Ask the Author: R.J. Anderson
Answered Questions (26)
R.J. Anderson
I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed the books so much! Thank you for writing to let me know. And you're not wrong to ask about another story -- I have actually given quite a bit of thought to writing another book set in the same world and time period someday, one that would give us at least a glimpse at certain characters my readers already know. Unfortunately the right story (and the right time to write it) hasn't come to me yet, but I'm definitely not counting it out!
R.J. Anderson
Yes, it's done and ready to go -- the hitch has been figuring out how and when to publish it. Self-publishing is new to me and there's a lot to learn (and a fair bit of graphic design/formatting to do as well!). Plus I've been unexpectedly busy with speaking engagements these past few months, which has nibbled up the time I'd meant to work on getting the short story collection out. I have not forgotten, though! I will try to get back to it soon!
R.J. Anderson
My birthday is in March!
R.J. Anderson
Thank you for reading and holding onto your copies! I'm honoured you're still interested in continuing the story. But in all honesty I never planned to continue the story beyond QUICKSILVER, and I was never able to decide on a suitable narrator or plot for Book 3 even once readers started asking about it. So I won't say no absolutely, but if I ever write another book, it will be a surprise to both of us!
R.J. Anderson
Thank you, Corinne! I'm very glad to hear you found the books cheering during lockdown -- it's been a tough time for sure. And the answer to your question about a third book can be found by looking at my other answered questions! :)
R.J. Anderson
Sorry I didn't see this earlier! TORCH comes out in February 2021.
R.J. Anderson
I'm happy to say that there IS a third book in the series, and I'm doing my final edits of the manuscript right now! TORCH will be published by Enclave Escape as a limited edition hardcover and e-book starting in February 2021, with a paperback to follow a few months later. The series also has an exciting brand-new title -- The Flight and Flame Trilogy.
R.J. Anderson
Hi -- seven of my nine books are available in hardcover, paperback and e-books through all the usual online bookshops. And although the two books in the Swift series (SWIFT and NOMAD) are currently out of print and thus not available as ebooks anymore, it's still possible to find some copies through used bookstores if readers are interested.
If the Swift series ever became available on Scribd at this point, it would mean that someone pirated and uploaded the books without my permission, so right now I hope that doesn't happen! Sorry to disappoint you.
If the Swift series ever became available on Scribd at this point, it would mean that someone pirated and uploaded the books without my permission, so right now I hope that doesn't happen! Sorry to disappoint you.
R.J. Anderson
Hi, Robert, thanks for asking! I can't speak directly for any of my publishers, as I only know what they tell me and they don't always choose to disclose all their reasons and rationales for offering two-book contracts rather than three. All I can do is try be flexible and take nothing for granted when it comes to planning out a proposed series!
As it happens, I have never sold more than two books at a time. My first two faery books were sold to both the US and the UK with the understanding that I wanted to write a third book to round off the series but that would depend on the sales figures of the first two. Ultimately the UK was pleased enough with the success of KNIFE and REBEL to offer me another two-book contract which enabled me to write ARROW and SWIFT (and a little after that, NOMAD); but my US publisher wasn't interested in any more books, which left ARROW without a North American home until Enclave Books bought the US paperback rights to all three and published them as a trilogy a couple of years ago.
In the case of ULTRAVIOLET/QUICKSILVER, I only ever planned two books from the beginning, so there was never a third to publish... even though a lot of my readers who are used to trilogies were quite puzzled by that, and I still get the occasional note asking about it.
As for the POCKET FULL OF MURDER duology, I did originally propose three books but the publisher wasn't sure how the first two would sell, so they offered a two-book contract instead. As a result I smooshed my ideas for Book Two and Book Three into one, which became A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON. I don't really feel anything important was lost in the process, though -- I managed to wrap things up just the way I'd wanted to, even if I didn't get there by the route I'd originally imagined.
In short, publishing is a tough and uncertain business, and unless you are already a well-known and successful author and/or have a really fabulous high-concept idea that your publisher feels confident will be a hit, it's unlikely they'll offer a three-book contract right out of the gate. I've also seen people who *did* get contracted for a trilogy have the third book pulled out from under them at the last minute, which I think would be MUCH more awful than only being offered two books in the first place! That's never happened to me yet and I hope it never does.
As it happens, I have never sold more than two books at a time. My first two faery books were sold to both the US and the UK with the understanding that I wanted to write a third book to round off the series but that would depend on the sales figures of the first two. Ultimately the UK was pleased enough with the success of KNIFE and REBEL to offer me another two-book contract which enabled me to write ARROW and SWIFT (and a little after that, NOMAD); but my US publisher wasn't interested in any more books, which left ARROW without a North American home until Enclave Books bought the US paperback rights to all three and published them as a trilogy a couple of years ago.
In the case of ULTRAVIOLET/QUICKSILVER, I only ever planned two books from the beginning, so there was never a third to publish... even though a lot of my readers who are used to trilogies were quite puzzled by that, and I still get the occasional note asking about it.
As for the POCKET FULL OF MURDER duology, I did originally propose three books but the publisher wasn't sure how the first two would sell, so they offered a two-book contract instead. As a result I smooshed my ideas for Book Two and Book Three into one, which became A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON. I don't really feel anything important was lost in the process, though -- I managed to wrap things up just the way I'd wanted to, even if I didn't get there by the route I'd originally imagined.
In short, publishing is a tough and uncertain business, and unless you are already a well-known and successful author and/or have a really fabulous high-concept idea that your publisher feels confident will be a hit, it's unlikely they'll offer a three-book contract right out of the gate. I've also seen people who *did* get contracted for a trilogy have the third book pulled out from under them at the last minute, which I think would be MUCH more awful than only being offered two books in the first place! That's never happened to me yet and I hope it never does.
R.J. Anderson
Thanks, Hayley! I am working on a couple of ideas right now -- waiting on some feedback from a publisher to see which one I should write first. One is a brand-new world/story, and the other is... not. We shall see which one wins!
R.J. Anderson
Thanks for asking! I'm so glad readers enjoyed the series and would like to see more. I did hope to write three books originally, but my publisher only wanted two books, so for POISON I smooshed the ideas for Books 2 and 3 together and tried to wrap up the series in as satisfying a way as I could.
All of which means that I don't really have a third book planned at this time... although I have been toying with the idea of another book set in the same world, albeit featuring different characters, a few years later. If I ever do that, we'll certainly see at least a bit of what Isaveth and Quiz have been up to!
All of which means that I don't really have a third book planned at this time... although I have been toying with the idea of another book set in the same world, albeit featuring different characters, a few years later. If I ever do that, we'll certainly see at least a bit of what Isaveth and Quiz have been up to!
R.J. Anderson
I originally hoped to write three books, but my publisher only wanted two, so smooshed my ideas for Books 2 and 3 together and wrote A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON instead. I still may come back to the Uncommon Magic world in a future novel, but if I do, it'll probably be a different adventure with different main characters (though that's not to say we might not get a glimpse of Isaveth and Quiz somewhere, too!).
R.J. Anderson
I'm terribly sorry I didn't answer this question earlier -- I didn't even know it existed until now! It may be too late for your purposes, but the illustrator for KNIFE and REBEL is Brian Froud, while the ARROW cover was done by an art studio mimicking his style. The covers for SWIFT and NOMAD were illustrated by Rory Kurtz.
(And in case anybody is wondering about the other books/editions, the original US hardcover (aka "Faery Rebels") was illustrated by Melanie Delon, the German ones by Bente Schlick, and the US paperback re-releases by Kirk DouPonce.)
(And in case anybody is wondering about the other books/editions, the original US hardcover (aka "Faery Rebels") was illustrated by Melanie Delon, the German ones by Bente Schlick, and the US paperback re-releases by Kirk DouPonce.)
R.J. Anderson
Very kind of you to say so! And you're certainly not the first to ask about a third book in the series. But while I'm not categorically opposed to the idea, I don't have any strong sense of what (or who) the next book should be about. A few enthusiastic readers have made suggestions, which is flattering. But alas, I need my own creative vision to write a book, not someone else's... and right now I also need to focus on writing new series that publishers will buy instead of old ones that aren't so marketable. If more readers had bought QUICKSILVER I might have a different answer for you! But that's where things stand right now. Thanks for reading!
R.J. Anderson
Wow, thanks! I'm honoured to hear you've enjoyed the Faery Rebels books so much and are looking forward to more.
The short answer is that I'm not able to continue the Faery Rebels series at present (though I've always wanted to write one more book to properly finish off the story I began in SWIFT and NOMAD, and I still hope to do that one day even if I have to self-publish it). But I am working on a new fantasy story that I hope will transport and enthrall my readers just as much as the faery books did, or more so. Stay tuned!
The short answer is that I'm not able to continue the Faery Rebels series at present (though I've always wanted to write one more book to properly finish off the story I began in SWIFT and NOMAD, and I still hope to do that one day even if I have to self-publish it). But I am working on a new fantasy story that I hope will transport and enthrall my readers just as much as the faery books did, or more so. Stay tuned!
R.J. Anderson
Thanks, Mara! So happy you enjoyed NOMAD, and thanks for the kind words! I have definitely not forgotten about that third Ivy book, though when I'll have the chance to write it or how it's going to get to readers is still very much up in the air...
As for the series that began with A POCKET FULL OF MURDER, the sequel A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON is coming out this autumn in North America. When or whether it's going to be available anywhere else in the world, however, is anyone's guess... and it does look as though POISON is going to be the last book in the series. It's all duologies instead of trilogies for me these days!
As for the series that began with A POCKET FULL OF MURDER, the sequel A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON is coming out this autumn in North America. When or whether it's going to be available anywhere else in the world, however, is anyone's guess... and it does look as though POISON is going to be the last book in the series. It's all duologies instead of trilogies for me these days!
R.J. Anderson
Thank you, Roxie! I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying them.
R.J. Anderson
I've just sent my editor the first draft of the second book of my magical mystery series, the first of which comes out next month in the US/Canada and January in the UK as A POCKET FULL OF MURDER. The book I'm working on doesn't have a confirmed title yet, but it's scheduled for late 2016.
R.J. Anderson
I did watch LOST for a while back in the day, but I'd already written the short story that eventually became ULTRAVIOLET by then, so I wouldn't consider it an influence. It really owes a lot more to THE X-FILES and classic DOCTOR WHO, among other things...
R.J. Anderson
There is currently no e-book edition of KNIFE available in the US, since a new edition is coming out in July from Enclave Publishing -- but I didn't realize that Canada was currently stuck without an e-book of KNIFE as well. I've contacted my agent and we're working on it -- I very much appreciate you bringing it to my attention!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Aug 26, 2024 04:06PM · flag
Aug 26, 2024 09:34PM · flag