So, this is what I’ve been doing whilst I should have been writing poems… Over a year since I first began my experiment with self-publishing children’s fiction, the final part of my Delilah Dark trilogy is out (published under the guise of my alter-ego, Evie Glass).
It’s called Delilah Dark vs. Destiny, and resolves all those big questions my readers have been asking themselves – why do BigCorp want to destroy the world? Why is Delilah’s dad working for the baddies? When will Delilah and the young mind-reader Will Jones admit they fancy each-other? And in the final battle between good and evil, can the cynical young psychic be relied on to pick the side of light?
Here is the very cool, gothy cover Richard has made me:
This book ended up taking a lot longer than the others – nearly three months, on and off. It was harder to write the final installment, what with plot threads to resolve and twists to stage-manage, but it also felt a bit sad to say goodbye to my characters. I hope those who’ve read the first two books enjoy it anyway, and find it an exciting, satisfying conclusion.
It will probably be my goodbye to self-publishing too – sales haven’t really justified the hours I’ve put into the project, and with new revelations about Amazon’s tax-avoidance, etc. emerging every week I do realize I’ve been working for the enemy to some extent (they’re actually starting to resemble my shadowy organization BigCorp). Still, there have been many positives – besides having learnt a lot about the new world of e-books, I’m still pretty excited whenever I get a download or 5-star review in the US, to think of a young reader thousands of miles away being immersed in a world I’ve created. And I’m definitely inspired to write more children’s stuff (have some ideas bubbling.) I was interviewed by Indie ebook review at the end of last year, so further thoughts on the experience are here…
In the meantime, to hustle up some attention for Delilah Dark vs. Destiny I’m doing a promotion, and tomorrow and Sunday (March 16th and 17th) the first book of the trilogy – The Discoveries of Delilah Dark – is going to be free. If you or any young readers you know got a Kindle for Christmas and haven’t tried Delilah yet, do please download a copy. It’s aimed at 9+ – with a similar level of scariness/sophistication to the Harry Potters – though I’ve had plenty of enthusiastic adult readers too. As ever, any ‘likes’ or reviews on Amazon would be hugely appreciated, they really do seem to make a difference to sales.
Now perhaps I’ll get back to the poems. Aside from commissions and translations, I don’t think I’ve written any since summer…
clarepollard 