Duncan had stories bubbling around his head since he first saw Star Wars on the big screen, aged seven!
As a teenager in the 1980s, of course Duncan played Dungeons and Dragons but felt that fantasy was not really a genre for him – until a friend gave him a copy of Legend by David Gemmell. That showed him that fantasy could be dark and gritty – and he was hooked.
Like many journalists, Duncan was a frustrated author and had spent many years trying to write something contemporary, with a singular lack of success.
Then, in 2002, he interviewed legendary US fantasy author Raymond E Feist. He had a great chat and Duncan came away hugely inspired to try and write some fantasy.
The birth of Duncan’s son put a brief delay in those plans but, in 2004, he began writing what became The Dragon Sword Histories.
In 2006 Duncan contacted HarperCollins and spent the next year working with them before, in 2007, HarperCollins signed him for a three-book contract.
The series went extremely well, finishing with The Radiant Child, which spent the entire 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 again signed Duncan up for another trilogy, the Empire Of Bones.
That kicked off with Bridge of Swords, which jumped into the bestseller list as well.
Duncan finished that series by touring right around Australia, visiting over 50 bookstores in 50 days.
After three fantasy trilogies, it is time to change genres.
The tricky publishing landscape in Australia and the lack of bookstores means that fantasy – despite Game of Thrones being the biggest television series in the world – is not really viable Down Under.
But this gave Duncan the opportunity to try something similar, yet different.
After searching for suitable books for his son, Duncan is writing books for tweens, or pre-teens, aged eight to 13 years. Naturally, it will have the humour, action, and adventure from my earlier books – just without the bloody violence. At the moment Duncan has a different take on the Arthurian legend, as well as working on a story about the Roman invasion of Britain.
Once more news about either, here will be the place to read about it.
Visit Duncan’s Website
In the meantime, all the previous books are still available. If you want a signed copy of The Last Quarrel, The Bloody Quarrel or The Poisoned Quarrel, you can get in touch with Duncan via the Contact page.
Contact Duncan now!
