Hello all.

Things are coming together on the “The Invisible Order” front. (Note that this is now the name of the series and not the name of book one. See below.) I’ve handed in the first round of edits to my wonderful editor, Ruth Katcher. During the edit I managed to cut out (mostly on Ruth’s recommendations) about five thousand superfluous words, mst of it needless stage direction. “Emily glanced over…”, Emily looked across…”, Emily wakled slowly toward…”. Yes, this kind of thing is needed occasionally, but not in the amounts I’d put in. I’m not sure if this comes from writing for television or not, but it’s a habit I’ve got to break.

Now to the title. After some discussion between my editor, Egmont, my agent, and myself, it was decided to change the title of the series from “The Hidden Histories” to “The Invisible Order.” It was felt that having ‘Histories’ in the series title might be a bit of a no-no where middle grade/YA readers are concerned, and seeing as The Invisible Order features strongly in all the books, it seemed the perfect name to use for the series. Book one has now been retitled “Rise of the Darklings.” I love the new title, but I think it’ll take a while for me to get used to it, only because I’ve been calling the book “The Invisible Order” for the past five years or so, ever since it started out as a short story in the anthology “Under Cover of Darkness”.

So that’s where we stand. I’m currently planning out book two, and it’s coming together nicely. Looking forward to getting started on it. I’m contemplating buying a macbook and Scrivener to write on, ever since trying out the program on Caroline’s mac. It’s so much better to write on that M$ Word.

Greetings, everyone.

I love lists. They gather subjects of interest into easily digestible clumps of brain yumminess. I also love Twitter. (I’m @paulcrilley, in case anyone’s wondering.) So when I discovered I was on this list of the 100 best authors on Twitter, I was very chuffed indeed.

The list was put together by Cameron Chapman and is up at SocialTake.com and The Tech Town. You should check it out. There are some seriously cool writers there, most of whom I’ve added to my follow list. You’ll find me listed right after Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately, the list is alphabetical, and not listed according to popularity. If I had the same amount of followers as Neil Gaiman I’d be able to repopulate the village where I live twice over. But hey - baby steps, right?

Wow. It’s been rather a long time since I updated the blog. Not that I was very good at updating before, but now that I’m on Twitter, I find myself using that instead of blogging. But it occurred to me I should post an update of some kind. My second Eberron book is almost finished. Another week and I think it will be good to go. I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets when I say it features my Sharn detective, Abraxis Wren, and his long suffering sidekick, Torin.

In other book new, I received the edits for The Invisible Order this week as well. All good notes, although one of the suggestions will, while making the book much stronger, require a pretty drastic rewrite. Not that I mind. If it makes the book better, I’m game. So as soon as Eberron #2 is sent off, it will be onto the rewrites, and then after that straight on to Book two of the Hidden Histories, The Fire King. Looking forward to that, as I’ve got quite a few ideas knocking around in my head.

I’m also still working on Star Wars: The Old Republic. The learning curve on this was intense, but I think I’m finally getting it. I realized today that it was about a year ago that I first started the auditioning process for the game. Can’t believe a year has gone past so quick.

I finally got the go ahead to announce the news I’ve been sitting on since October last year. (And believe me, there’s nothing harder than keeping your mouth shut when all you want to do is crow from the rooftops. Er, metaphorically speaking.) So here it is. I’ve sold the first two books in my middle grade series, The Hidden Histories, to Egmont US. Here’s the listing from Publishers Marketplace.

CHILDREN’S: MIDDLE GRADE
Paul Crilley’s THE INVISIBLE ORDER and THE FIRE KING, the first books in a fantasy series about a 12-year-old girl living in Victorian London who gets caught up in a centuries long secret war being fought between the various factions of Faerie and mankind, to Regina Griffin at Egmont, in a good deal, at auction, by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown (NA).

Obviously, I’m over the moon. The first book won’t be out for some time yet, and I’m going to start work on the second book in a month or so, but just to be able to speak about it is an amazing feeling. Getting through the auction days (the auction spilled over into two days) was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I’ve ever had, and at the end I was floating around the house feeling extrememly light headed and checking my email over and over to make sure it was all real.

Huge, massive thanks go out ot my wonderful agent Ginger Clark for making it all happen.

So I was shaving in the bathroom, making myself all spiffy for tonight’s New Year’s Eve bash, (Caroline’s mum is looking after the kids and we’re getting a taxi so we can enjoy a little drinkie poo. Party on Wayne), when I saw the reflection of this monster from the Deepest Pits of Hell staring at me. The thing is massive. It wouldn’t even fit into the palm of my hand. (Not that I plan on actually putting it into the palm of my hand, of course.) Note how you can actually see the flash reflecting in its eyes!

And check the blood on the tiles from its last murderous feast.

I had to use to martini glass to catch it as it was the only thing we had with a wide enough rim.