Michael Scott (Irish author)

Michael Scott
Born 28 September 1959
Dublin, Ireland
Occupation Novelist
Nationality Irish
Notable works The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series
Website
www.dillonscott.com

Michael Scott (born 28 September 1959) is an Irish author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and romance (under a pen name). He is also a collector and editor of folklore.

Career

Michael Scott is author of over 100 books during his more than 30 years of writing thus far. He has written short stories and novels for adults, young adults and children, in many genres including, but not limited to: 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. The Irish Folk and Fairy Tales volumes were the culmination of Scott's extensive travels all over Ireland whilst working as a dealer in rare and antique books, 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.

Michael Scott is also an experienced scriptwriter for stage and screen, having written for a diverse number of projects including documentaries and drama. He once headed up the drama department in Tyrone Productions, the creators of Riverdance. Whilst 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 European City of Culture in 1991[2] he featured in the 2006 edition of Who's Who in Ireland as one of the 1000 "most significant Irish".

Scott has written a number of drama/romance novels under the pseudonym Anna Dillon. He is sometimes confused with author Michael Scott Rohan, Irish architect Michael Scott and more recently, in the U.S.A with the character Michael Scott from the television show The Office.

The first book in his 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[3] and as of 24 March 2008 it had sold in excess of 150,000 copies.[4] The second book in that series, The Magician, reached #4 on the New York Times Best Seller list on 13 July 2008.[3] The series has to date been printed in 20 languages and is available in 37 countries.[5]

On 5 February 2013 Michael Scott was announced as the author of The Nameless City[6] a short story commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the 50th Anniversary year of the hit TV series Doctor Who.[7] The story features the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton and his companion Jamie McCrimmon. It will be released on 23 February 2013 as an ebook initially, and will feature in a special celebratory printed anthology to be released alongside the final e-story on 23 November 2013 by Puffin Books [8]

Styles and genres

Scott's 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.[9]

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[10] 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.[11] It was called The Challenges of the Elder[12] 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[13] 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 production"[14]

"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[15]

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.[16]

The Alchemyst was nominated for:

The Magician was nominated for:

The Sorceress was nominated for:

Bibliography

Young readers

Illustrated

Science Fiction

Young adult books

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

References

  1. O'Mahony, Catherine (4 May 2003). "Special Olympics boosts sponsors on a social level". The Post.Ie. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  2. Staff writer (26 August 1992). "Arts Council Ireland Annual Report 1991/1992" (PDF). Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Staff writer (26 August 2006). "Children's Books-New York Times". New York Times. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  4. Roback, Diane (24 March 2008). "Publisher's Weekly". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  5. Michael Scott. "Michael Scott-The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel-The Alchemyst". Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  6. Staff writer (5 February 2013). "Nicholas Flamel author pens second Doctor short ebook". Doctor Who TV. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  7. Staff writer (3 January 2013). "Doctor Who short stories announced for 50th Anniversary". BBC Newsbeat. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  8. Staff writer (3 January 2013). "Puffin to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who" (PDF). Puffin Press Office. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  9. Fiachra Reilly. "Questions and Answers with Michael Scott - Hortorian.com". Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  10. Random House, Teens (2007). "The Codex Master Game". Random House, U.S.A. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  11. Maughan, Shannon (30 April 2009). "The Sorceress' Heats Up with Marketing Muscle". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  12. Asylum, Creative (22 April 2009). "The Challenges of the Elder". RHCB. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  13. McNary, Dave (18 November 2009). "DiBonaventura sets up 'Secret' Company to produce 'Nicholas Flamel' series". Variety. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  14. Staff writers. "The Alchemyst: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (2009)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  15. Michael Scott. "Film Updates, As we get them". Flamel's Secret Fan Forum.
  16. Staff writer (17 March 2009). "2009 RI Teen Book Award Winner — Press Release" (PDF). R.I.T.B.A. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  17. Staff writer (27 March 2008). "Book Award Shortlist". RTE.ie. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  18. Staff writer. "2009 Master List @ The Kentucky Bluegrass Award". K.B.A. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  19. Staff writer. "Maine Student Book Award 2008-2009". MSBA. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  20. Staff writer. "Nevada Library Association — Nevada Young Readers' Award". NYRA. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  21. Staff writer. "NCSLMA YA BOOK AWARD - 2010 High School Voting Ballot". NCSLMA. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  22. Staff writer (19 March 2009). "2009 RI Teen Book Award Winner". O.L.I.S. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  23. Staff writers. "Irish Book Awards Category page". Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  24. Staff writers. "Best Children's Books of 2009". Amazon.com. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  25. Staff writers. "2009 Nominations, fantasy & science fiction". Dadtalk.typepad.com. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  26. First hardback edition published as by Anna Dillon

External links