Raftos told Flanagan a Hollywood studio wanted to buy the rights to his fantasy series Ranger's Apprentice and was prepared to pay big money. "He didn't have details at thatstage, so I didn't know just how glorious it was," Flanagan says. "But it looked good. I didn't get my hopes up too much - we'd had film offers before but I always felt compelled to hold out for the right one." When he returned to his home in Manly, Flanagan discovered that the studio, United Artists, was offering him a seven-figure deal and that Paul Haggis - the Oscar-winning writer and director of Crash and writer of Million Dollar Baby - would make the first movie. He was still in a state of mild shock when he got another phone call a week later, this time from Haggis. "I felt an instant connection," Flanagan says. "I knew he wouldn't lead my work astray and that he'd let me have as much control of the project as I wanted. The real clincher was that he wanted to get cracking on the script right away; he didn't just throw it into a drawer for later."
The movie deal is the latest chapter in the extraordinary storyof Will, a small and lively 15-year old boy who lives in a medieval castle in the mythical land of Araluen. The Ranger's Apprentice books originated 19 years ago when Flanagan made up a story to tell his son, Michael, in an attempt to boost the 12-year old's confidence. The first book was published four years ago and the series has now sold more than 700,000 copies worldwide, been translated into 17 languages and spent 11 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list for children's series. It is Random House's bestselling children's series, with the seventh book, Erak's Ransom, selling more than 10,000 copies in Australia since its release in November. Flanagan remains modest. "I've wanted to be an author for a really long time," he says. "I've always dreamed of making my living from telling stories, because it's what I love. I enjoy saying I'm an author when asked what I do. I love writing it on immigration forms when I fly overseas." Flanagan began to develop his young hero over five months. To engage Michael he filled the stories with subjects his son was passionate about, such as archery. "I even illustrated them for him - anything to get him to read!"
But it was not until the author began working from home that he realised the potential in the stories, which slowly became the first Ranger's Apprentice book.
"I wasn't getting my hopes up too much when my agent first approached Random House with the manuscript. Two weeks later she [Raftos's associate, Rachel Skinner] rang and said, 'John, are you sitting down?' The publishing house had offered to buy the first two books."
"I wasn't getting my hopes up too much when my agent first approached Random House with the manuscript. Two weeks later she [Raftos's associate, Rachel Skinner] rang and said, 'John, are you sitting down?' The publishing house had offered to buy the first two books."
Despite the good news, Flanagan knew better than to give up his day job. At his first book signing, in 2004, he sat awkwardly at a card table in Manly's shopping district.
"I was waiting, in vain, for hours. Finally some guy came up to me, picked up the book, looked at me, shook his head, and dropped the book back on the table and left. I almost died."
But the books quickly picked up momentum, and his next book signing was more successful.
"A woman just burst into tears, thanking me for bringing her wayward son back to her by writing this book," Flanagan recalls. "I got pretty emotional, too, so we both sat there crying like idiots. You just feel fabulous when this stuff happens, when you think that all you did was set out to entertain.
"I get a lot of emails from kids telling me the same thing; the ones that are wonderful are the emails that are so badly spelt they're almost unreadable. That's the real icing on the cake."
"I was waiting, in vain, for hours. Finally some guy came up to me, picked up the book, looked at me, shook his head, and dropped the book back on the table and left. I almost died."
But the books quickly picked up momentum, and his next book signing was more successful.
"A woman just burst into tears, thanking me for bringing her wayward son back to her by writing this book," Flanagan recalls. "I got pretty emotional, too, so we both sat there crying like idiots. You just feel fabulous when this stuff happens, when you think that all you did was set out to entertain.
"I get a lot of emails from kids telling me the same thing; the ones that are wonderful are the emails that are so badly spelt they're almost unreadable. That's the real icing on the cake."
A disadvantage of writing fantasy is that Flanagan has had to restrain himself from reading any, because one never knows when someone else's idea will interfere with one's own - as he discovered while reading the Harry Potter books. "I found the same two-boys/one-girl relationship that I had been planning for my books all along," he says. "So I just stopped reading. I didn't want to know where J.K. Rowling was taking her story, because I knew where I was taking mine."
The United Artists deal stipulates that Flanagan will have no creative control over the movies but his relationship with Haggis means he will still be involved.
"I know my baby is in good hands," Flanagan says. "I've spoken to Paul and I'm confident he's not going to screw it up too much. Besides, I know how this whole thing works in Hollywood. I know that the director doesn't want anything to do with the author. But I didn't want to lose Paul on the deal, because I trust him. I'm scared shitless, yeah, butI'm confident he's not going toring me up one day and propose the animals start talking or something similar. He didn't have to call me to talk to me about this stuff, but he did, and it's a good sign."
But sometimes scepticism rears its head; Flanagan is wary of computer-generated imagery. "I think the most crucial elements will be the casting and use of CGI. There's no need for that stuff because there are no big battle scenes. There aren't 10,000 Orcs charging to the centre of Middle-earth. I simply want this to be character-driven, with as few special effects as possible. And I hope nobody ever, ever shoots a bow horizontally!"
"I know my baby is in good hands," Flanagan says. "I've spoken to Paul and I'm confident he's not going to screw it up too much. Besides, I know how this whole thing works in Hollywood. I know that the director doesn't want anything to do with the author. But I didn't want to lose Paul on the deal, because I trust him. I'm scared shitless, yeah, butI'm confident he's not going toring me up one day and propose the animals start talking or something similar. He didn't have to call me to talk to me about this stuff, but he did, and it's a good sign."
But sometimes scepticism rears its head; Flanagan is wary of computer-generated imagery. "I think the most crucial elements will be the casting and use of CGI. There's no need for that stuff because there are no big battle scenes. There aren't 10,000 Orcs charging to the centre of Middle-earth. I simply want this to be character-driven, with as few special effects as possible. And I hope nobody ever, ever shoots a bow horizontally!"
John Flanagan is writing the eighth book in the Ranger's Apprentice series and planning the ninth.
1 comment:
Hooray, it's published! I wish I could interview someone of the likes of John Flanagan.
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