Today I have the immense pleasure to invite Damian Dibben, author of The History Keepers series to talk about his passion for film and how, from a screenplay writing career, he came to write a novel.
The first book in the series, The Storm Begins is now out in paperback and the second book Circus Maximus is out this month. Without further ado, I'll hand over to Damian!
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I always loved films as much as books - good stories, in whatever form, have always excited me. I was not good at English at school, so I never imagined I would write a novel - but I thought I could write a screenplay, as it is really nothing more than a set of elaborate instructions. After spells first as a set builder and then as an actor, I took to screenwriting. To my amazement my first script, Seventh Heaven, an uproarious love story set against a fictional apocalypse in 1820, was bought by Miramax and John Madden, the director of Shakespeare In Love was attached. This led to a number of high profile commissions here and in Hollywood, working with directors as diverse and fantastic as Danny Boyle, Mike Radford and Gillian Armstrong.
It was when I was working with the producers of Shrek on an animated film about Santa Claus, that I started to feel I could write my own children's story. Something epic, full of adventure, danger, romance and humour. I came up with The History Keepers, about a boy who discovers his parents are lost in history and the secret service he has to join to track them down. 
Before the book had even been finished, the film rights were optioned by Working Title, the producers of Notting Hill, Bridget Jones and Billy Elliot and they plan to build a franchise that they can sell around the world. I am working on the screenplay at the moment, having just completed the second book in the series. The script is a different animal to the novel - for a start four hundred pages has to be quartered - the story needs to be recast and shaped to work effectively on film. Some tough decisions had to be taken to keep the story supremely focused and visual. Writing a novel is a longer and often harder journey than writing a screenplay, but when it is finished, it can stand up by itself as a finished piece of work. There is no greater feeling.http://www.thehistorykeepers.com/
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Many thanks Damian for talking to us about your journey to publication!
If you want to read an extract of the book,
head over to the widget of CIRCUS MAXIMUS below:
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