Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Goodbye, Amy Pond

My favourite redheaded Scots lass is leaving one of my favourite shows...

(Yes. You've guessed correctly. I simply don't have the time to write up a Blog post of normal length. I have finally got back into the flow of writing and everything is going really well after a few weeks of publicity and travel. It looks like I'll be getting Kingdom of the Wicked finished in time after all. Yay!)

Amy has quickly become my favourite Dr Who companion ever. I'll miss her spark, her accent, her pout, that policewoman's uniform...

Goodbye Amy...

And hello Jenna-Louise Coleman, who will be taking over as companion at Christmas.

All you Dr Who fans out there will know why this deserved a Blog post of its own.

And now, I'm going back to writing.


Monday, March 12, 2012

Book 7

Hello all.

Just got back from a TV thing that will be aired in Ireland sometime in May (I'll let you know when it's on so you can YouTube my awesomeness). It's been a long, amusing day, and all I want to do is relax, watch some TV, and generally chill out, so I'll be announcing the title of Book 7 tomorrow instead of today. Hope you understand.

As many of you know by now, every three books have a certain motif when it comes to titles. For instance, the middle trilogy was short, sharp and to the point. The final trilogy (sob) will have a completely different approach, as exemplified by the Greatest Title Ever Thought Up. I'm still writing the thing, and the deadline is fast approaching, so from tomorrow on it's full speed ahead. I only hope that the finished book lives up to what I'm calling it. Oh, I was totally joking about waiting until tomorrow to announce this, by the way. Sorry about that. Heh.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the final days of August of this year, the new Skulduggery Pleasant masterpiece will be released, and it will be called...

Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom Of The Wicked. 

Friday, March 9, 2012

Breaking News

And the Breaking News is...

Prepare for some Breaking News.

On Monday, on this Blog, I will be announcing the title of Book 7- which up to now has been known simply as "Paul". It will be an epic day to remember until the end of time, or for a few days afterwards (whichever comes first).

And in the interest of random topic changes, here's a picture.


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Kony 2012

Hello there,

Do you have half an hour to spare? This doesn't have anything to do with me or my books. This has to do with changing the world. This has to do with helping people you've never met. At the end of the half hour, you don't have to do anything. You don't have to donate, or sign, or even share the video. You can if you want, but you don't have to. I'd just like you to KNOW. I'd like us all to be a part of this, to know what's going on in the world and to know that there are people who are determined to make a change. And I'd just like you to know the name Joseph Kony, who is more of a monster than I could ever create in my writing.


Saturday, March 3, 2012

Heading Down Under Again!

Yes, the rumours (and, er, the announcement in the back of a few books) are true- 2012 will see my second trip to Australia and New Zealand for a Skulduggery tour. I will spend two weeks in August- from the 6th to the 20th- going around meeting the Minions-who-talk-funny and signing whatever they have to sign. The first few days will be spent in NZ, then off to Oz. Details, such as exactly which cities I'll be visiting, shall be forthcoming as soon as I have them. I actually have no input into where I visit because my publishers do all the arranging, and I just go where I'm told to go.

My last tour, in 2010, was a huge success and every single day I was startled by the reaction. It was exhausting, with an astonishing amount of travel, but so worth it.

When I get back home, I have a little over a week to recover before the Ireland/UK tour kicks off. We're going to be doing something different this year- instead of heading over to the UK for 10 straight days, I'll be heading over for three weekends in a row. The plan is to pack as many signings in as possible on days when none of you will have school or college or work, so hopefully you can come along if you haven't had a chance to before. Again, further details will be available once I have them.

And now for something completely different...

How did you enjoy World Book Day? I know, I know, different countries have World Book Day at different times of the year, and some countries don't have World Book Day at all, so, the very term itself is kind of misleading... but ANYWAY...

I had a very good World Book Day, thank you very much. I was over in London with a bunch of other writers for a huge webcast thingy that was broadcast to three quarters of a million students across Ireland and the UK and, I don't know, possibly elsewhere. We each had five minutes onstage, which isn't a whole lot of time. I ended up talking about my dogs, for some reason. It was manic, but amusing.

Behind the scenes, however, was where the real fun was taking place. Put ten authors in a room, especially authors who write for young people, and after a while things are going to get slightly odd. And when a camera comes out to record interviews? Oh dearie me. I'm sure they'll be posted on worldbookday.com soon enough, so you can watch as responsible adults (such as me) turn into immature kids as we try to make each other laugh. Fun and games galore with Andy Stanton and Steve Cole and Chris Bradford, while Cressida Cowell looked on in astonishment. Eoin Colfer wasn't above having a bit of a lark himself, but Holly Webb and Jeremy Strong did the wise thing and stayed well away from the rest of us. Jacqueline Wilson, meanwhile, must have wondered what the hell was going on.

To end the webcast, we all trotted back onstage to meet The Duchess of Cornwall. I'm completely ignorant about all things royal family-ish, and I may have forgotten to stop chewing gum when I was shaking her hand. But I DID smile and say "pleased to meet you", so that was something, wasn't it? At least I didn't have my hands in my pockets, like Ronan O'Gara did when the Queen met the Irish rugby team.


Which, I have to say, I think is hilariously dim.

Annnnnyway...

I've been on TV quite a lot lately, and it's all thanks to World Book Day, so thank you, World Book Day, for interfering with my writing week. I was on the Alan Titchmarsh Show, which most of you know about, and then I was on Live With Gabby on Channel 5 a few days later, then I was on Elev8 on RTE yesterday, and on Tuesday morning I'll be on Ireland Am on TV3...

Good GOD. I'll be sick of myself, I swear I will.

And I can't even get away from myself in newspapers, either. The Guardian asked me to list my ten favourite villains from YA/children's fiction, and you can see if you agree with me by clicking here http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/mar/01/derek-landy-top-ten?newsfeed=true .

( I didn't include any of MY villains, because obviously mine would be best, and I'm far too modest to proclaim that in a national newspaper.)

Okay, that's enough babbling. It's 2:30 in the afternoon and I haven't eaten anything yet. Must make lunch.


Oh! One last thing! Take a look at this video- http://www.standup.ie/index/ - which promotes standing up to homophobic bullying. I mean, life is hard enough to get through without bullies making things worse, and the only decent thing to do is stand up for your friends when they need you.


And NOW I'm going to make lunch.