The LD Podcast (a podcast about learning disabilities and kids struggling in school) has just posted a special 30-minute episode with Brian Jacques, which you can find here.
The podcast is essentially a raw recording of Brian at one of his booksignings and it’s great fun to listen to.
Towards the end of the presentation, he begins taking questions from the audience and the last question asked is: What do you think you’re going to name your next book?
Brian’s response is as follows:
What do I think I’m going to name my next book? Do you know that one of the best books I ever read was by a Spanish gentleman and it was called ‘The Fallen Pants by Senor Bottom’. No, sorry. My next book is called ‘The Doomwytes’. You don’t know what a doomwyte is, do ya? Well, wytes is spelled y… w-y-t-e-s. And wytes were things in Saxon England in old mythology, like little lights, they were called corpse lights, and they used to hang around graveyards…. and this is a Redwall novel… and they used to lead travelers astray. Anyone lost in the forest would see the wyte little light, “Ah! It’s a cottage ahead!” and they’d follow the wyte. And the wyte would take them into a swamp. “AH! *blump*”
It’s interesting to note that he calls the book “The Doomwytes“, not “Doomwyte“.
Further investigation reveals that this was also the case in an article/interview with the Contra Costa Times conducted by Amy Moellering on November 2nd, which said:
What’s next for this master storyteller? The 20th novel, “The Doomwytes,” is finished and will be published next summer. It is based on a myth about lights people would follow into the forest. When Jacques returns to Liverpool at the end of November, he will resume work on another novel in progress — to the joy of his many devoted fans.
With both the article and especially the audio, it’s looking like the next book is actually entitled The Doomwytes and not simply “Doomwyte” (a minor but distinct difference). Interesting stuff, regardless. Be sure to check out the podcast.
Stay tuned to The Newsline for more The Doomwytes information.
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