Diary - December 2008:

Hello,

It's always exciting for authors when publishers turn their manuscript into an uncorrected book proof. It was done with the first book in the Edge Chronicles, Beyond the Deepwoods, and now it has been done with the last in the series: the Immortals.

An uncorrected book proof looks like a paperback, but is different from the finished article. The cover is a rough version of the final dust jacket, and there are small differences in the text because it is bound up before the final proofreading. The reason for binding the proofs is to provide a sneaky preview of what's soon to come. Already, hundreds of copies have been sent out to reviewers, librarians and bookshops.

The finished cover is dark and brooding, and depicts four of our main characters. There is Nate Quarter, armed with a phraxmusket and dressed in military gear. Eudoxia Prade, her phraxpistol raised. Slip the scuttler, the bandy-legged goblin from the phraxmines of the Eastern Woods, kneels beside them, his bow and arrow at the ready, while behind the three of them looms Weelum, their loyal and protective banderbear companion.

The words of the title - THE IMMORTALS - are picked out in holofoil, riveted metal plates which reflect the technological changes that have come to the Edge in the last five hundred years and glow like stormphrax itself. At the centre of the letter O, you'll see a glowing ball of light. This is the phraxchamber, the powerhouse that keeps the mighty fleets of sky vessels airborne. For this is now the Third Age of Flight.

As you all know, the First Age of Flight made use of the buoyant rocks that grew in the Stone Gardens and ended when stone sickness struck the Edge. The Second Age of Flight became possible when Tweezel the spindlebug's remarkable varnish produced sumpwood skycraft buoyant enough to fly. Later, when scientists managed to harness the power of phrax crystals, these one-person skycraft were superseded by vast sky galleons - though some still prefer to travel in the old way.

With this new Edge technology, however, came dangers. Like the splitting of the atom in our own world, which led to endless power but also nuclear bombs, so the harnessing of the power of lightning has not only ushered in the spectacular Third Age of Flight, but also deadly weapons that could destroy the Edge world completely...

As ever, we've been out and about, meeting hundreds of kids and introducing them to our worlds. We had a great time in America promoting Barnaby Grimes, going to schools and libraries in Washington, St Louis, Memphis, Oxford, Nashville, Austin, Denver and Phoenix. We talked to a huge crowd in a Vancouver bookshop, and spoke to a hall full of teachers at a conference in Texas. An especially big hello too to everyone we met back in the UK at Ravenscourt Park School, in the Medway libraries, and at the Bluehouse Festival in Oxted. And we've just come back from a day in Winchester at the Wessex Bookfair where it was great to meet so many fans, both at our talk and in signings throughout the day. We'd like to think some of the books we signed are going to end up under the Christmas tree this year as presents!

We've dedicated the Immortals to Joseph and William, our sons. They were three years old when we first started work on the Edge Chronicles. Now they are eighteen. For the fifteen years in between they have shared our journey through the Edgelands, sustaining us with their enthusiasm, advice and countless conversations. But you, our readers, have played your part too, encouraging us with your wonderful letters for more than a decade, and we'd like to thank you all for accompanying us as we've explored the Edge.

Have a very merry Christmas, and keep reading!