Destiny’s Path: Rhiannon of the Spring

By Allan | Friday, 17 June 2011 at 12:06
Category: Writing | Tags: , , ,

The first book in the re-published series formerly known as Warrior Princess and now called Destiny’s Path hit the stores on the 6th June. Most of you will know the story behind this, but for any of you who missed the explanation, here’s the thing: Harper Collins New York originally commissioned me to write 4 books in the Warrior Princess series. Because of cut-backs due to the economic climate, they decided not to publish book four - despite it being written and handed over to them in plenty of time, and despite the fact that the editors really loved it. This decision was not based on quality, but was the product of number-crunching by accountants and the need to save money. Shame, but what can you do about it?

Well, it turns out that there is something that can be done. People wanting to follow Branwen’s adventures with the Shining Ones to their end, can buy the fourth book in the stores if they live in the UK or Canada or Australia or New Zealand - and can buy it on import or as an e-book if they live in America. The British publisher Hodder Hachette have bought the series and are re-packaging and re-publishing the first three books and are also committed to releasing the missing fourth book.

The only slight complication is that they didn’t much like the series title “Warrior Princess” and decided to change it to “Destiny’s Path” - which is fine, except that the 2nd book of Warrior Princess is also called Destiny’s Path - so that could be confusing. Also, some of the people at Hodder Hachette didn’t like the American covers - so there was a lot of debate about that by their various departments before it was finally decided to go with covers that are only slightly different from the originals - which is good, because I liked them.

The publication schedule for the 4 books goes like this:

Book 1: Destiny’s Path: Rhiannon of the Spring - June 2011.

Book 2: Destiny’s Path: Govannon of the Wood - September 2011.

Book 3: Destiny’s Path: Merion of the Stones - January 2012.

Book 4: Destiny’s Path: Caradoc of the North Wind - April 2012.

The thing to remember is that books one to three of Destiny’s Path are virtually the same as books one to three of Warrior Princess - the only differences are tiny editorial corrections that I made. So, if you have already bought the first three Warrior Princess books (Warrior Princess, Destiny’s Path & The Emerald Flame) - the only one you need is Caradoc of the North Wind. I’m explaining this upfront so no one feels cheated because of having bought the same book twice with different titles!

On the Faerie Path front, I’m planning on having a final meeting with a UK representative of the publishers in July - I’ll report back, but I don’t want anyone to get their hopes up about a 7th book - things are not looking good.

Meanwhile, the first book of The Six Crowns series is doing so well that it has already gone into reprint in hardback, which is great news.

Finally. I’m working on a new series aimed at boys - a kind of boy-spy thing that a UK publisher has commissioned. I’ll let you know more about it when the paperwork is done and the contracts have been signed. I know this isn’t something that the majority of you people are longing for - but rest assured I’m not going to abandon Tania and Co. Promise.

The Six Crowns Launched!

By Allan | Saturday, 9 April 2011 at 08:49
Category: Writing | Tags: ,

I just thought I’d write and tell you that the first book of the brand new The Six Crowns series is in the stores now. It actually came out on the 1st of April - no fooling!colour-sl1-trundle-and-esmeralda2

The series is fantasy again (I do like fantasy, I don’t care what anyone says…) - but it is quite different to The Faerie Path and Warrior Princess. For a start, all the characters are talking animals - and the hero and heroine are hedgehogs - and here is a picture of them, drawn and coloured by the amazing Gary Chalk. The one sitting on top is Esmeralda Lightfoot, she’s a Roamany and she has strange magic powers. The one flat on his back is Trundle Boldoak, a quiet, home-loving kind of guy who gets ripped out of his simple, straightforward life by Esmeralda and sent off on wild and dangerous adventures.

The series is aimed for a younger age group than the Faerie Path - kind of from 8 to 12 - but older people than that have read the first book and they’ve told me it’s a lot of fun - which is great, because that’s exactly what it’s meant to be. So,even if you think you’re too old for these books, maybe you could buy one for a younger brother or sister or cousin or friend - and then sneakily read it yourself before handing it over.

There is a dedicated website for the series. You can find it at www.thesixcrowns.com - and Gary Chalk and I will be running competitions regularly with signed books as prizes, and also with framed and signed copies of some of Gary’s coloured artwork - like the picture here. Please take a few minutes to look at the site - I’d love to know what you think, whether you’re 8 years old or 68 years old!