Hello there. Nothing particular to report - except that I’m now getting fan mail from Germany and Austria - which is exciting, and fortunately as Claudia is German, I don’t have problems knowing what fans who write to me in German are saying. Oh - and the Germans publishers have put out Audio CD versions of the early Faerie Path books, which is very cool!
All I was really going to say is that September is my favourite month of the year. Where I live in London UK, this is the time of year when the trees begin to go brown and golden and yellow - and the Virginia Creeper in the garden turns red. The light changes as well, it gets more golden and the twilight is thick and deeply-coloured so that some evenings the whole sky goes flame-pink. And I love the huge clouds that go sailing across the sky at this time of year - makes me think that the Cloud Scudder could be hiding behind one of them.
This is also the time of year when I feel the need to get into The Lord of the Rings again - I think maybe it’s partly because Frodo left the Shire in September. Claudia and I have just watched the Movie Trilogy back to back - and I’m listening to The Hobbit on audio tape…and as soon as I finish that, I’m going to be listening to the complete unabridged Audio Tapes of The Lord of The Rings. I’m a bit of a Lord of the Rings fan, in case you hadn’t noticed! I first read it when I was at school - and I think I’ve probably re-read it every year since. I think it was because of The Lord of the Rings that I always dreamed of writing my own Fantasy trilogy. Of course, you never expect those kind of dreams to come true! But thanks to all of you guys buying my books and enjoying them, I’ve been able to write not just ONE Fantasy trilogy but two! And with any luck…maybe even more…
Anyway, I guess all I’m really saying is, this is my very Favourite Time Of Year, and it’s early morning in London and the sky is a windswept blue and the birds are singing in my garden, and Siouxsie is asleep on the couch, and things are going great with The Charmed Return and I’d like to thank all you guys for writing to me and posting comments and joining Marisa’s Fan Club.
bye for now!
Well , Actually i am a Lord of the rings fan too !!!!!I read Hobbit in year 5 - and i didn’t get a single word of it , even though i tried…………………Btw when is the next chapter of Destiny’s Path going to get posted????……I can’t wait!
AFJ. The two posted chapters is all there is in sneak-peek, I’m afraid. The book itself is due out in October!
I’ve read the first two books in the LotR trilogy, and I’m absolutely hooked already. Tolkien was just amazing.
when in October is Destiny’s Path out?
uggggg why cant the new farie path book be coming out im Oct!!!! and i love fall its my fav time of the year! iv always wanted to go to londen is it pretty????? you should post some pics!
I love the lord of the rings! My favorite character is Gandalf! Who’s yours, Mr. Jones?
AFJ. Hey, Shannon! Destiny’s Path is due out on October 27th. 56 days to go and counting! And for those of you who have been waiting for the first Warrior Princes book to come out in paperback - that’s due to hit the stores on 29th September. And then The Enchanted Quest will be out January 26th next year. Plenty going on!
AFJ. Liz - like any big city, parts of London are pretty - and other parts are really not! I live in the south east of London, south of the River Thames - which in Faerie would be right in the middle of Udwold Forest. The house I live in was built in 1887 - I have posted a picture of it in the Fan Club - look in Picture Gallery. There’s also a picture there of my garden. I’ll look out some more pictures and post them soon.
Yeah!!! Destiny’s Path is coming out just a few days after my b day !!!That’s exciting!!……..By the way, Mr.Jones, I really like your artwork…..Keep posting more on fan site…..I especially like “Albion Fair”…………..so original !!
AFJ. Zoey - Gandalf is great, of course, but I kind of go for the evil characters - Gollum is an amazing character (but like Sam says - he’s probably better to encounter in a story than in real life!)I also think the Lord of the Nazgul is a great character - totally evil. The Sorcerer King of Lyonesse would have probably auditioned really well for a place in the Nazgul line-up. But I think my absolute favourite character is the one who got left out of the movies. He has his own chapter in the book - but he doesn’t even get a mention in the movies! Anyone guess who I’m talking about?
i love the lord of the rings series but unlucky me, i have never read them! do you suggest them mr.jones of do you like the movies better?????
AFJ. I prefer the books, but I also really like the movies. Some people think the books are too long-winded and slow, but I don’t agree. Modern editors also believe the books were written rather badly from a story-telling point of view - but I totally disagree with them. (I can explain this in more detail if you’re interested, but it’s all pretty technical stuff). But I would say that the problem with reading the books after watching the movies, is that you’ll have Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle Earth in your head - rather then your own. I don’t know if this is good or bad - but, for instance, Frodo is actually fifty years old when he starts his adventure - but the actor playing him in the movies was 20 when they started. All I would suggest is that you give the books a try - read half a dozen chapters before you decide…these are the best loved books of the 20th Century, don’t forget!
I don’t know! I’m on the second book now.
ok ill try them. i think my mom has the series up in the attic! now i have smoething new to read!!! can you pick a fav book out of the series?????
AFJ. The Lord of the Rings is all one big story - so you’d really need to read them from the start. I like book one best, because it has my favourite character in it and he doesn’t appear in the other two books.
When you say book one do u mean the hobbit??cause i think the hobbit is like the start of everything(although some dont agree wid that)what do you think??
AFJ. Yes, Melody - sorry - I meant The Three Volumes of The Lord OF The Rings are all one long story. You’re right - The Hobbit does kick the whole thing off, in as much as it explains how Bilbo got the ring from Gollum in the first place, but you can read the Lord of the Rings without reading the Hobbit. And when I say book one, I mean “The Fellowship of the Ring”.
ok thankyou and iv always womdered what happenes in the hobbit im not like asking you to give away the ending but what is it about?
AFJ. Would anyone like to give Liz a quick run-down of what The Hobbit is all about? (without giving away the ending!)
no offers yet! come on i really want to know people!
Well, i think The hobbit is very interesting –Its basically about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins(kinda like a creature with really hairy legs, short height…..etc.)who gets whisked away into an adventure(P.s The Bagginses were never known for adventures but bilbo’s mum came from a family where they absolutely loved adventures). So, Gandalf, a wizard and a group of dwarves choose Bilbo as their fourteenth adventurer and they set out on a journey to “burgle” the treasures from a really SCARY!! dragon!!……………….was that a bit too much???or was tt quite enough?:)Or do ya wann more?????:-)
well thats enough for now i dont want the story to be spoiled!
and yet i would not mind if mr.jones would spoil the 5th book of the farie path for me!!!!! im dieing to know!
I have just one question Mr. Jones. not about book 5, 6, etc… it is about book 3? Towards the end was there a specific reason you chose that one person to……”Kick the Bucket”? I just want to know, did you choose her specifically, or did you just randomly choose?
I’m absolutely sure that won’t affect book 5, 6, etc… Right …
AFJ. Addie - I’ve lost count of the number of people asking me why Zara “had to die” in book 3. Here’s my reasoning.
My thinking went in two stages:
1. I wanted readers to realize that battles and warfare are dangerous and horrible, and that good people die, even if the “goodies” eventually win over the baddies.
2. It was important if someone had to die - that it should be a character that people liked and would miss. After Tania herself, my favourite sister was Zara - I hoped other people would also really like her - so that the impact of her death would have a really powerful effect. Also, if Rathina died, some people might think “well, that served her right!” I don’t think anyone could think that Zara’s death was anything other than tragic and awful.
Also, I would say that from a pure storytelling point of view, it did need something as terrible as Zara’s death to snap Rathina out of Gabriel’s dark spell for long enough for her to take the action that she took.
I think that the number of people telling me how sad it was that Zara died, means that I pretty much got it right - as hard a decision as it was, and much as I still miss having her in the new books.
Will Tania still talk about how sad it is and how she really misses her?
AFJ. It’s a traumatic event for the whole Royal Family - it’s not something they’re just going to get over and forget.
In any more of the books when she goes to bed will she have nightmares about that day or cry?
I know i’m asking a lot of questions sorry.
that would be sweet and sad.
AFJ. In book five, Tania really has too much other urgent and difficult stuff to worry about to have a whole lot of time for remembering things like that - but in book six she certainly does remember Zara and feel terribly sad about her being dead - I wrote about that just a few days ago!
If this isn’t going to be explained in the later books…what does Edric think of the Mortal World? Because in book 4 Tania said she never asked him.
thats cool and sad i was so sad when she died but even though i miss her i think that in all good books someone that every one likes should die
AFJ. That question from Shannon about Edric’s opinion of the Mortal World is very interesting. Most of you have read the four books so far in the series -so, what do you guys think Edric’s opinion of The Mortal World might be?
I think he got used to it and he would definitely live with Tania there.
i dont know, i think that now he would have to think about it even if he did not have to be altradich’s servent (did i spell that right?) because of the row that he and tania had… but i think that if that hed never happened he would have lived there in a hart beat!
and i had a question for you, was edric all ready in love with taina before he really got to know her as even? and was he scared of going into the mortal realm when drake first ordered him to?
I know this answer is a little late but I was without my laptop for the weekend. Is your favorite character Boromir? My favorite in the first book was Galadriel.
Did Tania ever notice Edric when she was wholly Faerie? It’s kinda a follow-up from Liz’s question.
AFJ. Liz - as far as I can make it out, Edric never even thought about Tania romantically before he got to know her in the Mortal World. I’m pretty sure he would have been uneasy about going into the Mortal Realm (after all, he only went because Drake was too scaredy to do it himself!) - but I think the alternative - disobeying his Master and suffereing the consequences - would have seemed the worse option to him.
No, Zoey - not Boromir. My favourite Lord of the Rings character appears in the book but not in the movies.
But that is a really great question about Tania and Edric before she first stepped into the Mortal World. You know - I have never really thought about that! For sure he would have been there, quietly working away as Gabriel’s secretary or assistant or whatever. Faerie Royalty isn’t snobbish or standoffish, so she wouldn’t have thought him beneath her notice, but I think he would have kind of blended into the background a bit - she was being heavily romanced by Gabriel at the time. But a really excellent question!
Ok. I know this is like 20 questions(sorry), but before Gabriel, did Tania’s interest ever go to anyone else? And about when did Rathina start betraying her closest friend? And also, at the end of the first book, when Gabriel said ‘do not reach for that which is above you’, did Tania ever think that way?
AFJ. Zoey - I don’t think Tania was especially interested in boys before Gabriel came along to sweep her off her feet - but you never know…she may have been secretly seeing someone and I was never told.
It’s tricky to find out from Rathina when she started going bad. I don’t want to be unkind, because she’s basically a good person, but I think she may have been drawn romantically to Gabriel quite early on…which would have made it so much easier for him to enslave her to his will.
As for that quote - I really don’t think Tania would have thought she was “Above” Edric. In Faerie there are lords and ladies and cooks and groundsmen and servants and knights and king and queen and ordinary folks - but they all feel equal - so Gabriel’s comment wasn’t really the product of a Faerie upbringing, so much as a nasty way of making Edric feel small and useless.
poor edric!!!!!! i was always wondering, why did you diside that you wanted ratina to be able to touch isenmort? was it only because of the door that she and conner had to open?????
Ok I get it. Thanks. They all seem equal.
AFJ. You know, liz - for some reason, while I was organizing all the “gifts” for the princesses - I left Rathina out - but whether this was on purpose deep in my mind or an accident, I couldn’t tell you. But when it came time for her “gift” to be revealed - her ability to touch Isenmort just seemed perfect. The odd thing about that particular gift is that in Fearie is is pretty much useless - there IS NO Isenmort - or shouldn’t be! So, intriguingly, her gift only works in conjunction with Tania’s gift. What do you think about that? Could it be that before Tania did that first experimental sidestep and got lost, the idea was that those two gifts should work in combination and the two sisters should travel together between the worlds? Might that have been their destiny if Gabriel had not messed it all up? I mention this, because I have written a scene in book six where it is shown that as a small child, Rathina wanted her gift to be a “Warriors Heart” so she could go about the lands doing heroic deeds. (Rats! Now I’ve told you something about The Charmed Return - and I was going to be so secretive about it!)
what is the “Warriors Heart”?????????? and i just realized but wasnt taina’s gift for told? was she the only one that knew what her gift was????? cuz rathina didnt at least!
AFJ. I just think that the “warrior’s heart” comment from Rathina meant she wanted to be brave and gallant and noble and race around the country on a big horse saving beautiful dragons from evil maidens and stuff like that…
And you’re right, Liz, pretty much each other sister had a gift that grew naturally from their personality (or was given because it enhanced stuff they already did) - Eden was interested in the Mystic Arts before she got her extra boost of power, and Hopie was into healing and Zara music and Cordelia already loved animls and Sancha was the total bookworm. They were puzzled that Rathina’s gift didn’t reveal itself straight away. This means there was always something a little different about her, doesn’t it? And yes, you’re right - Tania’s gift was foretold - but that was because she was the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter - so they knew something special was coming!
What was Titania’s house again? In one of the books, Edric said something about Titania coming from a powerful house and so she’s a powerful woman…
ooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!! how DO you come up with this stuff! ur a genius!!!!!
One quick question, when we ask you questions, why do you refer to them as i don’t know, maybe Tania just… you wrote it and made it up, so it is your work and you think of whatever you want, but do you just let the characters have their own mind? when you write it is it really them that is writing just in your own spirit and mind???
AFJ. Addie, calling a character into being does not mean you can then control the likes and dislikes and behaviour of that character. Once they start thinking and speaking for themselves, I just have to go with the flow. Guessing how a character will behave in a particular situation helps with plotting, but sometimes a character will decide they want to do something completetly different than you had planned for them - then you have to re-plot to accommodate them. When I am writing about Faerie, all the characters are totally alive in my head - and when they speak to one another, I have no real idea what they will say until it appears on the page.
Wow! So its like you feel your characters? When ever I think of a story, it has to be a dream. I can’t think creatively when I’m awake.
i know this might sound weried but what works best for me is i just close my eyes and let the magic happen!