Lemony Snicket's end draws near - or does it?

Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), Violet Baudelaire (Emily Browning) and Klaus Baudelaire (Liam Aiken) in the film version of Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events.

NEW YORK - Lemony Snicket, the narrator and biographer of "A Series of Unfortunate Events," is facing his demise with the 13th and final book in the gothic children's series out this week - or is he?

Author Daniel Handler, the creator of Lemony Snicket, says "The End" will reveal the fate of the three Baudelaire orphans and evil Count Olaf when it goes on sale on the suitably unlucky Friday, October 13 with two characters facing death.

But San Francisco-based Handler, 36, who began the series in 1999, told Reuters that the dour Lemony Snicket, who is rich with sarcasm and irony, will survive:

Q: Is this the end of Lemony Snicket?

A: "I don't think so. It is the last book in the series but he will live on. Lemony Snicket, I am sure, will reappear, assuming nothing dreadful happens to him in the interim.

"This spring, a piece that Lemony Snicket wrote in conjunction with a composer (Nathaniel Stookey) was performed by the San Francisco Symphony. There's a picture book from that coming out. Lemony Snicket and I, we get on famously. It is almost as if we are the same person."

Q: Are you sad or relieved that this is the last book?

A: "I am mostly in a state of disbelief and shock. The question really is how in the world did I manage to write 13 books about dreadful things happening to three helpless orphans. I always set out to write 13 books. To me the only thing that seemed more interesting that one book about dreadful things was 13 volumes on the same theme."

Q: Did the success of the series that has sold over 50 million copies surprise you?

A: "Surprise does not begin to cover it. I never thought very many people would be interested in this at all. I know of no one who was unsurprised. My wife liked the book and people had nothing but best wishes for me but no one at all predicted the attention it has received."

Q: You weren't a children's writer, having written two adult novels before. Why the move into children's literature and why do you think Lemony Snicket appeals to them?

A: "I am just someone who thinks of terrible things and I didn't think I would make a career in children's literature. It was only because this gothic idea kept coming back to me (that I wrote this series).

"I think (children) like the fact that good behavior is not necessarily rewarded and bad behavior is not necessarily punished. This reflects a reality that face in everyday life. They like thinking of people in pathetic and stressful situations."

Q: Have parents also liked the series?

A: "Most parents have enjoyed it. Every so often there are a few grumbles. In Texas there was a challenge (in a school) to the books because they said they promoted negative thoughts. Mind you I don't mind admitting that every now and then I have the odd negative thought about Texas."

Q: The first three books were made into the film "Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events". Can we expect more?

A: "They are talking of it."

Q: What are you working on now?

A: "I am working on a new novel for adults about pirates...set in the present day. I will write it next year so it should be out in a couple of years.

"I like writing. When I finish a book I may take a day to clear some nonsense off my desk and maybe another to go to a movie in the afternoon or drink cocktails with a friend but after that I really want to get back to writing.

"I have a child (a son) now so I tend to start work a bit later in the day but most days I will write from 9 am to 4pm."

Q: What are you reading at the moment?

A: "I am reading a bunch of gothic novels. It is as if I want to get them all out of my system. I am reading Wilkie Collins' 'Armadale.'"

- REUTERS