When Procession of the Dead was first published in 1999 as Ayuamarca, it began with a prologue set in Macchu Picchu. This explained more about the Incas and why they set off in search of the City. While the prologue served an important purpose, I felt in retrospect that it was confusing and off-putting to new readers. I decided this time round to begin with Capac and thrust readers immediately into the action. But for those of you who wish to know more of those mysterious blind priests, here is the original prologue as it appeared in the first printing of the book.
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When I came to write the second draft of Ayuamarca, in 1994/1995, I expanded vastly on the first draft, almost doubling the length. I also added a prologue, which I later discarded — in fact, I forgot about it completely until I went back through my paperwork in preparation for work on this site! It’s easy to see why I never used this prologue — it presents too much information too fast, and would be very confusing for anyone unfamiliar with the story. But for those who have read the book, I think it provides another interesting insight into the world of the Cardinal and the Incas, albeit a not-fully-formed insight — this came from a time when I was still working on the dynamics of the plot and the powers of the blind priests, so some of the details here jar with later excerpts in the novels. Still, for the curious, here it is in its entirety, seeing life for the first time anywhere beyond the confines of my office. Enjoy!
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Interviewer: Declan Burke

What crime novel would you most like to have written? 

I love James Ellroy, so probably one of his. Maybe LA CONFIDENTIAL or THE BLACK DAHLIA. Though it would have been special to write THE MALTESE FALCON too …

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THE ROAD TO DARKNESS

interviewer: Alison Flood 

In an urban fantasy novel by one Darren O’Shaughnessy, Orion’s Simon Spanton—the book’s first editor—appears as a corpse and has his extracted guts used as a divining tool to predict the future stock market performance of his company.

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When Ayuamarca was originally published in 1999, the Russian rights were bought by a Russian publisher and it was printed there some time later in a translated edition. This is the cover. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

This is the cover of Ayuamarca, the original version of Procession of the Dead, which was released in the UK in February 1999. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

an interview from mid 1999.

Two rules every ambitious first-time novelist should adhere to: pick a simple title, and be able to summarise the plot of your book in two lines or less. With this in mind, I called my first novel Ayuamarca and cooked up a plot which required at least two or three paragraphs to describe. So much for savvy!
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