Story Merchant Client Royce Buckingham's Review of Demonkeeper Picked by Seattle PI

Book Review: Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham

By Mandy Southgate, BLOGCRITICS.ORG

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Nathaniel Grimlock is a demon keeper, taken in as a young boy to become an apprentice to master Demon Keeper Dhaliwahl. Now Dhaliwahl is gone, and Nat has been left behind to look after a household of demons and to keep the demon world in order. The only problem is that Nat's only non-demon companion is a sheep dog called Bel, and Nat has to admit that he is lonely. What could possibly be the harm in meeting other young people his age, in perhaps getting a girlfriend?

What could be the harm, indeed? In Royce Buckingham's Demonkeeper, demons are all around us. They are the manifestations of chaos in our universe and can range from the playful and mischievous to the outright malevolent. When Nat ventures out and meets junior librarian's assistant Sandy, he also catches the attention of two neighbourhood boys who break into the house and release The Beast, one of the nastiest demons of all. Can Nat restore order and keep the girl, and most importantly, can he do it before the Thin Man catches up with him?

Demonkeeper is a short novel aimed at children aged 10 and up. It is laugh-out-loud funny in places, and my favourite part of the book was when Nat accidentally microwaved one of his demon minions (it exploded but don't worry, the demon survived).

Nat is a fabulous character with a dry wit and self-deprecating sense of humour. Most of all, he is a strong character with an enormous responsibility on his shoulders who grows from reluctant and clumsy to heroic and competent. I liked the idea of his three demon minions as well as the Thin Man's minions.

Most of all, Demonkeeper is a cautionary tale and I really enjoyed The Beast's raison d'etre and the notion of lost children and the adults they become.

Demonkeeper is the perfect book for reluctant readers and should appeal to both boys and girls. It is fun, exciting and original and I am pleased to see that it is the first in a trilogy.

I give Demonkeeper four out of five stars and will certainly continue to read this trilogy.



Purchase Royce Buckingham's Demonkeeper at Amazon.com.
View the original article on blogcritics.org

AEI Client Royce Buckingham Interview On A Thousand Wrongs!

DEMONEATER (THE DEMONKEEPER SERIES)
Royce Buckingham
Story Merchant Books
172 pp.
middle grade e-book

Seattle’s demons are scared and wreaking havoc in the rainy city. They’ve burned their way through the Seattle underground, threatened to topple the Space Needle, and sent a twenty foot statue rampaging downtown.

It’s up to Nathaniel Grimlock, the teenage Demonkeeper, to control them, but when he discovers what’s stirring them up—a legendary monster known as the Demoneater—he finds that he’s in over his head yet again!

This cute series is perfect for kids of all ages. Author Royce Buckingham visits with us today to share a little about how it came to be. Be sure to enter the giveaway for the first book in the series below!
 

1. Tell us about the Demonkeeper series in one sentence.

A teenage boy in Seattle manages a houseful of wacky and dangerous demons to make sure they don't escape and wreak havoc on the world.

2. What inspired you to write these stories?

Demon Keeper began as a short story I wrote inspired by a kid I prosecuted regularly in juvenile court.  He had a green Mohawk, and I’d see him downtown begging change.  He was thirteen.  Then one day he disappeared.  I don’t know what happened to him, but he was living on the streets, so nobody seemed to care.  I imagined the chaos of those streets as a monster that simply rose and ate him up, as it does with so many kids.  Demon Keeper is more lighthearted than that short story I wrote years ago, but its message remains the same.  Kids need stability, family, and a home where they can learn to swim through the chaos of this crazy world before they are thrown into it.

3. What books did you read when you were young and how have they influenced your writing?

I was fascinated by fantastic tales such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Phantom Tollbooth and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. As I grew older, I moved on to The Hobbit, Conan the Barbarian and anything Stephen King.  I collected comic books too.  Movies were a big event in my small town. I saw Jaws at the theater the day it opened in 1975. I was nine years old. I stood in the sold-out line again in 1977 for Star Wars when I was eleven, and again for Alien when I was thirteen. Around twelve, I discovered the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons and began to create my own fantasy worlds.

4. Share a little about your road to publication.

When I started working at the Prosecuting Attorney’s office in Bellingham, WA in 1993, I sat down and wrote a novel.  It took a year, and I couldn’t sell it.  I was discouraged, but I put it in the drawer and kept writing. During this time I handled everything from gum theft to murder at the Prosecutor’s office.

Then Demonkeeper happened.

Demonkeeper was a screenplay I wrote about juvenile delinquents getting eaten by monsters.  It began to win competitions, and, by 1999, I was writing books and scripts and sending my work to L.A..  For the next five years, I wrote hard and tried to sell something.

But as excited as I got about my amateur success, I couldn’t quite break in.  In the meantime, I had two boys and my wife was working full-time.  I had to write at night, typically until two a.m., unless I was preparing for jury trials.

This…was a problem.

As good as the signs were for my writing, the fact was: I wasn’t breaking through, I wasn’t making any money at it, and I’d been doing it over ten years.  It was tough to justify the commitment.

In 2004, with all of my other obligations weighing on me, I resolved to quit writing seriously.  That same week, Microsoft e-mailed me.  They wanted to hire a screenwriter to create an original story for an Xbox video game.  I was floored.  This was not what I had planned, but it was an opportunity to write a fantasy story for a real audience for real money.  My amazing wife took one look at my secure, well-paying government job and told me…“go for it.”  Completely contrary to everything I’d ever been taught, I quit my attorney job and “went for it.”  A few months later, Microsoft cancelled the project, and I came crawling back to the prosecutor’s office to beg for my day job back.

This time I felt I was truly done with writing.  I shut off the computer and returned to my stabbings and shootings.  At least, I thought, I’d given my dream of being a writer a shot.  On my deathbed, I could say that I tried.

Then one day a Hollywood producer called me.  He’d read my Demonkeeper script.  He loved it.  I mentioned that I had also written it into a novel.  The response was surprise and delight.  In late 2005, they took Demonkeeper to Penguin Publishers, and they bought it.

Shortly thereafter, 20^th Century Fox called.  They wanted to read the novel.  They made a mid-six-figure offer the next day.

I spent a week pinching myself each morning to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.  After thirteen years of writing, I had suddenly sold a novel and a screenplay almost simultaneously.  And that hasn’t been the end of it.  Demonkeeper is now in ten countries and a bestseller in Germany.  I am currently writing my eighth book. 

5. What is your writing schedule like?

I work 32 hours a week as a lawyer and have two boys, 11 and 8. My wife also works. Thus, I write in the morning for one half hour, at lunch for an hour, at night for an hour, a full day Friday, and as much as possible on weekends.

6. What can we expect from you in the future?

A lot! THE DEAD BOYS is out right now alongside the DEMONKEEPER series. It is a Junior Library Guild selection and on several reading lists.

I have two books coming with Saint Martin’s Press. One is a YA about terminally ill teens that are recruited for dangerous spy missions so that they can die jumping out of planes and fighting bad guys instead of lying in hospital beds—very cool story called THE TERMINALS (2013).

I also have a two book deal with Random House in Germany. I just completed MAPPER 1 for them, which is a 500 page medieval fantasy about a boy who, when he draws on an ancient map, makes new lands appear. MAPPER 1 will be offered to U.S. publishers soon, and I’m writing MAPPER 2 for R.H. now. It’s a very exciting time.

AEI Client Royce Buckingham's Demonkeeper released in France!

AEI Client Royce Buckingham's Goblins German Cover : Gruesome Gnomes!

FEARNET : Laeta Kalogridis on AEI Client Royce Buckingham's Demonkeeper

Exclusive: Writer Laeta Kalogridis on ‘Demonkeeper' and ‘Darksiders'

Mon., Feb. 15, 2010 11:00 AM PST , by Joseph McCabe

Laeta Kalogridis is enjoying one of the more impressive career turnarounds in recent memory. Formerly the executive producer of the late, critically lambasted Birds of Prey and The Bionic Woman, Kalogridis has been on something of a roll lately, serving as executive producer of James Cameron's Avatar (and writer of the director's upcoming take on Battle Angel manga) and screenwriter of Martin Scorsese's latest, Shutter Island (adapting the book by Dennis Lehane). I caught up with her at the recent Shutter Island press junket in Manhattan, where I asked her about two upcoming dark fantasy films she's scripted – Demonkeeper (based on the young adult book by Royce Buckingham about a boy who inherits an old house filled with demons) and Darksiders, the tale of an FBI agent who teams up with a pack of vampires to stop an arms dealer in possession of biochemical weapons. Find out what Kalogridis told me about these projects after the jump.

"Demonkeeper is," said Kalogridis, "I hope moving forward with Sam Fell [director of Flushed Away and The Tale of Despereaux]. It's for all ages. I wrote it actually for my sons. It's PG-13. In a perfect world it's heading towards Gremlins land. It's more of a throwback to those Amblin films. It's tongue-in-cheek."

Regarding Darksiders, Kalogridis remarked, "I'm not really sure where it is right now. I don't know what's happening with it. It's very dark, very adult; definitely an R. It's a bit like the X-Men with vampires."

http://www.fearnet.com

Italian Cover - AEI Client Royce Buckingham's Demon Keeper

ROYCE BUCKINGHAM DECLARED MONSTER MEISTER FOR DEMONKEEPER II PUBLISHER PENHALIGON

Scroll Down to Page Seven/Eight!

AEI CLIENT ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S DEMONKEEPER GETS STELLAR REVIEW FROM TOP AMAZON REVIEWER

A Keeper, June 30, 2009

By	drebbles (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews

With his mentor gone, teenaged Nat is the sole human in charge of a house filled with demons. He is still learning the ropes of living in a house that is literally alive, not to me ntion dealing with the Beast in the basement that would love to escape and indulge his appetite which includes a taste for animals and humans. While Nat isn't totally alone - he has the companionship of his dog Bel and three minions, Pernicious, Nikolai, and Flappy - he still longs for human friends and enters an uneasy relationship with junior librarian Sandy and street urchin Richie. Nat tries not to let these friendships interfere with his demon keeping duties but little does he know that he's going to need their help when things go horribly wrong in the house and his predecessor, the Thin Man, heads back to town wanting his job back.

"Demonkeeper" is a deliciously creepy yet wickedly funny novel aimed at readers aged 9 -12. Author Royce Buckingham has done a wonderful job of creating a world filled with demons, especially the house Nat lives in which is filled with usually inanimate objects like rugs, lamps, and plants that are alive. The book is filled with nonstop action, starting from the very first page and readers will sympathize with both Nat and Richie who seem to go from one bad situation to another without ever feeling safe. Buckingham has a wonderful sense of humor and does a great job of mixing horror with humor. While there are plenty of scary moments and plenty of implied gore especially involving the beast, nothing is graphically described so it's not too tough to read for younger readers. Underneath the fun and scary moments, there is a sense of sadness throughout the=2 0book. Outside of Sandy, whose parents are mentioned but not seen, all of the children in the book are orphans forced to survive on their own. The only "adult" in the book is the Thin Man who is hardly a role model.

"Demonkeeper" is a wonderfully inventive, Stephen King-like novel for children.

Foreign Rights to Royce Buckingham’s Demonkeeper

Royce Buckingham’s Demonkeeper and Demon Eater, in a two-book deal, to Bragelonne (France) by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International which is producing “Demon Keeper” for Fox 2000, with Sam Fell (“Tale of Despereux,” “Flushed Away”) now attached to direct. Ken Atchity kja@aeionline.com

Buy Demonkeeper on Amazon

Goblins! An Underearth Adventure book trailer

Spanish rights to Royce Buckingham’s Demonkeeper

Spanish rights to Royce Buckingham’s Demonkeeper to Scyla (Spain) by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International.

kja (at) aeionline (dot) com

Buy Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham on Amazon

ARGHH! ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S GOBLINS PRAISED BY SEATTLE TIMES

Kids' tales that will warm hearts and chill spines

By Stephanie Dunnewind
Special to The Seattle Times
Fall brings several sweets — and a few frights — for young readers.

• Bellingham author Royce Buckingham ("Demonkeeper") targets Artemis Fowl fans with his fast-paced "Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 240 pp., $16.99, ages 10-13). Teens Sam and PJ catch a goblin and discover a hidden passage to an underground world where a small band of humans battles goblin hordes. With giant bugs, a smart-aleck hero and a goblin named General Eww-yuk, the novel packs its sometimes-violent action in with a tongue fully in cheek. As the not-so-bright goblin Slurp notes, "It was like the old goblin saying: 'The rocks will outlive we beasts who think too much.' The saying had originally been simply 'Argggh,' but using the human language had made it longer and more complicated."

Former Seattle Times staff reporter Stephanie Dunnewind is a graduate student in library science at the University of Washington.

GOBLINS’ PRESS RELEASE

Author Royce Buckingham's Second Funny Fantasy Book for Kids Released This Month: Kirkus Reviews Calls Book "A Riotously Good Adventure"

Two kids discover a world of Goblins underground in this hilarious new book for kids by Author Royce Buckingham.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) September 10, 2008 -- The sleepy town of Sumas near the Canadian border sits atop a rambunctious world full of Goblins in Royce Buckingham's second humorous fantasy novel for kids, GOBLINS! The book hits stores Thursday, September 18.



When PJ and Sam--a cop's kid and a juvenile delinquent--sneak into the Sumas woods in dad's police cruiser, they accidentally run down what looks like a mutant gorilla with a bad attitude. But it's no ape--it's a goblin, and thousands more live under the earth. Sam discovers a tunnel into the goblin world and quickly winds up in their clutches. It'll take all of PJ's strength and ingenuity to outsmart the goblins, save Sam, keep the creatures from finding their way to the surface, and get back to the station before his dad finds out.

The release of GOBLINS! follows Buckingham's breakthrough first novel, DEMONKEEPER, which was named to the International Reading Association's 2008 Children's Choice Booklist and is already in development with 20th Century Fox as a major motion picture. DEMONKEEPER was also just released this August by Random House Germany as a lead title in the launch of its newest division, Penhaligon, and is titled Damliche Damonen. Buckingham has recently inked additional deals with Random House-Germany for GOBLINS! and a sequel to DEMONKEEPER.

Buckingham is an author and screenwriter who creates funny, creepy, and cool stories for kids while working as a prosecuting attorney. He is currently revising his third middle grade novel for Penguin under the working title SCARY MONSTERS and writing the sequel to DEMONKEEPER. He lives in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and their two boys. He is represented by the Atchity Entertainment International management and production company in Los Angeles.

News about Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham In Germany

Looks like Damliche Damonen (Demonkeeper) has come out in Germany. Amazon Germany has it ranked (it looks like it's an instant ranking for German books). Here's the link. At last check it it's #43 overall and #3 in Fantasy behind JK Rowling and the new Eragon.

Demons are all around us—most of them are relatively harmless, like the ones that go bump in the night or make you stub your toe. But some are dangerous—some can kill. Since he was orphaned as a boy, Nat has been trained by his aged mentor Daliwahl to be a demonkeeper, controlling a menagerie of demons in their old, rickety house in Seattle. But now Dahliwahl is gone and Nat is on his own.

Keeping demons isn’t a very social activity, and when Nat goes on a date with Sandy, a junior librarian’s assistant, it’s a disaster in more ways that one—while Nat’s out, a very scary demon called the Beast escapes. Can Nat get the Beast back to the house and make things right with Sandy—and do it all by himself?

With its fast-paced action, slapstick humor, and a winning, unlikely hero, Demonkeeper is a high-spirited romp that will keep readers glued to the page. Click here to read more about Demonkeeper and buy it on Amazon.