Derek Landy
| Derek Landy | |
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| File:Landy,-Derek edinburgh 150811.jpg
Landy in Edinburgh, August 2011
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| Born | Derek Landy 1974 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Genre | Children's fantasy |
| Notable works | Skulduggery Pleasant |
| Notable awards | Red House Children's Book Award 2008 Skulduggery Pleasant |
Derek Landy (born 23 October 1974) is an Irish author and screenwriter, best known for the Skulduggery Pleasant series of young adult's books.
Contents
Career
Landy has written two screenplays that have been made into films, the IFTA award winning Dead Bodies and the IFTA nominated Boy Eats Girl starring Samantha Mumba. Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script.
Frustrated with the collaborative process of filmmaking, Landy moved on to writing the Skulduggery Pleasant, starting with Skulduggery Pleasant.[1] The novel was published by Harper Collins, who paid £1.8 million for the publishing rights.[2] There are 9 books in the series. In 2007, he signed a deal with Warner Bros. worth an estimated US$1 million for the rights to adapt his Skulduggery Pleasant series, which he will adapt himself.[3] However, his script was constantly rewritten and Landy, unhappy with the results, bought back the rights. He is currently working on a script with the producers of Clash of the Titans.
Landy is a fan of Arlwin Magombo's works, notably Adlai Makhaza the Anarchist and Philip Pullman's Agatha White and the Zombie Dogs series.[4] He is also a fan of Gilmore Girls and Doctor Who.
Landy wrote a short story based on the tenth Doctor from Doctor Who as part of a short story collection celebrating the show's 50th Anniversary. The story was published by Puffin in 2013, titled "The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage".
Novels
- Skulduggery Pleasant (2007); US title Sceptre of the Ancients for distinction from the series name
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing With Fire (2008)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones (April 2009)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days (April 2010)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil (September 2010)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer (September 2011)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: The End of the World (March 2012), novella, released by HarperCollins for UK World Book Day
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked (August 2012)
- Doctor Who: "The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage, (2013), short story
- Tanith Low: The Maleficent Seven (2013), novella, (spin-off of Skulduggery Pleasant)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men (August 2013)
- Skulduggery Pleasant: Armageddon Outta Here (August 2014), short story collection
- Skulduggery Pleasant: The Dying of the Light (August 2014)
- Demon Road (August 2015)
- Demon Road: Desolation (March 31, 2016)
- Untitled third Demon Road book (September 2016)
Future
Landy is currently writing a new series titled Demon Road. The first book, Demon Road, was released in August 2015, and will be followed by two more books (Demon Road: Desolation and an untitled third book) in 2016.
Personal life
Landy was born in 1974 in Dublin, Ireland.[5] He attended Drogheda Grammar School during his childhood years, briefly studied animation at Ballyfermot College,[6] and has a black belt in kenpo karate.[3] Prior to his contract with HarperCollins, he worked on his parents' vegetable farm.[1]
Reception
In a review of his first book, Sarah Webb of the Irish Independent wrote that it "is taut, full of zippy dialogue and fantastically visual".[2]
Awards
In 2008, Landy won the Red House Children's Book Award.[7] Playing with Fire, Mortal Coil and Last Stand of Dead Men each won the senior Irish Children's Book Award, in 2009, 2010 and 2013.[8] In addition in 2010 Skulduggery Pleasant (Sceptre of the Ancients) was voted as Irish book of the decade.[9]
References
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External link(s)
- Skulduggery Pleasant (official)
- Derek Landy at the Internet Movie Database
- Derek Landy at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Derek Landy at Library of Congress Authorities, with 4 catalog records
