| | I wrote a long email to Malcolm Rose, author of the TRACES books (which i freakin love) and he emailed back!!! AHHH it made me so happy! here it is:
----- Original Message ----
From: "jaz643102265@yahoo.com" <jaz643102265@yahoo.com>
To: malcolm@malcolmrose.co.uk
Sent: Tuesday, 23 September, 2008 3:33:13 AM
Subject: From Malcolm Rose feedback form
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(jaz643102265@yahoo.com) on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 04:33:13
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
subject: From Malcolm Rose feedback form
reference_site: Malcolm
fullname: Jasmine H.
comments: Dear Mr. Rose,
I just reread all of your Traces books and when I got to the end of the 6th book I had a similar reaction to the first time through. Which was basically me freaking out (good thing no one else was home to see this) and hyperventillating (not really but close enough) and saying over and over "Oh my god...oh my god...don't die don't die!" (because Id forgotten the endings of the books, which s really a good thing.) Then i got really really excited when he wakes up and I had to try not to scream. Too loud. (or is it "too loudly? I can't remember...my last "real" english class was two years ago, and we're just starting with writing descriptive paragraphs...)but anyway, i just wanted to let you know that i am definitly a big fan, and you're second on my list of favorite authors. Just under J.K. Rowling and Pete Hautman. But don't worry that's a really good thing.
So enough of my nonsense. I have two questions. Will you please please please please please please please please keep writing Traces books?? They are AMAZING and i would definitely buy them all. Once i get a job.
ok...and my other question is: What does Malc sound like? I mean is his voice a robotic voice like flat and every word is said in the same voice and you can tell there's like an extra space in between the words? or is it like the I, Robot robot's voice. Sort of like an enhanced human voice? Without emotion?
That's one of the only things i'm having trouble with.
Oh, and i have a slightly better picture of Luke in my mind now. The first time i read the books Luke in my mind was a short nerdy guy with glasses and Malc was an orb floating alongside him. Now since i read it again he's tall and fit with long-ish straight black hair, no glasses, and Malc looks like a half deflated basket ball...although sometimes he looks like a children's top that you spin on the floor. odd, i know.
Before i end this nonsense, i have sort of an opinion question. Do you think it would be fantastic or not if someone made a movie out of the Traces books? Or better yet - a TV show! Mmmm...take that back not a tv show. But a movie! How cool would that be?!?!
So i apologize for the length of this monstrosity. Hope you're well!
Jasmine Hebel
Jasmine,
Many thanks for getting in touch, for your huge email and for your kind comments. I hope you have recovered from the ending of BLOOD BROTHER! I suspect that you have left a lovely review on my website so thanks for that too.
I always imagined Malc's voice to be male, flat and unemotional - definitely a robotic voice rather than a near-perfect human-like voice. When writing TRACES, I made a deliberate decision not to describe Malc in detail so that readers could use their own imaginations. I felt that, if I did go into detail of how I pictured him today, he might seem silly in a few years' time. Think of mobile phones. Ten years ago, they were as big as bricks and their description would now sound ridiculous. I don't want that to happen to Malc! Having said that, I picture him as basically 'flying saucer' in design, with various probes that can be extended from the main body. He would be rather wider than a human being but much flatter.
I didn't describe Luke or Jade (apart from her changeable hair) in too much detail either. That's again because I like readers to have their own images in their minds.
I'm afraid I've had some very sad news. The company that publishes the TRACES series has just been bought by a huge publisher called Macmillan. The new owner has informed me that they do not wish to continue TRACES at this time.
This is a huge disappointment to me and, I suspect, to many fans of the series. It does not necessarily mean that there will be no more TRACES books. But it means they will not happen in the near future. I had hoped to write eight, but, for now, BLOOD BROTHER ends the series. More may happen at some point and, in particular, I am arguing that there should be a number 7 so I can reveal a newly programmed Malc and deal with the Luke/Jade pairing issue. It would start with a murder that Luke solves in the second chapter! Much of the rest of the story would revolve around whether the
culprit intended to murder. More of a how/why-was-it-done than a who-done-it. However, it seems that I have lost the argument.
Macmillan is considering an idea for a different series from me but, even if they give me the go-ahead for that, I will still feel very bad about 'losing' TRACES. With lots of keen readers like you, it seems daft to me to end the series.
Sorry to give you this news. I will let you know if anything changes but it's looking glum.
One thing could change the publisher's mind, I guess. And that's a TV or film deal. So, yes, a film would be great. At the moment one small TV company in the UK and an unknown film company in the US are enquiring about buying the rights to make TRACES into a TV series or a film. I am not convinced that either enquiry is going to come to anything but I might be pleasantly surprised. I certainly don't want to announce the end of TRACES on my website when something could happen to make Macmillan ask me for more books.
Many thanks for your support. Your email cheered me up at a difficult time!
All the best,
Malcolm |
| | Posted 9/26/2008 4:46 PM - 6 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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