The Sundered Lands - The Six Crowns

By Allan | Tuesday, 20 July 2010 at 08:35
Category: Writing | Tags:

usa-trundle-smaller-front1Most of you will know about the new series for younger readers that I’ve been working on with the illustrator Gary Chalk. Well, book one of the series “Trundle’s Quest” came out in the UK last Saturday, so we all have our fingers crossed that people are going to like it. The book is aimed at readers from 8 years old and upwards, so if any of you have younger brother and sisters or cousins or brothers or sisters of friends or relations or neighbours, and these people like fantasy and talking animals and flying ships and adventure romps, these books might be just the thing for them. Or maybe you like that kind of thing yourself? I know I did when I was in my teens!

The books are also going to be published in America - by Greenwillow (They’re affiliated to Harper Collins who publish Faerie Path and Warrior Princess), but they will have a different series title. In the US the series is going to be called THE SIX CROWNS. If you check out Amazon.com you’ll see that book one “Trundle’s Quest” is due to hit the stores on March 22nd 2011. In America the books will have different covers, so don’t get confused - despite the completely different covers Trundle’s Quest in Sundered Lands and in The Six Crowns is exactly the same book.

Something else you could do if you have time is to check out the brand new website Gary and I have put together for the series here in the UK - www.sunderedlands.co.uk. (You can find it on my “links” page). We’re not sure if there will be a different website for the US version, or what, but I’ll let you know as soon as we do.

Oh, by the way - one thing you will notice in the US version is that I’m called “Allan Jones” - this is because the publishers don’t want to confuse readers of Faerie Path and Warrior Princes by using “Allan Frewin Jones” or “Frewin Jones” - because this new series is very different from those other two series.

I have two copies of the UK version of Trundle’s Quest which I will sign and send to the two first people who ask.

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The Lost Queen - Photographs

By Allan | Tuesday, 13 July 2010 at 10:31
Category: Writing

okay, for the next in my series of “I was there” photos. These relate to scenes in The Lost Queen.02-post-office

this is the Post Office in Richmond where Tania and Edric tried to discover who had sent Tania her Soul Book.

08-riverside-walkHere’s the riverside walkway where Tania met her other self “Gracie” with Nanny Perks.15-titanias-garden

And the next picture is of the gardens that front the apartment where Titania was living - with the block of apartments in the background.

Camden Market Photos

By Allan | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 09:45
Category: Writing | Tags:

A few more pictures for you to look at.

The first one is of the Hampton Court maze.hamptoncourtmazewelcomesvisitorsduringlwxb5ltkxlol

These other two are of Camden Market, which you will remember from The Lost Queen.gb24img_7577

This one shows the “Stable Block” - at the far end is the little cafe where Tania and Jade have a rest, and where Edric turns up unexpectedly.

The other one is the main street - the Magic Shop is on a corner, just behind the photographer.

Hampton Court - The Royal Gardens

By Allan | Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 08:01
Category: Writing | Tags:

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Here are some more Hampton Court photographs. This time, outside the Palace itself, in the grounds.

This is the Mortal World equivalent of the stretch of the River Thames (Tamesis) where Drake brought “Anita” when she first met King Oberon on his Royal Barge. The Royal Barge of Faerie is more impressive than the little boat you can see here, but it’s in the same place.

dscf00342This is part of the Royal Gardens, facing North. Just out of sight to the right is the Brown Tower - the Faerie equivalent of Anita Palmer’s London bedroom.

dscf00354 This is another view of the Royal Gardens, this time facing South towards the Royal Apartments.

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More Gardens with a gatehouse in the background.

I was asked if I had any pictures of the maze,

but unfortunately the maze just looks like a giant hedge from ground-level - and I didn’t manage to take a picture from above.

If I get time, I’ll post some more photos in a day or two.

Hampton Court - Royal Palace of Faerie

By Allan | Friday, 9 July 2010 at 08:09
Category: Writing | Tags:

dscf00091While I was swapping computers I discovered a bunch of photographs I took when I went to visit Hampton Court Palace just before writing the first Faerie Path book. I thought you might be interested in seeing some of them.

This is one of the main entrances into the Tudor part of the palace - I think you’d probably get to the Great Hall of Faerie if you went through those gates.

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This next one is an internal gatehouse - it may well lead to Eden’s tower, if I remember correctly.

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Remember the scene in the Immortal Realm where Tania goes to find Edric and he tells her he’s going to Weir to speak with Lord Aldritch? Well, this is pretty much the modern equivalent of where it happened. Imagine a stone bridge.

I’ll post a few more tomorrow.

Dinner With Siouxsie

By Allan | Tuesday, 6 July 2010 at 09:02
Category: Writing

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There I was, minding my own business and eating a rather tasty pasta dish that Claudia had concocted - when a certain person decided she wanted a taste!

Fortunately, I had more or less finished.

Claudia took a series of pictures of Siouxsie digging into my dinner - and another few of her on her armchair a little while later, licking her paws in a very satisfied fashion. As you can see!

A little while earlier, Siouxsie had been tucking into a bowl of grated parmesan cheese. That cat will eat anything - except ordinary cat food.

Figaro, Radio and Steampunko!

By Allan | Friday, 2 July 2010 at 11:21
Category: Writing | Tags: , ,

Well, can I start off by wishing all my American friends an early Happy 4th of July! Have a really great day, all of you, no matter what you do to celebrate. Hey - what do people in America actually do on the 4th July? I’d really like to know.

I do have a few things to tell you. Last week Claudia and I went to see the Mozart Opera “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Royal Opera House. The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, is one of the most prestigious cultural venues in the world, so its really something to actually go there. Its an amazing place. We had “champagne tickets” - Claudia bought them for me for my birthday. They were excellent tickets and we had seats in the stalls, in row G, right near the front.  Some people dressed up for the event in tuxedos and evening gowns (despite the fact that it started at 6pm and it was broad daylight out there!). But other people turned up in jeans and t-shirts. We were somewhere in between and we arrived early and had a couple of glasses of champagne while we watched the other people arriving. Claudia used to work in the fashion industry, so she spent the time making really funny remarks about the curious and bizarre clothes some of the people were wearing. (I know - not very kind to make fun - but we did it very quietly, so they didn’t know!) It was a really marvellous performance - the scenery was excellent and all the singers were world-class! I had a really great time - even though Mozart is not my all-time favourite Opera composer. My favourite is Richard Wagner, and my favourite Operas are his Ring Trilogy, which are based on old Norse Legends and are full of goblins and dragons and giants and Norse gods and magic swords and excellent fantasy stuff like that.

Another thing that has happened recently is that an American radio show host has asked me if I’d like to take part in an hour-long interview on his show - which includes dial-in questions from fans. I’ve agreed to do this - and I hope that some of you might be up for calling in and asking me questions. Does that seem like a good idea? The show isn ‘t till later in the year, and I’ll of course give you more details closer to the time, but I thought you might like to know that you could have the opportunity to actually talk to me. Anyone interested in doing that?

Next, I have been approached by the editor of a “steampunk” book anthology, asking if I would be willing to write a story for a new book of short stories all based in a steampunk world and all kind of fantasy/romances. I said yes, because I already have a short story idea that would fit really well. For those of you who have never heard of steampunk, it’s set mostly in a kind of Victorian world, only with inventions that never really existed - like computers, and steam powered submarines and airships - a bit like the League of Extraordinary Gentleman movie, if you have ever seen that. I thought it would be fun to write something like that! I need to submit the story by October this year - and as with the radio show, I’ll give you a better idea of it all nearer to the publication date.

We are also only two weeks away from the UK publication of the first Sundered Lands book. Gary Chalk and I have been working hard on the website and it’s almost ready to go live. I’ll give you more details soon, and I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think. I still don’t have a date for US publication of this series, but as soon as I do…well…you know the rest.

So? What else? We’re having a bit of a heatwave over in the south east of England right now, which makes a change. Siouxsie doesn’t like it too hot and right now she’s sprawled on the carpet down by my left side and - oh! No, she’s just got up and she’s clambered into “her” office chair which is set up alongside mine. Claudia is asleep at the moment and everything is quiet, which is good because I have a big pile of stuff in my in-tray that I need to do.

The fourth Warrior Princess book is with the American Publishers now and it has a provisional title: The Bright Blade. This may change, though.

Bye for now.