I've had a busy few days in London -- life moves so much faster here than it does in Limerick!! Which is a good thing, but only in small doses as far as I'm concerned. I'm a mix of a city and country boy, but the majority of the mix is country -- I like the big city to visit, but I don't think I could live in one full-time.

Anyway, had lunch with my agent on Tuesday (lots of talk about the film, my D B Shan books, and other work), then went to see a new play called "Statement of Regret" at the National. It was a very interesting play about race, and brilliantly acted. Even the uncomfortable seats of the National Cottesloe couldn't mar the occasion!

Wednesday revolved around art. We had several paintings and statues in our flat which had been gathering dust for quite a while, so we had them shipped back to Ireland where we have more space for them. Then I received delivery of another piece (this one to stay in the flat). Then I popped over to Christies in Kensington to have a look at their latest 20th Century British Art auction. As I've said before, Christies and Sothebys are great places to visit if you're interested in art. It doesn't matter whether you intend to buy or not -- anyone is free to walk in and look around in the 5 or so days ahead of an auction. If you check out their web sites you can find their calendars and plan around them -- they're often the best free show in town!!!! Later Bas and I went out for a Christmas dinner with Geraldine, Mary and Stella, three of the HarperCollins Shan Team (Stella's my editor, Geraldine and Mary plan all my tours). It was fun to have a nice meal, plenty of drinks and a relaxed chat. They're a great little team, even though I'd never tell them that to their faces!!! (If you're reading this, girls, you shouldn't be!! Stop slacking!!!!! Get back to work!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!)

Today I did an interview as D B Shan, for The Bookseller. It's the first time I've been interviewed for the adult books (although I gave a few interviews years ago when they were first published), and it was an interesting experience. I treated it much the same as any interview. Luckily I've always tried to respond naturally and maturely in interviews when talking about my Darren Shan books -- I've never dumbed down or tried to act like a "hip, cool, down-with-the-kids" kind of guy!!! So I didn't really have to do anything different for this one. I just babbled on like I normally do, answering far more questions than the interviews asked -- I always like to give interviewers more than they need, then it's up them after that to edit it any way they please, to follow whatever line they prefer.

Bas and I went to a matinee performance of "Shadowlands" by William Nicholson (yes, the same guy who wrote The Wind Singer -- he does adult plays and movies too -- he's very versatile!). I'd seen the play years ago, but this was my first time seeing it one stage. It was very good, thought-provoking, extremely well acted. I'd love to try something like that myself one day, to see if I could write a play or musical or something. I don't know if I ever will, but it's good to have new goals playing around in the back of your mind -- you should never consciously settle for what you have, but always at least yearn to try something different. Those yearnings might never lead to anything, but I think they're good to have all the same.

Tonight I watched Spurs draw 1-1 away to Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup. That means we're through to the next round, which is a big relief -- we're playing very haphazardly at the moment, and were in real danger of self-imploding by Christmas. Hopefully this will now give us the boost we need to start putting some decent Premiership results together and advance in the domestic cups. And if that means nothing to those of you reading this, well, all you need to know is that it means I'll be a bit happier within myself than I would be if they were doing terribly, and a happy Shan is a productive Shan -- so keep your fingers crossed for a big-time Spurs revival!!!