Saturday, December 13, 2008

Checking in

Hello, Pellinorites. I see that I haven't written anything here, except answers to comments, for far too long. But now it's getting near to Christmas, I'm going on an actual holiday next week, and I've shut up shop on my theatre blog, which gobbles up all my blogging time. And I thought I should wave a hand and sprinkle some Christmas dust for my faithful readers.

Life has been jogging along quite undramatically. The US edition of The Singing is getting closer and closer, and the odd proofing query is still dribbling in (amazing, really, by the time the books get to the States, I calculate they've been proofed by about 10 people, including me...and there are still tiny corrections...) I keep getting boxes of German books, which are piling up in the garage. I don't know any German fantasy readers, so I'm not sure what to do with them. But what each box means, when it arrives, is that another print-run of the book has been released in Germany. Judging by the boxes, Pellinor readers in Germany are beginning to add up. As they are elsewhere. The Gift is now on its 12th reprint in the UK - I've lost count here. And apparently it's been sold to Portugal, with things in the works in France. So Alison's Plans to Take Over The World continue to move. Bwahahaha...

It's all very cheering, and it's all because of you readers. I am very grateful. Because the Pellinor books aren't a big advance, glamorously hyped series. These sales haven't been driven by publicity, but by word of mouth. Your mouths. I'm grateful to all of you.

So may you all have a brilliant Christmas/Solstice/Hanukkah/Muharram/holiday/Bardic festival of your choice. And I'll be back in the New Year, hopefully with a new book. Not a Pellinor book. Just another one. That's the plan, anyway. It's about time I wrote something else. Wish me luck!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merry whatever-you-celebrate-in-December!

Twelve print runs in the UK is impressive, especially considering (at least up here) that your books are a little hard to get hold of. All the bookshops around here tend to stock one of your books, but unfortunately it's usually The Riddle or The Crow, so they sit there for months until someone actually decides to order The Gift. Not that I monitor what books are on the shelves or anything ...

Anyway, my own shelf at home looks rather neat and brilliant with the Pellinor books all matching and nice sitting there.

And I'm rambling, so once again, merry December!

Emily Cross said...

Alison - congratulations on taking over the world one country at a time :)
Its great to hear the Pellinor books are doing so well. I know that without a cetain aussie fan (mallie) i would never have read your books. So word by mouth (or by email) seems to work!

anyhoo, i hope you and yours have a great xmas and happy new year, and i hope you get lots of great ideas for the new book!! I can't wait to read it!

Anonymous said...

Best of luck, Alison and enjoy your vacation. I look forward to reading your new novel. It's been almost a year since I first discovered your series in the library, and I can't wait until The Singing comes out in March.

Unknown said...

I live in the US, but I couldn't wait any longer for the Singing to come out here so I ordered from British Amazon. It looks peculiar next to my American copies of the other books. I know quite a few other people who have ordered their books over the web like I did. Your books are already in America!

Anonymous said...

Excellent to hear. Luckily I obtained a position at Borders. Therefore, whenever someone asks me to recommend a fantasy book, I always say yours - and needless to say that they always come back for the next three. I love gloating that I have I met you and that I have four wonderful signed books sitting on my shelf. Are they jealous much? Yeah. Yeah they are.

Hope to hear more news soon!

The Griffin Family said...

Okay Shadowjhunter, I am so jealous that your four books are signed, but the fact that I have all four sitting on my bookshelf makes makes me happy. Alison, I can only hope that I can actually meet you someday and get my books signed, then I can gloat too! I can't wait for your next book, I'm dying to read something good. Happy Holidays to you.

Alison Croggon said...

Many thanks all - and yes, the vacation was GOOD. As you can see in my latest post! Shadowhunter, you are the best of secret agents! I am delighted to hear of your opportunities for gloating. And I would be thrilled to sign any books for the Griffin Family. I hope I get the chance one day!

airforcebrat23 said...

Hello, Alison!
I am one of your US fans. I stumbled across the first three books of Pellinor when I was on vacation in New Mexico for Thanksgiving in November. I bought The Naming, and enjoyed the beginning so much that I went back to buy The Riddle and The Crow before I was even half through with The Naming!

I teach 6th grade (11 and 12 year olds) and have asked the school librarian to order your books for our school library. I can't wait until The Singing comes out here in March!

Anonymous said...

I am from India and a huge fan of this series.:-))))
I just finished reading the entire pellinor series and am overwhelmed.I think this was a truly enjoyable and amazing read. I cant' thank you enough for that.I just chanced by your books at the library one day and couldn't resist having a peek.There followed two weeks of agonising wait for me to get the 3rd and 4th books.I must say however that I do feel just as empty as you might have after completing the series. I wanted it to go on forever.I had transported me into this totally different world.I cried, I laughed, I grieved and I felt throughout my read.
I have felt such an impact over me only once before and that had been with LOTR.
However, I have one question-What exactly is Maerad's third name??