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Derek Landy

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Derek Landy
Landy in Edinburgh, August 2011
Landy in Edinburgh, August 2011
Born (1974-10-23) 23 October 1974 (age 49)
Lusk, County Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
GenreChildren's fantasy
Notable worksSkulduggery Pleasant and Demon Road series
Notable awardsRed 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 and Demon Road book series. Since 2018, he has also written numerous comic book series at Marvel Comics.

Career

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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.[citation needed]

Frustrated with the collaborative process of filmmaking, Landy moved on to writing the Skulduggery Pleasant series, starting with the novel of the same name.[1] The novel was published by HarperCollins, who paid £1.8 million for the publishing rights,[2] growing to comprise a nine-book series, a six-book sequel series, a spin-off, and a prequel, with a third (three-book) series in development.

In 2007, he signed a deal with Warner Bros. worth an estimated US$1.1 million for the rights to adapt his Skulduggery Pleasant series, which he intended to adapt himself.[3] However, his script was constantly rewritten and Landy, unhappy with the results, bought back the rights. He sold the rights to another company which could not make it, then worked with another company that "petered out". As of 2020, he was working on an adaptation with an undisclosed film making company.[4]

Landy is a fan of Joss Whedon's works, notably Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.[5] 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". Landy was consequentially hired to write an episode for the second series of the Doctor Who spinoff Class, only for the series to be cancelled before the episode he wrote could be produced.[6]

Personal life

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Landy attended Drogheda Grammar School during his childhood years, and later studied animation at Ballyfermot College.[7] He also has a black belt in kenpo karate.[3] Prior to his contract with HarperCollins, he worked on his parents' vegetable farm.[1] Since 2016, he has been dating Laura Jordan, a fellow writer from Sittingbourne, Kent, with the couple living in Rush, Dublin.

Reception

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In a review of his first book, Skulduggery Pleasant, Sarah Webb of the Irish Independent wrote that it "is taut, full of zippy dialogue and fantastical visuals".[2]

Awards

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In 2008, Landy won the Red House Children's Book Award.[8] 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.[9] In addition in 2010 Skulduggery Pleasant (Sceptre of the Ancients) was voted as Irish book of the decade.[10]

Bibliography

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Skulduggery Pleasant series

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First series (Phase 1)

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Second series (Phase 2)

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Third series (Phase 3)

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From the World of Skulduggery Pleasant

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The Demon Road Trilogy

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Marvel Comics

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Stories
Comic series

Miscellaneous

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  • Doctor Who: "The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage" (2013), short story

References

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  1. ^ a b Dwyer, Clara (11 December 2011). "Plotting a great escape". Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b Webb, Sarah (24 February 2007). "Skulduggery that's worth a cool £1.8m!". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Warner Bros. scoops high-profile kids' book series". Reuters. 24 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Derek's up to Skulduggery". independent. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  5. ^ Rowbotham, Jill (6 March 2010). "Pointing the Bone". The Australian. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Class writers tease scrapped Weeping Angel storylines for cancelled Doctor Who spin-off".
  7. ^ Spain, John (24 February 2007). "Gardener in ?1.5m book deal hailed as new JK Rowling". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  8. ^ Pauli, Michelle (31 May 2008). "Hay festival: Derek Landy wins Red House prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  9. ^ "List of winners". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Homepage of Sponsor". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
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