By Allan | Sunday, 31 May 2009 at 12:13
Category: Writing | Tags: Sundered Lands
our muses are with us
here is a drawing by Gary of the two of us, taken from a photo shot whilst we were visiting Sundered Lands for inspiration for book 5 of the series.
I’m the one with the quill pen and the patched trousers. He’s the other one. Note how we are both left-handed. Sinister, or what?
By Allan | Thursday, 28 May 2009 at 09:59
Category: Writing | Tags: Sundered Lands
The story so far…
…many years ago I worked with a Commissioning Editor on a book called Burning Issues…her name was Anne McNeil. Occasionally since then, I’ve met her at gatherings and parties and we’ve always talked of working together again. Well, late in 2007, I got a mysterious package from Anne. It included some artwork and the basis of a book series by an experienced illustrator called Gary Chalk. The Series was called The Sundered Lands. Her letter went thus:
…Gary Chalk is a terrific illustrator. Currently living in France – he was the original illustrator on Brian Jacques’ Redwall series. He has come up with some story proposals and black and white art for a new series for younger children called Sundered Lands. Now – I think he needs to collaborate with a writer. I also think the writer should have a level of freedom. I think you would like him. Would you mind taking a look at the material and then perhaps we could talk…
Well, I did and we did and then I called Gary in his rambling farmhouse in Normandy, France, and we agreed we’d meet up with Anne and see what would happen. What happened was that Gary and I got on really well and within a couple of months a plan for a six book series based on his original concept was put together.
We signed a contract for the series and Gary and I got down to plotting out the individual books. We quickly discovered that the best way of working together was in a room, face to face, bouncing ideas off one another. So, I took a trip over to Normandy in February 2008, and over a four-day period we plotted out two and a half books.
It was one of those times when you look across a table at the person you’re working with and you both think – are we really getting paid to have this much fun???
Anyway, I went home and put together what is called a “chapter breakdown” of the first book – Trundle’s Quest. This is done so that everyone knows pretty much what is intended to happen in the book. It means that Gary can start thinking of where he would like illustrations to go, and so the Publishers have the chance to say – hey, why not to that there instead, which can be helpful.
The overall “story-arc” of the series is that once, long ago, Sundered Lands, which is now a vast archipelago of islands floating in the sky, was a single round World, like our own, except that it was inhabited solely by talking animals. In the distant past, the world was destroyed by Badger Lords of great power, who spoke a terrible spell of Unbinding that shattered the planet to fragments.
In the aftermath of this catastrophe, the six Crowns of the Badger Lords were hidden among the shattered remnants of World – along with a prophecy that one day heroes would appear in Sundered Lands who would seek out the six crowns and bring them together again and unleash a Great Power.
Enter the very unheroic Trundle Boldoak, a hedgehog with a steady job and no desire for adventure, and the madcap Roamany Princess, Esmeralda Lightfoot, who is convinced he is the one person she needs to fulfil the prophecy and who is determined to drag him out of his quiet little home and introduce him to High Adventure!
Well, book one is written now, and fully illustrated, and as you will see if you go into the appropriate page in the Books section of this website – it even has a cover! The latest I have from the Publishers is that it is to be published in January 2010.
And so the quest for the crowns continues…
…more to come later…
By Allan | Tuesday, 26 May 2009 at 08:03
Category: Writing | Tags: Warrior Princess
I thought you’d like to know the publication dates for the four books of the Warrior Princess series.
Book one: Warrior Princess came out in February 2009 in hardback. I’m told the paperback edition will be out in February 2010.
Book two “Destiny’s Path” is due out “Fall” 2009 - which I think means some time this October. As above, this will be the hardback edition, and the paperback will follow twelve months later.
Book three. This is written, but I’m still working on a title. It’s due to be published Fall 2010 in hardback, with the paperback coming along the following year.
Book four: I only have a few ideas for where this book is going so far, but I have plenty of time to think it through. The book is due to be published in hardback “fall” (October) 2011 and in paperback the following year.
I’ll keep you updated on progress as I go along.
By Allan | Friday, 22 May 2009 at 09:51
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path
People have been asking me for an update on the situation with The Faerie Path series. Here’s the low-down, as I know it in May 2009.
The original trilogy is now out in both Hardback and Paperback editions.
These are:
Book 1: The Faerie Path
Book 2: The Lost Queen
Book 3: The Sorcerer King/The Seventh Daughter
The reason for the two titles for book 3 is that it is called The Sorcerer King in hardback edition and The Seventh Daughter in paperback. Apart from that the two books are exactly the same. The change of title was generated by the Publishers, because they decided that “The Seventh Daughter” was a more reader-friendly title than The Sorcerer King.
Of the second Faerie Path trilogy, the latest is:
Book 4: The Immortal Realm
Is out in hardback (May 2009) – and will appear in paperback form, so I am told, in 12 months time.
Book 5: The enchanted Quest
This is written and ready for publication. It is due to be published in February 2010 in hardback, and, as with The Immortal Realm, will be released in paperback form 12 months later.
Book 6: ???? (No title as yet)
I have been gathering ideas and plotlines for this book over the past few months. I am due to have a meeting with the UK editors in June 2009, where the storylines will be discussed and a “final” plot worked out. (I write “final” like that because things tend to change during the actual writing process).
This sixth book will then go through the usual two-tier editing process (once in the UK – once by the Publishers Harper Collins in New York) with the aim to have it finished by the end of this year. It will then be published in February 2011 in hardback form, and in a paperback edition 12 months later.
By Allan | Monday, 18 May 2009 at 14:04
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path, Warrior Princess, Writing
Welcome to my brand new website! As you will see, you can browse around the various pages and find information on all the books I have written over the past twenty or so years. The site is still undergoing bits of construction here and there - I plan soon on having a Gallery page with pictures and illustrations and a pick of the covers of some foreign editions of my books - some of them are really great and it’s a shame they only get seen in the country where they are published.
Anyway - I plan on blogging here regularly, so please drop in every now and then - you can even write to me on the Contact page if you’d like to.
Bye for now. Update on publishing schedule coming soon!
Allan Frewin Jones
By Allan | Tuesday, 20 January 2009 at 09:31
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path
Well, now - I thought you might be interested to know that I have just this morning sent off the full version of The Faerie Path Book Five: The Enchanted Quest, to the UK editors. Phew! Of course, as those of you who message me and get messages back may know, this is not the end of my duties with this book, or with any book.
What will happen now is that the UK editors will read it and get back to me with thoughts, suggestions and comments on how to make it even better. I will then make all the smart changes they suggest. These can include explaining things more clearly. (Just because I know what’s going on, doesn’t always mean I’ve explained it clearly enough for a reader to get it.) It can include taking stuff out where I explain the same thing twice, or take too long over explaining something! (Easily done when you’re in the middle of a longish book.) It can also include the editors suggesting a different order in which to present bits of the action, so the book flows better. (Again, in a book the length of The Faerie Path, it is easy to lose sight of the “story arc” now and then. I think it’s called “not being able to see the wood for the trees…” - a fairly normal writer’s problem!!)
Anyway, once everyone in the UK is happy with the book, it will then get sent to Harper Collins in New York, and - of course - they also have editors who will want to suggest changes…although far fewer now, hopefully. So, I get the book back again to do some final tweaking and nipping and tucking before we end up with a “final” version. This whole process usually takes about three months.
Everything then goes quiet for a few months - and then I get a “copy-edited” verson of the book - which looks pretty much the way it will look when it comes out in print. I and my UK editors will go through this for any mistakes that have crept in. Then, hopefully, the book will go off to be printed. And - believe it or not - by then most of a whole year will have gone by. And this is why The Faerie Path Book Five: The Enchanted Quest is not due to be published till January 2010.
So, what goes on in the book? Well, unfortunately, I can’t tell you a whole lot about that, because Book Four: The Immortal Realm is not due out till May this year, and if I tell you what happens in book five, it’ll give away some of what goes on in book four. It’s kind of annoying, actually - because there’s lost of things I’d LIKE to tell you - but it would spoil things for you to know in advance.
And there’s one particular thing that I’d love to let you know - but that doesn’t happen till book 6, so I have to keep really quiet about that for the next eighteen months. You can try guessing, if you like - but I shall refuse to let you know if you’re warm or cold or whatever.
One thing I can tell you about Book Five…or a hint I can give you, is to go back to The Sorcerer King/The Seventh Daughter - and go to the end of the book, just before Tania enters the Mortal Realm to get her parents - and read what Queen Titania says about The Divine Harper. That will give you a big clue as to what happens in The Enchanted Quest.
Well, that’s it for now - and in case you were wondering, I’m off to start thinking about Warrior Princess Book Three now!
[cross-posted from MySpace]
By Allan | Thursday, 11 December 2008 at 11:03
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path
The third book in the first Faerie Path trilogy is due out in paperback on January 27th 2009. Great news for all those who have been waiting to own or read the entire trilogy in paperback form.
But a word of warning! The publishers have changed the name of the book!! In hardback form the book is called The Sorcerer King - but in its paperback form it will be called The Seventh Daughter. Don’t be caught out, guys! These are two different titles for the same book!!!
I have only just found out about this, and I would hate for anyone who has already bought The Sorcerer King to see this new title and think it’s a different book, okay? I’ll just say it again so we’re all clear: The Sorcerer King and The Seventh Daughter are exactly the same book!
If you’ve read and enjoyed the whole trilogy, then the next book you’ll be interested in buying or reading will be book four: The Immortal Realm, which is due out Summer 2009. I’ll get you more information on this when I hear it.
[cross-posted from MySpace]
By Allan | Friday, 7 November 2008 at 11:19
Category: Writing | Tags: Warrior Princess
The first volume of my newest quartet of books is due to hit the shops on the 27th of January 2009.
The Series is set in the British Isles in the period known as the Dark Ages, a grim and dangerous time when the native peoples of the islands were under attack from invading waves of Saxon conquerors. Only in the west of the mainland do the Britons still hold out against the foreign armies - and at the very forefront of this last defensive stronghold stands the fortress of Garth Milain where Princess Branwen ap Griffith lives with her Warrior parents and her gallant older brother.
This is a time when the old superstitions and beliefs are no longer a part of people’s lives - but Branwen learns that the Old Gods - The Shining Ones - are still very much alive - and that they have a Destiny for her, if she is willing to follow their path.
It takes just a moment for fifteen year old Branwen’s life to change forever. In the blink of an eye the Saxons attack and her brother, Prince Geraint, is killed. Almost as quickly, she is sent against her wishes away from her fortress home to a stronghold beyond the mountains where she’ll be safe from harm in the coming war with the Saxons. Now Branwen lives as a true Princess should - in lavish quarters, surrounded by exquisite things. But she is more used to life on the borderlands, where danger lurks over every hill - and even in this life of luxury, her heart and soul remain those of a born warrior!
Just when Branwen despairs of ever being able to join in the fight against the Saxons, a seemingly chance encounter with a mystical woman in white changes her life forever. With no time to lose, Branwen must make a choice: either to continue on the path her parents have set for her, or to do as the woman in white bids and step into the role of a true Warrior Princess.
“You are one of The Shining Ones?”
“I am.”
Branwen stepped forwards, her eyes grown used to the brilliance thrown off by the woman in white, but her mind still dazzled. “What do you want of me?”
“I have waited long for you, warrior child. All of Brython will be your home, and you will gather to you a band of warriors who shall keep the enemy at bay for many long years.”
“No! You’re wrong. I’m not a warrior.”
“You can be a warrior, if you choose to be,” Rhiannon said, her eyes shining.
“Not me!”
“There is no one else,” Rhiannon said. “You are the one who will save this land. You are the Sword of Destiny. The Bright Blade! The Emerald Flame of your people!”
[cross-posted from MySpace]
By Allan | Tuesday, 3 June 2008 at 07:52
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path
I have just finished writing book one of the new Faerie Path Trilogy, or book four of The Faerie Path series, depending on how you look at it.
I sent the book off to my UK editors on Saturday 31st May. They expect to get it back to me in a couple of weeks with their thoughts and comments and suggestions. When I’ve made the changes I think improve the book, it will then be sent off to my American Publishers in New York - who will doubtless have their own bunch of thoughts comments and suggestions which I will be asked to take on board. Heigh-ho - a writer’s life!
Actually, I’m quite pleased with how this book has come out. For those of you who have read the first trilogy, I can give you a few pointers as to what goes on - without spoiling the plot, of course.
As the book opens, it is three weeks after the end of The Sorcerer King. Everyone is gathered in Leiderdale in the Earldom of Dinsel, to witness and celebrate the wedding of Princess Cordelia and Bryn, the Unicorn-friend from Weir. Tania is having a great time. Her Mortal Parents are visiting Faerie and despite the trials of having two Fathers and two Mothers in the same place at the same time, everything is going smoothly. Tania’s Mortal Mother is getting on really well in Faerie, and likes Titania, but her Mortal Dad is having problems adjusting to this new magical land, and besides, he has a really annoying summer cold, which is dampening his spirits more than somewhat.
One of the small problems that Tania has to face is the fact that her Mortal Dad thinks she should go back to London to finish her education - then, he says, once she has some academic qualifications under her belt, she’s free to come and live in Faerie if she wants to. He makes it very obvious that he doesn’t think she should stay in Faerie at all. “You’re living in a fairy tale right now,” he tells her, “but what happens on the day after happy ever after?”
And as if Dad isn’t being annoying enough, a second problem hits Tania when, out of the blue, Edric proposes marriage to her!
Well, she loves him, and really wants to be with him, but she’s sixteen and she’s never even thought about getting married. She kind of freaks out at the suggestion and Edric takes it badly - feeling totally rejected by her. Of course, it’s okay for Edric - he’s been around for hundreds of years - and in Faerie love is forever. He can’t understand why Tania won’t agree to marry him, and she can’t understand why he’s making such a big deal out of it - after all, they’re together, aren’t they?
Anyhow, they have no time properly to talk this thorough when something truly terrible happens. A small infant dies - of an illness! The death of a little baby is tragic enough in any circumstances, but in Faerie there is no illness - so how has this happened? What Dark Power has brought sickness into Faerie after ten thousand years? Is it some last malediction from Lyonesse? And if not, who is attacking Faerie and why?
Tania, helped by her sister Rathina, sets out to answer these questions, despite the opposition of the powerful Council of Earls and in particular Lord Aldrich of Weir, father of the evil Gabriel Drake, whose schemes almost destroyed Faerie in the all too recent past!
One clue - Lyonesse isn’t at the bottom of this deadly attack on Faerie!
[cross-posted from MySpace]
By Allan | Thursday, 27 March 2008 at 08:37
Category: Writing | Tags: The Faerie Path
Readers who have enjoyed The Faerie Path trilogy - “The Faerie Path”, “The Lost Queen” and “The Sorcerer King” - will be pleased to know that I am writing a further three books about Princess Tania and the Immortal Realm of Faerie.
The books are planned to form a second trilogy - three linked stories which will take place in the Immortal Realm of Faerie and in The Mortal World. Most of the characters from the first three books will be reappearing, and the action will begin about three weeks after the end of The Sorcerer King.
Without giving too much away at this point, I can say that the Faerie Court has travelled west to the Earldom of Dinsel, where Princess Cordelia is to marry Bryn, the Unicorn-friend. Something truly terrible happens at the wedding ceremony - something that has not happened in Faerie for thousands of years and something which throws the whole Realm into turmoil.
To makes things worse, serious problems develop in the relationship between Tania and Edric as Tania is forced to face the reality of the word “forever” when used by an Immortal. In Faerie, forever truly means for ever!
[cross-posted from MySpace]