out till January 2011 - which must seem like entire lifetimes away! The thing is, publishers like to have a “finished” book in their hands 12 months before they publish - I’m not really sure why, but it is partly to do with advance publicicty and print-runs and stuff like that. Hopefully, in a few months, I should get a cover I can show you and then some sneak-peeks like I did with The Enchanted Quest.
I have the green light for starting to write Warrior Princess 4 now - so I’m going to be getting down to that from next week. It should take me till about mid-April, so if I’m slow at answering your mails or posting new blogs over the next eight or nine weeks, I apologize in advance.
As the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed, I have a couple of new “Coming soon” books on the Home Page - and I’ve added some new information about Warrior Princess Book 3 (The Emerald Flame) and also more about The Sundered Lands series.
My information at the moment is that The Emerald Flame will be out in October this year. I’m intending to post some sneak-peek stuff for this in the same way I did for book 2 - but it will be a few months before that starts happening.
Some of you will have noticed that Marisa’s Fan Site is down at the moment. I’m hoping this will be sorted out quickly, but for the time being there’s not really anything I can do about it. Sorry.
On the other hand, I have been speaking with a friend of mine - the one who helped me to set up this AllanFrewinJones site in the first place, with the plan of adding a “Picture Gallery” page here. I can post some photos and drawings and paintings of mine here, as well as letting you see alternate books covers for other countries. And I’m also thinking that maybe I could post pictures that you guys create - I think it would be fun to see how you imagine the characters and places in Faerie look. Does that seem like a good idea?
Also, I’m considering adding a “Fan-Fiction” page, which might work a little like the Fan Site - letting you chat among yourselves and post your stories online for other people to read.Thing is, that kind of site really needs a moderator - someone who will regularly check what’s being posted and weed out spam mails and anything else that shouldn’t have gotten in there. I’m not sure I’ll have time to do that, but I’ll have a think about it and let you know what’s what in a little while.
A lot of you guys are asking about the possibility of a Faerie Path book 7.
Here’s the thing: originally I was asked to write three books. These books sold well enough for the publisher to come back to me and ask for three more. So, in answer to fans who are clamouring for book 7, 8, 9 etc - it’s really out of my hands right now. If the word is spreading about The Faerie Path series, and plenty of people are buying the books, then there’s a good chance that the publishers will want more. I know that some of you are already out there spreading the word - and the more you do this, the more likely it is that there will be a 7th and an 8th book.
Amy Havre posted a comment a few days ago, asking for good ideas about how to spread the word. So - why not let us all know your thoughts on this. If you’ve already started telling people, tell us what you’ve done, and also post some ideas about what you think might work. You know the kind of thing: airships flying over New York with BUY THE FAERIE PATH BOOKS! written on the side. That kind of thing! Over to you!
Haha! That sounds awesome. If you’re considering doing a forum type thing it really isn’t that hard. I used to work on one with some friends when I was into roleplay. Once you get them set up you can fix filters to keep out certain things and only need light moderating. Usually, you can just change the rank of the most active members and they can make sure no spam gets in for you.
That’s be really cool!
But I was wanting to let you know, in case you didn’t, that HarperTeen is doing a promotion called 28 Days of Winter Escapes Book-a-Day Giveaway. Its pretty cool you can check it out here: http://www.28daygiveaway.com to win a copy of The Enchanted Quest today. They also pick a blog to post a Q&A with the author on that day. Jana, the publicist, remembered I liked the books so she’s had me post the Q&A with you on mine. I have it up today.
Anyways, good luck with everything! =)
Arya
Mr. Jones, if you could, would you post the information about the new competition from the fansite, it would make it easier, and we don’t know when it will be back up????
Oh yes, and on page 86 of the seventh daughter (a.k.a. the sorcerer king) you were foreshadowing for the 4th book weren’t you? When Eden said,
“Only Oberon and Titania together have the poser to defeat the Sorcerer King, Lyonesse has rule over the Four Elements-over earth, water, fire, and air. Only the strength of the Sun King and the Moon Queen in unison can stand against such fearsome might. And as for his army-it is true that they number only in the low hundreds no, but the Sorcerer will have sent word to Lyonesse. An armada will come and an army thousands strong will sweep across Faerie like a dark plague.”
(sweep across Faerie like a dark plague)you know, the plague, and across faerie, and the whole center of the 4th book. yeah. I’m going to stop talking now.
Oh yes, and on page 86 of the seventh daughter (a.k.a. the sorcerer king) you were foreshadowing for the 4th book weren’t you? When Eden said,
“Only Oberon and Titania together have the power to defeat the Sorcerer King, Lyonesse has rule over the Four Elements-over earth, water, fire, and air. Only the strength of the Sun King and the Moon Queen in unison can stand against such fearsome might. And as for his army-it is true that they number only in the low hundreds now, but the Sorcerer will have sent word to Lyonesse. An armada will come and an army thousands strong will sweep across Faerie like a dark plague.”
(sweep across Faerie like a dark plague)you know, the plague, and across faerie, and the whole center of the 4th book. yeah. I’m going to stop talking now.
Sorry, I apparently do NOT like W’s today.
My bad.
Omg! I love your idea for us to put pictures on here, and the fan-fiction place! Im not that good of an artist but I would love to see what others see!
-page not place
AFJ. Arya - I knew there was some kind of February promo thing going on with HarperCollins - they got me to fill in a questionnaire a few weeks ago (the Q&A thing you mentioned?) - I guess it’s all part of the same promotion. And hopefully that forum thing will not be too tricky to set up. (I’m a total tecno dimwit, so I need other people to do these things for me.)
AFJ. Addie - I’ll have to get in touch with Marisa about the competition on the fansite, and see what she can tell me. Once I know what was happening, I’ll post it here. It’s a real shame about the fansite, but if I set up that forum thing Arya was mentioning, we might be in a better position to prevent glitches like that from happening…hopefully! (Now watch while THIS site crashes!!!!)
Oh, and as for the foreshadowing thing with the plague…I must admit I do like to scatter clues - especially ones that no one realizes are clues till they read the books a second or third time.
ya i was wondering the same thing about the sorcerer king. y dont u make a new fansite? it keeps on crashing! hope you fix it real soon =D oh ya one more thing, if you could be a character in the fearie path who would u choose to be? But do not pick the king or queen… or Tania! You too allan, you have to pick =D =D =D
AFJ. Daniella - I would probably be Lord Brython - Hopie’s husband. I really like that castle they live in by the sea, and Hopie would be a really useful wife to have if I got ill!
I am finally going to get The Enchantend Quest at the end of this upcoming week. I pre-ordered it with another book that doesn’t come out until Tuesday and they are shipping them together. It’s killing me that I didn’t get it the day it came out…..
I would be either Cordelia or Sancha. Cordelia because I LOVE Animals and I would never harm them for anything (I even save ants and little insects) or Sancha because I have brown hair and I LOVE Books. I can read the whole Faerie Path Series in 1 week. I am Taking 10th Grade English Honors next year plus I Love History and I am taking American Studies II Honors next year. My Two Favorite Subjects!!!!!
hey allan, how do you think of names for the characters?
Haha I would be….Zara…but she died…so not her. lol probably Sancha because of her love of books =P
AFJ. Daniela - the names for characters come from all over. When the first book of the series was being dicussed with the UK editors, the names of the sisters were dreamed up by everyone at the table coming up with one name each. Oberon and Titania are from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Brython, Hopie’s husband - that’s an old name for the country now called Wales in the UK. Other names are sometimes found by looking up a list of Elizabethan names and picking the ones I like best. And sometimes they just pop into my head - like with Earl Valentyne.
A midsummer Night’s Dream is my favorite play of all time! I think I would be cordelia because I love animals or Rathina because she well… I dont know. hahaha
If titania died in the mortal world would she have been reborn like tania and be half faerie and have mortal having her spirit split?
If titania had died in the mortal world would she have been reborn like tania with her spirit split, half mortal half faerie?
Huh did you know in the first faerie path book it says eden’s eyes are brown (pg 209) in the rest of the books her eyes are a piercing blue for instance on pg 26 of the seventh daughter
AFJ. Roxanne - I’m not sure that Titania would have been able to soul-surf down the centuries like Tania did if she had died. I think Tania’s spirit was able to do that because it was so very young. Also, Titania wasn’t born immortal, it was gifted her when she married Oberon - so it is not so strong in her.
Regarding Eden’s eyes - what you have discovered there is what we like to call in the writing trade “A Mistake”. What I do when I first get a look at new characters is to write down what they look like in a folder - to avoid mistakes! In my folder her eyes are blue, but while I was writing I must have got my head mixed up and put brown. Oops! Actually, I could always blame the editors - they are meant to pick up stuff like that! Anyway, bottom line is - Eden’s eyes are blue. Sorry about that.
Hi In response to Daniella’s response as to which character I would be it would have to be Hopie. I still have an interest in medical type shows.
Hi Michele Skinner I totally emphasize with you. Because I live in Australia I have to wait an extra two week. Though it is worth the wait.
wow you have a good eye Roxanne you should be an editor!
allan- we are mere humans, we make mistakes
I would have never noticed!
same here!
Hi everyone! Roxanne- gosh u have good eyes! Allan- Do u think there will be a movie on The Faerie Path? If there is already Im sry, but ive never heard of it.
Everyone- Whats ur fave Faerie Path book?
AFJ. Aimee - some of us want a movie, some don’t! I’d be happy so long as it was done well. At the moment, my fave book is The Charmed Return - but that’s only becasue I only just finished it.
allan- wow already!? u r good allan!
aimee-i like the entire series! i cant just pick 1 !
AFJ. It’s all down to publisher’s deadlines, Daniela. They like to have a finished book in their pockets a full 12 months before publication - this is partly so they have plenty of time to organize covers and blurbs and publicity and printing etc - and also so they have the book to show other foreign publishers at the big anual book fairs, and also to show the book to the buyers of the major book store chains. (I suspect it is also so that if a writer delivers late, they have a few weeks slack they can make up!)
wooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww thats awsome…. do you have to pay to have a book published? or do they pay you….
AFJ. Daniela - they pay me! The way it works is that they pay me what’s called an “advance” when I sign the contract to write the book. (This is why they get to check out the plot first and make suggestions - because they’re fronting me the money to write it). Then, once the book starts to sell, I get a percentage of the cover price of every copy. BUT, first of all, I have to wait until the value of the advance has been earned back before I see any more money.
That sounds kind of confusing Allan……
AFJ. Oh, it’s much much more complicated than I explained - the contracts can be 25 pages long and very confusing indeed.
…………… X/ ya it sorta does.
Hello everyone, I’m new here! But I’m happy that The Charmed Return is going to come out in next year, and not two years or more! Allan, when do you think the sneak peeks will be posted? I’m not trying to pressure you or anything, but i just can’t wait!
Ok so Im ALMOST done with “Destiny’s Path” Because I got it on my itouch Barnes and Noble eReader and its REALLY good. Yeah I like ALMOST as much as “The faerie Path”….its a close call. Keep Up the good work!!!!!!!!!! I have been letting my friends read “The Faerie Path” and “The Warrior Princess” but I told them, that they have to buy 2-5 so that u sell lots. lol.
And also, (i know this is sort of random) but why is the link to your fanclub website not working? it says “page not found.”
AFJ. Hello Stephanie! I’m thinking the sneak-peeks should turn up about October-time - but that’s not a promise, because I have to clear it with the publishers first.
Yes, I’m sorry to eveyone about that Fan CLub problem - I’m beginning to think the club might be crashed for good! I’ve spoken to a pal of mine about setting up a Forum on this site, so fans can post their own pictures and fiction and messages to one another. She says she’s going to check it out, and that we might have something up and running by April.
AFJ. Amy - I’m always delighted when Faerie Path fans get into Warrior Princess as well - and well done with the friends - the more we sell, the more likely it is there will be more books.
Eden-White hair/blue eyes
Hopie-Brown hair/brown eyes
Cordelia-ReddishBrownish hair/blue eyes
Sancha-Dark brown hair/black eyes
Zara-Blond hair/Blue eyes
Rathina-Black hair/?brown eyes?
Tania-Red hair/Green~gold eyes
=D I just want to see if i am right, because thats how i imagine the seven sisters in my head.
yay im gonna tell all my friends about this series and hope that theres going to be a 7th, 8th, and 9th book. that would be so awesome!!
hiya stephanie! i was wondering the same thing with the fan club. i wanna join too!!!!!!!!!
omgosh. So I just happened to be in the book store looking for a series to read and just kind of stumbled on The Faerie Path series. I instantly fell in love with the characters and started looking for the whole series. Had no idea it was already five books. Obtained all and read with-in two weeks between work and family. Just finished book 5 and am in dire straights to find out that we have to wait until next year to read “what happens next”.
AFJ. Lisa - welcome aboard! Well, for me the good news is that Faerie Path is still in bookstores out there - I went up town last week and looked in the “young adult” section - and everything I could see was either Twilight or Twilight-clone or Twilight-lite. Now, why didn’t I think of making Edric a vampire…?
hey, that would have ruined it. plus, you’d be accused of stealing
the vampire idea just like L.J. Smith, even though Vampire Diaries
came out like 15 years before Twilight came out. Yet still, still
blamed for stealing Stephanie Meyer’s Idea.
allan-then tania would be a vampire too! man tania REALLY loves edric. i wanna read the charmed return soooo bad! can you post like a sneek peak??????
AFJ. Addie - you’re right, of course - but how can anyone accuse anyone of stealing the vampire idea? The first BIG vampire book was written in 1897!!!
Daniela - I’m going to get in touch with the publishers soon about sneak-peeks, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to want to leave it a few months yet.
EDRIC CAN NOT BE A VAMPIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just saying…
AFJ. Absolutely right! There will never be any vampires in Faerie. They don’t go for the blood-sucking thing at all.
what will happen if a real vampire showed up? would all of faerie be in danger? EDRIC CAN NOT BE A VAMPIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!