The thirtysomething author has, after years of struggle, landed a deal with Harper Collins.

While he had written a number of screenplays (one of them was Dead Bodies, which starred Samantha Mumba) he had been working for six years on the family farm in Co Dublin before he was signed.

Skulduggery Pleasant, the story of a 12-year-old girl who is heir to a mysterious fortune and her skeleton mentor, is due out in early March, and Landy no doubt hopes to follow in the footsteps of Eoin 'Artemis Fowl' Colfer. The moral of the story? Never lose the dream.