Flew over to London today. From door to door usually takes 5 hours or less (it was about 4 and a half today), though in practise it takes up most of the working day -- in the morning I have to check that I have everything I need, transfer any emails or files that I think I might need when in the flat. By the time I've checked my emails and done a  bit of web surfing, it's time to go. Then, when I get to the flat, I'm normally too tired to do any real work -- I just want to surf the web, watch a bit of TV, eat and relax for the night.

Speaking of eating, we went to a restaurant called Canteen this evening. Bas had been there before, but it was my first time, and I LOVED it!!!! It's good, old-fashioned British and Irish food, all made freshly, served up in large portions. I don't think I've ever before read a menu where I could have eaten so much!! Normally 2 or 3 dishes jump out at me, and a lot leave me cold even before I've finished reading the description. But here I was going, "Yeah, I could eat that ... Or I could eat that ... Or that ... Or ..." I wasn't expecting the size of the portions, so I was pretty full after a starter and a main, but the dessert menu looked amazing, and there was no way I could leave without sampling the rice pudding with jam, so I ended up forcing down a third course, before waddling out guiltity but VERY happily!!! For those of you who can't make it to Canteen in South Bank or Spitalfields, you can sample their menu by clicking here. Prepare to drool, people -- prepare to DROOOOOLLLLL!!!!!! CANTEEN

By the way, I was chatting with Paul tonight, and he was very touched that so many of you expressed your condolences -- you warm wishes meant a lot to him.

Went to Sean's funeral today (he's my friend Paul's father). It was sad, of course, as these things always are, but it was nice at the same time to see so many people there, and to hear them all say the same things about Sean, about how cheerful and kind he was. Death is never a glad time, but it does remind you of the good in people -- sweet stories from the past come out, memories are shared, people laugh even in the middle of their sorrow. After the service in the church today, as we were walking behind the coffin to the cemetery, it began to rain bitterly. A wind was blowing, everyone got wet, we were all cold ... but we were all chuckling too, even Sean's children, because we knew that if he was there in spirit watching on, he'd be laughing at us! Death robs us of the bodies of people we know and love, but it never robs us of their memories, of their souls. If anything, it serves to bring us even closer to the departed.

It's been a busy few days. We went to see Sean when he was laid out last night -- here in Ireland, a corpse is normally displayed the night before burial, so that people have a chance to come and see the deceased one last time, to say their goodbyes. There was a wake in Paul's house after, so we spent a couple of hours there. Then the funeral today. Between all that I've been editing my fantasy book, and I also had to do the Shanville Monthly today. Plus, I had to sort out tickets for the Carling Cup Final for a large group of friends -- I'm normally lumbered with those types of jobs because I'm pretty good at organising things. Ideally I'd like to rest up for a few days and take things easy, but we have to nip over to London for the weekend, so I'll just have to roll along with the flow for the time being.

Finished my final edit of Death's Shadow today -- sadly, given what happened with my friend Paul's Dad yesterday, an all too appropriate title! It's strange, carrying on with normal life when someone close to you dies. I remember finding that really weird the first time I experienced death, when my grandfather Paddy Shan died when I was 15. There was this feeling that the world should somehow stop. You enter an unreal zone where time doesn't seem to work and all your daily routines seem to break down. But then things start to click back into place. You have to eat. You have to drink. You have to go to the toilet. You start watching your regular TV shows and falling back into your comforting habits. It's a cliche, I know, but life DOES go on. And, as hard hit as you may be, you find ways to slow your life in around your grieving, to juggle the two. And in time, there's less and less grief to juggle around. You never forget -- it's not about forgetting or putting the dead behind us. It's about finding a place in your life to hold the memory of those who have gone. It's been 20 years since my grandad died, but he's still a part of my life -- just last night, I was chatting about him with my Mum and Dad and a couple of my aunts, remembering what he was like, learning some new things about him from them. I think in a way we grieve for our loved ones for the rest of our lives. But we have to make that grief fit in with everything else, otherwise we lose ourselves to it, and I don't think the dead would want that. To properly honour those we've lost, we have to lead good lives. If there's an afterlife, I don't think the dead get any joy out of watching us mope through life. I suspect they smile when we find a way to carry on, to put their passing into context. We should always carry the memories of those we love through life with us -- but we need to carry them in our hearts, not on our backs.

Normal life meant finishing my edit of Book 7 of The Demonata, so I did. I also had to spend a good section of the day fiddling about on my PC. The programme I've used to edit my web site for the last 7 or so years suddenly stopped working -- Microsoft have discontinued it!! So I had to download a new programme, then play around with my computer to accomodate it. Luckily it all worked out in the end and the new editor is fairly straightforward. It will take me a while to master it, but I've already figured out the basics. I was worried it might affect the Shanville Monthly, but -- touch wood -- it shouldn't.

In the evening, Bas and I went to see Sweeney Todd at the cinema. I loved it -- as black as coal, and terrifyingly funny!!! Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are perfectly cast, and the look of the film is amazing. I saw a stage production of the show a couple of years ago, in which there were no sets. It was highly stylised and I didn't like it at all. But this is brilliant -- and incredibly bloody!!! Recommended most highly, but only for those who like thier pies with oodles and oodles of blood!!!!!!

Called in to see Paul on the way home and stayed for a couple of hours, chatting. He's still very shaken, but he's coping with it, finding his way back into "real" life, or what will now become his new real life. His Dad was a major part of his daily life, and it's going to be difficult to move on without him. But he'll find a way. It won't be easy, and he'll miss him dreadfully for a long time, but life will go on, the way it must for all of us who are left behind. It's the great game of life and death, people. We're all playing it, whether we want to or not, so we might as well play it the best way we can. The Grim Reaper will win out over us all in the end, of course, but it's how we deal with the deaths of others that ultimately defines us -- not the minor matter of our own passing. If we accept death, deal with it and move on with life, we notch up victories over it. Life's really a series of challenges and duels with death. It hits us over and over, but if we learn to take those blows and roll with them, it can never truly hurt us. In a way, I guess we have to make death our friend -- because if we choose to turn it into an enemy, it becomes something unberably ghastly.

My best friend, as long-time readers of this blog will know, is Paul Kenny (Pablo from the message board). This Sunday, I'm terribly sad to report, his father died. Sean Kenny was a lovely guy, one of the nicest people I've ever known. I first met him about 20 years ago, and have seen him regularly since then, and he was always smiling and joking, even when he was laid up in hospital a couple of years ago and Bas and I visited him there. He's had some health problems over the years, but was in good shape overall. We saw him on Saturday and he was joking and laughing as usual. He went out with Bas to see her new car, then demanded to know why I hadn't bought one for him too. He'd recently taken in a new puppy, a wild, scatterbrained thing. Every time I popped in, I'd say the puppy was wild and should be drowned. Yesterday I volunteered to take it down to the Shannon and drop it in (I was only joking, folks -- I'm a BIG dog lover!!!). Sean picked up the Puppy and cuddled it, telling me he'd throw ME into the river! And that was the last time I saw him, standing in his living room, cradling the puppy, laughing as he bid me goodbye.

I edited some more of my fantasy book this morning, then watched Spurs lose 3-1 to Man Utd in the FA Cup. About five minutes after the match, Paul rang. He's a massive Man Utd fan, so I thought he was ringing to slag me off. He normally doesn't do that, so I thought it was odd, but I was joking the day before that we were going to thrash them. I answered the phone with a growl, anticipating lots of chuckling and jibes. When, instead, he told me in a quiet voice that Sean was dead, I was absolutely shocked. It was like a member of my own family had died -- and, in a way, Paul and Sean ARE family as far as I'm concerned. It was like someone had kicked me in the gut. I wanted it to be a joke, a lie, a mistake ... but I knew it wasn't. I was almost in tears as we talked. I just couldn't believe that he was gone, especially having seen him so hale and hearty about 18 hours earlier. But the Grim Reaper doesn't make mistakes, and he doesn't always give us advance notice.

Bas and I went over to sit with Paul for a while, to say whatever we could, to make things any bit easier if possible. He's holding up, but very upset, as one might imagine -- he and Sean were extremely close, and he was the one who discovered the body. There's not a lot you can say at a time like this, only chat about the good things you can remember, pass comment that at least it was quick, and just ... be there. It's always horrible when someone close to you dies. There's no escaping that. But I think it's not quite so bad if you have friends and family around. Death's always harder to deal with if you're alone.

Anyway, my thoughts will be with Sean and Paul, and his sister Pat, over the next few days. If I don't manage to post here for a while, I hope you understand. Peace, people, and if you're the praying sort of person, please say a little prayer of support for Paul. Sean doesn't need it -- if there's an afterlife, a twinkly-eyed old rogue like him has only the very best lying in store!!!!!

I've been busy working on the two books over the last few days, the one-off fantasy novel that I plan to release further down the line, and the final edit (except for when I check the page proofs) of Death's Shadow. The two tasks couldn't be more different. DS is in its final stage, requiring only the most minor of touches and flicks -- changing a word here, the structure of a line there -- the sort of trivial details which most readers would never notice, but which I like to attend to in order to make the books as tight and seamless as possible. The fantasy book, on the other hand, is still at a very early stage. I was very pleased with it last time I edited it (about a year ago), but this time round I can see that it needs to be trimmed quite substantially. I put in lots of details in the first couple of drafts about the world and society that I've created for the book. And they were details that I needed in order to ground the story and exert control over it -- it was important that I knew the history of the countries involved, some of the wars that were fought, the customs and laws of the people, etc. But readers won't need to know those details. So now I'm going through, whittling the book down to its main story, deleting passages which don't advance it. I'm not getting rid of everything of course -- certain parts, or bits of parts, need to be maintained in order to let the story function and make sense. But this is one of those cases where it's best I not share all of my knowledge with the readers.

When you write a first draft, you have to do it for yourself, and your only goal should be to interest yourself -- you have the freedom to take the story off on side-tangents and learn non-essential facts. But if you're going to publish it and take it to a wider audience, in later drafts you need to focus on what readers are going to take away from it, how they're going to respond, what they need -- and, just as importantly, what they don't. I've cut out some of my favourite paragraphs so far, lines I really liked, that I spent a lot of time thinking about and composing -- but they're paragraphs which aren't necessary, which are only of real interest to me. You can't afford to navel-gaze when you write a book -- you have to make it accessible to others, make it as much fun for them as it is for you, help them see what you can see in the story.

I think this book is one of my best. It's certainly one of my favourites out of everything I've written over the years. I watched United 93 tonight, the very powerful movie about the 9/11 attacks, and the plane which was forced down by its passengers. It's a finely made film, terrifying in all the right places, but not overly sensationalised. While watching it, I began to remember that the fantasy book started life back around then. It's a book I wrote partly in response to that horrible day, to the way the world changed afterwards, to the divided society it has helped lead to. While on the one hand it's an exciting, action-filled novel, it's also my way of looking at the world post-9/11, of commenting on it and trying to make sense of it. But in earlier drafts, I let myself wander, wanting to explore all sorts of issues and angles. Now that I've let the book rest for a while, I can see that it needs to be faster, that it can't cover every angle at the same time, and more importantly, that it shouldn't have to. Good writing is every bit as much about what you don't say as what you do. Sometimes, for the sake of the story, you need to cut away limbs that don't serve it. And that can be painful. It can be something you fight. But in the end the story always has to come first. If you can't accept that, you're always going to struggle to be a writer. Writing shouldn't be about what you want to say. It should always be about the story. In a way, writers are only a way for stories to be told, not much more central in the bigger scheme of things than a pen or a typewriter or a PC. We're tools that stories use. Being a good writer isn't about proving to the world how skilled you are at wielding words -- it's about finding out if you can get to a point where good tales flow through you. We're conduits, no more, no less.

If that doesn't make any sense to you, don't worry, there's no reason it should. It's a writer's thing. And if you're a writer or a wannabe writer, and it still doesn't make sense? Again, don't worry. One day, if you keep plugging away, it will.

Bas had her graduation ceremony yesterday. She did a Masters course last year, in peace & development studies, and graduated with a first class degree -- one of only two on her course!! I wasn't at the ceremony, because I was over in London for the Spurs v Arsenal match, and there are no early morning flights back to Shannon now that Aer Lingus have pulled out of the Shannon to London route. (Note to anyone ever planning to fly Aer Lingus -- if at all possible, DON'T!!!! They're scum who stabbed the entire southwest of Ireland in the back!!!) She wasn't too happy at me for missing the ceremony, but she understood -- though she isn't a big footie fan, she knows how important it is to me, and let me off the leash, the same way I'd have done if our positions were reversed (honest, Bas, I would have!!!!!!). I did return for the most important part of the ceremony -- the dinner afterwards!!! We had a yummy meal in a Chinese restaurant in Patrtickswell called the Dragon I. It's a top-notch venue, the best Chinese food I've tasted in London or Ireland. The building is charming too, and the staff are first-rate. If you're ever in the area and feeling snackish, I can't recommend it highly enough. Anyway, we had a lovely meal there, us and some of our family, and I was very proud of her. So three cheers for brainy Bas -- hip-hip-hooray!!!!!

Today I returned to editing duties, not just on one book, but on two! I began this afternoon (having had other office stuff to deal with in the morning) with the one-off book that I hope to release when The Demonata finishes. Then my editor at HarperCollins sent through her final notes and suggestions for Death's Shadow (the seventh Demonata book), so I got stuck into that later. I think I'll juggle the pair around over the coming week -- it's nice to have some variety. I've never had a problem multi-tasking when it comes to books. As soon as my eyes alight on the first line on a book I wrote, even if I haven't looked at it in years, I fall instantly and completely back into that world -- but as soon as I stop work on it for the day, I'm able to detach myself just as instantly and completely, and turn if I wish to another book, even if it's totally different. I don't plan things out that way -- it's just how my brain works. Hopefully it'll go on working like that for quite a few years to come ...

Oh happy, glorious day!!! Let Tuesday, February 22nd go down in the annals of sporting history as the day Spurs stuffed our arch-enemies Arsenal 5-1 -- in a cup semi-final, no less!!!!!! It was pretty much a perfect day all round. I met with three of my friends in the early afternoon and we had a yummy meal at a restaurant called Sketch (extremely fancy, the perfect place to go when you want to splash out on yourself on a special occasion). Then we made our way up to Tottenham. We were all both excited and nervous. The match was the second of a two-leg affair. We drew the first 1-1 at Arsenal's ground. Arsenal have been a lot better than us over the last 16 or 17 years, and we have a dreadful record against them -- we hadn't beaten them since 1999!! The prize if we won was a place at Wembley in the Carling Cup final -- but if we lost, we knew Arsenal would be able to jeer (yet again) about beating us, and on our own turf too.

But in the end it was a like a dream. We scored our first goal early, added a second before the break, and stuffed another three past the stunned, hapless Arsenal in the second half -- NICE!!!!!! I can't remember ever singing and dancing so much at a match, not even when we beat Chelsea 5-1 in a similar game several years ago, or when we beat them in the league last season. In fact I probably have to go all the way back to another semi-final with Arsenal, in 1991, to find anything that compare with last night (we won that one 3-1, with Paul Gascoigne scoring a wonder goal, but I only watched that on TV). Victory is always sweet in soccer, but when it comes against your arch rivals, after years of hurt (and at time humilation), in such a dramatic fashion, in an important match ... SWEET!!!!! The atmospher was incredible, and just about every Spurs fan stayed after the game to cheer and sing and dance some more. I was feeling a bit dazed by the time I left and headed for home -- it was like emerging from a dream, knowing I had to face reality again, but not really wanting to. I didn't stop smiling all night, and woke early this morning (even though I went to bed late) with a BIG grin on my face.

Sorry to go on so much about this (I know lots of you have no interest in soccer at all), but it was a really big event for me. I think it's important to have a variety of interests in life, not just to obsess on one hobby. Reading has always been a passion of mine, but I love watching movies too, and studying art, and going to the theatre, and listening to music and going to concerts, and travelling ... and soccer. Each offers its own pleasures, its own highs and lows. But I think, for me, soccer is more of an emotional release than anything else. It's always unpredictable. It can be frustrating and horrible, but also uplifting and glorious. I think everyone should have some sort of sporting interest, be it soccer, baseball, cricket ... whatever!! You need something out of your control, something that can take you for a short, giddy while into a dream world, that can leave you feeling like you've just won a million pounds. Reading, movies, music, theatre ... they all offer a more cerebral kind of experience. They can be great fun, but nothing can put you through the emotional rollercoaster like a tightly fought match can. I think people with no interest at all in sport are lucky on a certain level, in that they don't have to suffer the heartbreak and misery that every team's fans must go through at some stage or another (usually more often than not for most teams) ... but that also means missing out on the joy and wild release of euphoria that I experienced last night. And that's something we should all get to feel at least a few times in our lives.

On a much sadder and very different note, I was shocked to learn this morning that Heath Ledger had died. I'd been a fan of his since I saw him in A Knight's Tale. He always picked interesting parts and put in some great performances, Brokeback Mountain of course being the best of them. To lose him at 28 is a huge blow to the movie world -- he had so much more to offer.

Went to see Charlie Wilson's War this morning. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It deals with a difficult subject matter -- a senator in the 1980s who helped fund a fightback against the Russian in Afghanistan. Up to about seven years ago, of course, he would have been seen as a clearcut hero -- but a consequence of his actions was the 9/11 attack on the States and the war that has raged since then. I thought the film would shy away from that, and while it doesn't exactly tackle it head-on (Wilson is portrayed as an idealistic hero), it does bring it in towards the end. It raises an interesting question, one I don't think any of us truly knows the answer to -- is it right to do something for a good cause that turns out to be bad later on? The people of Afghanistan suffered terribly at the hands of the Russians, but if Wilson hadn't helped fund the war, maybe they wouldn't have overthrown the Russians, and maybe 9/11 would never have happened. Of course, if the initial aid had been followed up - if new schools had been built, and hospitals, and the new government helped openly and generously - maybe that would have steered the extremists away from power. But there's no getting away from the fact that by helping them, he helped America's enemies grow strong -- but the ordinary, innocent people of Afghanistan needed to be helped. One thing this film pinpoints is that the world is never as simply black or white as many politicians would have us believe it is. It's a complex, multi-layered mystery, and anyone who tells you otherwise (step forward, Georgie Bush) needs to be regarded with deep and unreserved suspicion.

I went to see Walk Hard afterwards. That was a far less thought-provoking experience! A fun musical mock biopic, it stars John C Reilly, who will of course be stepping into the shoes of a certain Larten Crepsley next month! Reilly was the real reason I went to see this, and I have to say I was impressed. I've seen him in lots of other films, but this was the first time I'd seen him since the news of his casting in the CDF movie was announced, so I was watching him with special interest. It's a comedy, but he plays parts of it straight, and I think in those parts you can see why the movie-makers have gone for him -- he has a strange intensity about him at times, and if they focus on this in the movie, I think he'll make a strong Mr Crepsley. Of course if they ask him to ham it up, that could be a different story entirely ... Let's keep our fingers crossed that they let him do a good job with the part!!!!

After a pizza for dinner, Bas and I strolled down to the area just beneath the London Eye to watch the launch of the Fiat 500 car. Because of where we live, we got free tickets to their prestigious event. But why, you might wonder, were we bothered about seeing the launch of a new car, particularly given the fact that I said in a blog just a few days ago that I have no interest in cars at all?!? Well, while the car didn't excite us, part of the launch involved short gigs by The Feeling and Mika!!! Bas likes Mika, but she absolutely LOVES The Feeling -- we're going to see them in Birmingham in March -- and when she heard they were playing on our doorstep, she almost fainted!!!! We weren't sure we had tickets for it until just before it started, and when it was confirmed, she jumped about for joy!!! I like The Feeling too, and I can even tolerate Mika, so I was happy to go along. They only played 4 songs each, for about 20 minutes each, but it was very enjoyable. The best thing, though, was having to simply walk for a minute or so afterwards to get back home -- nice!!!!! If only all concerts were so easy to get to ...

Went to the London Art Fair to have a look round yesterday. I preferred it to Frieze -- not as massive, and more of the art was to my liking (not so much "conceptual art"). I didn't see much that I wanted to buy (although I might try and get a statue, if I can get the seller to lower the price a bit), but it was nice to wander around and see lots of different styles and approaches. The good thing about an art fair (or gallery or museum) is you'll virtually always find something that you like. The trick is to cast your eye widely, to quickly scan painting and sculptures, only stopping for a really good look if something catches your eye. Of course that's a risky -- you might walk by and miss a piece that you'd love if you spotted it -- but with thousands of items to contend with, it's the only way if you don't want to give yourself a headache!!!!

Went to see No Country For Old Men, the latest Coen Brothers film. The Coens are two of my favourite movie-makers. Their last few films haven't been so hot, but this is a solid return to form. It was adapted from a Cormac McCarthy book, which I was worried about -- I know plenty of people who swear McCarthy is the best writer of the last 20 or 30 years, but I've always found his work off-putting and hard to get into; I read a couple of his books, but had to concede in the end that he just wasn't for me. But they've adapted it expertly. I felt it lost its way a bit towards the end, but for the most part it was a tense, brilliantly acted, violent affair.

After a few drinks with a couple of Bas's friends, we went to see a new version of Othello in the Donmar Theatre. Tickets for this sold out almost instantly, because it's a very small theatre -- it holds 250 -- and Ewan McGregor was playing Iago. Also, Chiwetel Ejiofor (another movie star, not as well known as McGregor, but at least as highly respected in the industry) was playing Othello. On top of that, almost all of the reviews have been glowing -- often, when you get big names in a show, it turns out to be a disappointment because it can't match your expectations, but this didn't have that problem. I managed to procure a couple of tickets through eBay, and glad I am that I did -- it as excellent!!!! Othello is a great play anyway, but they've done it magnificently here. The cast is great (not just the two leads), the staging is good, and the pace is perfect. This is Shakespeare as it should be, vicious, pacy, edgy, modern. The version of King Lear I saw a few weeks ago was very stiff and archaic by comparison (regardless of Ian McKellen's fine performance). If you can somehow get your hands on a ticket to this little baby, sell everything you own to fund the purchase!!!!! Or, as Iago would have said, "Put money in your pocket!"

Did a school event in London this morning, at St Michael's school. It was my first of 2008, and my only one planned until I go to Hungary in late April. It went very well -- the kids were quiet when I was speaking, they asked lots of good questions, and they bought lots of books which was a nice bonus. I never judge a school event by the number of books sold -- schools are rarely the best place to be selling items -- but it is always nice when sales are brisk, and today they were very brisk indeed! If all my events in 2008 go as well as this one, I'll be a very happy Shan!!

Back home I had a couple of meetings with air conditioning experts. My new flat is on the top floor of the building and it soaks up the heat in summer. We struggled through last year, but we weren't here very much, and the weather wasn't great, so it wasn't too bad. But we need AC and we need it bad!! I'm generally not a fan of it -- having had no need for it previously in Ireland or London, I find it quite alien and often turn if off when I'm in hotels -- but in this instance it's something of a necessity, or I'll be sweating so much, the people downstairs will need umbrellas!!!! I don't think I'm going to be able to put on an extractor fan outside, because of where I live, but apparantly there's a newish system which runs off of water and is completely internal, so hopefully I'll be able to get that installed ...

After that I spend most of the afternoon and evening fiddling about with a PDA -- a little handheld device that should allow me to check my emails and surf the web when I'm abroad or on tour. I've resisted travelling with a laptop for all these years, and I'm still resisting, but whereas internet cafes used to be common, nowadays they're dying out, since so many places have wi-fi. A PDA seems to be the way forward -- it'll let me keep in touch with the important stuff, and then if I want to spend more time online, I can track down a proper PC. I've had virtually no experience of PDAs, so it was a bit of a steep learning curve. I felt completely lost when I began!!! But once I figured out the basics, I began to fly. That's the good thing about most modern technological gismos -- if you're confident enough to experiement a bit, and can figure out the first few moves, you'll normally pick up the pace pretty quickly. I don't fancy tapping in a full blog entry on it, but I'm sure I'll end up doing that sooner or later, probably some night on tour when I've got a few hours to kill and there are no on-demand movies available on my TV ...