Went to a birthday party this afternoon for my cousin Meara, who was nine. I had to organise games for her and all her friends after they'd eaten -- I have a giant snakes & ladders board, fancy sacks for sack races, and hoppers (inflatable balls). I also have a loud whistle, which is perfect for getting a group of 9 and 10 year old girls to pay attention!!! So that was what I got up to in the eveing. The dual life of Darren Shan -- "purveyor of horror by day, party entertainer by night"!!!!!

Edited more of book 9 earlier. It's going quite slowly because I'm doing so much work on it. Also, I'm taking things a bit easier than normal. It's been a busy year, I'm well ahead of where I hoped to be by this stage, so there's no point killing myself by working too hard!

I also cleaned the insides of most of my downstairs windows today. I get the outsides washed by a cleaning firm, but I do the insides myself ... occasionally!!! It's actually ages since I last cleaned them! But the sun was shining today and for some reason I just decided out of the blue to give them a wipe. I'm not overly interested in house chores as a rule, but once the mood grabs me, I do a pretty good job, even if I do say so myself! Tomorrow I'll try and clean the upstairs windows too -- might as well have a matching set!!!!

Edited more of book 9 of "The Demonata". I've been cutting out a LOT of material, but I'll probably go back through it again when I finish, to trim it even further -- I want to focus on shaving down those exposition-heavy scenes while they're fresh in my thoughts!!! The first rule of writing as far as I'm concerned is "Always keep the story moving." In an ideal world, you should never have to slow down to explain things -- they should unravel along with the action. But occasionally there's no escaping the need to fill readers in, and no easy way to do it. But at least you can look for ways to tighten things up and help readers get through the less action-filled pages as swiftly and comfortably as possible. Book 9's in a much better state than it was last time round, but I'm not entirely happy with it yet -- hopefully another edit will allow me to cut out everything but the absolute essentials in the slower sections, upping the tempo without losing any of the key bits of information which readers will need in order to fully understand the series...

Received a load of books from my agent today, from various countries around the world, but mostly from Canada, where they just published books 5 to 12 in one big batch!! I absolutely LOVE my global collection of Darren Shan books -- it's an amazing experience to be able to look at shelves filled with copies of my books from so many different countries. But, having said that, they ARE becoming a bit of a problem in terms of space -- I'm running out of room for them!!!! I reckon I can get by for another year or so, by creatively stacking the books and using up every last bit of space on my current shelfing system, but in the long run I'm going to have to find new places around my house to store them. The perils of success!!!

Answered more fan mail -- I've only got a few letters left now, although I know Pablo has a load more awaiting my attention. It's a relief to finally be nearing the end -- there were days when I thought I'd never get through them all!!! Had quite a lot of business emails to respond to over the course of the day, which ate up a thick chunk of my time. Managed to squeeze in a walk in the evening, and also trimmed around the edges of my lawn -- oh, the excitement!!! Saw another episode of "House" and the movie "Clerks 2". Not as good as the first, but funnier than I'd expected -- a few sections had me howling out loud!!! Now I'm off to watch some episodes of "Frasier" -- it's always nice to end the night on a mellow sitcom high ...

Today was haircut time again, so after doing some editing in the morning, I watched an episode of "House", then headed in to Figaro's in Limerick, to have my head seen to by Brian, Limerick's best barber! Went browsing in HMV after that and picked up some DVDs, then went grocery shopping. Back home Bas and I watched "My Neighbour Totoro". I hadn't seen it in years. It's a real feel-good film, full of beautiful scenes which make me smile BIG. The story is very slim, and it ends rather abruptly, but this is a film more about mood than plot. HIGHLY recommended!!!

Mowed the lawn after dinner -- we took turns, Bas did half, then I finished off. Next we went for a walk down by the river. Local stone-lover Goldie tagged along as usual, though he was in an odd mood tonight -- the tide was out, and at one point he trekked through a hundred metres or so of mud in pursuit of water he was never realistically going to reach!! Answered some fan mail when I got back, and now I'm heading up for a quick shower (the hairs are starting to itch!), then Bas and I will watch an episode of "Dumped", a new ecologically-themed reality show which we've been watching for the last few nights.

Found the following interesting extract on the Jonathan Carroll blog today, about Japanese collectors.

"Kyoichi Tsuzuki, a Japanese photographer and publisher, has spent nearly a decade taking pictures of luxury-obsessed Japanese in their tiny apartments surrounded by their collections of clothes, ties, scarves, jewelry, handbags, and shoes for the FASHION NEWS, one of Japan's oldest fashion magazines. Tsuzuki calls his subjects "happy victims" because, while they are victims of brand marketing, the items seem to bring them a sort of happiness. There is the Hermes collector, a patent executive who lives in a tiny fourth floor walk up flat. He keeps all of his Hermes shirts, ties, and leather goods in their original boxes and bags, which are stacked up on his tatami floor. He spent about $4000 on a Hermes briefcase that he carries with a Hermes towel wrapped around the handle to avoid damaging the leather with his hand perspiration.
"There is the Buddhist monk who collect Comme des Garcons religiously. Once a month, the monk shed his robes. dons Comme des Garcons avant-garde constructionist clothes, and heads from his temple to Tokyo to pick up a few more pieces. He is so convinced of their miraculous powers that he says his delinquent sister cleaned up her act when she started wearing Comme des Garcons. There's an English teacher at a prep school who started wearing Gianni Versace's flamboyant designs to keep the attention of his students. After ten years, he had one hundred pieces of Versace as well as an impressive Bulgari jewelry collection. He lives in a shoebox apartment with his unemployed girlfriend who spends her days organizing the collection. There's a Tom Ford collector, an Armani man, a McQueen girl, and a Martin Margiela maniac who is so fastidious about his collection that he never cooks at home because he doesn't want the clothes to retain the odors. The only thing in his refrigerator is eyedrops. "When he gets thirsty," Tsuzuki said, "he goes to a convenience shop and drinks there then goes back home. He does not want to put any trash in the room."

from DELUXE by Dana Thomas.

It struck a chord with me because I'm almost exactly like the people described in it (only I have a bigger house in which to store my stuff!!). I LOVE collecting and always have -- I've gone through different phases in my life, such a religious objects, stamps, comics, knives, books, films, original art. I've moved on from and dumped some of the collectibles over the years, but others (comics, books, CDs and films) are still going strong, and I'm sure in years to come I'll find some new crazes to latch onto and devote silly amounts of time and energy to. I know non-collectors find it hard to understand what makes people like us tick, and it's not really something we can explain. The need to HAVE, to OWN, to HAVE ACCESS TO, is just too much to ignore, even when you KNOW it's crazy. For instance, I have a movie collection of over 4000 films -- yes, FOUR THOUSAND!!! Now, I've actually seen virtually all of them, but mostly I saw them on TV or video or at the cinema years ago. I know, even as I add to the collection, replacing videos of films I already own with DVDs or buying DVDs of movies I've seen in cinemas, that I probably won't ever get around to watching them again -- time is limited, and I don't watch as many films as I used to. But knowing that I CAN watch them, any time I wish, if the urge takes me, drives me on to keep buying more. I guess collectors are like dogs who bury bones -- the chances of the dog digging it up again and cleaning it and ignoring the rancid meat and eating it are slim to none -- but, you know, it's a DOG, and that's just what dogs do ... if it left the bone above ground and some other dog ran off with it, the chance of eating it would be gone forever ... and, well, what purpose in the universe has a dog without a bone?????

Returned to editing book 9 of "The Demonata" today, picking up where I finished last week. Lots of exposition in the chapters I went through. I don't like big chunks of books where you're just being told facts, but occasionally, unfortunately, it's unavoidable. Rest assured, I'm doing all I can to make sure it's as smooth and streamlined a read by the time the book finds its way into the hands of fans! I've got about a year and a half to continue working on it, and I plan to cut out everything but the essentials, to move things along as swiftly as possible.

Had lots of other bits and pieces to attend to today, emails that had to be answered, flights that needed to be booked, etc. etc. Managed to squeeze in a nice walk late in the day, watched another episode of "House", and saw the film "Tsotsi", which I was extremely impressed with -- a hard-hitting film, but one which shows that hope and redemption are possibilities for even the lowest and most wretched of people. My kind of film!!!! Also visited my parents and grandparents. A busy little day -- I'm looking forward to the simple, soothing comfort of bed in another hour or so!!!!

Went up to Dublin on Saturday to go to the All Ireland hurling final. For those who don't know, hurling is an Irish sport, the fastest team sport in the world!! If you want to find out more about it, Google it. I met up with my uncle Derek and we went to a few pubs and a nightclub on Saturday. There were loads of Limerick people in the city -- this was the first time in 11 years that Limerick had been in a final, and it had been 34 years since they last won one!! We pretty much took over Dublin for the weekend -- at times it seemed like everyone from Limerick had come to the capital to party!!!!

On Sunday we met up with my cousin, Little John, and some of his family and friends. After a few hours in the city centre, we went out to Croke Park, the GAA stadium. There's a Jurys hotel just outside the ground and we planned to drink there. But when we arrived, it was incredibly crowded, and the general public were being denied access to the hotel -- barriers had been erected in front of the main doors, and lots of people were waiting by them, in the hope of getting in. We decided to move on and try somewhere else, but then Little John found an unguarded side door and moments later we were at the fulcrum of the party!!!! A bit naughty, I know, but sometimes you just have to seize an opportunity when it presents itself!! A Limerick station, 9tFM, was broadcasting live from the hotel, and when my young cousin Shaun told them I was there, they came over and did a quick interview with me!!!! Even on my days off I have to give interviews -- the curse of being a writer!!!!!

Then it was time for the match. The other team, Kilkenny, were strong favourites to win, and while everyone from Limerick hoped for an upset, it was hard to believe it would really happen. Any sense of hope we had disappeared in the first ten minutes, when Kilkenny tore us apart and surged into an uncatchable lead. The game was pretty much over by that stage, and all that remained was to see if Limerick could close the gap to a halfway respectable score, or get absolutely trounced. We fought hard and did claw some points back, and the players' heads didn't drop, so although in the end we were well beaten, at least we left with a bit of pride. Still, it was disappointing to lose, especially in such a fashion, and it definitely put a damper on the rest of the night. But there's no point moping about these things, so most people just got on with things and did their best to enjoy the night, and while I saw plenty of glum faces afterwards, I didn't see anyone crying. Sometimes you just get beaten by someone better than you, and you just have to accept that. There's always another day ...

I had a bit of a sore head this morning, but I didn't feel TOO bad. Got a lift down to Limerick from another of my uncles, Mike. Caught up with my emails, then watched "Return of the Jedi", bringing the "Star Wars" series to a close. While "Jedi" was the weakest of the original three films, I've always enjoyed it, and this occasion was no different. The Ewoks are ridiculous, of course, but I like them regardless!!! All in all it was a pretty good way to wind the series up. Now I'm off to watch a few episodes of "Frasier", then I'll be hitting the sack earlyish for what I'm sure will be a VERY good night's sleep!!!

Worked on the latest issue of the Shanville Monthly for most of today -- it required quite a bit of tinkering with, as it involved both a major competition and a listing for my upcoming October UK tour. You can check it out by clicking here: Shanville Monthly

Saw another episode of "House" and of season 7 of "Frasier", which I began watching last night -- I meant to move on to a different series, and leave "Frasier" for a while, but I couldn't resist!!! I'll be off to watch another couple of edisodes after this!! Also saw "Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back". The fifth episode is definitely the best of the series in my opinion -- everything in it works perfectly. Although it was strange watching Yoda having just seen the first 3 episodes -- while he was digitally created in the new films, he was just a puppet when he first appeared back in 1980, and he looks very stiff and lifeless in his original incarnation now. He's still my favourite character from the series, but it's such a shame they didn't have today's technology back when they were first creating him. Then again, the fact that he IS a puppet is nice in an odd way -- for all the ground-breaking effects and sets, it's wonderful to see an old-style puppet steal the show!!! (p.s. I've actually met one of the women who worked the puppet of Yoda during the filming of "Empire" -- she's a colleague of Bas's. I think she had maybe the coolest job ever doing that!!!!!)

This email came in from a teacher called Terry, in Texas, and it gave me the nicest feeling inside that I've had in quite a while -- the perfect pick-me-up after a summer of nervous hospital visits:

I'm sure you receive many commentaries about your books from teachers and kids. I need to thank you for the Cirque series. I teach in an urban school where many of the students would not dream of picking up a book of their own free will. Many are gang members or reluctant readers. Getting any work out of them is next to impossible. The content is exciting for them and "safe" enough for me as a teacher - I don..'t worry that parents will breathe down my neck because of objectionable material. It is not "dark" for darkness' sake. As a class novel, I present A Living Nightmare; it NEVER fails to capture their interest, hook them into finding out what happens next, AND to pursue the other books to complete the story. Then they actually begin to explore other books and they turn into readers - thanks to your series.Last year, 3 of my students obtained a near perfect score on the state assessment - 2 had not passed it EVER! For me, as well as the other teachers at my school using the series, NOTHING has made so much of a difference in "turning on" my students to reading as the series. For that, as an educator, I thank you. Again, I'm sure you hear this all the time, but I've never read a book that has ever transformed my students like yours has.

I hope you all have a great weekend, gang. I'm off to see the All Ireland hurling final on Sunday -- COME ON, LIMERICK!!!!!!!

Started editing book 9 of "The Demonata" yesterday. This is my third edit of the book, so there's still a long way to go on it. The ninth book is definitely the most challenging of the series. A lot of the higher concepts of the storyline are explained in this one, and the middle section is probably the least action-orientated of any of my books. One of my favourite films is "2001: A Space Odyssey", and this book reflects that!!! I'm working on tightening the middle third up a lot, to make it as painless as possible for those who read my books primarily for the suspense, but I know that no matter how hard I work on it, quite a few of my readers are going to grumble at the relatively slow and concept-heavy stretch. But to sweeten the deal, the last third plays out at a frantic, action-packed, bloodthirsty pace -- I think it will leave everyone frothing at the lips in eager anticipation of the final book in the series!!! The way I look at it, a slow one-third of a single book out of a ten book series isn't going to kill anybody!!!!!

Went out with my friend Kenny last night for a few drinks. Saw the last few episodes of season 6 of "Frasier" -- fantastic stuff!!! I was worried it might start to drag after so many years, but the sixth season was one of the best so far. As always, when I'm watching "Frasier", I feel both regret at not catching it sooner, when it was first on the air -- it galls me to have gone so many years without experiencing the pleasure of such a brilliant show -- but also relief at the fact that, by not watching it until now, I'm able to see it all for the first time, as if it was brand spanking new.

Saw the film "Sunshine" tonight. Didn't like it at all. A major disappointment -- I expect much more from director Danny Boyle. It looked neat, but it just didn't work. It wanted to be a thought-provoking, serious piece of sci-fi -- but it also threw in a big bang or action scene every few minutes, and even dengerated into a ridiculous horror flick towards the end. Parts were good, but the parts didn't fit together, at least not for me. It has its fans but I won't be watching it again. A pity, because I do love a good sci-fi film or book -- many of the ideas in "The Demonata" were inspired by films like "2001" (as mentioned above), writers like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asmiov and Arthur C Clarke, and by all manner of space-related comics. I've always been fascinated by space the mysteries it holds (or might hold). Looking up into a sky full of stars, I always wonder what's up there, and those wonderings provide me with much fuel for thought. When I see a good sci-fi film, I like it for tapping into my love of the genre. When I see a bad one, I get annoyed, even more annoyed than if I see a bad horror or action flick. I always say in interviews that horror was my first love as a child, and that's true. But maybe science fiction is my TRUE love ...

Finished my latest edit of Book 8 of "The Demonata". I hadn't planned to wrap it up until tomorrow, but I got sucked into it and had to push on!!! I'm very pleased with the book the way it stands, though I found quite a lot to tighten, so I'm probably another couple of drafts away from the actual finish of the book -- my general rule of thumb is that if I find a lot to change in the course of an edit, I'm going to find quite a bit to change next time round too! It's only when I do an edit and execute extremely minor changes that I know I'm coming to the end of the editing process. But, overall, I think book 8 is in very good shape -- a few more polishes and it should be ready to roar into action!!!

I spent a bit of time collating "writing advice" blogs. Those who take the time to scroll back through my older blog entries will find lots of tips about writing, and descriptions of the problems I face on a day to day basis, and how I go about solving them. To make it easier for people to access, I plan to group all those snippets into one place on my web site. I'm not sure when I'll get round to putting that up, but hopefully it won't be in the TOO distant future ...

Saw another episode of "House" and episode 4 of "Star Wars" (i.e. the original film). Like millions of others around the world, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the film which introduced us all to Luke, Darth Vader and co. Yes, some of the acting is extraordinarily wooden, and some of the dialogue is woeful, and the effects are quite dated (even in the re-touched edition). But, despite all its flaws, it works wonderfully and is just as impressive all these years and viewings later as it was when I first saw it at the time of its initial release back in 1977. (Not that I came away with a vivid memory of it then -- my clearest recollection is of running around in the cinema, playing games with my friends!!) "Empire Strikes Back" is a much stronger, darker, better film -- but this is great fun!!!!!

I'm very pleased to be able to announce that I'm the Limerick Person Of The Month for August!!! The awards are run by local newspaper, The Limerick Leader, and sponsored by Southern Advertising and the Clarion hotel. They pick a local person every month -- sometimes a sports person, or a successful business person, or someone who's done a very good charitable deed, and so on. Then, at the end of the year, they pick a person of the year from the 12 month winners. I was Person Of The Month once before, way back in 2000, when I was a fresh young author and my books were first making waves. This second award came entirely out of the blue, so it was a nice surprise!! I've lived in Limerick for 29 years, so although this is a minor award in the grander scheme of things, it means a lot to me. My local fans have always been incredibly supportive of me, even in the early days, which is why I try to do signings and events regularly here. To get a public acknowledgment like this makes me feel well-chuffed!!! I went in to the Clarion hotel today to receive my award, have my photo taken, and give a short interview to the Limerick Leader -- the photo and interview should appear in this week's issue, so if you're local, look out for it!!!

Went to see my Granny after picking up my award, then came home, checked my emails and mowed my lawn. Well, I mowed half of it -- Bas mowed the other half while I was online! We're an equal opportunities household!!!! Then watched episode 3 of "Star Wars". For me this is easily the best of the new trilogy -- incredibly dark, fast-paced and brutal. I even think it matches the quality of the original trilogy -- it's from this point that the story really moves up a gear. If only the first two parts could have been as pacy and artfully structured as this one ...

Answered another batch of fan mail, including one letter which dated all the way back to November 2006!!!! Yikes!! There aren't many to go now -- I might get through the remaining pile next time round! Oh, forgot to say, I edited some more of Book 8 of "The Demonata" this morning. I think the eighth book is one of the most exciting of the series. I've played around with structure a lot with these books, trying different things, experimenting with various set-ups. Book 1, for instance, had the bloodiest, scariest scene in chapter two -- in most books, that would have been the climax. It then dipped into madness for a while, returned to normality, then the main storyline kicked in and it sped towards a reunion with Lord Loss. Book 2 was a chase story, and the characters spun from one weird demon pocket to another. Book 4 was a classic quest tale. Book 7 will be a three-part story, in which each part features its own savage battle and climax. Book 8 is a book of two halves -- the first sets the scene and builds up the tension, while the second half is virtually non-stop, wicked action. I've liked the different challenges and structural play of every book so far, but I have to say that for my money, Book 8 is the most out-and-out fun. It's a real roller-coaster ride of a book!! I don't think ANYONE will be putting this baby down once they hit the halfway mark and the story explodes into action -- I foresee fans picking up lots of blisters from turning the pages so swiftly!!!!!

I answered another batch of fan mail tonight. Most of the letters were from fans in the States, and most date back to March and April, or even February!! Most fans who want to write to me look up my web site, find my contact details there, and send their letter that way. But some send it to my publishers and that always slows the process down -- first the letters get "sorted" in the publising house and assigned to the correct department; then that department waits until they have several letters to send; then the letters get sent to my agent, who sends them to me; then I have to give them to Pablo, who addresses the envelopes, then gives them back to me ... In short, unless you don't mind a 4 or 5 month wait, you should NEVER send a letter to an author via their publisher before checking online to find out if there's any other, quicker way of doing it.

I've had a busy few days. Been to see my Granny a couple of times. Watched several episodes of "Frasier" and the first few episodes of "House" -- it's very well made, although the format seems quite limited. I'll be interested to see if it widens its scope as the series progresses. Bas and I also started watching the entire "Star Wars" series from start to finish -- this is the first time I've ever watched the films one after the other!!! The first two are fun, but definitely not up to the standards of the "later" films, particularly episodes 4 to 6. They look superb, of course, but Jar Jar Binks should never have progressed beyond the initial idea ... a Han Solo-style character is sorely missing ... and although a lot of the dialogue and acting in the original three films was pretty patchy, it seems even worse in the newer films! That's not to say I don't enjoy them -- I do -- but they don't have the same place in my heart as the older trilogy. Still, it's intriguing watching them in sequence and I'm looking forward a lot to the next week's viewing!!!

Checked through the Americanized version of Book 6 of "The Demonata" today. I don't have much to do with the Americanizing of my books -- an American editor goes through each book and makes small changes to words or phrases which aren't common in the States. But I always check to make sure they haven't changed TOO much! I'm pleased to report that there were only minimal changes made to Book 6, and all are positive changes, so fans in the States will be getting the full, blood-charged effect when it comes out in April 2008!!!!

There was a lengthy interview with me in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday August 25th. You can check it out online by clicking on the following link: DAILY TELEGRAPH

I received the following email from a teenager called Josh today:

Just wondered if I could ask my advice about something. I'm 13 and have always wanted to be a writer. I love writing and have mentally planned a few simple story-lines in my head. I would like to write the stories up as practice for my possible future career, (also i just love to write so much it makes me sick). But I am embarrassed that my parents and friends laugh at me. Should I tell them about my love for writing, or just not write at all?

As I told Josh, I never showed my work to anyone until it was published (and still don't), no matter how much friends and family bugged me to see it. What most people don't realise is that every writer starts out awkwardly -- writing a story or book is a LONG process, and a first draft is always a lot rougher than the finished product. People who don't work in the publishing industry will almost always find it difficult to judge the quality of a young writer's first efforts, since they'll only be able to compare it to the quality of finished books. I think this means they can't give a truly objective opinion -- they can be supportive and say "This is great!!" or they can be critical and say "This isn't as good as so-and-so's book!!" but I don't think they can offer constructive, useful feedback. So I don't think any writer should ever worry about not showing their work to others until they're happy with it. Friends and family won't always understand, and if you choose to be secretive, many people will probably think you're only pretending to write, or that your work must be no good if you don't show it to them. Some of them might even tease you about it!! If so ... DON'T WORRY!!!! I had to endure scepticism and taunts like that myself for many years, and I bet most other writers have gone through exactly the same thing early in their careers. The opinions of your friends and family should never matter to you. Have belief in yourself and in your stories. Work hard on them. Send them to professionals when you feel the time is right. Stay focused on the goal. Then try hard to mask your smile in later years when, having succeeded in getting your work published (and, as I always say, most people who REALLY work at being a writer will succeed -- those who fail are usually those who quit when the going gets tought), those same friends and family members beam big and proclaim, "I always knew you were going to make it!!!" Some of them might even try to claim some of your success for themselves!! That's just the way of the world, people. You can get mad about it ... or you can shrug it off, smile, and just carry on writing.