Death's Shadow held onto the 1 spot on the UK Children's Best Sellers Chart for an incredible third week in a row!!! I'm over the moon about this! It was great to get to the top, brilliant to hold that position for a second week, but absolutely amazing to still be there!!! As I've said before, charts don't always tell the true story -- Demon Apocalypse actually sold better than Blood Beast, but because lots of other popular books were released at the same time, it didn't get to the top, while BB did. A book with poor sale might top the chart in a weak week, whereas a book with strong sales might not place very highly in a strong week. But in this instance I'm delighted that the new book is doing well in the chart AND selling very strongly -- the best of both worlds!!!!! I'll always takes sales over chart positions -- but it's delicious to have both!! HarperCollins very kindly sent me a bottle of top-notch champagne to celebrate, and I'll be cracking it open VERY soon to toast Death's Shadow's very fine health!!!!

I finally finished archiving my tour dates!! It was a much bigger job that I thought, and I've been working on it non-stop since the weekend, even doing some night shifts! But now it's finally up in place, every date, every event, every signing. I'm sure there are one or two errors in there, events that were cancelled, or last-minute additions which I forgot to add to my site at the time. But for the very most part it's accurate -- and exhausting!!! You can find the tour archive page in Secret Shanville (you'll have to join if you haven't already) by clicking here:


Hard to believe I've covered that much ground, given that many talks and signed that many books!! It was interesting to see how much I'd forgotten -- for instance, I took most of 2003 off from touring!! That goes to answer the questions I posed here a few days ago -- my sales rocketed in the UK during the two years when I wasn't doing much touring here, which I guess proves that at a certain point you DON'T have to tour to boost sales!!! I think it's a bit like a landslide -- if you can get it started, it takes on a life of its own. I certainly think touring definitely helps during an author's first few years, but as word spreads, and sales snowball, it probably becomes less vital. Then again, who can say for certain -- maybe sales would have been even stronger if I'd toured for those 2 years!!!!!! Anyway, it's all academic, because I'm going to continue touring regardless, partly because I like it -- as I often say in interviews, meeting fans is the fun part of the job! -- and also because I think I owe it to you guys, and I like to give as many of you as possible the chance to come and meet me, have a little chat, and have your books signed.

I've continued compiling my tour dates online -- it's taking longer than I thought!! I managed to complete the lists for 2001 and 2002 today, and you can check them out by clicking on the following links:

http://www.darrenshan.com/monthly/archive/Tours2001/2001index.html

http://www.darrenshan.com/monthly/archive/Tours2002/2002index.html

I also added a comment to the 2000 list, so you might want to check that one out again. I've found this a fascinating exercise (even if it might look like navel-gazing to other people!!!). This is the first time I've ever been able to siut down and actually analyze my touring career. When you're out on the road, things blur over time, and you just have a vague sense of how you're doing. In my mind it feels like I've always been on the road, and the tours have blended into one another for the most part. I know they've got bigger and busier in recent years, but I didn't think there was any real shape to them overall.

Boy, was I wrong!!! By studying the dates for 2000, 2001 and 2002, there's a definite pattern. In the first couple of years I was accepting just about every offer to go and do my thing to an audience, a few days here, a single event there. Virtually no public events, and the few I dared attempt were catastrophes for the most part! A structure - where I did a few weeks of hardcore, intensive touring - began to emerge in the second year, and became more apparent in the third, but I was still out on the road in dribs and drabs for most months of the year. By the end of 2002, I could sense the tide turning - I'd built up a good-sized fan base - but I still didn't do many public events or signings. We concentrated on schools, taking the books into places where I was unknown, aiming to find new readers. I was still a long way from being able to do a "glamour" tour, where I'd go into schools where I was largely known and liked. It was a relentless, dogged campaign -- I marched tirelessly from one event to another, never complaining, never letting the dud events (where I got only a handful of people turning up) depress me, clinging to the belief that this would work in the long term, that I'd see the benefits of ceaseless touring one day...

What stunned me most, going through the lists, was just how bad my first tour of the States really was!!! Whenever I thought about it over the years, I always knew it was poor compared to my later tours, but it wasn't until I went back and looked through my diary entries that I realised it was an almost total wash-out!! Terrible attendances at the public events, small groups in most of the schools, not many books sold. Looking back, it's plain to see that it was too early for a tour. The books had been selling quite well, but I hadn't yet established a firm fan base, and it was hard to let fans know that I was there on tour. I guess it served some sort of purpose, in that it introduced me to the hardships of life on the road in the massive States -- when I returned much later for my second tour, I was prepared for just what I had to do. But it wasn't a fun time of my life!!!!

Then again, who said touring in the early days should be fun?!? Bands all had to go through this -- and worse! U2 had to play to tiny crowds in crap venues, as did The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, R.E.M., etc, etc, etc. That's the way I've always looked at it -- in my head, I'm a musician, and when I go on the road, it's like I'm touring with a band. It's hard for writers to develop an audience the way bands do, but not impossible -- as I've proved. If you work hard, stick with it, put every bad experience down to a lesson learnt, and keep believing that the hard work will pay off further down the line ... then yes, you CAN make a go of it!! You need good books to tour with, of course, the way bands need good songs, but touring does pay off eventually.

Of course, the interesting question is, do children's writers actually NEED to tour? If I'd never gone out on the road, would the books have done well anyway? Would sales have flourished regardless of whether I toured or not? It's impossible to say. Maybe they would have -- maybe they wouldn't. All I know is, touring has been an important part of my job, and I think it's definitely helped me get to where I am today, and ... well, to use an old cliche ... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!! It would be easy to stop touring, to cut back and have more time for myself. But I've got a niggling suspicion at the back of my mind that sales might dip if I did -- and it's not a theory I wish to put to the test!!!!

For a long time now I've been meaning to catalogue my tour dates in one spot on my web site, to put together as complete a list as possible of all the event's I've done since I first started touring to promote my books in early 2000. Today I finally got round to making a start!!! It's not as straightforward as it might seem -- although my more recent tours are neatly laid out on my Shanville Monthly, I've changed styles and formats quite often so copying them over is quite a lengthy process! And with my earlier dates, I have to go back to my old diaries!! But I've made a good start and already complete 3 of the years -- I hope to add the other 5 over the next couple of days. If you want to see what the list was like for my very first year, you can click on the following link:

http://www.darrenshan.com/monthly/archive/Tours2000/2000index.html

I've added some notes (such as when I did my first public event, when I first used a microphone, etc), as well as approximate audience numbers where possible -- the figures aren't accurate, but they're pretty close -- where I don't have any real idea, I've left it blank. I hadn't realized I spent so much of my first year just touring in Ireland -- in my memory, I thought I'd toured lots in the UK as well in 2000, but as you can see, I just did a few events there later in the year. It was nice going back and putting this together -- I remembered places and events which I haven't thought about in years, both the good (signing for more than an hour for the first time) and the bad (my first no-show at a signing session). I recalled my first ever panel event, where the "host" spent more time talking than he allowed any of those of us on the panel!!!! My first trip to Edinburgh -- I was really nervous, but my nerves were settled when I bumped into Anthony Horowitz for the first time and he exclaimed, "Darren Shan?!? My son thinks you're a writing god!!!"

The most amusing thing I came across though was an entry from the middle of the year, when I complained about being a bit tired of performing the Cirque Du Freak scene where the woman gets her hand bitten off by the wolf man!!! I'd done it at virtually every event and was getting a bit bored of it. Little did I know that 8 years later I'd still be performing it regularly!!!! But these days I get a real kick out of it. It's not something I need to do -- I have plenty of other books to read out from -- but it always works the best in a live situation and I have fun seeing different actors put their own spin on it. It's sort of my signature piece -- I could no more not do the CDF scene when I'm touring than The Rolling Stones couldn't do Satisfaction live, or The Who couldn't do My Generation!!! I don't perform it at every event, but it's never far away, and neither is the plastic hand which I use in it!! Actually, thinking of that, I just recalled that I didn't use a fake hand in the early days -- it was something I added later. I'll have to try to pin down the date when I started to incorporate it, though I'm not sure if it's something I'll have noted in my diary. Guess there's only one way to find out ... Watch this space!!!!

When I was in Hungary recently, doing a Q&A session, a fan raised his hand and said rabbits hadn't been introduced to the UK and Ireland until the 12th century by Normans, so how could I explain their presence in Bec, which was set in 6th century Ireland?!? I said I'd investigate, and I have, and to my chagrin he was right -- curse his historically accurate eyes!!!! It's not a biggie in terms of the story (and none of our own fine British and Irish scholars have noted it since the book came out a year and a half ago!), but I do always like to get my facts straight (except when it suits the story better -- e.g. in Cirque Du Freak I describe Madam Octa as breathing in and out; in fact, spiders don't do that, but it was a nice creepy image, so I left it in!!), so I've instructed my editor to slightly alter the book the next time it's reprinted, to remove all references to rabbits!!!! My own fault for not double-checking my research, I know, but I just assumed the little blighters had always been hopping around the place!!!! But, as Bas always says, "To assume makes an ASS of U and ME!!!!!" This reminds me of why I prefer not to set my stories in a specific time or place -- if you keep things vague, facts can't come back to bite you on the ass!!!!

It's been a week for chart extravaganzas in Shan country!!! First, I was delighted to learn that Death's Shadow had held onto the 1 position in the UK in its second week of release -- in fact, it sold even more strongly, and out-sold the second placed book by more than 40%!!! Then, tonight, I was thrilled to find out that The Demonata has entered the New York Times Top 10 Children's Series Best Sellers chart at Number 9!!! Although my Cirque Du Freak series charted regularly in the NYT list, this is the first time The Demonata has made the chart, with the release there of Demon Apocalypse, book 6 of the series. Making the NYT chart is incredibly difficult, especially the series chart, as series tend to stay in the chart much longer than one-off books on the other chart -- of the top 10 best sellers this week, only two other series have spent less than 14 weeks on the chart! It's like an exclusive club that's almost impossible to break into -- but The Demonata has done it!!!! Many thanks to all my American fans for their continued support, and for helping to turn some of their friends onto the demonic delights of the series too!! I was already looking forward to my October tour of the States, but now doubly so -- there's nothing like a little taste of success to spur me on!!!!!!!

I spent a peaceful couple of days in the Norfolk countryside recently when Bas and I went to stay with her Aunt Mary, a Carmelite nun who has lived in an enclosed order for almost 50 years. We had lengthy, enjoyable chats with Mary and a few of the other nuns, and went for nice long walks in the countryside when we weren't with her -- the weather was glorious, rabbits were bouncing about everywhere, we also saw pheasants, herons, and even a small deer. It was the perfect relaxation tonic after my busy tour!!

Got back home last night and watched the latest episode of The Apprentice -- cracking good entertainment, as always. Today I caught up on all my post, and got my office in order (well, some of it!!). Went for a walk down by the river in the afternoon -- it's nice to be back -- and then watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. I hadn't seen it in a LONG time, and was pleased to note that it's just as pacy and effective as ever. I used to watch it over and over as a kid -- I taped it off the TV one day, and although the quality was patchy, and I had to rewind to watch the last several minutes (having run out of tape near the end of the movie!), I still loved it. It stands out in my memories as one of the seminal films of my childooh and early teens, and unlike some other films and books from that time which suffer when viewed twenty years on, Indy Mk I looks like it's always going to be high up on my favourite movies list. I like the fact that we change in life, that our tastes change, that we discard old favourites and find new ways to interest ourselves as we progress and become new people -- that's what life should be all about, experiencing different facets of the world. But it's comforting to have a few old loves that you can still cherish no matter how much time passes, no matter how much you change.

Right, I'm off to celebrating being a hit on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time!! Shall I celebrate by quaffing champagne or going out and dancing the night away? Hell no -- I'm going to celebrate in an even better way than that, with some of the people who helped put me there -- I'm going to answer some fan mail!!!!!

Had lots of fun at the Derren Brown show on Saturday night -- he's a really good performer, much more personable in the flesh than on TV, and some of his tricks are jaw-droppingly amazing! Then went to footie on Sunday -- it was the last game of the season, and Spurs were playing Liverpool. Normally that would be a big match, but the result didn't really mean much to either team, so the atmosphere was much more muted than I expected. We lost 2-0, but nobody was really that bothered, and almost everyone stayed to cheer the team as they did a lap of honour after the game. Later, back in the pub, I had an interesting debate with a couple of my friends. They contended that we had enjoyed a "great" season, while I was far less happy with it. Their argument rested on the fact that we'd had a few incredible results -- we drew a match 4-4 with Aston Villa after being 4-1 down; beat our time-honoured enemies Arsenal 5-1 in a cup semi-final; then beat one of our other big foes, Chelsea, 2-1 in the final; had a good UEFA Cup run; and drew 4-4 with Chelsea in the league, in one of the most exciting games of the entire season. I couldn't argue that they weren't great moments, some of the best I've ever experienced at the club -- but I did argue that moments of greatness didn't make it a "great" season. I wanted consistency, a high finish in the league, evidence that we have what it takes to challenge for honours again next year. As far as they were concerned, none of that mattered -- the glorious moments are what we remember in life, and therefore all that count at the end of the day.

It was an interesting argument, and one I'm still thinking about. I certainly see their point, and in some ways I agree with it, but on the other hand ... well, which would you rather? A novelist who writes one great book, and then a load of very average, forgettable books? Or one who maybe never hits the very top, but who always puts out a book that you can enjoy? A few days of amazing captivity in that author's world -- or year of milder enjoyment? Of course, ideally we all want both, and in certain areas we get what we want (Manchester United fans have had both over the last 15 or 16 years; Stephen King fans have had both over the last 30-plus years; Martin Scorses fans have had both; U2 fans have had both). But if you HAD to choose, which does it for you? What is YOUR definition of "greatness"???

Drank a bit more than I should have after the match, so I was fairly subdued for much of Monday!! Finally recovered in the afternoon, and Bas and I went for a lovely walk in St James' Park, where we also had dinner at the Inn The Park restaurant. After that we went to see Never So Good at the National Theatre, a play about an old UK Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan. The cast was strong (Jeremy Irons was the lead, and he was excellent), and it was an ineresting look at how Britain changed over the course of the 20th century, but it wasn't a spectacular play in any aspect. A good night at the theatre, but not a memorable one. Now we're off to visit Bas's aunt, a Carmelite nun, for a couple of peaceful days. I'll check back with you all a bit later in the week.

Had another pair of fantastic schools on Friday, with very long lines of students wanting their books signed. School events normally don't result in large sales, so the last few days have been a very welcome reversal of usual trends -- but because of the unexpected surge, I came close to running out ot sharpies, and had to make a quick dash to Woolworths between events to re-stock!!! I also did another long signing session in a shop in the afternoon, and was there for two hours. Fabulous!!!

I expected to wrap up the tour (or at least the main part of it -- I still have a few events scattered throughout the rest of the month) with a sold-out event at the Polka Theatre this Saturday. I've been there a couple of times before, and each time it's been a sell-out. And it's been a few years since I was last there, and the books have grown far more popular in the meantime. So I felt fairly confident that I'd be playing my last event to a packed house. But we heard on Friday that sales had been poor and the theatre wasn't even half full when I turned up today!! It just goes to show, there's always the potential for a weak turnout, no matter how popular your books are or how splendidly a tour is going. It was a pity to end the tour with a relative disappointment, but I never let small number interfere with my routine, and I went to to treat those who had turned up to 3 readings (including an extract from my four book series), answered more questions than I normally would, and spent longer signing than usual. I always appreciate it when you guys turn up to see me, but I appreciate it all the more when you come to a sparsely attended event! So rather than mope about those who don't come, I try to give extra value to those who DO!! Although it wasn't quite the rowdy finale I was hoping for, I definitely enjoyed it, and I think those who came enjoyed it too.

Apart from today's event, it's been my busiest tour ever. I've gone on longer tours in the past, with more events and signings packed in, but this has featured the biggest crowds, the longest lines, the most books sold and signed. Every day has been jam-packed, and I've rolled back to the flat exhausted but delighted, late every night. It's amazing to receive such incredible support, and the tour has flown by in a hectic, happy blur. I'm lucky to have such dedicated fans, and as long as you guys keep turning up to show your support, I'll do all I can over the coming years to carry on touring and meet as many of you as is feasible, sign as many of your books as I can -- and strangle as many of you for photos as possible!!!! But for now I'm off to relax for a bit (going to see Derren Brown tonight -- he always puts on a good show!), before hitting Athlone next weekend, then Birmingham, Hay and Listowel a bit later in the month!!! Thanks for the memories, Shansters!!!!!!!

Had my two busiest school events of the tour -- indeed, two of the busiest of ANY of my tours!!! At the first, I spoke to an audience of just over 120, and it seemed like just about everyone there came up afterward to get a book signed -- I was signing for a solid hour! There were at least double that at the next school, and once again almost everyone seemed to have a book to sign -- I was going like the clappers for an hour and a half, far quicker than I'd normally sign, conscious that school was finishing and many of the students needed to leave to catch buses!!! I felt like I'd run a long race by the end -- but I only just had time to draw my breath, and then it was off to a shop for another two hour signing session!!!! This tour has definitely been my busiest yet in terms of numbers of people turning up to get their books signed. I thought, after my last few tours, that the crowds couldn't get any bigger -- but they can, and they have!!!!! Shan-mania looks like it might just be gearing up -- who knows how manic it will get from here?!?!?

Onto other matters! For those of you who think you can out-gross the Shan man, check out the following competition from Waterstones -- it's a beaut!! Of all the Darren Shan competitions that have been run over the years, this ranks up there with the very best of them!!! Waterstones are offering you the chance to create a demon of your own, by describing it in 50 words of less -- and the winning contestant will see their demon featured in Book 9 of The Demonata in May 2009!!! This is the first time I've ever let a fan design a creature for one of my books -- and it will very probably be the last!! You'll also get an OBE, and free signed copy of the book, and a chance to come and meet me in person to collect it!!!!! The comp is open to readers in the UK and Ireland, of any age (but you'll need a parent's permission if you're under 18). For more details and the full rules, click here: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1314 The closing date is June 2nd -- so act swiftly before the chance passes you by!!!!

I'm absolutely delighted to be able to report that Death's Shadow, Book 8 of The Demonata, has gone straight in at 1 in the children's chart in the UK and Ireland!!!! This is the second time that I've hit the top in the UK (the first time was with Blood Beast), and the first time that I've entered directly in number one on both charts. It's an amazing achievement -- many thanks to all of you who bought the book and helped propel it up the charts to swiftly!!! This is especially pleasing coming near the end of my tour -- it makes all the hard work and signing seem even more worthwhile than it already was! I'll also be interested in analysing the figures later in the week, to see how the book fared on the overall hardback chart -- in the UK, they don't include children's books on the general hardback chart, but when Blood Beast was released, it out-sold every other fiction hardback in the UK, so it will be instructive to find out where D8 sits in the overall scheme of things ...

Had another busy day. The morning was actually quite relaxing. I went and signed some stock in Waterstones Picadilly, Goldsboro Books, and Foyles Southbank. If you're in central London over the next few days, you should be able to find signed copies of Death's Shadow in all 3 stores, and maybe signed copies of the paperback of Demon Apocalypse too, though I didn't sign quite so many of those. Alternatively, you can order signed copies of Death's Shadow online through Goldsboro Books (it's in the NEW ARRIVALS section) by clicking here: GOLDSBORO BOOKS

After that I went to do a very nice school event in Twickenham, and then to do a Waterstones signing in Staines. Once again I stocked up on a strawberries and cream frappucino before I began -- the weather has been very hot in London over the last few days, so I'm using that as my excuse!!! I was then signing for almost two and three-quarter hours -- the hordes of Shansters show no signs of ceasing any time soon!!! It was as I was on my way home afterwards that I learnt that Death's Shadow was number 1 -- needless to say, that was an extremely nice way to end the day!!!!! Watched The Apprentice back in my flat, checked my emails, and now I'm off to bed for another early night ahead of a very full day on Thursday. At least I can dream sweetly of being 1 tonight!!!!!!

There's been no let-up in the crowds of Shansters flocking to book stores in hunt of a signed book (or twenty!!). I did a big school event this morning, a quieter one in the afternoon, then reported for duty to Borders in Watford. Even though I was half an hour early, there was already a large line. I decided to start early, but popped upstairs to the loo. By the time I got back, the line had trebled, and I sensed we were in for a big one!!! THREE AND A HALF HOURS later, I signed my last book and draw a long breath!!! For an evening signing, that's incredible! Weekends are different -- people are off school, mums and dads aren't working, and larger crowds are the norm. But kids have homework on week nights ... parents are tired after work ... there are sporting events and TV shows to watch. An hour of signing is good. Two hours is excellent. But three and a half -- that's practically unheard of!!!!! I was stunned, but all in a good way -- I LOVE IT when big crowds turn up!!!! I get a buzz out of marathon signing sessions, knowing these people have given up their time to come and wait to see ME, that my books have done everything I ever hoped they would, that I'm living the dream. I can see how some writers get tired of large crowds and prefer either not to tour or to set limits when they do. Me -- I thrive on them!!! The more of you guys who come out to support me, the bigger a kick I get!!! There's no denying this has been a tiring tour, but it's the sort of "tired" that I always want to be!!! Roll on the last few days ...

Another fan -- hi, Toni!!! -- has had a tatto, based on the designs on the covers of my books. If you want to check it out, click here: TONI'S TATTOO

And, finally ... I've added the cover for the UK/Ireland edition of Wolf Island, book 8 of The Demonata, to my web site -- and it's a bloodily brilliant beauty!!!! To check it out, visit Secret Shanville (you'll need to become a Shanster if you haven't joined already) by clicking here: http://www.darrenshan.com/secretgateway.html