DUNCAN LAY

I've had stories bubbling around my head since I first saw Star Wars on the big screen, aged seven!

 

As a teenager in the 1980s, of course I played Dungeons and Dragons but felt that fantasy wasn't really a genre for me - until a friend gave me a copy of Legend, by David Gemmell. That showed me that fantasy could be dark and gritty - and I was hooked.

 

Like many journalists I was a frustrated author and had spent many years trying to write something contemporary, with a singular lack of success.

 

Then, in 2002, I interviewed legendary US fantasy author Raymond E Feist. We had a great chat and I came away hugely inspired to try and write some fantasy.

The birth of my son put a little delay in those plans but, in 2004, I began writing what became The Dragon Sword Histories.

 

In 2006 I made contact with HarperCollins and spent the next year working with them before, in 2007, they signed me up for a three-book contract.

 

The series went extremely well, finishing with The Radiant Child, which spent the whole month of release on the Dymocks Fantasy Bestseller list, including two weeks at No.4, where it was the top-selling title by an Australian author.

 

After that, HarperCollins signed me up for another trilogy, the Empire Of Bones.

That kicked off with Bridge Of Swords, which jumped into the bestseller list as well.

I finished that series by touring right around Australia, visiting more than 50 bookstores in 50 days.