the official website of Allan Frewin Jones

Well, the live chat on the internet radio show seemed to go very well. A number of you contacted me afterwards saying you missed it or couldn’t manage to get to hear it, and could I do anything about it. Well - it turns out, yes I can. Or rather, my very clever computer-savvy pal Jules could!

In fact, if you go back to the HOME page here, then take a look to the right, you’ll notice a small side-bar titled HOME. The third link down is called INTERVIEWS. Click on that and it will take you to a page on my site where you can listen to the entire hour long show - as often as you like!

Something else is also coming up that I think you might find interesting. I’ve been asked by Harper Collins (the publisher of The Faerie Path series) to do a “podcast” - basically a talk about myself and my books that you will be able to listen to online whenever you like. I don’t have the exact details of how you will be able to access this yet, but I’m due to do the talking on Friday, so you should be able to listen to it next week. More info as and when.

So, as they say - watch this space - because not only will the podcast include a talk by me about my writing and my plans - it will also include the very first sneak-peek of The Charmed Return - a whole chapter read by me!

Here at last is a sneak-peek look at the cover of the 6th Faerie Path book: The Charmed Return, hot off the presses, as people used to say.

For anyone not yet in the know, the book is due out towards the end of January 2011. At the end of 2010, I am planning on posting some sneak peeks of the book online, so watch out for them in Nov/Dec.

Meanwhile, I have been asked if I’d be prepared to post some riddles based on the storylines in The Charmed Return.

here are the rules of the following riddles:

There are no rules except for the ones that I make up as I go along. If you work out the whole plot from these riddles and ask me if you have got it right I may say “yes” or I may say “no” or I may say “no comment”. I may give further hints, or suggestions based on questions you ask, but I may not tell the truth, or I may tell the truth, or I may say “no comment”. (I’m not about to give the whole plot away for everyone just because some of you are really really good at this kind of thing.) The riddles are all based on true things in the book - none of the riddles are untrue.

Okay: here goes.

1,2 & 4 are trapped in amber.

3 is no more, alas, but why do birds flock around the Dolorous Tower?

5 arrives, but can 5 really be alive?

6 and a boy appear when they jump through a hoop - but which of 2 boys and how are they here?

7 is half lost, but the Green Girl will help 7 to reunite.

The formula for the return:

TFP (221+4=T)=TLQ (135+11=A)=(181+24=G)=(248+7=F)

The answer is: 4 of 7.

5 of 7 is 50% TA+50%AP. In other words, 1 of 7 and 5 of seven are the same power twice over.

6 of 7 and 7 of 7 are hidden in TCR.

Together these 7 will make a new Power of Seven.

The Solution:

When Brother cries Uncle all evil is done - so why are the horses still galloping from the North, and who is the new Captain of Weir?

And if all is well, what does this mean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World%27s_End_(Camden)

That’s it.

For those who enjoy this kind of thing, happy puzzling.

A few more pictures for you to look at.

The first one is of the Hampton Court maze.

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

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.

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.

This 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.

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

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.

While 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.

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

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.