This isn’t really a blog…this is just a blog to apologize for not blogging new blogs for a while - and to explain that I’ll be blogging again in a few weeks.
Thing is I’m up to my ears in Warrior Princess book 4 (No title as yet!) - I’m about 50,000 words in and it’s taking up most of my attention and energy right now. I should be finished with the first draft in about 3 weeks, though, after which, as most of you will know by now, it will go to the English editors for thoughts, suggestions and and comments.
It’s been a bit tricky to concentrate, as my friend and collaborator, the illustrator Gary Chalk came to visit a couple of weeks ago to discuss new ideas and to go to some meetings up town. I’ll let you know about the new ideas if and when they turn into something that will get published - meanwhile we’re just showing them around to publishers and keeping our fingers crossed. Oh, and we had some publicity photos taken - I’ll post one or two of them here when I get a moment. It’s about time you knew what I look like these days, rather than how I looked five or so years ago! (Grayer, mostly!)
There’s been a bit of bad news for German fans of The Faerie Path series - it’s called Elfennacht in Germany. The publishers have decided only to publish the first four books - the last two won’t be translated into German and published over there. As you can imagine, this will leave German fans rather up in the air - the series for them will end with the last scene of The Immortal Realm. A lot of Germans speak English these days, so I’m hoping that many of my fans over there will be able to pick up the books in English and follow the story that way. Shame, though! In case you’re wondering, it is because the sales of the books in Germany haven’t been great. So, you can see now what I’ve been telling you for a while - getting more books published is all down to good sales. And it will be the same in America - for sure there will only be a 7th book if sales of the first 6 are high enough for the publishers to think it is worth it.
Word of mouth from fans, online blogging and publicity, and all the MySpace and You Tube attention the series can get will help. Speaking of that, check out the following two YouTube videos:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj3GxfQKc9o
which has pix of actors who could play the parts of various characters,
and www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIyyJCkNT9M - which has a great little trailer of a possible movie if it was made in Bollywood!
The Publishers have also been in touch to tell me that they want me to sign two books for that Winter Escape promo thing they did in February.
Anything else? Well, I’m still working on getting a Gallery on this site and a Fan Forum - more news on that towards the end of April, I hope.
Okay, that’s it for this non-Blog Blog.
I’ll be in touch when there’s more news.
Meanwhile: keep spreading the word, people!
bye for now
Allan
Blog? What Blog?
By Allan | Tuesday, 23 March 2010 at 09:11
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path, Warrior Princess
yay im the first one! poor germany, i would die if i couldnt read the faerie path books! oh and for the 28 days of february thing, i won! yay! but not the i pod touch( which would be useless to me cuz i dont listen to music), just a book titled voices of dragons signed by the author =D
to the video-some i agree with and some i dont…. king oberon ya, rathina ya, but i just cant picture edric! HELP!!!!
too bad…
i have been waiting so long for those books and now they won’t publish it in german speaking countries.
Well… now i have to read it in english. with a dictionary on my side
-lois from austria
When is the 6th book of Faerie Path coming out or if you have idea of when?
I hope they make a movie on The Faerie Path! How would you imagine the opening of it, Mr. Jones? I think of it as starting at Hampton Court, with the camera coming down from looking at the sky down on there, then coming down on Tania, either coming out of the bus, going into the maze, or perhaps on a tour of one of the rooms. But you wrote the books . . . how would you imagine it?
By the way, we just got a reading project where I have to memorize a section of Shakespeare from a play (still trying to decide between three plays, though). Which would you say is the best way to memorize Shakespeare?
Thanks!
AFJ. Lois - yes, I’m really sorry about the situation with Germany, it will be frustrating for fans to be left high and dry like that.
Kaitlin - it’s due out January 2011, I think. More specific info as soon as I hear it. Oh! While I’m writing about The Charmed Return, I heard yesterday from the UK editors that the American publishers totally love it and it’s gone off to be copy-edited, which is the final process before setting it for printing, so that’s very good news!
Celine - that descending camera thing over Hampton Court would work - it could zoom in on that first meeting between Anita and Evan - yes, that would be cool, as an option. Or it could start more dramatically by having a kind of overture set in Tania’s bedroom in Faerie - with big music but maybe no words and all photographed so it doesn’t quite look real - and it could show Tania and Rathina playing together - Tania trying on wedding head-dresses etc, and then end with Tania doing her sidestep thing for the first time - still thinking she’s only playing - and vanishing - and Rathina looking horrified and running screaming out of the room. Then maybe a very brief scene of Tania in 16th Century London looking bewildered as plague victims shuffle past - and THEN the zoom in over Hampton Court in the present day.
I think the best way to memorize Shakespeare is to get an audio version of the play of your choice and to listen to it over and over. In England you can get all the Shakespeare plays on cassette and CD - and probably on Internet downloads. Then you can be plugged into it and listen to it over and over while you do other stuff.
I feel bad for the fans in Germany. Its horrible when the series you’ve been following stops in your language yet half the world can read the rest. I do hope there is a seventh book of the Faerie Path series. I’m going to blog again on MySpace and on DeviantArt.
By the way, Mr. Jones, how are the book sales going now? Are they at a good pace and if they continue, will a 7th be announced?
XOXO,
Jazzie
While we’re on the matter of the movie thing, how do you imagine tania side stepping. does she just go from one scene to another, does she see colors and then appear in the other place or what?
so wait the charmed return will come to america?! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks! And I like your idea of the starting of the movie! It’s awesome!
I just read the 3 book and I cried when Zara died! Why did she have to die!
I agree with almost all of the actors for the movie except the one for edric. I hope they do make the books into a movie!
AFJ. Jazzie - I’ll see what I can find out about the sales - all I know for sure is that the first three books sold well enough for the publishers to want three more. Whether that will happen again, I really don’t know.
Addie - I always imagined the sidestep to be quite ordinary - like stepping from one room into another - so I guess I’d imagined it like stepping through an invisible doorway. Of course, a movie director might have other ideas.
Jane - you’d be amazed how often I get asked that question about Zara. Do any of you other people remember my explanation of why Zara died?
Jane-if my memory is corret Mr.Jones said that Zara had to die to add more interest and emotion into the book. It was suppose to make you sad because a good auther makes the reader feel connected to the charetors. I might be wrong but that is how i have always seen it. While on the movie subject, does anyone think that if the series is made into a movie all the actors and actresses should be undiscovered? Or mabey a few famous and a few not? What do you think Mr.Jones?
AFJ. Good answer, Liz - but it is also because I wanted to really nail the fact that warfare is a dreadful thing - even for a good cause! -and in battles, good and kind people get killed. If for instance, Rathina had died - some people might think she deserved it and that it was a kind of justice, even though quite rough. But Zara certainly didn’t deserve it, and so her death was far more poignant and affecting. And, as Liz said, writers want readers to have a big investment in characters and to feel for them when bad things happen.
For the movie, unknown actors would be fine - or maybe some theatre actors - theatre actors are not always very well known, but they are usually incredibly good actors all the same - people like Ian McKellen and Patrick Sewart are really great theatre actors, for instance, and they use the high salaries they get in big movies to help them cope with low theatre pay. I saw Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart last year in London in the play Waiting for Godot - and they were awesome! I also saw Patrick Stewart in The Tempest, by Shakespeare - and it was the very best Shakespeare I’ve ever seen. (He was also great in Hamlet which I went to see in Stratford Upon Aven - where Shakespeare was born!) I’m not saying these two actors would work in the movie - and they are far from unknown, I’m just saying good actors don’t only work in TV and movies.
i really like the theator actors and actresses idea! i accaully want to be a theator actress when i grow up but i highly dout that will happen but i still keep my hopes up to some extent! my back up plan is a gardian ad litem. and Mr.Jones if this series was made into a movie would you want any say in what the directors do to the story? or mabey a say in casting call?
AFJ. Liz - you should always follow your ambitions and dreams - after all, that’s exactly what I did, and if I can do it, I’m sure you can. I was talking to my wife Claudia yesterday about the same thing - when I was about 10 years old all I wanted to do was write fantasy novels. It took me a while - but I have finally got there - not because I’m especially talented or a great writer - but because I hung on in there and worked at it and kept my eye on the prize. Like people say, accomplishment is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration!
As for the movie - I rather think I’ll be lucky if I’m even allowed on the set - movie people do not like to have writers hanging around groaning and putting their heads in their hands while the plots are mangled and twisted to fit the expectations of a movie audience.
thats stinks. i just really hope if they make it into a movie they will get it as right as posiable. i understand that they have to change somethings but i dont think the whole plot should be changed.
hi i think your books are very good and it would be really awesome if it was turned into a movie. im interested in who would play the big parts
AFJ. Hello there Ashley - thanks for getting in touch - as for the movie actors - join in the game and make your own list of actors you’d like to see!
liz- i wouldnt mind it being turned in to a movie if they didnt ruin it
allan- PICK ME TO PLAY A ROLE IN THE MOVIE!!!!!!! HAHA
ashley- the faerie path books arent good…… THEY ARE FANTASTIC, AWSOME, TRUE GENIUS!!!!
Yay! haha I was wondering what happened to you. =) I hate that about it not being published in Germany. I’ve been thinking about trying to help with the publicity some… That’s what bloggers are for right? lol And glad to hear that HarperTeen did end up having the books signed. I’m working with them alot more now, and they are pros at confusing me. haha.
And thanks for posting my video, Mr. Jones! I can’t believe how many views its gotten, and I LOVE the Bollywood one, so cool.
By the way, it would be no problem for me to set up a proboards forum for you. They’re not really a big deal. I could do something like this one in no time: http://hisyelloweyes.proboards.com/ I’ve dealt with them before and I can make some graphics to spruce it up. =)
AFJ. Please note that the views expressed by Daniela and great fans like her in these comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or swell-headedness of Allan Frewin Jones or any of his subsidiary companies! But he does like hearing them all the same! ;-))
If there is ever a movie, and if I get a say in the actors - I’ll definitely put some of you people down to audition. At the very least, you should be able to get into crowd scenes like the Ball in book one and Cordelia’s Wedding in book 4!
AFJ - Arya - can we chat about this proboards thing please? - send me a mail in the contact section with a few more details and we can talk it over and see what it involves. Meanwhile - thanks for the offer!
allan- what heard my name what ???? lol =D ya im obsessed with these books =)
arya- you make the videos all by your self? wow ( claps ) =D
AFJ. Daniela - I just wanted people to understand that I’m not going around telling people that my books are pure genius, that’s all. Other people can do it as much as they like - but it’s not a great idea for me to do it!
Hehe, modestness, Mr. Jones, is commendable, but they ARE pure genius!
Daniela- Haha. Thanks! =) I’m thinking about making a new one. I’ve got some different ideas for roles… Oh, and congrats on winning the 28 Days of Winter Escapes. Voices of Dragons is a pretty good book.
allan- =(
arya- you read that book? and thank you =) who are you planning for the roles in your next video?
umm allan? when will the fan club be fixed????????
AFJ. I have a sinking feeling about the old fanclub site - like it’s gone for good. HOWEVER, on the bright side I am in negotiations with someone to set up something very similar - and which should be less likely to crash. More on this very soon, I hope. Fingers firmly crossed.
I just finished “The Enchanted Quest” last night. And I read “The Charmed Return” might come out next year. … Any chance a petition can speed up the publishing date? lol
XOXO,
Jazzie
AFJ. Jazzie - I think that’s pretty unlikely, I’m sure the publishing schedule is pretty much locked down now - but if anyone feels like mailing the publisher and telling them how much they like the series, it might convince them to commission a book 7…if enough of you do it.
Mr. Jones, how many signatures do you think it would take to attract the publisher’s attention to commission a book 7?
P.S. Anyone willing to help me with the petition??? XD
XOXO,
Jazzie
AFJ. Jazzie - that’s a question I really don’t have an answer to, I’m afraid. The initial sales of the very first Faerie Path book were above 10,000 - and it was that level of sales that prompted the publishers to commission books 4, 5 & 6. I’m not saying they’d need a petition of 10,000 names - but it gives you an indication of the level of sales they’d want in order to ask for more books.
Although a petition might make a difference, in the end they are going to look at the sales of the books before they make a decision - so spreading the word on the internet is maybe a better way of convincing them to ask for more books - plus maybe posting reviews on Amazon.com and YouTube and similar places might make more people look at the books.
I read a while ago that you didnt know if The Charmed Return would be published in America and I was wondering if you knew yet, I dont have time to read through all the comments where you probably have already answered my question, sorry. And ALSO when is the publishing date for the Charmed Return? Do you know yet? Thanks so much for a great story =)
jazzie- ill help! i need to read more faerie path! i got faerie path fever! i thought amazon usually had the books a week or two early, like with the enchanted quest. hmmm…….
AFJ. Melissa - don’t worry! I have absolutely no reason to think The Charmed Return will not be published in America. Quite the reverse, actually - the latest I have heard from New York is that the editors there are delighted with the book and have already sent it to be copy-edited - the final editorial stage before typesetting it and printing it. I don’t have a specific date for publication in America, but I believe it will be either late January or early February 2011.
Daniela- Yeah, I have. I do reviews for HarperTeen, among others, and they sent Voices of Dragons to me some time last year. And about the characters… I don’t know, I’m thinking about making a trailer sort of thing and using some pictures of Piper Perabo from George in the Dragon (aka Dragon Sword) for Tania though.
Wow, It must be horrible to not be able to read those books in Germany. Thank God I live in America! (: The videos were like perfect. You should definitely make a movie!!!!
when can you come to america???????
Daniela R. - “The Charmed Return” probably won’t publish until next year.
However, a petition probably for a movie and spreading the word about the series needs a lot of help. ^_~
XOXO,
Jazzie
AFJ. Daniela - I don’t have any immediate plans for a trip to America - my writing is keeping me pretty busy right now. But when I do get it organized, I’ll certainly let all you people know about it!
Check it out, I made a “Make Faerie Path a Movie” group on facebook! =) http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=107415215955868
arya-it wouldnt connect to it. is it on youtube?
Out of curiosity and need for help…do u ever get writer’s block? If so what do you do to well…undo the block? Or any tips to prevent writers block (if possible)? I might get into Honors English for my sophomore year in HS which I hear involves a lot of writing and well…I’m prone to getting writer’s block :-/
AFJ. Michella - take a look at the FAQ page here, I have written down a few tips for aspiring writers - some of those may help you. Plotting a story in advance, can sometimes help with getting blocked - but sometimes just leaving a story for a few weeks and writing something else might do the trick. But if your imagination has really stalled big-time, just relax and do something else entirely - watch movies, read books - you never know, some small incident in a favourite movie might spark your imagination into life again and get you writing like crazy. (This happens to me a lot).
Daniela- I’m sorry try this link http://ow.ly/1urfj If that doesn’t work then you can just search “make faerie path a movie” on facebook and its the only one.
Happy Easter, everyone!
michelle- i never once had writer’s block. just write. thats all just write. and if you do get writer’s block take a small brake because if you force yourself to write its not gonna work out well most of the time. you have to write with your heart, not your mind. it will come to you.
I have quite the opposite problem. I have too many ideas and not enough time to write them. I write my stories in school 5th and 9th period. The problem is I do my very BEST thinking while I’m in bed at 11 o’clock about to go to bed. I have GREAT ideas, then they tend to slip out of my mind in between 12 o’clock to 5:56 o’clock a.m. I wonder where they go.