Finally got to the bottom of the pile of fan mail which was towering to the left of my desk last night! I do love hearing from fans, and indeed replying, but when the letters start to mount up, as they do every so often when I'm away on tour or travelling, it can be a daunting process!!! And Pablo has told me that he has LOTS more waiting for me when I get back from London, so I ain't out of the woods by a long shot!! Still, I'd much rather have too many letters to deal with than not enough!!!!! If any of you are writing to me in the near future, PLEASE be patient -- I do reply to every letter, but a 2 or 3 months wait is not uncommon. Also, make sure you send it to the address listed in the Contact part of my web site, www.darrenshan.com -- if you send a letter to my publishers, it will take much longer to be processed -- last night, some of the letters which had been sent to my American publishers dated back to last December and November!!!!!

Watched The Hudsucker Proxy again last night, a Coen Brothers film from the mid 1990s. I enjoyed it much more this time round than when I first saw it at the cinema on its initial release. I went with my brother Declan back then. We both loved all of the film they had made up to that point, and went in with sky-high expectations. We came away liking it, but disappointed as it wasn't as mind-blowing as their other films. In retrospect, 15 years later, it's still not one of their best films, but it IS incredibly inventive, beautifully staged and filmed, with some truly magical moments. With the weight of expectations removed, I was able to thoroughly enjoy it for what it was, as opposed to what I once wished it might be. The moral, of course, being never be TOO swift to judge in this life, whether that be a film, album, person -- whatever. Everything changes with time.

Except for Dirty Dancing -- that will always be the biggest pile of rubbish I've ever seen, no matter how long I live!!!!



Right -- I'm off to catch my flight into the cauldron of London, currently stuck in the middle of a heatwave. Assuming I don't melt away into a puddle of gooey slime, I'll chat with you all again a day or two down the line!!