Darren Shan's Blog, page 182

Viva le… English!!!

I received the following email from a new fan, a French girl called Luna-River, currently living in the USA:   When I first got here, to America, my family wanted to send me to a French American school, but Maman told them non. She said that if I was to be a proper American, I needed to learn to talk like one. Maman has always been real smart with this kind of thing, so here I am in the Ocean State. The nickname for Rhode Island got me very excited; I'd never seen an ocean before. We lived in...

Figment chat session

I will be chatting online and answering questions live on Figment on Wednesday, June 8th, from 5.00pm to 6.00pm EST. (i.e. 10.00pm to 11.00pm London time.) You can submit your questions in advance or ask them on the night. I will be giving priority to questions about my adult books, though I'll be happy to discuss my other books too if there is time. http://figment.com/topics/32982-Live-...

Figment

Check out this guest blog which I wrote for Figment, concerning my experiences as a young author and how I "cannibalised" one of my early, abandoned books when writing my latest novel for adults, "City of the Snakes". http://blog.figment.com/2011/06/07/ou...

Shanville Monthly

The June issue of the Shanville Monthly is now online, with all the latest news and updates, and details of no fewer than THREE competitions being run by different people in different parts of the world!! To check it out, click here: http://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanvi...

We don't need no education!!

Tonight I'm going to see Roger Waters play the classic Pink Floyd album "The Wall". I'm VERY excited!! I saw him do "Dark Side Of The Moon" a few years ago and it was spectacular. Since "The Wall" is one of my all-time favourite albums, I'm hoping he will be even more impressive tonight! Given that the album boasts one of the band's most famous lines -- "We don't need no education!" -- I thought it would be a good day to print the following email which I received from a deputy head a while ba...

Independent Booksellers Week Award

I’m delighted to be able to announce that Birth Of A Killer has been shortlisted for the Independent Booksellers Week Award 2011. It’s one of twelve books which have been shortlisted for the final prize. The shortlist was chosen by staff in independent book stores across the UK, but the winner will be voted on by their customers — an intriguing process!!! I’m chuffed to have been shortlisted for such a cool prize — I’ve been a big supporter of indies over the years, and they’ve been great to ...

Adieu Ireland—but only for now!

Well, it's the end of the current Irish leg of my May tour, but as they used to sing in Avenue Q, "it's only for now!!" Because I'll be back here again to do a couple of schools events in Dublin at the end of the month, then a signing in Dundrum on Saturday June 18th. For more info about those, along with a few other summer events that I will be attending, check out the SHANVILLE MONTHLY.   I've had a fab time in Ireland, as I usually do! Things got off to a good start when I found out that O...

The fractured tour—halfway there!

Well, it's been a topsy-turvy couple of weeks since my last blog! Then, I was about to head home after my Australian holiday, and I was looking forward to my tour of UK and Ireland, to coincide with the release of Ocean Of Blood. But destiny has a way of interfering with even the best-laid of plans, as I've often stated in my books. A couple of days after my return home, my Granny, Mary Barry died. She was just one day short of her 80th birthday. She had been ill for a long time, and the last...

Adieu Australia!

The final third of our trip to Australia was just as relaxing and exhilarating as the first two-thirds. The wedding was a lovely event. My cousin Kevin got married to his partner, Aly, in a gorgeous vineyard. The ceremony was one of the nicest I've ever been to -- it was held outdoors, in glorious sunshine; the celebrant perfectly captured the essence of the marrying pair; the vows were sweet but not sickly; it juts felt... NICE!!! Drinks and canapes followed, as friends and family members mi...

Greetings from Australia!

Hi everyone, and greetings from Down Under!! Sorry for the long delay since my last blog, but I've been on holiday and I haven't been able to spend much time at my PC most days. I flew over to Melbourne in Australia at the end of March. Spent a nice few days in the city. I'd been here before 8 years ago, on my last visit, but couldn't really remember it, as I didn't spend much time there. This time I got much more of a feel for the city. I also did a highly enjoyable event on the day I arrive...