Derek Landy

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Derek Landy is an Irish writer and kenpo karate black belt. He has written several successful screenplays including 'Dead Bodies' and 'Boy Eats Girl,' but he is perhaps best known for his work as a young adult author on the best-selling series 'Skulduggery Pleasant.'

The first book in the series, entitled simply 'Skulduggery Pleasant', won the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book of the Decade Award as well as the Red House Children's Book Award. The second, 'Playing With Fire', won an Irish Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, but the third, 'The Faceless Ones', is his mother's personal favourite. A total of nine books are planned for the series.

He lives in Ireland with a variety of cats, a German Shepherd, and two geriatric Staffordshire Bull Terriers who keep peeing on his kitchen floor because they think it's funny.

Author's Comment: Q: You've previously written horror films - how different did you find the process of writing a novel?

A: Writing for film is a lot of fun, and most scripts are only one hundred pages long, so some scripts can be written over a few days or weeks. Writing a book is completely different. It takes a lot longer, for a start, and it requires so much THINKING...

But on the whole, it's a lot more rewarding. Film scripts are interfered with by producers, directors, and financiers - whereas when I'm writing a book I'm totally free. It's a wonderful feeling, and I can just let my imagination go crazy over the page. And my imagination LIKES going crazy!

Nationality: Irish