I received the following email from Amy today:

I was really happy to see your last blog entry.  I have been reading a book about writing, and it talks so much about how hard and frustrating it is to be a writer. I really like writing, but all of this talk of how being a writer is not all it’s cracked up to be is starting to make my doubt how much I really like to write. You say that the average writer doesn’t make enough money to live on, and that kind of scares me. It’s not the money I care about, it’s the idea that you will write books and stories, but not many people will fall in love with your stories as you have. You are successful. You’ve sold many copies of your stories in many different countries. I don’t understand why everyone seems to have such a negative outlook on the writing life. I was at a bookstore the other day, and there was a newly published author sitting their, selling copies of his book. He said that he’s been writing for thirty years and he JUST got his first book published. I know that I love writing, but I need to hear more positive things about writing! If it’s so bad and stressful, then why do people spend hours plucking away on their computer every day???

Why indeed?!? I think we’re all mad!!!!! Seriously, I hope I don’t sound negative when I talk about the writing process. I’m trying to pass on the best advice I can, to help those who REALLY want to be writers -- i.e. those who are prepared to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. The underlying message of all my comments is about the most positive you’ll ever hear -- "You CAN make your dream come true!!!" Virtually anyone can become a writer. There’s no magic involved. No special deals need to be struck with Satan. It’s something you can do all by yourself, by working hard and not losing faith.

But those are the two main keys, and that’s why I come back to them so often -- hard work, and keeping the faith. Unless you’re famous in some other field (e.g. an actor or model who decides to write a book, which sells purely on the strength of your name), you’re going to have to work VERY hard to get your work published. That’s a simple fact of life, and it’s a message I like to stress, because at the end of the day it separates the wheat from the crap! When I talk about having to work hard, and spend hours and weeks and months and years locked away from the world in order to develop and get your work published, poseur writers think I’m being negative -- I’m denying them "the secret formula" which will allow them to become brilliant quickly. They believe in an Andy Warhol and Big Brother universe, where everyone should be entitled to 15 minutes of fame just for being themselves, where dreams should automatically come true.

I don’t.

I think success can only truly be appreciated if it’s earned. And most writers think that way too, I’m sure, because like me they’ve had to work damned hard to get what they have. There are two types of dreamers in this world -- those who just dream, and those who pursue their dreams. Those in the latter camp read my blog entries and (I hope!!!) inflate with positivity and enthusiasm. Because they get it -- if you work hard, and dedicate yourself to your dream, YOU can be the next Darren Shan, J K Rowling, Stephen King or William Shakespeare. Hell, you can be the next Jilly Cooper if that’s your wish!!!! Writers don’t have magic buttons which they press to succeed -- they get ahead by working hard. Would-be writers who are told that don’t sit there thinking, "Gee, I only wanted to do this if I could press a magic button and do it quickly." They think, "Thank the gods there aren’t any magic buttons -- it means I have the power to do this myself!!!!"

So, in short, I will always stress the need to work hard, because it’s the sort of encouragement REAL young writers need.

As for keeping the faith ... Well, again, although some of my comments might seem to paint a bleak picture of despair and economic doom, I continue to point out the monetary pitfalls of being a writer because it’s important that you know what you’re getting into -- and that you know you’re not in that boat alone. Thousands of books are published every year, but most of us only read the more popular books. I read the occasional out-of-field novel by an unheard of writer, but for the most part I go for successful writers whose books I enjoy. I don’t think I’m unusual in that. I imagine most of you reading this are similar to me in that respect. But that can create a seeming imbalance for youong writers. If you’re only reading work by established, top-notch writers, that’s all you’re going to be aware of. If every writer whose work you like is successful, sells millions of copies, and makes loads of money, you might think ALL writers are like that. And if you set out to become a writer, and find that you’re not one of the lucky few who crack the big time, you might think that you’re a failure, since you’ve falled short of the standards all your favourite writers have set.

But let me tell you this -- NO writer is a failure. It takes a hell of a lot of guts and imagination and bravery to become a writer. You set out on a task to create something out of nothing, to pluck ideas from the air and weave them into a story which has never been told before. The financial rewards for most writers are pitiful. Most don’t earn a legion of loyal fans. Most have to work in other jobs to support themselves. Most have trouble getting their work printed. Most writers’ works that ARE printed don’t sell very well and go out of print long before the writer dies. Most are unloved, not respected, not acknowledged. And you know what?

It doesn’t matter a damn!!!!!

Amy asks why people spend so long plucking away on their computers if it’s all doom and gloom. The reason is -- we work in the dream industry. When you write a story, you create. You bring a new form into the world. Even if it’s not a very good or original story, it’s unique. It’s something you’ve created that nobody else can do in exactly the way you did it. It’s like giving birth to a child, except you can do it dozens or hundreds of times over the course of your life -- and you don’t have any nappies to change!!! Writing is a buzz, a wonderful feeling. It’s like playing your favourite sport or game -- great fun. It’s harder than most sports, because you have to put so much into it -- you can’t just have a writing "kickabout", the way you can play a casual game of soccer at the back of your house with your friends. But that means the rewards are so much greater. The reward of following your dream. Of doing something unique. Of daring to show your inner soul and imaginings to the world. Of saying "I’m special, I’m an individual, I’m not afraid to step up to the mark, I’m not afraid to fail, I’m going to go out on a limb and chase my dreams until death robs me of them." Money isn’t the REAL reward about being a writer. Fame isn’t the REAL reward about being a writers. You can be an apparent failure in the eyes of the world, as most writers are -- but still be one of the greatest success stories this world has ever produced, as ALL writers, by the very act of writing, are.

THAT’S what I’m trying to say.

Night night folks. Keep on dreaming.

The Authors For Autism Research auction has just finished, and I’m absolutely delighted (and, truth be told, a little bit amazed!!) to be able to report that the winning bid to have your name featured in one of my books was ... £1020!!! To break the thousand pound mark was incredible -- the only other author in the auction to do that was Lee Child, whose auction made about £150 more than mine. In fact the next highest bid for an author after mine was £424!! Which officially makes you guys some of the best fans in the world!! But then, that’s no news to me!!!!!! Thanks to everyone who participated -- you’ve helped raise some much-needed funds, which will go towards a very good cause. The organisers of the auction will be contacting the winning bidder and putting them in touch with me, so that they can confirm what name they want me to use, and in which novel. I’ll also be sending them a signed copy of the book when it comes out.

Advice to would-be writers -- keep it short and sweet!!! I’ve noticed with my blogs that when I post a really long entry, as I did yesterday, I usually get far few responses than if I post a shorter, snappier one! This is completely understandable -- people lose interest if they have to plough through a lot of long paragraphs, or lose track of what the point is, and just ... tune out!! It’s the same as when you’re in class and your teacher drones on and on and ON about the same old thing -- you just want to scream, "Enough already!!!!" With my books, I re-write and edit them several times, tightening up, to try and ensure readers don’t get bored or side-tracked in the middle of a chapter. But with my blog I’m more stream-of-consciousness -- my readership is tiny compared to those who read my books, and you’re getting these entries for free, and it’s meant to be a diary more than anything else, so, yes, from time to time I ramble -- and I make no apologies for it!!! As I often say, it’s important to write LOTS, to get in as much practise as you can, so that you get to learn more about words and how to express yourself. So in a way this blog is a kind of testing ground for me, a way to play around with my thoughts, to keep in the habit of writing something most days. I almost never know what I’m going to write when I sit down to compose an entry, whether it will be short or long -- I just go with the moment!!

I received the following email from Jack today:

I’m 15, and I love reading. I’ve read The Saga of Darren Shan and they’re my favourite books. However, as I’m getting older, I’m pondering taking my interest further and becoming a writer.

I know I’m creative enough, and my teachers tell me I’m bright. English has always been my strong subject. However, I have reservations about the idea. From what I can tell, writing is a very sink or swim business. You can spend months, years even, writing a book and either it does’nt get published or it isnt successful.

I’m not going to go into too much detail, as like I said, I doubt this will even get read. If however you do read this message, and if you have the spare time, could you give me your advice? Could you sum up in one message all of your writing experience and knowledge? This is something thats really bothering me, and hearing advice from my favourite author would really put things in perspective for me.

Sum up all of my writing experience and knowledge in one message ... Jack, you’ve made one of the fundamental errors of young writers worldwide -- you think there’s a secret formula. As I often state on this blog, there isn’t. It all boils down to hard work and lots of experimentation. My best advice is to stop looking for advice -- just crack on and write!! And I say that in a totally friendly, helpful way -- I too believed there was a secret to writing when I was your age. But it’s important to be told that there isn’t -- the sooner you realise that YOU have the power to decide whether or not you become a writer, by actually writing and not thinking about it and looking for shortcuts, the sooner you can make headway and take real steps towards realising your dream.

Jack’s right about it being a very sink or swim business - and the sad fact is that most writers sink, quickly and messily and horribly! Have no delusions if you want to be a writer -- from a financial point of view, life sucks for most of us!!! I read a statistic recently that the average annual income of writers in the UK under the age of 35 is ... £5000. You read right -- five thousand pounds. A year. And that’s the average -- which means it includes the high-rollers. So some of the those writers are earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year -- which means a lot of others are making far LESS than £5000. Can you imagine a teacher in the UK working for £5000 a year? A doctor? A butcher? A sales assistant in a discount store? A server in a fast food restaurant?

Most writers can’t afford to write full-time. They do it as a hobby, at night after work, at the weekends, in their holidays. Only a small percentage can afford to support themselves by writing. And only a tiny percentage make what would be considered a considerable sum -- there are VERY few rich writers!! You have to do it because you love it. You might get lucky and sell millions of copies and make bestseller lists all over the world -- but the odds against that are similar to having a very good win on the lottery. Some truly excellent writers never make much from their books -- quality, alas, doesn’t always guarantee a good income. But if you work hard, apply yourself, stay true to your dream and push yourself all the way, you WILL learn to tell the very best stories you can tell. And THAT is the secret of what being a writer is all about. To write a story and be able to look at it and say, "That’s the very best I can do, and it’s taken a hell of a lot of hard work to do it that good" -- that’s where real success lies. Creating something you can be proud of should be the goal of every writer. It’s great if others like it too, and lots of people buy it and you make lots of money. But that’s always a bonus. Write because you love writing. Go work in a bank if you love money.

Hmmm .. this has been another of my rather lengthy entries, hasn’t it? I guess I won’t have to spend too much time tomorrow sifting through replies ...

Went to a quick in my local pub last night, with Bas, an uncle of mine called Mike, and a neighbour called John L. I like a good pub quiz and have entered a few in recent years, always just for fun. But last night we almost won! We came second in the end, just 2 questions behind the winners. In a weird way it’s almost worse finishing so close behind than it is to wind up mid-table -- you go away cursing the answers you should have got right (such as when the Chernobyl Disaster happened, or the year of the Great Fire Of London). If only you’d thought a bit harder, you could have been top dog!!! True, it was only a small village pub quiz, but I’ve got quite a competitive nature once I get going, and to me it was the same sort of feeling as if one of my books got to second place in a chart but only sold a few less copies than the top-placed book. I was pleased to climb so high, of course, but dagnabit, when you get that close, it’s a pain in the butt not to go a tiny bit further and WIN!!!! Oh well -- maybe next time ...

Today I finished editing the third book of my four-book series. I also put together the April edition of the Shanville Monthly, and sent out an email to everyone who subscribes to it. The emails are still flowing out as I type -- there are over 16,000 email addresses in my database, so it takes a LONG time for my system to process them all, at least 12 hours, sometimes a lot more if the system hits a glitch along the way!!! I’ve been doing the Shanville Monthly for close to 8 years now, and even though the internet has come on in leaps and bounds since I first started (I used to send out the monthly emails using Outlook Express for the first few years!!), and there’s probably a better, swifter way these days to keep readers up to date with all the latest news, I like the old-fashioned feel of the monthly. It’s like a magazine or comic that comes out once a month. I look forward to bringing all the news together and sending it out in one big monthly lump, and I hope you guys do too.

If you read the April Monthly, you’ll see that I mention a new series that I’m tentatively edging towards making a start on. I can’t say anything about it yet, mostly because I don’t know much about it -- hell, I don’t even know if it will come together, if I’ll even start on it at all!!! But I think it has the potential to be a multi-book series, something on the scale of The Saga or The Demonata. I’ve been playing around with ideas for it for a few years, teasing away at the few scenes and ideas which have been knocking around my mind. It’s been slow, hard going, but I think it’s coming together -- in recent months I’ve been thinking about it more and more, piecing together different parts, running various plots and ideas through the mill of my imagination. I have the sense that I’m ready to push it further, to sit down and start putting ideas on paper.

This is the part of the job that’s hardest to explain, and the part that I think is of most interest to other people. It’s the creative maelstrom that comes before the actual beginning of a book. Right now I have scraps of ideas and story-lines which might one day form the core of a long series. But they’re nowhere near complete. There aren’t just gaps in the structure -- there are black holes!!!! I’m going to try to pull enough of those ideas together to get me started, to set me on the path of what will hopefully work out. But I can’t fully explain how I’m going to do that, because I don’t really understand the process myself. All I know is that I have to work on those ideas, bounce them off each other, ask questions of them, sniff around them. What happens if I do this? What happens if I do that? Will I throw in a bit of sci-fi to see what happens? Where do I want to set it?

So many questions. So many ideas. So many possibilities. If I sat down and thought about the scale of embarking on such a project, I’d be terrified and I wouldn’t have the courage to begin!! Something I often say to young writers is "Don’t think too much!" Writing can be a scary prospect if you brood about it. You just have to get stuck in. Of course you can’t actually do that until you have SOME idea of where you want to go. But a sliver of an idea is usually enough. Inever have all the answers to a book before I start it. Getting a few key facts straight is normally enough to get me going -- after that I just have to trust that the story will suck me in and reveal more of itself to me there further along I stumble with it. I said before on this blog that the trigger which made me sit down and write my four-book series was a scene set on a ship -- I saw the scene unfold in the cinema of my mind, and knew I had to start writing ASAP. In this case the trigger seems to be a personal trait about the main character. I had an insight last week, nothing major, but as soon as it flashed through my thoughts, I knew it was RIGHT, and it made me want to start writing. I think a lot of writing is like that. You ask questions, consider all sorts of answers, and wait for one to strike you as RIGHT ... as TRUE ... as MOTIVATIONAL. The answers are different for each writer, and in each instance, but once you stagger across it, you KNOW. I don’t know HOW you know. You just KNOW. And that’s when you begin to write, or at least begin to seriously prepare to write -- because something about a story (maybe a key scene, maybe a trivial detial) compels you to.

I don’t know how much sense all that makes to you guys -- or even how much sense it makes to me! Writing is both very simple and very complicated. When I try to go beyond the most basic advice, I always feel as if I’m skating on hair-thin ice. Anyway, the long and the short of it is, I’ve a germ of an idea for a new series, which may or may not happen, depending on how much mileage I can wring out of the idea over the next few weeks or months. Once I know more, you guys will too. Until then, like myself, you’ll just have to wonder.

I started editing book 3 of my 4 book series yesterday. (I often work on Sundays. I used to stick to a Monday to Friday routine years ago, which I liked, but I do so much travelling these days that I need to maximise my time at home and work whenever possible.) I was grinning all the way through the first few chapters. They’re an exceedingly dark part of the storyline, but feature a couple of twists which I know are going to have readers smiling BIG! It’s always nice when you can work in an unexpected but, in retrospect, perfectly obvious twist, something that will make readers gasp with surprise, but, when they think about it later, kick themselves for not seeing it sooner.

Edited more of book 3 today. I’d planned to finish it, but lots of other stuff popped up, not least of which was a photo shoot for a newspaper interview. It will be appearing in the Irish Independent this Saturday, April 5th (fans outside Ireland will probably be able to find it on the Indo web site, at http://www.independent.ie/ -- although I can’t guarantee that). I did the interview a while ago, but the photographer only came today. I normally don’t like photo shoots but this was more fun than usual -- the photographer was fast and efficient, and came up with a few unusual shots. Most cameramen take the same old shots -- Darren at his desk, Darren with a book -- but, in their defence, that’s usually what they’re asked for. This guy did the normal stuff, but some artier pics too. It will be interesting to see if the editor in this case goes with a few of the more experimental shots, or with the regular, standard type snaps. I know where I’d be placing my money if I was a betting man ...

I’m back home from my short holiday to Krakow. Had a nice final meal, and did a bit more sightseeing on our last morning there, before flying back to Shannon. We had to go via London Gatwick, and wait a few hours there for our connecting flight, so it was a LONG last day, but everything was on time and it didn’t drag too much. Still, it was nice to fall into my own bed at the end of it!

I received the following email from a guy called Tim in America, who has got wind of the fact that I will be coming to the States on tour in October:

I’m the Teacher-Librarian at a Junior High School in the state of Arizona. At the start of every school year I book talk 3 novels to each English class (we have grade 7, 8 and 9) to create a book buzz on campus right off. Last fall CIRQUE DU FREAK was a smashing success on our campus! Our school district is the largest in the state and our Library has the most copies of your novel: 20. We have a ton of the follow up books as well (more than anybody in the district too)! Last August the wait list for CIRQUE hit over 80 students long and stayed steady clear till February -- that’s astounding! Anticipation and word of mouth-peer recommendations created an awesome buzz.

The students loved CIRQUE DU FREAK. I promoted it because I loved it as well, and I recognized -- near instantly, like page 3 -- that it would be great for reluctant readers, which are what I’m all about. The cartoon vacuum cleaner, and then, the real vacuum and the real tarantula, what a sweet hook -- you hooked me! With this novel you have enticed a lot of Fremont boys to read! THANK YOU! Teen boys are hard to pair up with a book they’ll like. Don’t fret though; you’ve plenty of girl fans too!

I understand you’re visiting Arizona next October and I talked with Arizona people setting up your visit. My initial conversation with them severely disappointed me in that I think you and my students would get on so well -- I mean, you have a cult following on campus! The problem seems to be numbers. Your publisher wants you to meet 500 students minimum. Even though we’re the largest Jr. High in Arizona, we only have an auditorium that fits 450 people, but if you include teachers and book club we could nearly make the quota. You’ll miss the excitement your novels bring to our campus if you don’t visit. So PLEASE, consider requesting a visit to Fremont -- in fact, how about a pizza lunch with 10 prize draw winners before or after your talk? You have to eat at some point of the day anyway!

That last bit made me chuckle -- Tim’s obviously heard that I’m an easy man to bribe when a few slices of pizza are waved around under my nose!!! But, seriously, as I told Tim, I don’t get directly involved in the mechanics of my tour schedules. It’s a complicated process -- it costs my publishers a lot of money to bring me over, so they’re always looking to create a tour that will maximise my impact -- and because I’m never in the States more than 2 or 3 weeks, they also have to look into flight connections, how to get me from A to B, what will physically work and what won’t. In an ideal world I’d go to schools in every state that wanted me -- but the reality doesn’t work that way. The most important thing, I stressed, was not to lose his temper, to persist gently and politely, and keep trying to make his case as persuasively and temptingly as possible. Publishers, like most people in life, respond best to polite enthusiasm -- rude pushiness can sink even the best of pitches.

Once the tour is at a more advanced stage, I’ll be publishing contact details for my publisher, so that other schools, libraries and shops can "pitch" for me. I’ll also be providing more advice and info about how you should try to arrange for a visit. But the schedule is still in the VERY early stages, so please don’t write to me about it until I announce more info in a few months time. I just wanted to use this opportunity to give fans in the States advance warning that I AM coming back!!! It will be in the second half of October, and will maybe run into early November. We haven’t chosen States or cities yet, although it looks like Arizona will be on the itinerary!!

The way these things work is that my publicist will put together a rough tour schedule, based on requests that have come in to her in the past (which is why Arizona is currently being considered so early on), along with recommendations from the LittleBrown sales team and other people out in the field. Then, when we have a better idea of where I’ll be going, I’ll provide a window of opportunity for schools, libraries and stores to make a pitch and argue the case for why I should pay them a visit. I’m not sure when that will be -- you’ll need to keep an eye on the Shanville Monthly for updates, and be ready to act swiftly when I make the announcement!!!

I've been in Krakow in Poland for a few days holiday with Bas and my Mum and Dad. It's my first time here, and we've tried to see as much as possible, although as with any city, there's only so much you can cram in over the space of a couple of days!!! The weather has been VERY changeable -- lovely and sunny one moment, then furious snow storms the next! But for the most part, although it’s been cold, it’s been good for getting around, so we’ve been able to make our way around the tourist sites without too much hassle.

We walked around the main square on our first evening here, and had a yummy Polish-type meal. On Wednesday we went to the castle and Jewish quarter, and had perogi for lunch -- one of my favourite Polish dishes! In the afternoon we went to the famous salt mines on the outskirts of Krakow -- they were outstanding!!! Beautiful and funny sculptures, all carved out of salt, along with a full-size cathedral!! I always enjoy trips below the surface of the earth, and this was one of my most impressive subterranean adventures yet.. Hugely recommended!!!! We finished the night by eating in a local shopping centre, and this time had the more globally recognised food of KFC!!

Today we went to Auschwitz -- and there ain't nothing funny to be said about that! A grim reminder of just how brutal, sickening and viciously inventive we humans can be. We visited both camps, Auschwitz, which was a concentration camp -- the prisoners were mostly worked and starved to death there -- and Berkenau, which doubled up as a death camp -- that's where the Nazis offloaded people (mostly Jews) by the train carriage load, and then gassed and cremated them. The vast body of the exhibition is in Auschwitz, but Berkenau got under my skin worst -- the sheer size of the place is staggering, and when I looked at those infamous railway tracks running into the heart of the complex, a shiver ran down my spine, and not a shiver of the delightfully scared kind, but of the "Thanks the gods I didn't end up in a hell like this" kind.

While there, listening to the stories of what the victims had to endure, faced with the very real evidence of how they'd been tortured and beaten and frozen and starved and executed and experimented on ... I found myself wondering if I would have survived. I think it's one of the reasons people are so fascinated by horrors of this kind -- it's human nature to put yourself into the position of others, to see things from their point of view, to roll play. I did that here and I honestly don't know if I would have made it through -- or, worse still, if I would have WANTED to survive. In a way, the luckiest people in these places were those who were killed quickly. Survival was a horrific, brutal, heart-rending affair. I can only begin to imagine what life must have been like for those who came through it. To have to suffer for months or even years ... to see those close to you murdered and fed to furnaces ... to live in freezing cold conditions, starving, treated worse than animals, no hope, no certainty that this would ever end ... It would have been a lot easier to let yourself be shot, or throw yourself on the electric fence, or ... I like to think I wouldn't have done that, that I'd have fought for every breath and clung to life no matter how bad things got, but I truly don't know. I don't think any of us can, not for sure. And I hope none of us are ever put to that horrendous test -- some questions in life are better off not answered.

A couple of emails came through over the past day or so which I felt worthy of pointing out, along with a post from one of the actors in the CDF film. First, Richard in the USA wrote to say:

Our family visited New Orleans last week. Our hotel window looked out onto an alley in which "Cirque du Freak" is being filmed. Thus we discovered your books, and my oldest daughter is reading the first one now. John C. Reilly looked really cool in a red coat and red hair. I'm going to read the book after Rachel finishes it, and we look forward to the movie.

I've posted here before about the positive effects of having a book filmed. No matter how the adaptation goes -- even if it turns out to be a REALLY bad film -- it virtually always brings some new fans to the book. For me, writing is all about personal pleasure, creating something unique and intriguing, which will satisfy me -- but publishing is all about trying to take your story to as many people as possible. Writing should be all about creation and inventiveness, but publishing should be all about business -- I'll never understand writers who seem reluctant to help promote their books, who take a stand-offish, almost sneering approach to the people who buy their books, who have nothing but contempt for the selling side of the industry. I'm not saying you should ever write FOR money -- but you certainly should take the business of writing seriously if that's what you plan to do for a living. It's very difficult alerting people to the existence of a book. All publishers struggle with the problem of finding new fans, new readers, of convincing people to take a chance on a writer they've never read before. Movies help. People read interviews with actors, or see the filming take place, or catch a trailer, etc., and go and read the book -- so even if a film sucks, it can still bring new readers to a book!!!!

But according to reports emanating from the set, the film of Cirque Du Freak doesn't look like it WILL suck -- which will hopefully mean even more readers come on board!! While I'm not directly involved with the film, the reports I've been getting have all been positive. Ray Stevenson, the actor playing Murlough, posted this revealing comment on his site recently:

"Filming here in New Orleans is going very well indeed. I love working with John C. Reilly, he's a real gentleman. My character is bringing me a lot of fun. First time I've ever played an absolute bad guy, although I consider him a misunderstood vampire hell bent on complete domination of his world. Paul Wietz is just great to work with. He has a vision for this movie which is very exciting, very dark and carnival like with a palette of fair ground lights and circus costumes. ... Again I feel blessed to be involved with a project that I believe will entertain a lot of people. ... He's pretty unsavoury and not exactly easy on the eye. But I like him and on many levels he's just a bit too hungry, all the time, for anything he can get, especially blood !! (he regards people, especially children, as 'bags of blood')"

Sounds good!! I've been keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out well, even since the start, but it seems like maybe it won't need my good wishes ...

Finally, Emma Foster sent me the following email about the Authors For Autism auction which I'm currently involved with (people can bid to have their name featured in one of my upcoming books):

Great to see you doing so well in the Ebay charity auction already, some of the rest of the authors have no bids as yet, and you already have 10 bidders! I had a look myself, and would have had a bid, but unfortunately the amount is already more than I earn in two weeks, so I will have to wait until I am earning a bit more cash! Excellent thing you are doing for charity though, and hopefully the bidders will get as much as possible for that next gory death.

As Emma noted, bidding is high -- the auction has been live less than 24 hours as I type this, and already the high bid stands at a staggering £460 -- about $920!!!!! And it isn't due to finish until April 2nd!!!! I'm delighted that bidding is so brisk, since all the money will go to charity. I know it means a lot of you reading this won't be able to take part, which I feel bad about, but the whole point of doing something like this for charity is to raise as much funds as possible. If any of you have a healthy bank balance and fancy your chances (or if you have a rich relative -- the winner can choose any name they want to appear in the book), click on the following link to place your bid: EBAY AUCTION LINK

Took my cousins to the Tower Bridge Experience on Friday -- you get to walk across the two top sections of the famous tower, learn a bit about its history, and see the engine rooms in the basement. The views are great, and it’s nice to wander through, but I wouldn’t class it as one of London’s must-see attractions. The tower itself is amazing -- if you ever go to London for one time only, make sure you make time to go see it -- but the experience is only so-so. But at least it’s short, so you can squeeze it in neatly into a busy day!! We went for dinner at TGI’s after that, relaxed back at the flat for a while, then went to see Avenue Q. We’d all seen it before (I’d seen it 3 times!), but we all still enjoyed it -- easy to see why it’s been such a hit!!

On Saturday we went to see Spurs playing Portsmouth. Not a great game, and it was VERY chilly, with showers of sleet whipping across the pitch every now and then. But we ground out a 2-0 result, which was pleasing. Bas had been on a ski holiday for the past week, and got back to London in the afternoon, so we met her on her way to the flat and helped her lug her bags back. We went for a Mexican meal in the Texas Embassy restaurant just off Trafalgar Square (a regular haunt of ours) with my friend Maiko, then staggered back to the flat, full but happy.

Today we slept in. Then Maiko came over and we went for lunch to the Inn The Park restaurant -- it’s inside St James’ Park, and despite being in a great location to sting tourists, it’s actually a first-rate dining place, with delicious organic food. We ate well and heartily, and once again huffed and puffed our way back to the flat. We tried to work off some of the food by going for a swim and sauna. Then I set my cousins on the train to the airport, popped over to see my grand-aunt Nora, and now I’m going to have a quiet night in.

Oh -- and Happy Easter, everybody!!!!!!

Flew over to London on Wednesday with three of my cousins. After a quick pizza, we went up to see Spurs play Chelsea in the league. We beat them in the Carling Cup final last month, so we knew they would be out for revenge, and as they’re chasing the league title, the points were far more important to them than they were to us. So I feared the worst -- I thought they might put 4 or 5 goals past us. And I was right -- they scored four times!!!! But so did we!!!!!! We went 1-0, then 3-1 down, then 4-3 down ... but we scored an equaliser a couple of minutes from the end, and could even have won it in the very final minute! It was an amazing match, football at its finest. I went through every emotion imaginable, from deepest darkest despair to unbelievable elation. It’s not a game I’ll forget in a long time ... and I don’t think any Chelsea fans will forget it either, though I’m sure they’ll try their best to!!!!! Heh heh heh heh heh!!!!!

Today we went to Thorpe Park for a few hours. It’s an amusement park about half an hour’s train ride out of London. It’s pretty good for the UK, though it’s no match for the amusment paradises of Florida in the USA!!! It was busy today, but we got there early and managed to get on all the rides we wanted, without waiting in line too long. I went to Thorpe Park many years ago when I was a kid, not long after it first opened to the public -- it had no rides back then, just recreations of old villages, Roman buildings and the like!!! I always like going back, as it’s a trip down memory lane, though Alton Towers is by far the best theme park in the UK.

In the evening we met my friend from Japan, Maiko, and my uncle Derek, and went for dinner in the Hard Rock Cafe on Old Park Lane (the very first to ever open in the world), then went to see the musical Wicked. I’ve seen it a few times before, including on Broadway with the original cast, but it was the first time for the others, and I’m pleased to say they all fell under its spell, even my usually quite cynical uncle!!! It’s a play with a weak second half -- pretty much all the good songs are weighted in the first half, and the political element is much more pronounced -- but that first half is so good that you come away not minding too much about the plot holes and the lack of a great closing song. But in truth it’s a pity -- Wicked is hugely enjoyable, as reflected by its success worldwide, but if a bit more care had been paid to the second half, it could have been an out-and-out classic. Oh well, it’s still one of the best shows around at the moment, even with its flaws, so if you haven’t seen it yet, and the chance arises, seize it!!!!

I received the following email from girl called Amy today:

A long while ago we wrote short stories in my english class. I wrote this really cool story that I really liked and enjoyed writing. Then when I got it back, the grade was okay, but I decided to do a rewrite on it. I talked to my teacher about my story before I set out to rewrite it. She told me she liked it, but wanted me to change my entire story! Well, except for the characters and the vampires and stuff. But anyway, I was kind of upset when I found out that in order to get a higher grade, I would have to change just about everything!!! I almost didn't even do one because I was offended by what she wanted me to do, but I decided to do a rewrite, and see how it would turn out. Well, I have done my rewrite now, and my story has improved a hundred and ten percent. I changed the whole thing, while keeping the basic outline of it and the characters. Do you ever feel offended or upset when editors tell you that you need to change things in your stories? How do you manage to revise without losing the things that you like most in the story?

This is a question every writer will face -- how do you react when somebody tells you your story isn't working? It's never a nice thing to have to deal with -- I think every writer wants everything they write to be brilliant, to be met with gasps of awe and lauded to the heavens. I doubt if any of us sit there, when we've sent our work off to an editor or agent, thinking, "I hope s/he really hates it and tells me I have to re-write it entirely!!!!"

When you're starting out, it's very important that you take on board the views of people who read your work, whether that's a friend, parent, teacher, whoever. If you choose to show your work to somebody, you need to listen to what they say. If there's something they don't like, look at the story again and see if you can see what they see. Don't make the easy mistake of dismissing their comments automatically, of thinking they just don't see the brilliance of what you've created. In most cases their criticisms will probably be justified.

I've always been of the opinion that, if you can see lots of flaws in your work yourself, it's probably not a good idea to share that work with other people. I wrote a long blog about this just a while ago, about each of us having to choose to show our work when we feel ready to show it. If you know your work is flawed, I don't think you can gain much by letting other people read it -- they'll only confirm what you think, and that can be depressing!! But if you think you've created something good, and you're ready to show it to someone to see if they agree, you have to be realistic and accept their negative feedback if there are elements about it that they don't like. You might not like what they say, but if you consider their comments fairly, and go away and do a re-write on the basis of them, you'll probably find, as Amy found out, that you'll do a better job next time.

But of course, you won't always accept the criticisms. If you're serious about being a writer, a situation will almost certainly arise where you disagree vehemently with another person's view of your work. It happened to me with Cirque Du Freak. When I first tried to get it publish, loads of publishers turned it down and said very negative things about the book. I didn't agree with what they said, so I ignored them. Sometimes as a writer you have to do that -- you have to stick to your guns, stay true to your vision, and stand by your work no matter what. Sometimes people just don't share your vision. That can be lonely and frustrating and heart-breaking, but if you're convinced that your work is good, you just have to keep on fighting and hope somebody finally takes your side.

But the most important thing is that when somebody does take your side, when an editor expresses interest in your work and wants to take it further, but has some reservations about it, you need to consider their reservations very seriously. You have to be able to recognise your friends from your enemies, to separate constructive criticism from plain negativity. For instance, I have a great agent, Christopher Little. I always respect his opinion, and even if I don't share it, I will always make the effort of seeing his point of view. When I first sent Hell's Horizon to him (the second book of my D B Shan trilogy), he said he didn't like it at all. So I re-wrote it and sent it in again. He didn't like it that time either. Now, I could sense a really good story. I was certain this could be a good book. There was no way I was going to let it drop. But Chris wasn't seeing the quality that I could sense, and I figured that if he couldn't see it, other people wouldn't either. So I went back and did a third complete re-write, trying to help Chris see what I could see in the story -- and this time he loved it.

It's very easy to get lost in a story, to feel so close to it that you stop seeing its weaknesses. You need people you can trust to tell you honestly that they can't see what you see. It's then your job to try and help them see, by improving your story, by re-writing and editing. I'm not talking about making changes to please other people -- I'm talking about making changes that will please the story, that will help it shine for others the way it shines for you. Writers can sometimes have the same view of stories that parents have of children -- we struggle to see their flaws. I always think that parents sometimes need to be told when their children are doing wrong -- and writers need to be told when their stories aren't working.

Having said all that, there will also probably be times in your career when you've done everything you feel you can do with a story, when you're delighted with how it shapes up, when you feel you've worked on it as hard as you can and are totally content with the results -- and yet your agent or editor still doesn't like it!!! In that case you need to hit them over the head with a blunt instrument, dump their body in the river and push ahead regardless!!!!!!!!