Diary - April 2009:

Hello,

After two years of work - and a lot of fun! - we've finished the Immortals and it has now been published. We're so pleased with the way it's turned out. Some of you may have noticed that it has appeared in two formats. One is the hardback, with a dust-jacket and end-papers. The other is what is called a trade paperback. It is the same size as the hardback, but has a soft cover.

As those of you who followed our diary will know, we went on tour - Edge to Edge - visiting schools, libraries, theatres and reading groups all over the country, and reported back through a blog. After a shaky start, because of snow bringing all the trains in the south to a halt, we had a fantastic time. It was really good to meet so many readers and to be able to talk about the final book in the series.

Since then, we have also been up to Norfolk, visiting schools and a wonderful reading group in Aylsham. And this week we have been to Moulsecoomb Primary and Bedales Prep. A big hello to all the boys and girls we met in both places. We also did a week-long tour in Germany, visiting schools, theatres and book-fairs, and going on tv. We went to Munich, Berlin, Leipzig and Cologne, and Paul, who used to live in Germany, gave all the talks in German. It was great getting for him to speak the language again - and because Chris couldn't understand a word, he had loads of time to do extra pictures of Edge creatures...

We had some excellent questions while touring with the Immortals, most of which we were able to answer! One that we ended up discussing between us after the talk was, 'what happened to Goom and Woodfish?' As you'll remember, after the skyfiring of Twig and Cowlquape at the end of Midnight over Sanctaphrax, crew-members Goom the banderbear and Woodfish the waterwaif, along with Maugin the stone pilot, were left at Riverrise.

The fate of Maugin, we dealt with in the Stone Pilot (the second story in the Lost Barkscrolls) and in the Immortals. We also know that, unlike Maugin, both Goom and Woodfish gave up waiting for Captain Twig and left Riverrise, separately, to make their way back to the Deepwoods.

However, that part of their story is in none of the books. Sometimes this happens. There are little pieces of Edge history that wouldn't fit into the books, and so we had to devote separate stories to them. One example is Keris - Twig's daughter and Rook's mother. We wanted to tell her story, but it didn't quite work in the trilogies, which is why we wrote the Slaughterer's Quest (the third story in the Lost Barkscrolls).

As the Immortals is the final book in the Edge, we have decided to tell the story of what happened to Goom and Woodfish on line, which brings me neatly to news of our new website...

Although we have completed the story arc of the Edge Chronicles and, as American analysts put it, 'achieved closure', we've decided to report back from the Edge, to show what's been happening there since the end of the Immortals.

Set in the third age of flight, when vast skycraft powered by phrax crystals have explored the furthest reaches of the Edge, the blogs tell of the experiences of Hedgethorn Lammergyre and Forden Drew. They are two settlers who have made their home in the distant Farrow Ridges. (Have a look at the new map in the Immortals.) With its deep lake, its forested hills and labyrinthine cave system, the place is a challenge for any settler, and the pair of them detail what it is like living in this far-off outpost of the Edgeworld.

Each week they send a blog from the Farrow Ridges, along with drawings of the landscape, characters and creatures they encounter there. You can find it all at www.weirdnewworlds.com See you there!

Keep reading!