We’re delighted to announce that the first few copies of the British paperback of OATH BREAKER have just arrived... containing the FIRST CHAPTER of GHOST HUNTER!

To celebrate, we’re giving away twelve copies of OATH BREAKER to twelve lucky Clanners!  This is an easy contest to enter... you’ve already seen the fantastic video featuring Michelle and the wolves of the UK Wolf Trust.  Well, not all of us are lucky enough to "go wild" with the wolves, but most of us do have a “wild animal” at home.  Post a photo of your own wild creature – dog, cat or ferret – looking their wildest – all entries must be posted in the special contest forum before midnight this Saturday.  And... good luck!

Writing winner DeathWalker's story:

We’re delighted to say that the first CLANCAST has just been posted, featuring your questions to Michelle about Fa's real name, Torak's world, what would she change about the series, the difference between elk and moose, which character she loves most, which Clan is her favorite... oh, and dozens more!  Click here to go to the podcast page directly.

There will be FIVE ClanCasts released over the next week – make sure you get them all – if you have an MP3 player, it’s easy to download them and listen when you want – full instructions on the podcast page.

Michelle has just finished writing book six in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series – GHOST HUNTER!

For the next month or two, she will be huddled away with her editor making final changes, edits and polishes to the manuscript.  Later this year it will go to the printer –under conditions of strict secrecy. No-one – and we mean NO-ONE –will be allowed to get a sneak preview before it’s published.

Of course, Clanners are all VIPs, and will always be at the very top of the list when it comes to getting the inside news... so we’re DELIGHTED to announce that Michelle will be breaking away from editing – just for a few hours – and coming in to The Clan’s offices to answer YOUR questions!

This really is a very special opportunity for you to ask ANYTHING you want to about the series.  What’s even better – we’ll be recording her answers and making the mp3 available  right here on The Clan.  So you won’t just get to ask a question-  you’ll also get to hear her reply to you!

We’re very grateful to Michelle for making time to do this. But the deadline is tight – you MUST get your questions in by THIS FRIDAY – 27th February.

Post them here in the special “Ask Michelle” forum.  The best question will win a fantastic, personally-signed prize!  So get writing!

Here is an excerpt from DeathWalker's great writing entry:

 Dawn
Effa gazed longingly at the orange-tinged clouds above the towering forest trees. He had always wanted to touch them, feel them on his fingertips. They would feel soft, so soft, just like a wolf’s fur. He absently reached out towards them, then snatched his arm back, feeling foolish.
“You’re such a stupid oaf,” Effa mumbled.
Keisa, untidily sprawled on the dew-beaded grass next to the rushing river, called over, “Cloud-dreaming again, Effa?”
Effa felt heat rising up in his cheeks. “Of course not!”
Keisa chuckled.
“I see…” She trailed mischievously off.
Effa blushed furiously, but held his peace, respecting the dawn.
The dark sky was streaked orange and red, the light chasing away the dark, the night giving way to day, the dawn of a new beginning.
Birds stirred in their warm nests, ready to burst into melodious song to greet the great light in the sky which is their friend. Day animals rustled through the forest, while the creatures of the night retreated to the dark safety of their black burrows.
Sweet birdsong filled the air as the sun burst through the horizon and spread its golden light over the land. Keisa’s lovely soprano twined around the birds’ song, creating a perfect melody that haunted anyone who heard its unnatural beauty.
Amid the pleasant trilling, no-one noticed the canoe gliding silently along.

........

View the full story on the original forum page here, or click on the "Fan Fiction" link on the top-most menu bar to see the full story.

HELLO EVERYONE! I'd like to say a big thank-you for all your letters, cards, emails and postings on torak.info.

As many of you already know, I don't have access to the Internet at home - because if I did, I'd spend most of my time following what's happening in The Clan, rather than writing. However, I did recently take a look, and I was fascinated to read your comments on OATH BREAKER, as well as your ideas about what might happen in GHOST HUNTER. Some of you were way off target, some of you were pretty close - and all of you showed serious imagination, as well as an understanding of the characters, and of Torak's world.

This time of year is my absolute busiest, as I'm working extremely hard on the sixth and final book in the series, GHOST HUNTER. I'm happy to say that it's going really, really well. (It's giving me bad dreams, which is always a good sign, particularly where Eostra is involved!) However, it is quite a weird sensation to be writing the final book. At the moment, it seems inconceivable that I shall soon by saying goodbye to Torak, Renn and Wolf. I know that I'll miss them terribly. In another way, though, I know that I'll be delighted and proud to have brought Torak's story to a dramatically satisfying conclusion. And already, others' stories are simmering away in my subconscious...

But, to return to GHOST HUNTER. Why is it called that? Needless to say, I'm not going to tell you, as I don't want to spoil things for you. However, I will say that the title has several meanings in the story, which takes place in the High Mountains -
but towards the south of the mountains (as seen in the main map on the endpapers of each book). So in a sense, GHOST HUNTER brings Torak's story full circle. I'd like to say more, but I don't think I'd better, just yet.

A week ago, though, I had a conversation with John Fordham, who designs the cover, and I told him the bare bones of the story, so he could start thinking of the cover. Given the themes in the book, it will probably be purplish, and Wolf and Torak may feature prominently. I sent John a photograph of an amazing Stone Age cave picture of an eagle owl. It's tens of thousands of years old, and yet could have been made by Eostra yesterday. Seriously spooky. Who knows what designs it will inspire?

A few weeks before that, I visited my friends the wolves at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust in Berkshire (www.ukwolf.org). Torak, the wolf whom the Trust named for the books, is thriving, as are his two half-sisters, Mai and Mosi. In the summer, I went to visit them with Sir Ian McKellen, who (as of course you know) performs the utterly magnificent readings of the books on audio. Although wolves can be rather choosy about which human beings they befriend, I had no doubt that Ian, with his relaxed manner and instinctive understanding of wolves, would find favour with them. I was right. We had a magical time.

Well, now I'm afraid I'd better get back to GHOST HUNTER, as I've left Torak, Renn and Wolf all separated from each other and in serious trouble, as it's Souls' Night, and the Eagle Owl Mage and her tokoroths are ... No, no. I'd really better not say any more.

I shall drop in from time to time to see what's happening within the Clan, and I'm greatly looking forward to meeting lots of you at book signings, book festivals and schools events in 2009.

But for now - I hope each and every one of you has a happy and fun holiday and a wonderful New Year... and may the guardian run with you!

MICHELLE PAVER

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