Below you can find a potted guide to how the entire oeuvre of DANNY was written. It also gives details of the 'Minor Works', some of which may be published in the future (see Nothing But a Negro for more details).

I have also included a couple of publicity articles which were written at the time of the 2004 launch of DANNY for book collectors' magazines . One has some arrant nonsense about auctioning my dress (it was given to a friend on Orkney) and other bizarre Hollywood touches, but it also contains solid factual information on DANNY's chequered history.

I very much doubt if I will ever sell the handwritten drafts, work books or progress logs that our inventive journalist titillates us with, but they do exist, exactly as she describes them. You can see photographs of them at the Manuscript Gallery just to prove it!

- Chancery

DANNY - WRITING HISTORY

1990. DANNY begins as an original short story called The Boy With The Red Hair. Alternative titles were bandied about such as The Two Gents, Lazarus is Risen and I Dreamt My Death in a Field of Poppies, but it obstinately remained The Boy With the Red Hair. It was started on the12th June 1990 but appears to have been abandoned and returned to over the course of a month.

DANNY Volume 1 started July 27th 1990. Finished 11th feb 1991 - Approximately 7 months.

DANNY Volume 2 started 6th march 1991. Possibly finished 10th May 1991, then after a one month gap began again on 21st June 1991 until August 11th, but there was no break between novels 2 -3. The Volume 2 section took approximately 6 months.

DANNY Volume 3 started approx 11th August 1991.   Finished 14th Jan 1992. Volume 3 section approximately 6 months

Volumes 2/3 together took a year-ish!

DANNY Volume 4 started 1st July 1992. Finished 8th July 1993 - 1 year. Death in Venice and Delaney (see below) were written in the middle of this novel hence the length of time it seems to have taken.

Death in Venice (novel/sequence featuring characters from DANNY Volumes 2/3 later in life, set in Venice) started th October 1992. (3 pads written)

Delaney (novel about boxer who becomes a dancer) started 26th November 1992 (3 and a third pads written)

Approximately the first quarter/ third of DANNY Volume 1 was published in trade paperback by Citron Press in 1998.

If you would like to read about the writing and publishing history of DANNY please click here to read Jane Dark's articles on DANNY for Book Collectors