Michael Scott (Irish author)

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Michael Scott
BornMichael Peter Scott
(1959-09-28) 28 September 1959 (age 64)
Dublin, Ireland
Pen nameAnna Dillon
OccupationWriter
NationalityIrish
Period1983–present
Notable works The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series
Website
dillonscott.com

Michael Peter Scott (born 28 September 1959) is an Irish writer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and, under the name Anna Dillon, romance novels. He is also a collector and editor of folklore. Scott is best known for his The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel book series.

Contents

Career

Early career

Scott traveled across Ireland as a dealer of rare and antique books before beginning his writing career.[ citation needed ]

Writing

Scott has produced over 100 books in more than 30 years of active writing. He has written short stories and novels for adults, young adults, and children, in many genres including science fiction, fantasy, horror, folklore, and romance.

His first book (inspired by his fascination with Irish mythology), Irish Folk and Fairy Tales, volume 1, was published in 1983 and became part of a trilogy documenting a large number of Irish folk tales that had, in some cases, only been told verbally prior to his collection.[ citation needed ] The Irish Folk and Fairy Tales volumes were the culmination of Scott's extensive travels across Ireland whilst working as a book dealer, documenting the tales he found along the way.

When reviewing Scott's The De Danann Tales, the Irish Times described him as "the King of Fantasy in these Isles," and the Irish Children's Book Trust in their Definitive Guide to Children's Books recognized him, for his "unparalleled contribution to Children's Literature". The De Danann Tales was scheduled to be a series of five books but only three were ever published. He also co-authored two books of a projected trilogy with Morgan Llywelyn, and one standalone book.

He is best known for his six-book young adult series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

Scott is also an experienced scriptwriter for stage and screen, having written for a number of projects including documentaries and drama. He once headed up the drama department in Tyrone Productions, the creators of Riverdance. While working there he scripted high-profile events such as the 2003 Special Olympics [1] which were held in Ireland, and the Irish Film and Television Awards. Michael Scott was the Writer in Residence during Dublin's tenure as the European City of Culture in 1991 [2] he featured in the 2006 edition of Who's Who in Ireland as one of the 1,000 "most significant Irish".

Scott has also written a number of drama/romance novels under the pseudonym Anna Dillon.

Doctor Who

On 5 February 2013 Michael Scott was announced as the author of The Nameless City, [3] a short story commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the 50th anniversary year of the TV series Doctor Who . [4] The story features the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton and his companion Jamie McCrimmon. It was released on 23 February 2013 as an ebook initially, and featured a special celebratory printed anthology which was released alongside the final e-story on 23 November 2013 by Puffin Books [5]

Styles and genres

Scott's stated first love is mythology. He says that his background, growing up in Ireland with its rich mythology, led him to be naturally drawn to myths. Irish mythology emerged through history relatively unscathed and uninfluenced as they were not invaded by the Romans or Greeks. History also has a strong impact on his style, as it was his favourite subject in school. However, while he has a special taste for mythology, Scott writes what purely interests him, which has led him to write across many genres and styles. He doesn't restrict himself with genre labelling - he says is only interested in being a writer, not a writer of any specific genre. [6]

Nicholas Flamel

Books

The first book in Scott's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel six book series, The Alchemyst , reached #2 on the New York Times Best Seller, Children's list on 26 August 2007 [7] and as of 24 March 2008 it had sold in excess of 150,000 copies. [8] The second book in that series, The Magician , reached #4 on the New York Times Best Seller list on 13 July 2008. [9] The series has to date been printed in 20 languages and is available in 37 countries. [10] He wrote the entire series out of fascination with history and inspiration from other places.

Online games

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series has spawned online games, the first related online game to be launched was The Codex Master [11] The game is to guess a secret code consisting of a sequence of coloured orbs by inputting various sequences and using logic. When a sequence is entered, indicators show when the player has the right colour and also when a colour is in the right or wrong position to enable them to apply logic and guess the correct sequence.

To celebrate the release of The Sorceress an online game was created. [12] It was called The Challenges of the Elder [13] and launched on 21 April 2009. Players are guided through the game, which is a set of four challenges, by video scenes featuring Michael Scott. The first task, the Alchemyst's challenge, required players to assemble a moving jigsaw of the series' logo against a countdown clock. The second task, the Magician's challenge, required players to turn over two books from a series of books and find matching symbols, when a matching pair was found both books burst into flames and disappeared. The task was complete when all the books had been matched. The third task, the Sorceress' challenge was a colour sequencing game where players chose coloured flasks and would have to repeat the sequence that they were shown in. Players then advanced to meet The Elder, who asked them a set of knowledge questions about the books and were given a 'coloured aura ranking' calculated from their scores and time taken to complete the tasks.

Film adaptation

The film rights to The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series became available in late 2009, and on 19 November 2009 it was announced in Variety Magazine [14] that Lorenzo di Bonaventura had bought the film rights to the series. Michael Scott and Barry Krost will be the executive producers. The script writer has yet to be announced. IMDb now lists The Alchemyst film as "in development" [15]

"Well, I have been promising news of the Flamel movie. Here's the press release. The movie was set up with New Line, but New Line were absorbed by Warner and the rights reverted to me. There has been tremendous interest in the series and eventually, it went to Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is the man responsible for bringing Harry Potter to Warner when he was there. He genuinely loves this series. The next step now is to attach a writer — I will not write it, I have 3 more books to do!"

Michael Scott [16]

Award nominations

Scott's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series has thus far garnered him 10 literary award nominations. The Alchemyst was the winner of the 2008 Rhode Island Book Award (Teens) after beating 200 other nominated titles. [17]

The Alchemyst was nominated for:

The Magician was nominated for:

The Sorceress was nominated for:

Bibliography

Young readers

Illustrated

Science Fiction

Young adult books

2015 German translation book cover Lost Stories (Michael Scott 2015).jpg
2015 German translation book cover

Fantasy

Folk Tales

Teen Adventure

Science Fiction

Illustrated

Adult books

Horror

Fantasy

Folk Tales

Adventure

Science fiction

Non-fiction

Illustrated

As Anna Dillon

As editor

Contributions to other books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish mythology</span> Pre-Christian mythology of Ireland

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<i>The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i> 2007 fantasy novel by Michael Scott

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the first installment in the six volume fantasy novel series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was written by Irish author Michael Scott and published in May 2007. The Alchemyst has been translated into 20 languages, and is available in 37 countries.

<i>The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i> 2008 fantasy novel by Michael Scott

The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fantasy novel by Michael Scott. It is the sequel to The Alchemyst, and the second installment in the six part book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was released on 5 June 2008 in the United Kingdom, and 24 June 2008 in the United States. It was nominated for an Irish Book of the Year Award, The Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children's Book of the Year – Senior Category.

<i>The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i>

The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fantasy novel and the third installment in the six-book series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Michael Scott. It serves as the sequel to The Magician, and was released on 26 May 2009 in the US, 1 June 2009 in Australia, and 25 June 2009 in the UK. The titular sorceress refers to Perenelle Flamel.

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<i>The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i>

The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the fourth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, written by Irish author Michael Scott. It was published in the United States and United Kingdom on 25 May 2010, by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House. A new edition was released on 5 August 2010 featuring a redesigned cover.

<i>The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i> Fantasy book series by Irish author Michael Scott

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in 2012. The first book in the series, The Alchemyst, was released in 2007, and the sequels were released at the rate of one per year, concluding with The Enchantress in 2012. The cover artist for the series is Michael Wagner.

<i>The Warlock: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i> Novel by Michael Scott

The Warlock: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the fifth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Irish author Michael Scott. The novel was released in the USA on May 24, 2011, published by Delacorte Press, which is an imprint of Random House. The UK release date was June 2, 2011, and it made its debut on the USA Today Best Selling List at #13 on the same day.

<i>The Enchantress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i> Novel by Michael Scott

The Enchantress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel is the final novel in the six book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was written by Irish author Michael Scott and was published by Random House Inc. on 22 May 2012 in the US, and by Doubleday Publishing an imprint of Random House UK on 24 May 2012 in the UK and Ireland.

References

  1. O'Mahony, Catherine (4 May 2003). "Special Olympics boosts sponsors on a social level". The Post.Ie. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  2. "Arts Council Ireland Annual Report 1991/1992" (PDF). artscouncil.ie. 26 August 1992. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  3. "Nicholas Flamel author pens second Doctor short ebook". Doctor Who TV. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  4. "Doctor Who short stories announced for 50th Anniversary". BBC. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  5. "Puffin to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who" (PDF). Puffin. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  6. Fiachra Reilly. "Questions and Answers with Michael Scott - Hortorian.com". Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  7. "Children's Books". The New York Times. 26 August 2006. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  8. Roback, Diane (24 March 2008). "Farewell to Harry". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  9. "Children's Books". The New York Times. 13 July 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  10. Scott, Michael. "Michael Scott-The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel-The Alchemyst". Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  11. Random House, Teens (2007). "The Codex Master Game". Random House, U.S.A. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  12. Maughan, Shannon (30 April 2009). "The Sorceress' Heats Up with Marketing Muscle". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  13. Asylum, Creative (22 April 2009). "The Challenges of the Elder". RHCB. Archived from the original on 6 December 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  14. McNary, Dave (18 November 2009). "DiBonaventura sets up 'Secret' Company to produce 'Nicholas Flamel' series". Variety. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  15. Staff writers. "The Alchemyst: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (2009)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  16. Michael Scott. "Film Updates, As we get them". Flamel's Secret Fan Forum. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011.
  17. Staff writer (17 March 2009). "2009 RI Teen Book Award Winner — Press Release" (PDF). R.I.T.B.A. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  18. Staff writer (27 March 2008). "Book Award Shortlist". RTE.ie. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  19. Staff writer. "2009 Master List @ The Kentucky Bluegrass Award". K.B.A. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  20. Staff writer. "Maine Student Book Award 2008–2009". MSBA. Retrieved 27 November 2009.[ dead link ]
  21. Staff writer. "Nevada Library Association — Nevada Young Readers' Award". NYRA. Archived from the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  22. Staff writer. "NCSLMA YA BOOK AWARD - 2010 High School Voting Ballot". NCSLMA. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  23. Staff writer (19 March 2009). "2009 RI Teen Book Award Winner". O.L.I.S. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  24. Staff writers. "Irish Book Awards Category page". Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  25. Staff writers. "Best Children's Books of 2009". Amazon. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  26. Staff writers. "2009 Nominations, fantasy & science fiction". Dadtalk.typepad.com. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  27. First hardback edition published as by Anna Dillon