Derek Landy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Derek Landy
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Landy in Edinburgh, August 2011
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| Born | 23 October 1974 Lusk, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Genre | Children's fantasy |
| Notable works | Skulduggery Pleasant and Demon Road series |
| Notable awards | Red House Children's Book Award 2008 Skulduggery Pleasant |
Derek Landy (born 23 October 1974) is an Irish author and screenwriter, best known for the Skulduggery Pleasant book series.
Career
Landy has written two screenplays that have been made into films.
Frustrated with the collaborative process of filmmaking, Landy moved on to writing the Skulduggery Pleasant series, starting with the novel of the same name. The novel was published by Harper Collins, 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's works, notably Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. He is also a fan of Gilmore Girls and Doctor Who.
Landy wrote a short story based on the Tenth Doctor 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, 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, 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.
