Something else that we need to note, there are characters that fall under more than one category. An example for the fire team would be ‘Pepi’. These are usually characters that can provide mobility for your team (teleportation, movement) so you can easily reposition on the board. It’s not uncommon to use a ‘Utility’ unit. One Support unit, usually a healer or a buffer. One or two damage dealers (Snipers, Detonators).Usually at least two ‘Converters’ or 'Painters', which simply means units that can change the colour of the tiles.The general idea or outline of your team should look something like this: A really comfortable chair-because if you're a writer, you're going to spend a lot of time sitting in it.Before we get into Alchemy Stars best team comps, let us first begin by talking a little bit about the approach behind team building in the game. I work on two computer screens the story on one screen, notes and research on the second screen.Īnd now let me answer the question you are about to ask me because, sooner or later, everyone asks, "What is the secret of writing?"Ī comfortable chair. The following day I'll read what I've written the previous day, then edit and rewrite. It's that time the conscious side of the brain is starting to shut down and the unconscious takes over. Nights really are the best time for writing. The time frame for the entire series is very tight-The Alchemyst, for example, takes place over two days-so I too need to keep an hour-by-hour breakdown of events.įor people who like to know the practicalities, I write every day and sometimes all day and often long into the night. There are tiny clues seeded into the first book that pay off in later books. A minor change in book one could impact dramatically book three. It is the first in a series, and because the story told across all six books is so tightly integrated, keeping track of the characters and events means that I have to keep extensive and detailed notes. The Alchemyst was a tough book to write, probably the toughest of all the books I've done so far. What writer couldn't resist a story that combined magical books, an immortal magician and grave robbing and, even more excitingly, that had a basis in fact? It begged the questions: if he was still alive today, where would he be and what would he be doing? Obvious really-he would be running a bookshop in San Francisco. Had Nicholas also discovered that other great mystery of alchemy: the secret of immortality? Had Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel been buried in secret graves, or had they never died in the first place? In the months and years to follow, sightings of the Flamels were reported all over Europe. When his tomb was opened by thieves looking for some of his great wealth, it was found to be empty. Of course the greatest mystery linked to Nicholas Flamel is the story of what happened after he died. Perhaps he had discovered the secret of the Philosopher's Stone: how to turn base metal into gold. He became extraordinarily wealthy and used some of his great wealth to found hospitals, churches, and orphanages. Although the book itself is lost, the illustrations from the text still exist.Īccompanied by his wife Perenelle, Nicholas spent more than 20 years trying to translate book. It, too, really existed and Nicholas Flamel left us with a very detailed description of the copper-bound book. One day he bought a book, the same book mentioned in The Alchemyst: the Book of Abraham. He was born in 1330 and earned his living as a bookseller, which, by another of those wonderful coincidences, was the same job I had for many years. Nicholas Flamel was one of the most famous alchemists of his day. It also gave me the character of Nicholas Flamel because, up to that point, the book was without a hero.Īnd Nicholas Flamel brought so much to the story. These are the stories which simply will not go away until you get them down on paper, where you find yourself coming across precisely the research you need, or discovering the perfect character or, in my case, actually stumbling across Nicholas Flamel's house in Paris.ĭiscovering Flamel's house was the final piece I needed to put the book together. Most stories wait their turn to be told, but there are a few which tap you on the shoulder and insist on being told. Most writers know they will probably never write the vast majority of those ideas. Ten years later, almost to the day, The Alchemyst, the first book in the Nicholas Flamel series, will be published in May.Įvery writer I know keeps a notebook full of those ideas, which might, one day, turn into a story. "Some stories wait their turn to be told, others just tap you on the shoulder and insist you tell them."īy one of those wonderful coincidences with which life is filled, I find that the first time the word alchemyst-with a Y-appears in my notes is in May 1997.
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