As soon as an author starts writing a book/novel, are the actions and the ending already planned?

I was not the greatest fan of the sad end at the begining, because I started liking Nathaniel in the third book and he became my favourite character (after Bartimaeus of course), but after thinking about it for a long time, I remembered that 1) too many people knew his birth name and 2) he probably knew the wound on his side would have killed him.
So maybe it was better that way. The saddest part was that he promised Kitty to return, which of course never happened and I just loved it that Nathaniel and Bartimaeus finally respected eachother after so many adventures. So now I've come to the conclusion that it was a sad, but a perfect ending.

I ask again: Did you decide all this already before you even started writing the first book?

Other than that I wanted to say I admire your books and your writing style Mr. Stroud. Hooray for footnotes!

Hi Kitty,

Glad to hear that you thought the ending worked in the end (and that you like the footnotes!).

Well, I had the ending planned from very early on. The way it worked was that I wrote maybe 50 pages of Amulet in a kind of frenzy, without really knowing what the story was or where it was going. I experimented with voices, flashbacks etc. Kitty's backstory was originally included there too. But I soon realised that I needed to stop and work out where I was going.

So I took a break and for about a month just worked on the structure. It was then that I decided to make it three books, and put Kitty (mainly) in book two. I did a rough chapter plan for all three books, including the ending as it now stands. Then I carried on writing Amulet. Of course, masses changed as I went along, and I never knew whether or not I'd be able to have THAT ending when I finally got there. But it was essential to know in outline where everything was heading. It's like having a guide-rope - you never feel wholly lost.

When I got to the end of Ptolemy, I decided that the ending DID work. Which was a relief!

All the best,

Jonathan