Derek Landy (born 23 October 1974) is an Irish author and screenwriter, best known for the ''

Skulduggery Pleasant ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' is a series of dark fantasy novels written by Irish author Derek Landy. The books revolve around the adventures of fledgling detective Valkyrie Cain, her mentor Skulduggery Pleasant, along with other friends and allie ...

'' book series.

Career

Landy has written two screenplays that have been made into films, the

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the ...

award-winning ''

Dead Bodies ''Dead Bodies'' is a 2003 Irish drama film by Robert Quinn starring Andrew Scott, Katy Davis, Eamonn Owens, Darren Healy and Kelly Reilly. The screenplay was written by Derek Landy. Plot Tommy McGann (Scott) gets back together with his ex-girl ...

'' and the IFTA-nominated ''

Boy Eats Girl ''Boy Eats Girl'' is a 2005 horror-comedy film directed by Stephen Bradley and starring Samantha Mumba, produced and shot in Ireland. The plot tells of a teenage boy who comes back to life as a zombie, similar to the plot of the American film '' ...

'' starring

Samantha Mumba Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba (born 18 January 1983) is an Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single "Gotta Tell You", which ...

. Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script. Frustrated with the collaborative process of filmmaking, Landy moved on to writing the ''

'' series, starting with the novel of the same name. The novel was published by

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

, who paid £1.8 million for the publishing rights. There are 15 books in the series with 3 spin offs. In 2007, he signed a deal with Warner Bros. worth an estimated US$1 million for the rights to adapt his ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' series, which he intended to adapt himself. However, his script was constantly rewritten and Landy, unhappy with the results, bought back the rights. He sold the rights to another company which couldn't make it, then worked with another company that "petered out". As of 2020, he was working on an adaptation with an undisclosed film making company. Landy is a fan of

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television serie ...

's works, notably ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

'', as well as

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy '' His Dark Materials'' and '' The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''T ...

's ''

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...

'' series. He is also a fan of ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel ( Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flag ...

'' and ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

''. Landy wrote a short story based on the

Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of ...

from ''Doctor Who'' as part of a short story collection celebrating the show's 50th anniversary. The story was published by Puffin in 2013, titled "The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage". He was supposed to write an episode for the second series of the ''Doctor Who'' spinoff ''

Class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

'', but the show was cancelled.

Personal life

Landy attended Drogheda Grammar School (this is a private boarding/day school, in Ireland) during his childhood years, and later studied animation at Ballyfermot College. He also has a black belt in kenpo karate. Prior to his contract with

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

, he worked on his parents' vegetable farm. He has been dating Laura Jordan, who is also a writer, from Sittingbourne for a number of years and they now live together in Ireland.

Reception

In a review of his first book, ''Skulduggery Pleasant'', Sarah Webb of the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' wrote that it "is taut, full of zippy dialogue and fantastically visuals".

Awards

In 2008, Landy won the

Red House Children's Book Award The Federation of Children's Book Groups Children's Book Award is a set of annual literary prizes for children's books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar year. It recognises one "Overall" winner and one book in each of three cat ...

. ''Playing with Fire'', ''Mortal Coil'' and ''Last Stand of Dead Men'' each won the senior Irish Children's Book Award, in 2009, 2010 and 2013. In addition in 2010 ''Skulduggery Pleasant (Sceptre of the Ancients)'' was voted as Irish book of the decade.

Bibliography

''
Skulduggery Pleasant ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' is a series of dark fantasy novels written by Irish author Derek Landy. The books revolve around the adventures of fledgling detective Valkyrie Cain, her mentor Skulduggery Pleasant, along with other friends and allie ...
'' series

First series

* ''

Second series

* '' Skulduggery Pleasant: Resurrection'' (June 2017) * '' Skulduggery Pleasant: Midnight'' (June 2018) * '' Skulduggery Pleasant: Bedlam'' (May 2019) * '' Skulduggery Pleasant: Seasons of War'' (April 2020) * '' Skulduggery Pleasant: Dead or Alive'' (April 2021) * '' Skulduggery Pleasant: Until the End'' (April 2022)

'' The Demon Road Trilogy''

* '' The Demon Road Trilogy: Demon Road'' (August 2015) (also titled ''The Demon Road Trilogy: Hell and Highway'') * '' The Demon Road Trilogy: Desolation'' (March 2016) * '' The Demon Road Trilogy: American Monsters'' (August 2016) (also titled ''The Demon Road Trilogy: Infernal Finale'')

Miscellaneous