I started editing Book 3 of "The Demonata" again today. This is the first edit I've done since settling on the final name for the book, and will be my penulitmate edit. After this, my editor will send me her fine-tuning notes, then I'll check the proofs when they're produced, and then that will be that!!! So the end is within sight ... I started the first draft back in June 2004, so from birth to print will have been an even two years!!

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I spotted a great auction on ebay -- signed, first editions (UK versions) of all 12 books of "The Saga of Darren Shan"!!!! It's not often that an auction like this comes up, so if you have money to spare and want to get your hands on an ultra rare complete signed set of "The Saga", this is the time to act!!! I don't think there are too many people out there with a full signed set, so you'd be joining a very select club!!!! By the way, I have nothing to do with the auction, so please don't think I'm trying to drum up sales to make a profit!!! I just thought you lot would like to know about it! (If the price doesn't shoot up, I might even bid on the books myself!) The link is http://cgi.ebay.com/DARREN-SHAN-ALL-12-SIGNED-ALL-FIRST-EDITIONS_W0QQitemZ6980379003QQcategoryZ90961QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem and it currently has 7 days to go!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!

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I received the following e-mail today, from Veronica, in Australia:

could you help me around your site? See, I can't find the release dates for your books... either I'm blind or they're not there... Could you direct me to the release dates (for Australia) please... I want to buy the first book of "Lord Loss" as soon as possible!

As I told Veronica, I don't know!!! It might seem strange, but apart from the UK and America, I usually don't know when books of mine go on sale in different countries!!!! Occasionally I find out in advance, but normally, even in major Shan countries like Japan and Taiwan, I only find out after the book has been released! Of course, I could make enquiries and make a detailed list of all the release dates, but with 30 or so publishers to contend with, that would be a time-consuming job!!!! If you're a Shan fan and live outside the UK, Ireland and America, and want to know when a book is due out, try contacting the publishers directly. You can find info on all my publishers in the LINKS section on my web site.