Hi everyone

A few years ago a young lady, a high school student from the Czech Republic named Nancy Králová wrote to me with a special request, and the following are exerts of our communications.

June 2011 – Hello Mrs Curley, I don’t know if you remember my e-mail that I sent to you a year ago. I wrote you how I enjoyed your books, the Guardians of Time, and that I am writing a continuation of these books. Well, I am still writing and I am on the 45th chapter – page 520!!! And THIS is really amazing. I just wanted to thank you again, because I never thought that I could write so many pages and chapters. I am grateful to you. I have a new dream – I want to write my own books in the future and I hope it will come true. By the way, Guardians of Time are incredible! Now I am reading The Named again and I am still amazed. Yours sincerely…

September 2013 – I don’t know if you remember, but about three years ago I wrote you an e-mail that I’m your fan and how I enjoyed your books and also that I was writing a sequel of Guardians of time. Well, now it’s a year and three months later and I finally finished it. It’s called “The Guardians of time – The Bond” and it has 60 chapters plus prologue and epilogue. For me it’s a big success, because I never thought I could write a book, especially long like that. I study art at school – graphic design and I’m having graduation next year and part of it is to submit a graphic project, and I thought of my book. I have also decided to create a book cover, draw some illustrations and have it bound and printed, to submit for school and to have some copies for myself and my friends.

And my main thought of this is that I want to keep on writing books and making the covers and illustrations for other writers in the future.

It was here Nancy and I talked about some copyright issues and she assured me the book would be printed only for her personal use, a few copies for her friends who are also GOT fans, and to submit for her graduation project.

Feb 8, 2015 – Marianne, you’ve created such an amazing world full of adventure, magic, courage and strong friendship and love. And I’ve been living in this world for five or six years and I’m still enjoying it. And even if my sequel is completed and I don’t write anything else, I know that this story and this world will stay in my heart for as long as it beats. I’m sure about it. And I am really grateful for what you created and also for the opportunity you gave me in doing so. It has been an honor to continue such an amazing story.

It’s almost done! I just need to finish a few illustrations. I’ve already created a dust jacket and can’t wait to show you. I hope you like it.

February, 2015 – Hello Marianne. I just want to inform you that my book is finished – all the text and illustrations – and now it is in a book bindery. It should be done in a month. I can’t wait for that moment when I’ll be able to hold the book in my hands!

March 2015 – Hello, Marianne. Today, I was in the book bindery to see how my book is going and they finished it! You wouldn’t believe how happy I am in this moment. Or maybe you would….

Well, I was so impressed with Nancy’s work, the book she wrote and created based on my Guardians of Time Trilogy, that I wanted to tell everybody what she had done and show the book off here on my website. I also thought she would inspire others to find their dreams and to follow them. I believe you don’t know what you’re capable of until you try. My only disappointment with this book is that I will probably never be able to read the story, unless it is one day translated into English, or I learn how to read the language of the Czech Republic. But it doesn’t matter because today I am praising the efforts of one of my devoted readers, who found in herself the dedication and discipline to write a full-length novel, and at such a young age. Thank you, Nancy, for the honour you did me, and my Guardians of Time Trilogy.

Here are some photos. The first is of an excited Nancy in that moment where she holds her book for the first time. The other photos are of the book itself – The Guardians of Time – The Bond, showing some samples of Nancy’s illustrations and cover art.

A Little More About Nancy – Nancy Králová is 19 years old, lives in a small town in the Czech Republic and studies graphic design at art school. It is easy to see that Nancy loves art, sketching, Photoshop, other computer programs to do with art and of course writing stories. Nancy read The Guardians of Time when she was 13 and fell in love with the characters and the story, and like many of my readers, she wanted to continue the story. I think what really happened is Nancy wanted to write her own ending! So she started writing it, chapter after chapter for 3 to 4 years and 62 chapters later, she finished. But like most of us writers, when she edited it, she wasn’t happy and ended up rewriting almost every chapter, taking her another two years before she was finally satisfied. Now that is dedication!

By now Nancy was studying art and decided to use her story – The Bond – a completed printed novel, for her graduation piece. And now Nancy is planning to write her own book. I won’t tell you what it’s about, that’s not my place, but I can tell that it sounds awesome. I wish Nancy all the best for her future endeavours, and I look forward to following her career.

A note to everyone: If you have created something relating to any of my books, and you would like me to see it, please feel free to send me an email, outlining what you have, and attach a photo or two, or direct me to a url. Whether they are drawings, or your own graphic design for a movie poster or book cover of one of my books, I would be happy to see them.