That’s right, I was convinced to change the names of major characters in The Secret of Fezar. Thus, “Kinnel” and “Tasil” took a tumble along with some key concepts and other names of people and places.

The siblings are now called Yavi and Fahe. It wasn’t as easy as doing a search and replace. These were well-know, well-fleshed characters, and changing the names was almost like saying goodbye to them and reincarnating them as new people.

Yes, Tasil and Kinnel will be missed, but I feel the change is for the better. I am liking the new names, but more significantly they fit better with my world. Also, “Tasil” was not an original name, since a Tasil exists in the Shadow in Eternity series, albeit in the background (Wahid’s wife, if anyone remembers Wahid).

All these changes were the direct result of some astute feedback from my editor. It also spurred me to work on a date and time system for the world the story is based in. More on that later.

Goodbye, Kinnel and Tasil.

~PD

The Secret of Fezar is the first book in the series called Satin. I’m undecided which one sounds better, though I’m inclined to go with the former.

This is a story about a family secret, and a very apt demonstration of the proverb, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Find out more here.

The book is finally going into production, and watch this space for updates about cover, Website, etc.

Disclaimer: No cats were harmed in the writing of this book, and none will be in the reading of it.

~PD

So anyhow, to cut a long story short, though eminence is a far-off nightmare dream, no harm in compiling a list of my own. Here’s hoping it doesn’t affect my relationship with my accountant, have a bearing on my sex life, or make me believe in religion…

1. Uninstall all IM software: Really, truly. In fact, getting away from the Net is good, on the whole, except that it sometimes comes in handy to look things up. I have to admit, I don’t follow this rule. I’m bad.
2. Don’t try to plot your novel if that doesn’t work for you: I find it impossible to plot out a scene-by-scene story. I just need to let stuff happen. I never expected Nira to catch the speld — she just did.
3. Don’t worry about chapters: Working chapters is usually something I bluff my way through. A chapter break happens when I think to myself, “Oops, I haven’t had a new chapter for ages.” It seems to work. After all, Terry Pratchett doesn’t do chapters, does he? He’s inspirational!
4. Characters without the right name have no life: I beg to differ with Shakespeare — the name is everything. A two-metre-tall nerdy Scandinavian called Bill would have turned out very different from Noah.
5. Give yourself a deadline and treat it seriously: I promise myself a treat when (and if) I meet the deadline.
6. Get some honest reviews: I’d rather know from friends that my precious work-in-progress is crap than from strangers.
7. If you get stuck at some point in the story, move on to something else: No point being frustrated with a part that just isn’t coming together. I move on to writing something completely different or to another part of the story. When I come back to the problem later, I’m always surprised how much the break helped.
8. Also, don’t write in chronological order if you don’t want to: I just write the bits I have figured out first and worry about what comes after what later on.
9. Writer’s block happens: So no point fretting over it! I try and enjoy the break and not feel guilty about it.
10. Free-writing really helps: In fact, they have proved to be an effective antidote to writer’s block for me.

If anyone has any other rules for themselves, I’m curious to hear.

~PD

Well, as things are going right now, there will probably be a sort of mini-book, a novella, if you like. It will basically be an attempt to catch up with the present.

The events unfolding in The Timeless Land (book 3) happened in 2006, when Maya was 14. It might be interesting to look in on her and her friends in the “present” day and find out what life is like.

I have a working title right now — Amazing Grace — but things could change…

~PD

1. Don’t make lame excuses about not updaing my blog
2. Redesign my site (eeeep!)
3. Put the entire site on a single CMS (double eeeep!)
4. Redo the Halvard Castle site (yes, it’s so hopeless that I’m not even linking it!)
5. Do a site for the Vakker book
6. Upgrade Web development skills (yes, Niklas, that means return to my JS books)
7. Learn something new this year (a language, a skill, whatever; JS doesn’t count)
8. Write more.
9. Finish the Shadow in Eternity IV novella (there, it’s in writing now!)
10. Go out more
11. Don’t pretend to be happy about things I’m not
12. Buy a vehicle, even if it’s a bicycle
13. Start on (and preferably finish) a new book
14. Be happier and complain less
15. Do my tax returns
16. Visit Europe
17. Stop being scared of pregnant women
18. Stop being scared of babies
19. Play more games
20. Start following football again

That’s all folks.

~PD

Scholastic’s Spooky Stories has my contribution called “Mirror-Self”, which is about a young girl who discovers her grandmother’s creepy secret. In addition, it has eight other stories, from Anshumani Ruddra, Nilanjana Roy, Arunava Sinha and others.

The Puffin Book of Spooky Ghost Stories, edited by Jerry Pinto, is of course from Penguin’s children’s imprint, Puffin. It has illustrious names such as Ruskin Bond, Jerry Pinto, Subhadra Sen Gupta and Paro Anand. There are thirteen horrific tales in this collection, and “Virus Here” is the title of my story, about an 11-year-old who finds a little surprise lurking in her new laptop.

Check them out if you can. Targeted at the age group 10 and above, you’re never really too old for a nice little scare, are you? Chills down the spine are good for health!

~PD

The Secret of Fezar is the first book in the series (hopefully!) titled Satin. Here’s a short synopsis.

Tasil’s privileged birth makes her heir to the Marik family’s title, and her future is mapped out before her. Just 14 and about to enter the Academy of the Flame to train as a mage, Tasil is expected to take over the reins at Marik from her mother in the years to come. But the headstrong young woman is drawn to trouble like a moth to a flame.

Meanwhile, her older brother Kinnel has been pleasantly surprised to find that his late grandfather who hated him has bequeathed him his precious journals and artefacts from his travels to the North Lands. His curiosity is further piqued when he finds that none of the writing on the mysterious artefacts makes any sense to him, which is odd given that Kinnel is a talented word mage. As he considers a trip to the North Lands, he asks Tasil to accompany him.

Kinnel, Tasil and their friends’ search leads them to a mysterious North Land estate where they tumble into a remote, surreal world that blurs their own perceptions of reality. Who is the ageless woman Minar and what secrets does she hide behind her enigmatic smile? Is there a reason behind her reclusive existence? Where does she get the money to manage her vast estate?

Magic is forbidden in the North Lands, and mages are despised and distrusted there. Yet as Kinnel and Tasil unfurl the secrets of long-forgotten Northish magic, little do they realize how their own futures are wound with it.

Provided I finish writing it on time, The Secret of Fezar ought to be out in April November 2010. Watch this space for updates.

~PD

For those of you in Delhi, this appeared in the Indian Express on Monday, 10 August 2009. It’s in Newsline on page 6. For those without access to Express, including me, sadly, here’s a little glimpse:

~PD

It’s funny that I never realized it before, but one thing that motivates me best is to go and hang around in bookshops! And I don’t mean Blossoms or Bookworm, who mainly deal with used books — I mean shops that sell new books. Being surrounded by new books, picking up the odd one and reading the back (or flap), being amazed at the number of great ideas around you… I find there’s nothing better than that to reconnect you with your writing self.

Having spend the morning in Landmark today (bought Malorie Blackman’s The Stuff of Nightmares), I found myself suddenly excited about what’s going to happen next in Kinnel’s Prison. Our friends are about to enter the mysterious, surreal world of Minar’s estate… [Insert creepy music here]

Of course, the thought that the sooner you finish your damned writing, the faster you could end up on the shelves yourself is a great kick up the backside. Alternatively, you could try keeping track of Niklas’s writing when he’s going through one of his prolific phases — it’s bound to completely inspire or totally demoralize!

Happy writing!

~PD

After months of blood, sweat and toil, The Timeless Land‘s cover has been finalized and it looks like we’ll be rolling out soon. Just to recap — yes, it has been a long time and you’re forgiven for having forgotten — the Shadow in Eternity series consists of:

• Book 1: A Shadow in Eternity
• Book 2: The Key of Chaos
• Book 3: The Timeless Land

Hoping to be back very soon with news of the book being out! Meanwhile, what do you think is going to happen? Who will die and who will live?

~PD