Diary - September 2007:

Hello,

Hope you’re all enjoying the new websites that have been put up for our books, the Far-Flung Adventures, the Edge Chronicles and Barnaby Grimes. Spending a bit of time on the computer is the perfect pastime this summer, as the weather's been so cold and wet.

I think our favourite bit is the time-line on the Edge Chronicles site - complete with magnifying glass - where you can see everything that has happened in the century in the Edge that the nine books depict. If you want to have a copy of the pull-out time-line itself, you'll find it inside The Lost Barkscrolls. As well as the time line, the book has four novellas in it: Cloud Wolf and the Stone Pilot, which some of you may have read before; the Slaughterer's Quest and the Blooding of Rufus Filatine. It'll be in the shops and libraries at the beginning of September.

The first book of our latest series is out. It's called Curse of the Night Wolf and in it, our hero Barnaby Grimes - a Victorian 'tick-tock lad' - has to grapple with a ferocious creature that is terrifying the city. He travels around the city high up on the rooftops. This method of getting about is called 'high-stacking'.

We had a great day promoting the publication of the book. We signed books all over London, we were interviewed on One-Word Radio and Paul read a couple of extracts, and then in the evening we had an excellent public event in Richmond. A big hello to all those who came along. A huge storm broke while Paul was giving a reading. It certainly added to the 'Victorian' atmosphere!

Most of our time recently has been taken up with Book 10. It's going to be in four parts, and we've almost completed the first part. We've got a long way to go but we're having so much fun exploring the world of the Edge in this, the Third Age of Flight. Our young hero is a phrax-miner by the name of Nate Quarter. At present, he is happily living and working in Great Glade - but all that is about to change...

We were sent a website link that you might like to check out. It's called www.edgechronicles.forumsvibe.com and is a lot of fun. For us, the best thing is reading all your ideas for what might be going to happen in Book 10. Some of the ideas are really weird and made us laugh out loud. But a couple, we've got to admit, are getting pretty close to the way we envisage the ten-book series concluding. The thing is, we're not saying which ideas... You'll have to keep guessing!

Both Paul and Chris get lots of lovely fanmail, and they always try to answer it all. Sometimes, though, a letter comes without an address. This happened recently to one of our American fans, a fifth-grader called Tommy Legge. So, if you're reading this, Tommy, thanks for the great letter! And for the rest of you, if you do want to put pen to paper, make sure your address is on the letter rather than on the envelope, so it doesn't get separated.

Well, it's time to return to Book 10. There’s a very important thousandstick match just about to start on the playing fields in the Silver Pastures. Mustn’t be late...

Keep reading!