Finished editing the fantasy book yesterday. I'm very happy with how it's shaping up -- I've trimmed it down a LOT (having already trimmed it substantially when I edited it earlier this year) and it moves much smoother now. I'm sure there's still plenty of work to be done on it, but I think it's in much better shape now than it was at the start of the year.

I went out with my friend Kenny in the evening, to watch the first of the Euro 2008 semi-finals. Germany beat Turkey 3-2, in what was a surprisingly enjoyable game. I felt a bit sorry for Turkey -- they were massive underdogs at the start of the tournament, but played out of their skins and probably deserved to win last night. But Germany are clinical when it comes to winning football matches, and their extra touch of class shone through in the end.

After the match we went to see a band playing in a pub called Baker Place. I can't remember the name of the band, but they were pretty good!! I used to go to Baker Place a lot when I was younger, mainly to see The Hitchers, who played there quite a bit. But I hadn't been in a LONG time. It was nice to pop back in and check it out. When I went to the toilet, I saw that the walls and ceiling had been decorated with flyers of bands who had played in Baker Place. It was a nice display, but as I looked around at the different flyers, I realised I didn't recognise the names of ANY of the bands!!! It reminded me of how rare success is, and how many people set out in life with big dreams which never come true. I'm sure most of the people in those bands would have loved to be playing in stadiums to crowds of tens of thousands of people, but instead they've faded into obscurity, their only mark a flyer stuck to the wall of downstairs toilet, which will probably be removed or papered over in the not too distant future. I felt a bit sad for those whose dreams never amounted to much, but at the same time I felt oddly proud of them too. At least they pursued the dream, and went for it, and gave it a real shot. I don't think success is as important as many people believe. True satisfaction comes from knowing you've made the most of your life, that you've followed your own path and done the things which give you pleasure. If you do that, you can go to your grave content, knowing you lived life by your own rules. Real success in life is being true to yourself and going after the dreams that matter to you. The only people in life who truly fail are those who don't have the courage to try. Your only visible reward might be a flyer stuck to a wall over a toilet -- but there's much more to us all than just what other people see, and each of us should judge our lives, our failures and successes, by what we feel, not what others see and think.

Anyway, that's enough preaching! I'm off to watch the second semi-final now. I hope it's as entertaining as last night's!!!

Edited another 50 or so pages of the fantasy book. I'm almost done with the current edit -- all going well, I should wrap things up on Wednesday and move along. I'm itching to get some new writing done - specifically I want to write the second book of the multi-book series which I started earlier this year - but editing is every bit as important as getting a first draft in the bag, and when it has to be done, it has to be done. The way things are shaping up, I'm going to move on to an edit of my 4 book series after this (as well as going through the page proofs of Wolf Island within the next week or two), so it will probably be late July or early August before I can put the editing to one side for a while and move on. Oh well -- at least all this means I'm well ahead of my publication schedule! It might seem somewhat excessive, focusing on edits of books which won't come out for another 2 or 3 years. It's very tempting to leave those books for a while and work on the new books which are calling to me. But that's how you run into deadline problems!! I like having plenty of time to work on a book at my own pace, so I do everything I can to avoid falling into a situation where I have to rush to complete a book. Rushing very often means compromising, and I'm proud of the fact that I've never had to hurry out a book of mine before I'm properly finished with it. Control is very important for an author, but it's something that's very easy to lose, and once it's gone, it's hard to reclaim.

It was Bas's birthday today, so we went out for a nice meal together in the evening. I'm not that bothered about birthdays, but Bas loves them, so I made sure I got her a nice present, and even a card -- though I ended up recycling one of the cards I made to send out at Christmas, because I forgot to get her a birthday card!!!! Whoops!!!!!!!! It's a good job she can see the funny side of stuff like that!! I wouldn't last long with a high-maintenance girlfriend!!!! Anyway, let's all sign together: "We wish you a merry Chri--"

Er, I mean, "Happy birthday to Bas! Happy birthday to Bas! Happy birthday dear Ba-a-ass!!!! Happy birthday to Bas!!!!!!!!"

I've been steadily working my way through the fantasy book over the last few days -- this was a work weekend; I'll take a day or two off later in the week instead, but right now I'm stuck in the book and don't want to look up for breath!!! I'm very pleased with how it's going, and how I'm finding natural ways to tighten it up and move things along a bit quicker. That's the big advantage of working the way I do, and spreading the writing process out over a number of years. I wrote the first draft of this book in 2003 -- yes, 5 years ago!!! Having allowed myself so much time to work on it, I've been able to get quite objective about it -- no writer can ever put themselves entirely outside their work and see it as somebody with no knowledge of the story or vested interest in it can, but it's possible to get close to that position. When I first worked on it, I felt very close to the story, and didn't see it the way readers would -- it worked for me, but I don't think it would have worked for a lot of other people! Now that I'm more distanced from it, I'm able to look at it more critically and say "That doesn't work ... this needs to be changed ... they don't need to know that much!" Hopefully that will allow me to end up with a book that will be as interesting for others as it has been for me... though I doubt if anyone will spend quite as much time in the world of the book as I have!!!!!

I got an email from the people at RTE today which made me smile. As I said last week, I'm going to be appearing on a show called Eye 2 Eye, and I offered to send out an email to fans in Ireland, inviting them to email the producers and request a spot in the audience when it's being filmed. The good folk at RTE thought that was a splendid idea, so I sent out an email to everyone on my registered list -- but I don't think they realised quite how many of you guys are out there!!!! They've been inundated with requests, and are struggling to process them all!!!!!! Heh heh -- that's a good problem to have in my opinion, though I think the person handling the emails might have a different point of view!!! Anyway, if you're one of the many who applied, please be understanding if you don't end up being invited onto the show -- there are very limited places, and with so many of you guys looking to come along, a lot of you are going to have to be disappointed. But I think that will make it all the sweeter for those of you who DO get lucky!!!!!!!

Started another edit of the fantasy book I hope to release after The Demonata (to recap for those who are maybe a bit confused, I currently have 3 projects on the go, at various stages -- a one-off fantasy book, a 4 book series, and a new long series, which I hope to release over the coming years in that order). I trimmed it down a lot the last time I worked on it, and I've been trimming it down even more this time, cutting out elements which don't serve the main plot. This can be one of the hardest things for a writer. When I wrote the first draft of this book, I went to great pains to create a multi-layered, believable society. I put in all sorts of side-references to explain its history, where customs came from, why people acted, dressed and spoke the way they did, etc. etc. It was a fascinating experience for me, and crucial to the development of the book -- I need to get all those facts clear inside my own head. But what I've realised in recent edits is that most of that will only bore readers, because it gets in the way of the story. So as much as I like all the details I put in first time round, I'm now looking to remove as many of them as I can, to tighten up the pace and give readers just enough information to be getting on with. It's a lesson I learnt long ago from the original Star Trek series. They never bothered in the show to explain too much about the universe they created, even though the writers had a big "bible" detailing all the ins and outs of it -- Gene Roddenberry realised that the important thing was the story, and that as long as the characters were acting in accordance with the "rules" of the show, fans didn't need to know all those rules. Many fantasy writers make the mistake of thinking the background to their book is what will attract readers. But it's always the story -- it has to move and be interesting and accessible. So I'm hard at work at the moment trying to assure that this book will work as well for readers as it does for me, even though that means sacrificing much of what drew me to the story in the first place. You can't afford to be sentimental in this business -- the demands of the story should come before everything else!!!

Aside from editing duties, I've been watching the quarter finals of the Europen Championships. I've seen the first three, and they were all thrilling, tense, close affairs, packed full of incidents like last-minute goals, extra time and penalties. It's been a great tournament so far overall, and I'm having much more fun watching it than I thought I would, given that Ireland and the British countries aren't in it. I thought the Netherlands were going to win, but they've just lost to Russia, who are looking red-hot!! Right now I've no idea who's going to push on and claim the cup, and that's what makes it so fascinating! As for who I WANT to win... well, I can't really say, because my books are published in all the countries still in it, so I don't want to risk upsetting any of my fans!!!!

Edited another 60 pages of Book 10 of The Demonata. I'm flying through it, which is a good sign! The action is cranked all the way up to MAXIMUM in this one, which is how I like it!!! I usually have a pretty good idea of how fans are going to react to my books, and I'm anticipating this one will leave most of you VERY happy! The middle section of book 9 will be a slog for quite a few of you, I suspect, but once you hit the final third of that book, the pace doesn't drop all the way to the end of the series. I think it's a more rounded, pleasing final book than Sons of Destiny was. I liked the open-ended feel of The Saga (which was good, since that's the way it was always going to end -- I didn't have any real say in the matter, just went where the story led me!), but I know it left some of you feeling dissatisfied, because it didn't tie up all the loose ends. This one features just as revolutionary and unexpected a finale (although it will leave readers with a moral dilemma to hopefully ponder over long after you've read the final page), but it ties things up more neatly, and the pace is ferocious throughout. Book 10 gets ME excited each time I come to it, and I'm willing to bet it'll do the same for most of you guys too!!!!!!


Saw Syriana tonight. A complexly structured look at oil in the Middle East, and how far certain people are willing to go to get their hands on it. The structure was actually a lot more convoluted than the story, which was pretty straightforward and not actually as deeply developed as it might have been. It might arguably have been a more enjoyable film if it had been more accessible, but I do like movies that play with form, so you won't find me complaining too much!!! Now I'm off to read some more of The Killing Kind, a John Connolly novel which I've been working my way through recently. Like all his books, it's dark, menacing, twisting, with a supernatural hint -- just what I love in a detective story!!!! I like to think Procession of the Dead and my other D B Shan books inhabit the same sort of sphere as John Connolly's work, although I wrote The City trilogy long before I read any of his, so I can't cite him as an infleunce on those ones. But maybe something of the spirit from his books came to me across the zeitgeist back when I was initially working on them... or vice versa!!!!!

Started my latest edit of book 10 of The Demonata. Even though this still has 3 or 4 edits to go before it gets published, I'm very pleased with how it stands up. I really enjoyed writing the tenth book -- it flows smoothly from the first page onwards, with loads of action, some stomach-clenching twists, and some grisly gallows humour. I hit my mildly infamous "I gouge" line today, which has been the source of some rumours since I mentioned it in previous blog entries. For those who think it's a clue to some big plot twist -- sorry to disappoint you, but it's just a minor line that makes me chuckle when I come to it!! Sometimes odd details stick in my head when I watch a film or read a book or write one, and this is just one of those moments! Most readers probably won't take much notice of it unless, having read about it here, they're deliberately looking out for it!

The weather was pretty lousy here today, so I didn't go for the walk, which meant I got a bit more editing done than normal. I watched Nanook of the North, a very famous silent documentary about Eskimos from 1922, which was pretty interesting despite its age and shortcomings. I'm also watching season 6 of The X-Files. After some very dodgy episodes early on, it's back on track (I'm at about the midway point), although the fact that the BIG story -- about aliens preparing to launch an invasion of Earth -- has been revealed at last has left me in two minds about whether or not that was wise. It's always the problem with a large storyline that stretches out -- the build-up can sometimes be more fun then the denouement. Not knowing what's really going on can often be more fun than knowing. But of course, for a story to reach a satisfying conclusion, you have to make things clear eventually ... unless you're the TV show The Prisoner!!!

Finished my latest edit of Book 9 of The Demonata. I'm pleased with how it's shaping up now. The first draft was unwieldy -- I had a LOT of information which I felt the need to convey, and the middle third of the book dragged like a legless elephant!!! I've now managed to whittle the book down by almost 17,000 words (!!!!), and it feels nice and tight now. The excesses of the first draft were necessary for me, in order to get everything down that was in my head, so that I could then sift through it, keep what was essential to the story, eliminate all the bits that didn't need to be in the book. Sometimes you have to do that when you're writing. It's always easier if you know exactly what you want to say, and can peg the structure first time round. But if you're unsure, it's better to forge ahead, slap your thoughts down messily, and then sort them out later. I'm a big believer, as I've said before, in the powers of action. It's normally much better to dive into a book and get writing, than to sit around thinking about it so much that you start to get scared of the story. Writing can often be a leap of faith -- you need to believe that the story will come good in the end, that you have the power to mould it into shape in later drafts. And you have to keep that faith, even if the first draft turns out a lot messier than you anticipated, if at all seems to be too much to deal with, if the story feels like it's spun out of your control. You should never give up, just keep chipping away and re-writing and editing and tinkering ... and eventually it will all work itself out. Fingers crossed!!!!!

I spent yesterday doing various bits and pieces around my office, filing contracts and royalty reports, putting work-related receipts for the last few months into order, etc. It's one of the nuisances of being a writer -- you have to keep on top of the paperwork side of things. I could hire a secretary or someone to help me out, of course, but there isn't really that much for them to do, and besides, it's good to have something other than the writing to focus on from time to time -- when I need a breather, I can stay away from the PC but still do a day's "work". I'm not great at doing nothing. While I structure my time in such a way that I usually don't over-work myself on any given day, I always like to have something to focus on when I wake up, a goal to complete, which will let me feel like I've spent the day well. It might be something as simple as filing away a few forms, but writing is largely psychological -- it's all about completing small goals and believing that if you meet your target each day and commit a certain amount of words to paper, they'll add up and become a story or a book. Getting into the habit of achieving your aims every day - no matter how trivial they might be - helps get you into the rhythm of being a writer who gets what he aims for. At least, that's what works for me!!!

I held the draw for the Shanville Monthly June 2008 competitions today. You can find out the names of the winners by visiting my web site (www.darrenshan.com) and going to the Message Board, and then the News forum.

Edited more of book 9 of The Demonata yesterday, but I only got half a day's work done on it, because I was invited in to my local school in Pallaskenry to officially open the school library -- which has been named after me!! It's always fun doing a local event, and I was delighted to be asked in. We had a little ceremony in the new library, then I did a talk for the kids in the hall. After that I head into Limerick with my friend Kenny, to watch a couple of Eurp 2008 matches. Had quite a late night in the end, and drank a bit more than was good for me. A word to the wise -- tequila cocktails late in the night are NEVER a wise idea!!!! But we had quite a lot of fun, and I didn't feel TOO hungover today, so I can't complain too much.

Here are a couple of nice emails which came my way recently. The first is from a teacher called Janet:

I just wanted to say THANKS THANKS THANKS!  I am a teacher in a primary school in a very deprived area of Bolton.  I teach a class of 28 boys and 10 girls and they are quite challenging! At the start of the school year the majority of my class just did not like reading, or being read to.  I started the Saga Of Darren Shan in September with 'Cirque du Freak' and we haven't looked back. The children have turned into amazing listeners (during story time) and avid readers.  I stopped at book 6 and the children needed no encouragement to read on, many of them joining the local library.  We had a Darren Shan day during our book week recently and shared our enthusiasm with the rest of the school too. Thanks again for helping to turn my class onto reading.

The second is from a Mum called Bec:

I as a parent would like to thank you. I have 4 children but number 3 son hates doing anything he is told and he certainly won't read, that was until a teacher recommended Darren Shan. We got the 1st 3 books for christmas and he just can't put them down. So he got the other 9 for his birthday but now the whole family are addicted. Thomas thinks the sun shines out of your rear end and I would like to thank you for the joy that your imagination has brought to our family. He has gone up in his SAT grades and you never see him without a Darren Shan in his hand. I myself cried yesterday when I finished "sons of destiny"... so I started Lord Loss this morning. I hope there are many more of your books to come.

Heh heh -- I had a nice chuckle at the "sun shines out of your rear end" line!!! But the reason I wanted to reprint the emails here harkens back to the Age Banding issue that I've been going on about for the last week (I'm going to try to get away from it now -- promise!!!). One of the reasons authors like myself are so against age banding is because of readers like this, kids who are hard to reach, who aren't natural readers. If a publisher put, say, a 13+ age band on my books, then teachers in primary schools probably wouldn't be able to read them out in class, since parents could legitimately complain that the books were meant for an older audience and were thus unsuitable. On the other hand, if they put, say, a 9+ age band on them, maybe a reluctant reader like Thomas wouldn't want to read them, because he might view them as books for young children, and thus unsuitable for him. Whatever way you look at it, if age banding ever went ahead the way some publishers would like it to, a lot of readers WOULD slip between the cracks. I know publishing has to be about making money -- it's a business -- but I like to think most of us actually care about kids too, and are keen not just on shifting lots of copies of books, but also on getting more children to read. Publishers who support age banding because it will make it easier for adults to buy books for children are missing the point -- they've shifted the emphasis from the child to the adult, and I just can't see how that can be a good thing. For me, in the world of children's book, the child ALWAYS has to come first.

Started editing book 9 of The Demonata yesterday, after I finished book 8, and carried on working in it today. It's slower going than the most recent edits of Wolf Island and Hell's Horizon -- they were at the end stage of the editing process, whereas this still has another couple of edits to go. I'm still doing quite a bit of work on it at the moment, writing new lines, taking out things that don't need to be there, focusing on the pace and feel of the book as a whole, rather than on tidying up specific lines. That's the way editing goes, a bit like sculpting from a block of stone -- you need to chip off big chunks to begin with, to get the general shape of the piece, and then you start picking away at it more carefully, teasing the finer curves into shape.

I've answered a lot of fan mail over the last couple of nights. I'm getting near to the bottom of the pile again -- hurrah!!! Only trouble is, I'm running out of pens!! I'll need to get into Limerick sometime in the next week or two and stock up on a fresh load!!

This is the latest update about the Age Banding issue, from an article printed in today's online edition of The Bookseller:

The Society of Authors has called for age-guidance plans to be temporarily suspended pending a review, following the unprecedented author revolt last week.

Novelist Celia Rees, chair of the children’s writers and illustrators group at the Society of Authors, told The Bookseller that if publishers go ahead it should only be with individual authors’ approval. “Not all writers are against age guidance, but given the strong opposition that has emerged in recent days, we have proposed to the Publishers Association that the Children’s Book Group’s plans should be put on hold, pending a review, which would include a number of authors,” she said.

A spokesperson for the CBG said that publishers were continuing to discuss author concerns on an individual basis. “Publishers are getting lots of valuable feedback from authors, which in turn is helping them address the specific issues and concerns that authors are raising. The CBG remains committed to the principle of age guidance, which it sees as one of several tools that will help more adults choose and buy a book for the children in their lives.”

The decision to introduce guidance was taken in April by 13 publishers. Reprints carried the guidance from April, and new titles will be guided from the autumn.

Walker and Usborne said that they were among those playing a “wait and see” game. Jenny Tyler, editorial director at Usborne, said that publishers were “never as united as the first statements indicated”. “We would want to take careful note of what our authors say,” she said. “It would be interesting to see if authors follow their principles to another publishing house.”

Walker has indicated it is in “no hurry” to join the age guidance movement. “We hope to be a publisher that looks after the interests of our authors,” said publishing director Jane Winterbotham.

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I think the second last paragraph is particularly interesting — it seems to indicate that certain parties within the publishing industry are trying to push this through even without the full supports of their peers, by trying to convince the rest of us that they have their full, 100% backing. This is the most worrying and distasteful part of the entire “decision” — the lack of a real debate, the refusal to involve everyone concerned, and the blatant slapping about of lies and half-truths. If the individuals who have tried to force this down the throat of the rest of us continue on their path, I think some heads will roll at the upper corporate levels — no editor or MD will relish the job of trying to explain to their board members why all of their authors are jumping ship!!!!

I finished my final edit of Wolf Island today -- all that remains now is to check through the page proofs when they come in a month or two, and then it will be ready to go to print!! D8 is one of my personal faves from the series -- it takes Grubbs in a very dark direction, and features some of the juiciest scenes of any of my books! This one will shake you to the bone in places!!!!! But no matter how dark things get in the world of Darren Shan, I always try to work in some lighter moments -- in fact, I think it's crucial, and it's what keep the books from becoming so bleak that they cease to be fun! I introduced Kirilli Kovacs in book 7, to inject some fun into the latter half of the series, and book 8 features a similar type of character, albeit one very different to the cowardly master Kovacs!!! The last 4 books of the series will explore some grim, gloomy, gruesome scenarios, but if the world's going to end in The Demonata (and only a very brave person would bet against that right now!!!), be assured we'll all have a good few chuckles along the way!!!!

Speaking of chuckles, I've been watching the show Flight of the Conchords over the last week or so. I'm about halfway through, and loving it!! It's a very droll look at life in New York, as seen through the eyes of a pair of New Zealanders who have dreams of becoming pop stars. Each episode features at least a couple of songs written specifically for the show, and some of them are brilliant!! I found a few of my favourites on YouTube. The first is called If You're Into It, and it's my fave from the show so far. It's somewhat risque, but so good-natured that it makes even the crudest of couplings sound strangely fey and romantic!!! Check it out by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8jaGs7xJ0

The second is a song called Sello Tape. This one's a bit longer, and it features a bit of the show in the middle (which might be confusing for those who haven't seen it), but it's very hummable!!! This is also interesting for those who are looking forward to the Cirque Du Freak movie. If you watch the clip all the way, you'll see a woman muscling her way into the centre of the shot about half a minute from the end. This is Kristin Schaal, who plays uber-groupie Mel in the show -- but who will also be playing Gertha Teeth in the CDF movie!!!! Click here for the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fycGFGSeKpc&feature=related

Finally, on the matter of the film, you can check out some photos from one of the sets in the movie (a scene which takes place in Darren and Steve's school) by going to my Message Board. While I can't 100% guarantee that these are genuine, they certainly look real to me, and the report from the guy who took them tallies with what I read in the CDF script when I read it. Click here to have a gawk: http://darrenshanmessageboard.yuku.com/topic/3105