Author Archive

Another Superfan Event!

Missed the Superfan event?  Don’t worry, we’ve got a terrific video for you… and even better, the fantastic news that Michelle will be doing a Clan-only, virtual Superfan event in a few weeks’ time… live via video for all fans worldwide!

Keep watching the Clan for the latest news on this (it’s likely to be a Sunday towards the end of September).  And here’s a taster of the last terrific Superfan event hosted by Puffin… just to whet your appetite!

The Michelle Paver Superfan Event – Open to All Clanners!

The SuperFan Event on July 14th in London is the biggest (free!) event The Clan has ever organized – and places are filling up quickly. All Clanners are invited – but if you want to come to this momentous occasion, you must let us know immediately!

What Will Happen:

  • An exclusive Clan-only preview of this year’s truly momentous happenings
  • An exclusive first look at the brand new Puffin trailer for Gods & Warriors
  • A chance to meet Michelle one-to-one and to hear her talk about her research and writing for the new series
  • A Q&A session where you can put all your burning questions to Michelle – so come with your questions prepared!
  • The ultimate SuperFan Michelle Paver Quiz – test your knowledge on all things Chronicles of Ancient Darkness for the chance to win one of five exclusive proof copies of Gods and Warriors!
  • A book signing session with Michelle – bring copies of anything you already own and want signed!
  • AND… A *big* surprise announcement that many Clanners have been asking about for years!  Can you guess what it is…?

This is the biggest, most important event in The Clan’s history.  We want as many readers as possible to be able to come, because it will truly be a unique day.  However – places are going quickly.

Who Can Come:

*  Clanners, a parent/guardian and a friend (unfortunately we can only accept 1 parent/guardian per Clanner unless there are special circumstances).

*  If you are under 18, you *must* bring a parent or guardian.

*  Older fans will be made *especially* welcome.  We recognize that the most stalwart of Michelle’s fans (who’ve been with her since the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series) are now 18 or over – you are our ambassadors, and your presence on the day will be highly valued.

Please note: due to European law, the event’s organisers (Puffin) cannot extend this invitation to non-UK residents. I realise this is a massive disappointment, but if there is enough interest, we at The Clan will be looking into speaking to Michelle’s foreign language publishers and looking at possibly running similar Superfan events in separate countries.

Where:

Puffin Books

10th Floor, 80 Strand,

London, WC2R 0RL

When:

Saturday 14th July (1:30pm for a 2:00pm start / finish by 4:30pm)

We’ll let you know more soon!

So if you live in the UK, would like to come spend a great day out in London with Michelle, The keenest Clanners and her publishers, let us know IMMEDIATELY! Please email nanuak [AT] jointheclan.com with the subject heading ‘Superfan Event’, and include your name (and that of your guardian if relevant) and your username on The Clan. You’ll receive a confirmation email closer to the event.

We cannot guarantee how long we will be accepting attendees to this event – if you want to come, please get in touch as soon as possible!

 

The first Gods and Warriors Role Play – everyone’s invited!

One of the most active parts of The Clan is The Campfire, our role playing board. Clanners have spent years exploring and extending the world of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness in long-running role playing games, and we thought that a great way to introduce more Clanners to the times and customs of Gods and Warriors would be through a huge RP in July!

Join The Clan and be active for at least five days and make 12 posts if you’d like to participate in this original and thrilling role play!

How will this work? Well, let’s start with your characters! Your characters could be from anywhere in the Mediterranean and they will not be allowed any weapons or tools at the start. Unless they are from Greece or Egypt, they will also be likely to still have long hair. Their appearance and cultural beliefs must conform with what we know about people in the early Bronze Age.

There will be no more than five (5) players at one time — this does not include any Clan Guardians or event organisers who will be playing our benevolent narrators.

Remember, you need to have been a member of The Clan for at least five (5) days and made at least twelve (12) posts in order to role play! You have plenty of time to do this right now.

Join The Clan if you’d like to participate in this original and thrilling role play!

Gods and Warriors Trailer Competition

The Clan and Puffin Books, who are publishing Michelle’s upcoming series, have a little competition planned for the aspiring filmmakers amongst you:

We challenge YOU to create your own video about Gods and Warriors, to spread the word far and wide and make it the biggest book of 2012!

We’re looking for a video that will be both intriguing and exciting — and make people want to read Gods and Warriors as soon as it hits the stores! It can be done in any style you like; maybe a movie-style trailer, a video blog by you, or music and images inspired by what you know about the book and Michelle’s writing in general. You can focus on any part of the story, but must be mainly about Gods and Warriors (rather than just Michelle or Chronicles) and be under one minute long.

To help, you can download the cover here (layered inDesign; high-res JPG) and check out these sites for useful things like:

We’ll choose one winner, that we feel is the the one that best meets all the criteria above, to win one of the most exclusive, prized possessions any Clanner could want — the chance to come to a ‘Superfan event’ hosted by Puffin Books at their head office in London! You will meet Michelle in person, hear her talk about Gods and Warriors in detail, get free *signed* goodies and be the very first people in the world to see the Puffin Books official trailer for Gods and Warriors!

This trailer competition is open to UK residents aged 18 and under (at the time of the closing date). If you’re over 18, we’re really sorry that you aren’t eligible for this competition. Michelle has told us that she would like the Superfan event to be open to her younger fans.

TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND RULES

  1. The closing date for the competition is 14th June 2012.
  2. This competition is only open to UK residents aged 18 and under (by the time of the closing date.)
  3. There is no cash alternative to this prize.
  4. Every Clanner who enters will receive an additional 12 Nanuaks on their profile.
  5. The winner will be chosen by the judges (Puffin Books and The Management from The Clan). They will be contacted and must confirm their acceptance of the prize by 23:59 on 21st June 2012. If the winner can’t accept the prize, a different winner will be chosen by the judges, and will have 7 days to confirm their acceptance.
  6. There will only be one winner. The winner will receive one ticket to the Michelle Paver Superfan Event, held at 80 Strand, London on Saturday 14th July 2012. The winner must be accompanied by a parent/guardian aged 18 or over. The parent/guardian will be allowed into the event, but only Clanners will be entitled to receive free goodies and prizes.
  7. Winners and parents/guardians will need to pay for their own travel and/or accommodation expenses.
  8. Please email your completed trailer, your real name, your Clan username, your email address, your date of birth, and your parent/guardian’s name to godsandwarriors-AT-uk-DOT-penguingroup-DOT-com. Only those trailers that are emailed to this address will be entered into the competition. All trailers will be uploaded to the Gods and Warriors trailer YouTube channel.

Baking with The Clan

Yes, we know — a lot of the recent activities on The Clan have focused on art and writing. Here’s something a little different!

While we know some things about what our Bronze Age ancestors ate, we don’t know all the details. We can make educated guesses about some things, and one of those things is bread.

Let’s assume that our ancestors baked and ate bread — in fact, let’s expand the grand Virtual Museum with a gallery of bread that could have been baked and eaten by Bronze Age families!

breadoven (3)

We know that wheat (from various species) was consumed at that time, as was spelt, so if you can get your hands on some spelt or wholemeal flour, plus a couple of other simple ingredients, mix up your dough, stick it in the oven, and travel back in time.

While you are welcome to devise your own recipes (please share them with us so we can all learn), helpful folks on the Internet have also created some for people who don’t have much of a clue about baking. Here are a couple to get you started:

  • Traditional Spelt Loaf recipe by Shipton Mill
  • Sweet Hazelnut Bread from h2g2 (which notes, “You can also experiment with other native plants and herbs for different flavours; try using wild (hedge) garlic, burdock roots, ramsons (wild onions), young nettles or berries to add to the basic recipes…”)

Remember, if you’re not too familiar with the oven, please ask for help. I’m sure your parents / guardians / personal chefs would be very pleased to assist you in the mission of baking your own bread.

All Clanners who bake a loaf and post a photo as well as the recipe you used by 30th June 2012 will be awarded 8 Nanuaks, and your photos will be added to the Virtual Museum!

Watch the Spring ClanCast with Michelle Paver!

In this edition, Michelle is asked some very interesting questions and announces some very exciting news for those who like ghost stories…

The first ClanCast of the year — 15th April 2012

Updates below!

We now have confirmation that the first ClanCast of 2012 is scheduled for 15th April 2012, from 4-6pm BST (GMT +1) — after being postponed from February. To calculate when that is in your part of the world, use the Time Zone Converter.

Now that some proofs of Gods and Warriors have been released, as well as that rather beautiful jacket, I’m sure you’ve got lots of questions for Michelle about her new series. And now’s your chance!

For details on how you can ask Michelle a question during the ClanCast, please see the announcement thread.

Date: 15th April 2012
Time: 4-6pm BST
Where: Online, of course!

Subscribe to the ClanCast on iTunes / your favourite feed reader:
Feedburner
Direct download

Update: this Sunday’s ClanCast will be held in conjunction with the Litopia After Dark live radio programme, which is accessed via http://www.litopia.com/radio/live-events/. Michelle will be signing and dedicating 20 copies of her ghostly novel Dark Matter live on the show! To find out how to be one of the lucky 20, please tune in promptly at 4pm UK time this Sunday, 15th April!

Exclusive video: Michelle introduces Gods and Warriors to The Clan!

Straight from the mouth of the creator herself, here is Michelle giving Clanners an early insight into her latest series, Gods and Warriors. The first book is published this autumn — we can hardly wait!

Win a signed copy of Wolf Brother in our Bronze Age Quiz!

“When I was ten years old, I wanted to live like the Stone Age people, and I desperately wanted a wolf. I didn’t get one; but decades later, I wrote Wolf Brother. I’m honoured that Orion have chosen it as one of 20 books to celebrate their 20th Birthday. And what a gorgeous new edition this is, with that beautiful porcelain wolf raising his muzzle in mid-howl!”

– Michelle Paver, February 2012

Here’s your chance to win a copy of this very special edition of Wolf Brother — simply join The Clan and take the quiz, as all Clanners who have answered all the questions correctly will be entered into a prize draw. Winners will be randomly selected, so as long as you’ve entered before the end of March, you’re in with a chance of winning!

Competition Terms and conditions

  1. The competition closes at 2359 hours GMT on March 31 2012.
  2. Everyone who answers all the questions — correctly or otherwise — will be awarded 5 Nanuaks (The Clan’s virtual currency).
  3. Only one entry per Clanner will be considered for Nanuaks and the prize draw.
  4. There are no cash alternatives to this prize.
  5. Only entries with all the correct answers will be entered into the prize draw.
  6. Five winners will be randomly picked in the prize draw.
  7. Each winner will receive a copy of Wolf Brother (Orion 20th Anniversary Edition), which includes a bookplate signed by Michelle Paver.

Good luck!

Full details and a link to the quiz.
More information about Orion’s 20th Anniversary editions.

2012 is the year of Gods and Warriors!

For those who have missed out on the big announcement in The Clan forum as well as the email sent out last week, we can now confirm that the first book in Gods and Warriors, Michelle’s latest series of novels set in the Bronze Age, will definitely be published this autumn!

The Clan has been looking forward to this for a long time, and we’ve been organising a series of events and activities to commemorate this very special year. Our first order of business is the Book Circle, where Clanners get to read a proof copy of Gods and Warriors before anyone else does.

There will also be competitions and lots of other activities (including online events with Michelle) that will run every single month, earning you great prizes as well as Nanuaks, The Clan’s virtual currency. Nanuaks are especially important this year, because the 50 Clanners who have scored the most Nanuaks will be invited to an exclusive launch event where they’ll get to meet Michelle face-to-face and everyone else connected with Gods and Warriors, too — how cool is that?

All of this is only available to members of The Clan. It’s free to join and is a fun, safe environment for all ages. If you haven’t yet joined The Clan, now’s a great time to get started!

The first ClanCast of 2012 is almost upon us

Michelle has kindly arranged with Admin to go into the studio for another ClanCast — yay!

As you know, she has been very busy with Gods and Warriors — her new series of books set in the Bronze Age. The Clan will be holding special activities all year long to commemorate this momentous occasion, and the ClanCast is just the first of many events this year.

For details on how you can ask Michelle a question during the ClanCast, please see the announcement thread.

Date: 12th February 2012
Time: 4-6pm GMT
Where: Online, of course!

Subscribe to the ClanCast on iTunes / your favourite feed reader:
Feedburner
Direct download

Michelle in the Hot Seat on SuperClubsPLUS

Michelle Paver will soon be speaking to children all over the world on SuperClubsPLUS, a safe social networking site for 6 – 14 year olds. Schools can join up for a free six-week trial, so ask your teachers and get signed up to join in the fun and contact annabel.rook@intuitivemedia.com.au.

Keep 27th March free in your diaries from 10am – 11am British Summer Time, Michelle will be answering questions in the Hot Seat about her books. Take a look at our site at www.scplus.com for more information. Looking forward to your visit!

January 2012 Writing Competition

You’ve already seen our December Art Competition winner — and now it’s January, which means it’s time for our Writing Competition!

(We alternate our Art and Writing Competitions every month.)

This month, use your imaginations and write up to 1000 words on Eostra’s life, thoughts, beliefs, feelings. Make sure you’ve joined The Clan, say ‘Hello!’ in our Greetings board, and then head on over to the Art/Writing Competitions board to submit your entry.

The deadline for entries is midnight (GMT) on 26th January!

And then there was Tumblr

The Clan’s foray into pseudonymous social media domination continues, with our new Tumblr! Follow us at jointheclan.tumblr.com to get the latest news from The Clan and Michelle Paver.

(You’ll still get all the news first if you actually join The Clan. Why wait? It’s free, safe, and there are no ads.)

December’s Clashing Clans Leaderboard

Apologies for being a day late — I was enjoying the festive break far too much!

Three (yes, three) of our four Clans have now breached the 1,000 Nanuaks threshold, just in time for the Great Reset of 2012. I will be virtually zeroing the Leaderboard tallies in order to give newer Clanners the chance to join in. Your Nanuaks are safe; they will just be adjusted for Leaderboard purposes.

We’ve got a clear winner for 2011 — gryffindorhg, with their unflagging dedication to the wiki, has ended the year with a well-deserved win. A love for all things Clan-related and high levels of activity earns you Nanuaks on The Clan, and you can use them to buy rarities and exclusives in our Shop, as well as extra privileges on the site.

Could you be our missing piece?

There are Michelle Paver fans, and there are Michelle Paver fans. We think we’ve got a great community in The Clan, and we recently refreshed The E-Team, an elite group of super-dedicated Clanners who take their passion for Michelle Paver’s work outside The Clan to recruit new members. And we’re now looking for more.

E-Teamer CJ Watso has designed a simple application form for Clanners who would like to become part of The E-Team. And what’s so great about The E-Team? Well, we like to reward dedication and passion, and E-Teamers are the first Clanners the admin tell about new and exciting things happening on The Clan, including upcoming work by Michelle. With the first book in Gods and Warriors being published next year, being in The E-Team could give you some major bragging rights among your friends.

So there’s no time to waste — if you’ve been promoting Michelle Paver’s work and The Clan to your friends, get your application together now and you could be enjoying the benefits of being Elite very soon.

The Clan Yearbook 2011!

One advantage of Michelle not being on the Internet is we can openly talk about gifts we’re getting ready for her! This year, The Clan is putting together a yearbook to mark the end of 2011. Michelle’s new series, Gods and Warriors, will be published next autumn and we can’t wait for it.

The book’s going to be a handmade, hand-bound one of a kind piece of Clanner art. It will be completely original, and given to Michelle in the new year.

If you’d like to be involved in The Clan Yearbook 2011, please read the post in the Announcements forum, which explains how you can contribute.

November’s Clashing Clans Leaderboard

A slightly later Leaderboard than usual — but only by a few hours. The Far North has overtaken the Deep Forest in the Leaderboard, with both breaching the 1000 Nanuaks milestone!

This next month could determine who wins the grand prize. The Clanner who earns the most Nanuaks will be declared the winner at the next Leaderboard tally, which will be calculated on 2 January 2012. gryffindorhg is ahead at the moment, but with a concerted effort, there are many Clanners who could catch up!

MidnightSWolf’s Advent Calendar Story!

Guardian MidnightSWolf has kicked off a special collaborative writing project on The Clan — the Advent Calendar Story. Every day this month, MidnightSWolf will be awarding Nanuaks to a Clanner who’s written the best next lines, and the story will grow into something silly and fun, and maybe even amazing!

The first line of the story is:

Wolf shook the snow off his nose miserably while Renn tied antler horns to his head, humming cheerfully.

Head over to The Clan forum now and join in — if you haven’t joined The Clan, what better way to start than with a little storytelling?

The Clan Winter Quiz!

Think you know everything about the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness and The Clan? Challenge your knowledge by taking the very first of our seasonal quizzes…

The Clan Winter Quiz is free to enter and easy — well, if you spend every waking moment on The Clan, that is. The rest of you will need to search The Clan, listen to ClanCasts, and more in order to find the answers to the quiz.

Everyone who completes the full quiz will earn 5 Nanuaks each, and the first five Clanners who answer all the questions correctly will win 10 Nanuaks each. Not a bad way to spend some free time!

Want to know more? Check for more details in the Announcements thread.

October’s Clashing Clans Leaderboard

Well, the spreadsheet has been, er, spread and the latest Clashing Clans Leaderboard has been tallied. The Deep Forest continues to lead, with the Far North, Sea, and Open Forest working hard to catch up. Our top Clanners see a new entry, with AshhsA entering the chart at number five!

Special mention also goes out to the organisers of the brilliant Clan Week, which took place a fortnight ago. Please say a big ‘thank you’ to CJ Watso, GlowingWolfEyes, Mountain Goat, and The Bright Beast.

October’s art competition results and November’s art theme

Hearty congratulations to Nalgask, who has won the October art competition with their interpretation of the first time Torak met Wolf.

‘Then the strange wolf stopped yip-and-yowling and advanced in a frightening silence….’

Nalgask has suggested the theme for November’s writing competition, and it is: The point of view of a Clan Guardian.

The usual rules apply.

Virtual Museum II — we have our winner(s)!

Many apologies for the delay in announcing the winners of the second Virtual Museum Competition — the Palaeolithic Meal Time. There’s no way I was going to interrupt Clan Week 2011!

All the entries were excellent in their own way. As we have enough top prizes to award to all entrants, I’m pleased to say that everyone who entered has won a prize. Many congratulations to Elemental Bear, Mountain Goat, Forgotten, ancient dark, wren, polecat, BlackWolff, Red Mist, and naughtywolf!

Clan Week 2011!

The following is a very important message from GlowingWolfEyes:

Did you ever think The Clan couldn’t get any more fun? That it is simply the best site on the entire Internet, and that nothing could ever improve it?

Well.

Believe it or not… You were wrong.

Because for one whole week, from Monday 24th October — Sunday 30th October, The Clan will be transformed… Into a place filled with so much fun, you won’t know what’s hit you!

Awards, games, competitions, prizes, a treasure trail, and a whole lot of laughs… all these await you on…

CLAN WEEK! A week dedicated to celebrating the wonderful place that is: The Clan!

And, to make things even more unusual, it’s being organised by clanners themselves! All the ideas, themes, and games, have been thought up by a small group of clanners, dedicated to giving their friends on the clan an amazing week!

Don’t miss it!

September’s Clashing Clans Leaderboard

Apologies for forgetting to post last month’s Leaderboard on the home page — I can be a bit scatterbrained at times!

The Deep Forest Clan group is still on top with 778.55 Nanuaks, and our top-scoring Clanner this month is gryffindorhg (129.99 Nanuaks).

We’d like to highlight the Clanners who asked Michelle a question (or questions!) at last month’s ClanCast, and they are: CJ Watso, Twilightwolf, aqeelooo, spiritworld, SummerRenn, Red Mist, Mountain Goat, wolfkeeper, AshhsA, Medea, Prettykins, and Youngtailess.

Special mentions also go to YellowWolf for helping to translate Michelle’s site from English to Swedish, and Elemental Bear for being so very helpful in explaining Clashing Clans to a newbie.

With the deadline for the second Virtual Museum extended, you can look out for an announcement of the winners very soon, and some of our more elite Clanners have an exciting activity ready to launch later this month — keep your eyes peeled for that. They’ve been planning for months, and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what they’ve got in store for everyone on The Clan.

Virtual Museum competition entry deadline extended

The Grand Poobah is disappointed that there has only been one entry to the Palaeolithic Meal Time Virtual Museum Competition, with only one day to go till deadline. With another team putting their entry together and circumstances beyond their control that has delayed their submission, The Grand Poobah has decided to extend the deadline by one week, to 7 October 2011.

For details on how to enter, please visit the official announcement thread. The Grand Poobah hopes that a picture of the exclusive Clan leather wristbands, part of the prize package for the top two teams, will motivate you.

The ClanCast Fall 2011

Presenting… the Fall 2011 ClanCast, which is number 14!

We put your questions to Michelle, who came into the studio specially to answer them — there may be a few surprises and the quashing of rumours, as well as more information about her next series Gods and Warriors, which will be published in Autumn 2012. Andrea makes her ClanCast début, too. And there’s a little birthday tribute to Michelle at the end, so listen out for that!

Subscribe on iTunes / your favourite feed reader:
Feedburner
Direct download

ClanCast trailer:

The Wiki image project

The Clan is home to a very special Wiki — the encyclopaedia to the world of Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. Many Clanners have volunteered their time and effort to creating new content for the Wiki, and for that we are forever grateful.

A great wiki has well-researched and -written text, as well as images. We do not have enough of the latter. So we are asking you, Clanners, if you will contribute to the Wiki image project.

Will you help us by adding more images to the Wiki?

The Second Virtual Museum competition!

We love the Virtual Museum, and we hope you love it too. We love it so much that we want to do it again — with a twist.

Get into teams and create an exhibit detailing the Palaeolithic meal time. What would they normally eat, and what would they use to eat it with? Who sits next to whom?

There are Nanuaks up for grabs, as well as exclusive Clan wristbands, badges, and signed photos. You’ve got till 30th September to submit your entry. Have fun!

Full details in The Clan forum.

Announcing… The September ClanCast!

Have you got any questions for Michelle? Now’s a good time to ask — it’s time for the next ClanCast! All you need to do is send a PM to Andrea with your question, and Michelle will do her best to answer them all.

The recording is scheduled to be made in early September, so please get your questions in to Andrea by close of business on 1st September. For full details, please read the announcement in the forum.