books

New book research takes ‘two to three years’, says Dan Brown

November 05, 2014

Dan Brown rose to fame with ‘The Da Vinci Code’, which later became a Ron Howard movie. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, November 5, 2014.Mystery writer Dan Brown is encouraging patience over the next chapter of exploits awaiting his globetrotting professor Robert Langdon.

Speaking to press at the Sharjah International Book Fair, he confirmed that his next book would be another infinitely unfurling adventure of Robert Langdon but wouldn't be drawn on when it would arrive.

"I have learned never to predict," he said, explaining his writing process. "I am in the research phase. Some books take two to three years."

"'Lost Symbol' took quite a while," he said, in reference to the six-year gap that followed 2003 breakout bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" – another 4 years was spent in between "The Lost Symbol" and 2013's “Inferno”.

"I keep researching until I know what I need to know until I know enough to write the book, and that takes some time," read The Bookseller's report on his conversation.

"I wish I wrote all these books faster – I think a lot of people do – but I don't. They take an enormous amount of research and for every one page you read in the book I have written 10 that are thrown out."

And Brown wouldn't commit to speculation that his next book would be set in the Middle East or India, where his current tour takes him. Is he there for promotion, or for research purposes as well?

"I had spent so much time in Europe researching Christianity, Christian art, Western culture, and I felt almost on a personal level that I needed to start stepping out into the greater world and start to learn other things and so that was part of it."

"Certainly wanting to meet some of my Arab readership was also part of it," he concluded.

The Sharjah International Book Fair runs November 5-15 at the Sharjah Expo Center in the United Arab Emirates. – AFP/Relaxnews, November 5, 2014.