Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year

Another year over, and what a year it was.

2012 saw me jetting around the world yet again, meeting lots of lovely Minions, some of which laughed, some of which blathered, some of which stared, and some of which hyperventilated and cried tears of unbridled joy. I expected nothing less.

It saw another Skulduggery book reach number one in the Bestseller chart, despite a few bookshops releasing it early and risking my wrath (which is terrible and frightening. Honest it us. You can ask anyone).

It was also a year of writing and looming deadlines. I started the year without a single word of KOTW written, but within three months or so I had a finished manuscript that is probably my favourite of anything I've produced so far. Then The Maleficent Seven turned out to be 20,000 words longer than I had anticipated, so when November came I was still writing the damn thing, instead of starting Book 8 like I'd planned. The good news, of course, is that TMS turned out to be a whole heap of fun, and I have a feeling you'll like it when it's released in... in... oh God, when is it released? March? I think?

The whole thing started, by the way, because of the speed you lot raced through Deathbringer. After a year of hyping yourselves up and building excitement, the book was released and suddenly you had another year to wait for the next one. And for some reason I began to feel guilty about that, so I decided  to release something small between KOTW and Book 8, and Tanith's little adventure was born.

Book 8 is progressing well, you'll be happy to know. 25,000 words so far, which is roughly a fifth of KOTW. I don't know how long the new one will end up being, but it'll PROBABLY be fairly substantial. There's a whole lot of war to get through, after all.

Of course, while 2012 brought with it great surprises and good news, it also provided no news at all on the movie front... at least no news that I can talk about. I've been writing the script myself (and it is AWESOME) and I'd have liked to be able to announce some kind of film deal before the end of the year. But things move slowly in Hollywood, and things move even slower because I'm extra-cautious after what happened with Warner Bros (still awesome people, by the way). So just be patient, and eventually I'll have something to say. Good things come to those who wait.

(Well actually, good things come to those who work really hard to make those things happen, but whatever.)

But as the year draws to a close, I like to remember the things that I've enjoyed.

2012, after all, brought us these guys


 And this lot...


And this...


... this...


... this...


... that...


Oooh and this slice of awesomeness...


And it brought us Haywire...


... and so more of Gina Carano...


... which is ALWAYS a good thing...


And it had Ronda Rousey defending her Strikeforce title...


AND moving to the UFC...


And 2012 gave us Michelle Jenneke, for which I am eternally grateful...


... and my dear beloved Jenna...


Further words about Jenna, I think, need not be spoken.



And so, as we wave goodbye to 2012 and welcome 2013 with open arms, I thank you for all your support. And I'm not just talking about the Minions who comment on this Blog, or the Minions who populate the Forums or the Facebook page or Skuldpedia or the Roarhaven page, or the Minions who obsess about Skulduggery on tumblr or have set up their own websites, and I'm not just talking about the astonishing artists and writers who frequent deviantART and those nutters who follow me on Twitter EVEN THOUGH I NEVER TWEET...

... I'm also thanking YOU, the many silent Minions out there who read this Blog but don't comment. Whenever I talk about how proud I am of the Skulduggery readers, I don't just mean the readers I know. I mean you, too.

So, thank you for everything, and I hope you all have an amazing 2013.


4,920 comments:

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Stephanie Edgley said...

My sister'll be on soonish. I'm being prepared and saving tome by logging into the account she uses beforehand.

I DON'T especially like unicorns, that's the thing. *grins*

Jophiel said...

Oh, and I don't like pandas! I've decided that in the last few moments... Pandas are funny!

White tigers on the other hand...

Stephanie Edgley said...

That is ooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooo
OOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo
oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooo
ooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooo
oooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Etc.

Stephanie Edgley said...

I think I'm now really scared of tigers. O_O

I was watching The Life of Pi at the cinema yesterday. Tigers = scary.

Stephanie Edgley said...

Which was, btw, about this person who ended up being stuck in the middle of the Pacific on a lifeboat with a tiger.

Jophiel said...

Tigers = Ren and Kishan
Ren = Beautiful Indian Prince with cobalt blue eyes and sweet poet!
Kishan = Beautiful Indian Prince with gold eyes and bad boy!

Unknown said...

hi all bye

Jophiel said...

Wow, how I do envy Pi!

Nixion Strange said...

Looks like I gotta go
Bye!

Jophiel said...

Hi Brad! Bye Brad!

Bye Nix!

Lynxia Lost said...

I come here to drink tea and kick ass - and I'm all out of tea...

Morning guys! It's taken me an hour to convince Sally to let me on and I have until 11 at the latest. Is Star and her Legolas-hating sister here yet?

Stephanie Edgley said...

I'M HERE! *this is Star, btw* *runs off to get sister*

HI LYNXIA!

It wasn't fun, Death. It was SCARY.

FOURS NIX!

Lynxia Lost said...

Excellent...

Jophiel said...

I <3 Legolas!!!

Team Lynx!!

Lavender Hope said...

LYYYYYNNNNXXXIAAAAAAA!!!

SHAAAAAAADDDDDDDSSSSSSS!!!!!
*turns into a bird, flys high and dives at Shads*
*slows down and turns into human self at last second*
*flyingtacklehugs*
*gets up, helps her up, and gives her a normal, though slightly tight, hug*

*talks fast*
I missed you like crazy! Yeah, I typed this beforehand cause it would have taken too long to type in the moment. :P

Anyway, I couldn't decide which name to call you, so I used both. Though I think I'll stick with Shads from now on, cause I bet you haven't been called that in a while. Well, maybe, maybe not. *Pauses for breath* Since I haven't been on until recently, I'm not sure what people call you now. But I'm calling you Shads.

Lynxia Lost said...

Thank you Death. With the power of L's we shall do this!!

L
LEGOLAS
LINK
LOKI
LEN
LUCIANA
LYNXIA

Jophiel said...

I love tigers!!!

Lavender Hope said...

*continuing talking fast*
Anyway, I just reread your One for You, Two for Me story yesterday, and it made me think of how much I miss the old gang, as Mist calls us. Oh, speaking about the old gang, have you seen his last What If? I'm planning on writing an end, plus an extra after, so it'll be on my story/singing blog. Just so you know. ;)

*talks normally again*
Phew, now I'm out of breath. Heh. Sorry. I'll stop. Just wanted to say, it's good to see an old(not like, old-old, but- you know what I mean, right?) friend.

Oh! And I'm sorry, but every time I try to read your blog, the app on my iPod keeps shutting down on me. So I haven't read anything in a while. How's A Murderer's Dance coming along? I bet you finished Crescent and Patchwork and the other stories you started while I was still on. Unless, of course, you've been busy.

Wow, I haven't felt like myself in a while(the feeling of talking nonstop). I've been unusually quiet lately... But yay! You brought the old happy-talkative-bubbly me back! :D

Okay, now I'll let you have your fight with Dark. Star said you two were going to have a fight about Legolas or something.
*steps back with a grin*

Star Inkbright said...

NOW I'M BACK ON MY ACCOUNT. And my sister is on her - well, my account. My other one. Yeah . . .

Lynxia Lost said...

Hey Lav!!! Nice to see you too! The reason I'm not any more is because my laptop is dead. Call me whichever - I don't mind!

Jophiel said...

LANDY!

Star Inkbright said...

HI LAV!

Stephanie Edgley said...

I'm here!!!

Lynxia Lost said...

*pulls out microphone with CV-02 printed on the side* YOU WILL FACE PUNISHMENT BY JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!

Jophiel said...

I little Ink!

Lavender Hope said...

Hi!
*laughs*
I typed that all out before Shads came on. So I could do that fast enough. Otherwise it would have taken forever. :P

Star Inkbright said...

*clutchs ears* OW, LYNXIA.

Little Ink? '~' *grins*

Lynxia Lost said...

*whips out bow and arrow and lets loose a volley into the sky towards Dem, covering the air above her too*

Fly - I want to see your wings get ripped to shreds.

Stephanie Edgley said...

*flies into sky*

Lynxia Lost said...

*microphone switches to megaphone* KOWASHITE!!!!!!!!!

Star Inkbright said...

*sees sister typing something about flying into sky*

NOOOO! DAS IST COWARDICE!

Stephanie Edgley said...

(after the arrows have gone past)

Lavender Hope said...

I hope you can get a new laptop, Shads.

Too bad you just missed Nix.

Jophiel said...

Permission to glare?

Lynxia Lost said...

Ha ha ha ha ha!!! *the arrows cut through Dem's wings* Just to be safe... *let's loose another volley*

Star Inkbright said...

LYNXIA, I NOW PROCLAIM YOU AN EAR-MURDERER.

*whispers to Dem* Charge at her?

Lynxia Lost said...

*growls*

Hajimeru no yo kore wa sensou!!!!

*uses the shadows to rise up and shoot after Dem* Fine, airborne fight it is!!

Lavender Hope said...

*has just realized the battle started*
Oops. Hehe.

*quietly and safely watches from the side*

Star Inkbright said...

OOH. BADNESS. *climbs up tree and waves numbing leaving at Dem*

Stephanie Edgley said...

*Thows dagger at Lynxia*

then goes to safety.

Jophiel said...

*Twitches*
PERMISSION TO GLARE?!

Star Inkbright said...

AT WHOM, ANTHROPOMORPIC PERSONIFICATION?

Lynxia Lost said...

Sure Death! *rolls and dodges dagger then tackles Dem out of the sky*

*laughs* Time to fall, little birdy... *pulls out knife and cuts feathers off Dem's wings*

Stephanie Edgley said...

Could you throw the leaves star?

*Sits in cave waiting for leaves*

Jophiel said...

Little Inky?
*Puppy dog eyes*
You might need to explain my power to her though...

And why do you call me that?

Star Inkbright said...

*throws leaves* *watches them flutter briefly before landing on ground* Er.

Stephanie Edgley said...

Bad throw.

Stephanie Edgley said...

*tries to pull dagger towards her with powers she doen't have*

Star Inkbright said...

Because that's what Terry Pratchet says death is.

*looks at featherless Dem* When she glares at people, they die an agonising death, I think. The agonising part is definitely right. I think.

Lynxia Lost said...

*finishes cutting off feathers*

*pummels Dem into the ground* Let's see you fly now, without your primary feathers!

Jophiel said...

Yep!
*Grins*
*Glares at little Inky*

Stephanie Edgley said...

*REmembers other dagger and hits lynxiabin the stomack*

Star Inkbright said...

*holds mirror in front of Dem*

Star Inkbright said...

To counter the glare, I mean.

Luciana said...

L is the best letter.

Loki, Legolas, Link. The three L's.

It's like the whole Joverload thing... So many hot men with their name beginning with a J. O_O

Lynxia Lost said...

*rolls back holding stomach* *hisses in pain* You'll pay for that, brat!

*charges and throws back into the lake*

Jophiel said...

*Tilts head*
*Glares harder*

Jophiel said...

*Fall backwards*
*Screams*
Damn mirrors!!!!

Lynxia Lost said...

*is still bleeding* Only one way I'm gonna be able to stop this right now and win. *grins* Normally I wouldn't be happy about this but do you know what it means?

Star Inkbright said...

*puts mirror right in front of Death's face*

HI SCÁTH!

Lavender Hope said...

*refreshes page*

Like I said at the top of the page, I bet Derek has a ton of pageviews from everyone refreshing the page so much.*

*not my exact words I know.

Sorry guys. Dinner's ready. I gotta go.

BBBBYYYYYEEEE!!!!!

Star Inkbright said...

:( FOURS LAV!

Lynxia Lost said...

Goodbye Lavender.

Luciana said...

Hello :)

...Lynxia is going to win. *nods* Her name begins with L and that's reason enough:3

Jophiel said...

Bye Lav!!
*Dies from glarring*

Stephanie Edgley said...

* gets dagger no. three and chops lynxia's bow in half*

Take that!

Luciana said...

Bye Lav!:(

Star Inkbright said...

Not any more, Scáth. It begins with E now.

*looks at Elaisse* *hides behind mirror*

Lynxia Lost said...

*holds hand over stomach and the shadows heal it*

I don't need the bow now, girl. *holds out hand and black energy pours into it* Ready to die? *throws energy at Dem*

Luciana said...

The second letter is an L. That'll do. :')

Stephanie Edgley said...

Uh oh

*begans kicking elaisse's legs*

Star Inkbright said...

. . . Sorry, ANTHROPOMORPIC PERSONIFICATION . . .

You can share the flimsy wooden gravestone with Eve, Nix and Flame!

Here lies an ANTHROPOMORPIC PERSONIFICATION, who was very anthropomorpicky and a personification.

Lynxia Lost said...

*sighs and rolls eyes*

Really?

*kicks Dem once in the face and she flies back into a tree, snapping it in half*

Star Inkbright said...

*anthropomorphicky

Star Inkbright said...

*gasps in horror* THE POOR TREE!

Stephanie Edgley said...

*fALLS INTO LAKE*

*stays under water *

Jophiel said...

You did not want to kill me... Well, Death at least...
*Yells a war cry*
*Grabs sword*
Now, your dead

Lynxia Lost said...

*jumps into lake and holds Dem under*

This seemed a little too easy...

Jophiel said...

*Runs into lake after Dem*
*Swings sword and cuts along her arm*

Stephanie Edgley said...

Ok....

....but legolas still looks like a girl

Jophiel said...

That's it!
*Throws Dem into the air*

Lynxia Lost said...

*rips out Dem's hair making her scream* DAMARA SERU!!!!! KEEP DROWNING!!!!! *shoves her under the water again*

Luciana said...

LEGOLAS IS JUST A BEAUTIFUL ELVEN MAN THAT IS INCREDIBLY HOT. AND THE MAIN REASON I LOVE ORLANDO BLOOM SO MUCH. :)

Stephanie Edgley said...

* breath and tries to fly but fails and fall on soft grass near healing rocks*

yay!

*heals my self*

Jophiel said...

Ah! Orlando Bloom...
*Sigh*

Lynxia Lost said...

* straddles Dem* You may be healed but it won't stay like that!

*pulls out Knife and makes her face Joker-style then cute her wings again and blinds her*

Jophiel said...

Damn those healing rocks!
*Picks Dem up and bangs skull against tree*

Star Inkbright said...

*laughs* Dem, you're awesome. *smashes ink at Ju-whatever-her-name-is*

*pours ink in lake, then moves the liquid away from Dem's face*

Stephanie Edgley said...

*fleis to moon and throws daggers at earth*

Star Inkbright said...

Sorrt, I was emailing Eve.

*cries at yet another tree being harmed*

Lynxia Lost said...

*ties rope around Dem and drags her back* Forgetting I sliced up your wings again? Here's a reminder! *completely cuts off the right wing*

Jophiel said...

Wow, the moon!
*Glares at moon*

Star Inkbright said...

Me and Dem are irl arguing about whether or not she can fly to the moon.

Jophiel said...

*Cuts off left wing*
You made me angry...

Star Inkbright said...

NO! IF YOU KILL THE MOON, YOU'LL MILLIONS OF PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THE TIDES AND VOLCANOES GOING WONKED!

Lynxia Lost said...

*high fives Judhipur* Not very often I get along with alter egos but I quite like you.

Lynxia Lost said...

What a shame, millions dying, LET'S DO IT!!

Stephanie Edgley said...

*uses healing rock that i took and flies to mount everest cause i can't brethe on the moon*

Jophiel said...

I was glaring at the wingless person on the moon...

Elassie, I think I like you too! Your fun!

Stephanie Edgley said...

Brb

Star Inkbright said...

Um, you can't breathe on Mount Everest?

Yes, brb also. :(

Lynxia Lost said...

*repairs bow and shoots Dem on Mount Everest* Damn healing rocks! *destroys them all*

KOWASHITE KOWASHITE KOWASHITE!!!!!!!

Jophiel said...

*Calls Flethcher*
Hi! I need you to take me somewhere... Me and a friend... To mount everest! Thanks!
*Teleports Elassie and myself to Mount Everest*

Jophiel said...

*Throws toffee at Elassie*
Merry Christmas!

Lynxia Lost said...

Teleportation is handy... *remembers I can do whatever I like* Oh yeah! This IS fun!!!!!! Now come out Birdy...

Luciana said...

Uh, msd.

Might be going shopping:3

I need some new high heeled shoes and I should buy those books I keep being told to read...Like the Heroes of Olympus. Since I'm so obsessed with PJ xD

I need to find some more manga, too. And if I'm going to Donny there might be some Anime I can buy:3

...sorry. I have this thing where I have to know what I'm looking for:P

Jophiel said...

Come out Birdy, Birdy, Birdy!

We want to play...

Star Inkbright said...

Back! Msd, csgd.

Lynxia Lost said...

Here Birdy, let us cut your wings...

((Have you read Captive hearts, Luce? I thought that was pretty good!))

Jophiel said...

Okay! Maybe bye

Jophiel said...

We only want to play...

Lavender Hope said...

I'm back too!

Hi Elaisse. :)

Lynxia Lost said...

*is throwing energy between hands like a ball* Just a quick game... Very quick... >:]

Jophiel said...

Hi Lav!

Death Rose is dead, and now me, her true self his here...

Jophiel said...

Wanna play ball Elassie?

Jophiel said...

We just want to have some fun!
*Hums 'Girls just wanna have fun'*

Lavender Hope said...

Everyone's knowing their true names. Thrust even knows Star's.

I haven't found mine yet.

Jophiel said...

I lovey true self... I really wish Eden would come on now...

Lynxia Lost said...

Sure, soon as birdy shows... I'm afraid that I'll have to go soon though. Y'know?

I have cities to destroy, dreams to crush and lives to end while Lynxia has to go to work. It's killing though so it's not so bad...

Jophiel said...

Does Lynxia work? Where?

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