One of my favorite sayings is “when something goes wrong, just yell ‘plot twist!’ and move on.” I use it whenever the unexpected happens–good or bad–and this saying has been echoing around in my house lately. There is so much going on I hardly know where to begin! Hamish says begin at the ending, but I can’t find that either! So here is your monthly update, in no particular order.
*The Bad Wolf TV Series*: as most of you know, the All Souls Trilogy was optioned for TV by Bad Wolf last year. Writer Ashley Pharoah, Producer Jane Tranter, and I have been working to bring the stories to life for the small screen. We now have the first two episodes drafted, as well as the series overview for an 8-hour first season that covers A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES in its entirety. Hopefully there will be many seasons after that to cover the full range of the books. Smashing ADOW into 8 hours is still tough–but it’s a lot easier than 90 minutes, let me tell you!
Ashley is a wonderful writer, with many credits to his name, and I think that you will be very pleased with his insights into the characters and the plot. Even the most dedicated fans, who have memorized nearly everything in the book, will find something new and fresh in the way we are telling the story on screen. I’m not going to say anything more than that at the moment, but I look forward to telling you all about our approach to the books as soon as I can.
Ashley and I will be sharing the writing responsibilities for the first season of shows, and are working as a team at the moment as we begin to work out the production logistics. I still don’t have news on broadcasters, but trust me: when I can report those details I will. Ditto for directors, cast, and broadcast date. Fingers crossed that the autumn brings lots of long-awaited announcements.
It has been an absolutely amazing experience to work through ADOW with TV in mind, figuring out what we can amplify because of the different medium and what works on the page that just won’t come across right on the screen.
*Further Adventures of the Bishop-Clairmonts*: I’ve been working away on THE SERPENT’S MIRROR, and as usual (plot twist!) this means that I have lots of other ideas for more stories about the characters in the books. Gallowglass, Baldwin, Verin, Ysabeau, Sarah and Em, Rebecca and Stephen–I can’t go anywhere these days without being inspired in some way with a vignette, a few lines of dialogue, a conundrum. It’s exhilarating but exhausting to be living with the assorted crew once again. Who knows where they are leading me (never mind when we will reach our mysterious destination…) but this is what writing is: a journey of the imagination. So I just keep on writing and will let them sort it out.
Right now, I’m in a very creative period in both the TV project and my own writing. That makes me a bit hard to pin down. I say no to most invitations. I’m lost in thought most of the time, or scribbling things down on pieces of paper, or walking aimlessly around the house. This usually lasts for a few months until–plot twist!–whatever story it is that I’m telling starts to resolve itself. For THE BOOK OF LIFE there was more than a year of wandering around and six months of very structured writing. I’m feeling like my year of wandering is drawing to a close and that six month blast of getting words on the page is just around the corner…
I hope that all of you are enjoying the long days of summer–or the short days of winter, if you are south of the equator. I’ll be back at the end of August with another update.
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