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Hi Kingdom of Gems fans,

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas. I’m having a great time with my family.

I’m very excited about the publication of The Silver Well. Yes, it will be in February/March.  You might be saying “At last!” – so am I! It is a great relief, and my plan is to follow it up with The Glass Prison in later 2010 as well. I decided I had to get the rest of the trilogy in print as soon as possible for all the people who have been waiting with such enthusiastic anticipation. I am fed up with waiting for a publisher to jump on board, which is a real puzzle because  Candara’s Gift has sold very well and is extremely popular, but it seems to be a stage that nearly every author has to  go through, even J.K Rowling! Harry Potter was turned down many times and only got into print because a publisher’s daughter read a couple of sample chapters and liked it.  Anyway, I am fed up with waiting, so I am going ahead myself.

Having completely finished working on the 3 books of The Kingdom of Gems (KOG) trilogy, I recently got back in touch with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Remember, they are the world’s biggest Hollywood agency and very interested in making films of KOG. So, it’s  good news again… the film interest is still very much alive.

RECENT EVENTS

I enjoyed a wonderful visit to Alderton Junior School in Essex recently. Here’s a picture. There is a lot more info about my school visits on my website.

Visiting Alderton Junior School

There have been two recent signing events. One at the Kennett Shopping Centre in Newbury, where my stall was next to Anneke Wills, who was the first Doctor Who girl back in 1966!

I visited The Canterbury Indoor Tennis Centre, where I play – you know what a keen tennis player I am! Here’s a couple of photos of me presenting a copy of Candara’s Gift for the player who made the coach, Simon Grieve, smile the most in their final squad session before Christmas!

Candara's Gift presentation - junior tennis squad, Canterbury Indoor Tennis Centre

Candara's Gift presentation - junior tennis squad, Canterbury Indoor Tennis Centre

That’s all for the moment. I will keep blogging regularly now to keep you in touch with any new developments – books, films, or anything else.

Christmas and New Year Greetings,

Jasper

Hi,

The Turkish Edition of Candara’s Gift, called Candara’nin Hediyesi, is now in print! It is being published by Erdem Yayinlari. They have done a great job with the cover, making it their own design but using my painting, which I was glad about. They have retained all my illustrations inside too.

It will be featured on Turkish TV and has had good reviews, so that sounds like an excellent start. I hope to visit Turkey in November and help with promotion.

The release of The Silver Well is still waiting for a publisher to take it up. I think, and hope, that it is close now. Publishers are reading it now and it just needs one to fall in love with it as so many readers have and then we can get rolling! This has tested my patience more than anything else!

In the meantime, thank you for your patience and I hope to bring you good news soon.

Jasper

P.S. Please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of the new Turkish cover!

Hello,

One step closer to publishing!

The Silver Well and The Glass Prison are both finished and my New York agent has them. He is approaching publishers now. It is a great relief that things are finally moving forwards and I should have more news for you soon. Why do things like this usually take longer than expected?

I have had a wonderful time working on The Glass Prison. Now it is done I am concentrating on illustrations for The Silver Well and The Glass Prison. There is a lot to do; more maps and about sixty ink illustrations in the two books.

When the publishing of The Kingdom Of Gems trilogy in underway then, the idea of making films can be pursued. I have the biggest agency in the world representing me with this and they are very enthusiastic! That is a little way off but it looks extremely positive.

Candara’s Gift will be published in Turkey very soon, probably this month. Exciting! I can’t wait to have a copy in my hands.

I’ll let you know when there is more news.

Jasper

More delays I’m afraid! Both my US agents, the New York literary agent and CAA, the Hollywood agent, have strongly recommended finishing the whole trilogy before making a move with publishers and then films. They are top quality experts and their advice does make absolute sense, so I really have no choice. To get The Silver Well out I have to follow their advice. It will work out much better in the long run.

So, in the meantime, I have been working very hard. I am just doing the final editing on The Glass Prison and am very close to finishing. I am thoroughly enjoying it, of course, and it is shaping up beautifully. It is filled with excitement!

The Turkish edition of Candara’s Gift is completely translated and they have just been working on the cover. I will put the cover on the website when this is done.

I’m really sorry to keep you waiting. It is extremely frustrating for me, especially thinking of you waiting eagerly for The Silver Well. However, I hope you can see that I am doing the best I can and that the future is very positive for The Kingdom Of Gems trilogy. Be patient… The Silver Well is on it’s way in 2008.

Jasper

The final draft of The Silver Well is now complete!

Pretty much all that’s left to be done is the final editing and the illustrations. The illustrations are now well on their way.

Although things are moving along well, I still can’t actually give you a publishing
date yet. It is likely to take a few months to get it into print.
The book itself is virtually ready, however, and I have sent copies to my two agents in the US.

CAA are my agents in LA and are dealing with film interest in The Kingdom Of Gems trilogy. Very exciting! I will let you know any developments.

I also have an excellent literary agent in New York who is dealing with the publishing side of things. I will be meeting with him next week after which I should have a clearer idea of when The Silver Well will be available.

Keep your eyes open as there will be some exciting new things added to the site very soon!

I’ll try to post more news here as soon as I can.

Jasper

The publishing of book 2 in The Kingdom of Gems trilogy, The Silver Well, is getting closer.

It has taken longer than I thought at first but I’m sure that you will find that when you do have it in your hands the wait will have been worthwhile. I have been working very hard on it and enjoying every minute.

The story for the whole trilogy was completed some time ago, but I wanted to add some new ideas and characters. I have done this and it just needs a little more work to have it ready to go.

I have just begun illustrations. There will more maps, Wizard Elzaphan’s coat of arms and over thirty illustrations. I will keep you up to date with the progress.

It’s all very exciting and I can’t wait to get the new book out there!

Jasper

P.S. Please leave comments if you want!

Hello and welcome to The Kingdom of Gems blog!

Here you will be able to find out the latest news and information about Candara’s Gift and the other upcoming books in The Kingdom of Gems trilogy.

Thanks for stopping by!