This will have to be brief -- it's 7.20pm here in Florence, Italy, and I haven't had dinner yet!!! The holiday in Italy has gone fabulously so far. We flew to Venice, where we'd been before, and had a couple of relaxing, enjoyable days. We visited the cemetery island (you can't beat a good graveyard when you're on holiday!!), had some great food, including a dinner in the famous Cipriani Restaurant (expensive, but a delicious treat!), popped over to see the Lido (the Venice Film Festival was in full swing; I might have been interested in that another time, but I watch loads of films when I'm at home, so I resisted the urge to check out the programme and go see a few films!), and just wandered around a lot. That's one of the best things to do on holiday, but particularly in Venice, which is a wanderer's delight -- it's one of my favourite cities in the world to stroll around.

We caught the train over to Florence on Monday. It's my first time here. It's a quaint, lovely little town, although it seems like a buzzing cosmipolitan compared to teeny Venice!! We had a nice stroll around when we got here, and explored more of the town today, including a few museums -- it's musuem heaven!!! I've got to be honest -- a lot of the art here isn't to my personal liking, since most of it's of the Renaissance variety, very religiously related. I kow how important the Renaissance was, and I love the work of Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but a lot of the rest of the stuff doesn't float my boat. I'm much more of an Impressionist and modern art kind of guy! Having said that, some of the work blew me away, particularly Michelangelo's Pieta, and a stunning wooden statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello. In fact, the Donatello piece is one of the most amazing pieces of art I've ever seen. It doesn't really look like anything else that I've seen from that time period, and could easily have come from Rodin or any 20th century artisan. It was one of those few pieces that made my jaw drop, up there with Starry Night by Van Gogh, or the best of Picasso. While the statue has a strong reputation, it doesn't really draw the huge crowds that some of the more famous (stodgy!!) Renaissance work here does, so we were able to examine it without anyone else around. Incredible!!! The masses don't know what they're missing!!!!!!

Right -- I'm off to track down something to eat, which, thankfully, is never a problem in Italy -- this is my favourite country in the world to eat in!!! We had a great meal in a place caleld Il Latini (I think) last night -- it's famous for its meant, and we had a big platter of mouthwatering cuts, along with other courses recommended by the waiters. It wasn't fancy, but it's one of the best meals I've had in a long time. It'll be hard to top, but I have faith in the restaurants of Florence!!!! Ciao!!

On my way to cach my plane, but I had to respond to this email which came in this morning:

Hi Darren, it is Mark xxxxxxxxx here again (Galwayman and aspiring author!). I really need your advice. My agent has got my novel in to a big publisher, who are keen on it but are insisting on major changes, so much so that it would change the essence of the book. I already revised once for them, so I am not afraid to do it, but now they want more. My agent says another publisher is waiting to see it, but they are not as big a publisher as the one my book is at now. So, I am in a quadry. My agent says it is up to me. If I have the book shown to the other publisher, will the current one drop out altogether? Are major changes always inevitable for first time  authors? I really would appreciate any advice.

This is how I responded to Mark, and how I would respond to any author in that situation:

Only you can decide whether the changes will work for the book or not. In my experience, my editors are usually right when they suggest changes -- but not always. Normally we can reach a compromise -- but, again, not always. A publisher wanted to publish one of my early books many years ago (before I'd sold any of my other work), but I couldn't accept the changes they wanted me to implement, so I said no to them. The odd thing is, looking back at it now, I think they were probably right!!! I hated having to say no at the time -- there was no guarantee that any of my other books would sell; maybe this was my one big chance, and if I blew it, I was finished as a writer. But I couldn't bring myself to do what they wanted me to do, so I went ahead, ignored my fears, and made what I believed was the right decision for the story.

My advice, if you can, is to take some time to think about this. Give yourself a little break from the novel. Try and push it from your thoughts. Then, when you come back to it, look at it with a fresh eye. You might find that the suggested changes (or some of them) will actually improve it -- as I said above, suggestions from editors are normally pretty accurate on the whole, and they see things that readers are going to see -- sometimes writers get too close to their work and need a third party to tell them that it isn't working as perfectly as they think it is. But if you still can't live with the suggested changes, and can't find a compromise that wll keep both sides happy... Well, difficult as it would be, you might have to say no to them. But only YOU can decide that -- you have to weigh up the pros and cons, look deep into your heart, make a decision, and be prepared to be happy with that decision afterwards. I would suggest you not let fear dictate your answer, but that you do what you believe is best for the book. Ultimately, it's all any author in your position can do.

Right -- that's it -- gotta dash -- HOLD THAT PLANE!!!!!!

Went to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre on Monday night to see a new production of the musical, Gigi, starring Topol (who starred in the movie of Fiddler on the Roof all those years ago). This is probably my favourite theatre in London. It's set in a lovely, green section of a beautiful park, and the stage is surrounded by trees, which sway hypnotically throughout the the play. On a nice night, it's a magical place to be, and luckily for us, the rain held off when we were there. I actually prefer this theatre to the Globe, London's other open air theatre, partly because it's more comfortable, but also because they generally stage very nice, easy-going plays or musicals!!! You won't find cutting-edge theatre here, but on long summer nights, it's often better to just be entertained. Gigi was perfect on that front, and it was like stepping back in time to a simpler, more colourful period. You haven't really experienced London at its whimsical best until you've tried out the famous Regent's Park theatre of dreams...

On Tuesday I went to see Hancock at the cinema. Very uneven, though it had its good moments. Ultimately it as too befuddled to work -- in the big climax, the rules seemed to change every minute!! A failure, but an interesting failure. Later I went to see a play called Fat Pig, which was excellently acted. A cutting look at our society of the thin, where people are not only actively encouraged to keep their weight down, but also to avoid people who break with the norm and carry a few (or a lot of) extra pounds. It had a very good point to make, though it fudged things a bit at the end, and failed to deliver the fireworks that it seemed to be leading up to.

Today was a major pain in the backside!!! I decided a while back to install a foldaway bed in my London flat, for visitors to use when they come. I went ahead and ordered it to be delivered on Tuesday, and arranged for a handyman to put it together today, Wednesday. But the bed didn't come on time -- I was told it would arrive this morning before 09.00. When it didn't, I had a hell of a time trying to find out where it was and when I could expect it, and eventually the handyman had to leave and come back again in the evening. It all worked out fine in the end, but my ears were read with frustration earlier in the day!!!! Anyway, in between the aggro I popped out to see a new film called Somers Town, a sweet little black-and-white British film by Shane Meadows, one of my favourite UK directors of recent years. This short flick (70 minutes) was funded by Eurotunnel, and is very modest in its ambitions, but works perfectly for what it is. Lovely.

And that's about it for my London break. In the morning Bas and I are heading for Italy, where we plan to see lots of amazing sights, wanders several incredible towns and cities, catch some staggering artwork (The Last Supper! David!!), and eat lots of many fine meals!!!! Oh, the bliss!!!! You probably won't hear too much frm me over the next couple of weeks, but I'll try to post a few blogs as and when I can... in between main courses and dessert!! Ciao!!!!

Finally got to see The Dark Knight yesterday, at the IMAX cinema in London. Hoo boy!!! A hot film, but the screen was even hotter!! I've been to the IMAX a few times before, but rarely have I been as impressed as I was this time -- the screen perfectly suited the huge scope of the movie, and I really felt as if I was slap-bang in the middle of Gotham city!! I don't think the film is quite as good as the hype suggests, but only because the hype has been blown all out of proportion -- at one stage this was the top ranked movie of all time in IMDB, and that was just a crazy bit of positioning for a movie that's just come out!! When the dust settles, I think this will be respected as one of the best superhero movies of all time, just as Batman Begins was, but one of the VERY best films, EVER?!? I think not.

Also saw Hellboy II, today, and that was good dark fun, just like the first flick. I'm a fan of the comics -- I've only read a few volumes so far, but I have them all, along with all the BPRD comics. I particularly liked the dark humour of this film, along with the genuine darkness of the main story. In many ways the underlying themes were the same as what I explore in many of my books, particularly The Saga of Darren Shan -- the loneliness of being an outsider, but how you can still find a place in this world, no matter what people think of you, or how hard it might be. I've said it here before, but it bears saying again -- good fantasy is always about a lot more than just the fantastical.

Speaking of darkness, there was no grimmer a 90 minutes for me over the weekend than White Hart Lane on Saturday -- that was a TRUE horror show!!! I went along to see Tottenham Hotspur (my team) play Sunderland (a fairly weak side, who just about avoided relegation last year, and will probably be scrapped for their lives again this season). It was our first home game of the season, coming on the back of a bad 2-1 loss away from home last week. The manager added several new players to the team over the summer, so I was hoping for a bright new show and a convincing win. Instead I saw a team in chaos -- the players didn't seem to know their role in the new set-up, nobody looked like they knew how to win, there was an air of desperation to everything they did. I think this could be a long, hard season for Spurs fans, and I'm bracing myself for the worst. I've been coming to watch games regularly at the Lane for 6 or so years now, and this was the worst I've seen. Yet.

But enough of the doom and gloom!!! Here's a very charming email I received a few days ago from a fan called Daniel:

I’m seventeen now but when I was younger I used to hate reading. I absolutely despised it! And then I began year six and was taken into the world of Darren Shan. The teacher at the time noticed that I, and a few others had trouble with reading. When I had to read to the teacher my mouth would go so dry that I literally couldn’t talk, and so got out of the reading. She decided to try and help us by reading to us every day to build up our confidence and fondness of books. So out comes a book called Cirque Du Freak.

As soon as she began we were captivated. By the time we left the Cirque's first showing I had dragged my mam to a book shop to buy my first proper book, Cirque Du Freak. I think this is the part where I am traditionally meant to thank you for CDF, but I won’t. Instead I will go on to say that I bought and read every book in the saga and repeatedly flew through them. It was at this point that I tried to find new book, different books. This was going to be a hard thing for someone like me, but guess what; I found them, thanks to Darren Shan.

So now I will thank you. Not only for the saga, or the Demonata books which I am eagerly waiting for (Wolf Island better be good, HA! As if it won’t be), not for making me wait for ages for Hell's Horizon, nor for making me trawl through your blog, finding out about this new book and that, and then nothing more, FRUSTRATING!!! Instead I thank you for a number of much bigger, more significant matters such as:
1.    Opening up the world of books and reading to me;
2.    for hours of time spent in your crazy worlds;
3.    for inspiring me and partially giving me the ability to write my own stories;
4.    and most importantly of all for helping me develop my writing ability and imagination in a way that no teacher could, and helping me receive the good grades at GCSE and A level that I have achieved.

So thank you, Darren Shan.

Awwww... you guys always know how to make me well up with tears of pride!!!! But what I particularly liked about Daniel's email was that he went on to try other books. This is something I probably don't stress enough here -- reading shouldn't begin and end with Darren Shan, or with any writer for that matter. The great thing about reading is that there are so many great books out there, waiting to be discovered. We all have our favourite writers, but we shouldn't stick to them to the exclusion of all else. Reading should be like a treasure hunt -- when you find a book you love, cherish it, certainly, but then go on and try to find one that's even better!! Even if you don't find one that hits all of your buttons the way your favourite does, you'll find loads which will affect you in a whole variety of ways, and provide you with a lifetime's worth of relatively cheap entertainment at the same time!!!!

Bas and I went to see The Killers in Marlay Park in Dublin on Thursday. They put on a damn fine show, and the day worked out perfectly for us -- having heard that there were crowd issues the day before, we got out there nice and early, so we got pit passes; we had a nice bit of food and a couple of drinks before the show; we raced from the pit at the end, and got on one of the first buses out, so we were back at our hotel just after 11.30pm -- no hassles anywhere, a great view of the band -- top notch!!!! Although, having said that, I must admit it won't stand as one of my favourite concerts. What I've found in recent years is that I love gigs from long-established bands more than any others, bands like REM, Nick Cave, David Byrne, The Rolling Stones ... bands who have loads of albums to draw from, and loads of great songs to choose from ... and especially bands that I've listened to for several years or more. One of my biggest thrills when I saw REM at Oxygen was when they played some of their songs from the 1980s, songs that are 20 years old, but which I was listening to back when they were fresh -- it brought back scores of memories, and I yelled along like a teenager!!! I still like new bands, and trying new types of music, but I think by the time you hit your 30s, you've built up a huge database of favourites inside your brain, whether they're movies, books, songs or whatever, and as hard as you try to get enthused about new material, secretly all you REALLY want to do is tap back into those old faves, to transport yourself back to a time when everything in the world was new to you, and songs or movies hit you extra hard because you hadn't seen or heard anything like them before. It's hard not to get a bit jaded as you get older, and I don't think it's a bad thing if you do -- vitality belongs to the young, and I don't think anyone wants to live life at quite the hectic pace that they face it when they're in their teens and full of energy. The trick is not to retreat completely into the stuff that you know you like, to keep trying new things. Hence I went to see The Killers and their support, Bloc Party, even knowing that I wouldn't like them as much as REM or the Stones. That's why I try to watch lots of new movies each year, and read new books, limiting myself to an occasional blast-from-the-past treat just every now and then. Nostalgia's important, more so when you advance past your 20s and 30s, but it shouldn't be the whole of your life, or you just become a shadow of a person.

If all of that makes you frown and mutter to yourself, "What's that old codger rambling on about now?!?", don't worry -- it'll all make sense one day. And one day sooner than you can probably imagine. Time passes swiftly, folks. Enjoy your youth while you can, even if it's a crazy, turbulent, emotionally unlevel kind of time. Because one day you'll look up and it'll be gone and all you'll have left of it are your memories.

And on that downer of a note -- happy weekend, everybody!!!!!!

I was delighted today to learn that Kristen Schaal (the actress who plays Gertha Teeth in the Cirque Du Freak movie) and her comedy partner Kurt Braunohler have been nominated for the if.comedy award in Edinburgh this year!! The if award (previously known as the Perrier award) is the best known award for comedy in the UK, and very few acts ever get shortlisted. Kristen and Kurt are one of 4 acts to be nominated this year, the others being David O'Doherty, Russell Kane and Rhod Gilbert. I've seen them all except for Rhod Gilbert, and I think she stands a good chance, though you can never tell with things like this. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for her!!

I received a very nice email from a teacher called Debbie last week, which I came across again today while going through my mail folder:

I wanted to let you know how much your Cirque Du Freak books mean to me and my students. I am a fifth grade teacher in Mantua, NJ, USA, and for the past 6 or 7 years, I've been reading the first Cirque Du Freak book to my class. I have the others in my classroom library and they are constantly "off the shelf," being read by my students and their parents. I've even had students (and parents) ask if they may borrow them over the summer. When I first started reading them myself, I had to order some of the books from amazon.co.uk because they weren't published in the U.S. yet. I have some children in my classroom with learning disabilities; however, this past school year, two of these children read the entire series. Their parents (one with tears in her eyes) thanked me profusely for getting their sons to enjoy reading again. It wasn't me, it was you! I just helped them find the right book/s. (In fact, one of the boys wrote to you and when you responded, he was ecstatic! We wanted to photocopy his letter from you, but he wouldn't let the classroom aide take it to the office machine; he had to carry it himself!) Other years, I've had parents ask for a recommendation for another book after their children finished the series. They were so happy their children were reading, they didn't want that enjoyment of books to stop. In closing, I just wanted you to know how much of a positive impact you're having on our children. Thanks so much!

Awwww ... how sweet is that!!! I always feel a bit awkward when I publish an email like this, in case people think that I'm showing off or clapping myself on the back. But, hell, you need to treat yourself every so often in life by spreading the love around and sharing the joy!! Many thanks for brightening up my day, Debbie!

Received the following email from a fan called Georgia:

I'm currently writing a book right now and I've got it to just over 17,000 words only now I cant help but feel slightly bored of the book. How do you keep your writing entertaining to write? I realise if I'm finding it boring to write it's going to be boring to read. I introduce new ideas to keep it exciting but then the plot seems to change and I have to re-think everything again. It's like the books never going to end. Do you come across this problem or is it just me? And if it is just me do you have any idea what-so-ever of how to overcome it?

The bad news is -- writing CAN be boring, especially when you're first learning how to do it!!! As much as I love writing, to do it well, I have to treat it like a job, and all jobs have their downsides and stretches of dullness. There are times when I feel lethargic, when a story doesn't seem to be going anywhere, when I'm restless and bored and just want to do anything in the world except write!! When I was starting out in my teens, I used to find it even more boring -- I'd often find excuses to drag myself away from my typewriter, just so that I wouldn't have to draw more words out of myself. Writing's difficult. It requires a lot of time and concentration. Unlike most office jobs, where you can cruise through a lot of the working day on auto-pilot, writing demands that you be "ON" for every minute that you sit there. There's no hiding in this business -- if you drift through an afternoon, looking like you're working but not really doing anything, you won't have any work to show for it, and the only person you'll be fooling is yourself.

The problem is that a lot of would-be writers think it's easy, that it's something you should be able to spit out when the muse takes you, without having to work hard to make it happen. One of the things I'm constantly pointing out in this blog is how difficult it actually is to produce high-quality stories. Films and TV shows make it look simple -- you'll often see a scene where a writer is struck by inspiration and speeds through his novel or poem or play in record-breaking time, and every word's perfect. Well, that's bull!!! Good stories need to be dragged uo from deep inside you and beaten into shape. Some come easier than others, it's true, but all require hard work and oodles of dedication. You need to think of writing in football terms -- footballers have to spend a lot of boring time training and travelling around in order to play 90 minutes of top-flight footie. People accept that -- every one of you KNOWS that you can't just turn up and play for your favourite team on a whim, that professional footballers are highly trained athletes who have to dedicate themselves body and soul to their sport. Well, writers have to do the same. This is a vocation, not just a job -- since you're your own boss, you have to force yourself to do the work. If you put in the hours and weeks and months and years, you'll reap the rewards. If you don't, you'll always be one of those people who "wants" to write, and thinks and believes they can write -- but who never actually gets around to doing it.

I know some people frown when I talk about the realities of writing, because they think I'm trying to put young writers off. But I'm not. I just think you have to know what you're letting yourself in for. This is a hard, ruthless business, and you need to go into it with your eyes open. You need to know that hard work is required, and if you're a true writer, that will actually lift your spirits, not dampen them, because you'll realise that YOU can do what writers you admire are doing. When I was starting out, I was frustrated that I couldn't write to the level of Stephen King or Clive Barker or any of my idols. But when I realised that THEY couldn't write to that standard either when they were beginning, that they'd had to work hard to get where they were, I was filled with hope -- because if they could work hard and succeed, then so could I. The difference between an established writer and a beginner isn't usually talent, but experience. We all start out full of potential -- those of us who put the hard work in will realise that potential. Those who don't, won't.

But to finish on an upper, I will say that the more work you put into writing, the more you'll get out of it, and the more you'll start to enjoy it. I know it can be frutrating early on, because the ideas will be clear in your head, but you won't be able to bring them to life they way you want. Over time (and it's normally years as opposed to weeks or months, so be patient!!), if you work hard, you'll find yourself able to do more, and the stories you create will be far beyond anything you thought you could do when you were 16, 17, 18. And at that stage you'll probably enjoy the process a whole lot more -- although, as with any job, there will of course be "bad hair days"!!!

One final point -- just because you're not having much excitement writing, it doesn't mean what you're writing is boring! It's hard to be objective when you're in the middle of a story. Some of my best scenes have been the hardest and dullest to write. Action scenes, for instance, are often incredibly tedious, because I have to describe so many details and angles and blows. They read fast and snappy, but they're a pain in the ass to create!!! Don't ever judge your story negatively just because you're not having fun with it. Take it to the end. See the process out. Give yourself a break. Then have a look at it again. Chances are, you'll find the story you hated so much bringing into the world will impress you much more now that you've brought it to life!!!

On Monday, September 4th, 1995, when I was 23 years old, I wrote the following in my diary entry for that day: "Had an idea for a new book. It's a mystery novel called Hell's Horizon. I'm a bit hazy on the finer details at the moment, but I think it could be good ..." Today, almost 13 years later, at the ripe old age of 36, I did my final bit of work on it!!! 13 years ... Bloody hell!!! It doesn't seem so much when I write it down, but when I think about the actual time, how I was then, all that's happened since, the days and weeks and months and years which have passed ... Of course, no book could really justify 13 years of a person's life, but I didn't work on it exclusively for all that time, so I don't feel too guilty -- indeed, there was a period of about 7 years where I did no work on it at all, after it had been printed for the first time in early 2000. At the same time, there's something incredibly satisfying about being able to create a story that can stay fresh in your imagination for that long. Very few of my books could hold me the way this one has -- the thought of going back to most of my early work to rewrite it gives me the shivers!!! But there was always soemthing special about HH and Ayuamarca and City of the Snakes. Even when I moved away from adult books, into the world of teen fiction, I always had a feeling that I'd return to these stories one day, that I had unfinished business with Capac Raimi, Al Jeery, The Cardinal and co.

And now that day has come -- and passed. 13 years later, the story of Hell's Horizon has finally, properly been completed. I was very happy with the original published version. Unlike Ayuamarca, I hadn't had to rush this book, and I felt it gave a very good account of where my writing stood at that time of my life. But since I revised book 1, it made sense to revise this one too, and I was amazed by the number of small changes and fixes I was able to make. Even though it's a fairly large book by my standards (just under 400 pages), it's a tight, compact work, where everything ties together neatly and no lines are wasted -- everything feeds into the story, moves it forward, keeps it ticking over. I know some fans will prefer the more fantastical realms of Procession of the Dead, but to me there's no doubt that this is a superior work, featuring more fully fleshed out characters, and a plot that functions exactly the way I wanted it to. That's really the whole aim of writing -- advancing to the point where you're able to tell a story exactly the way you want to tell it. With Procession, I love what my imagination came up with, but there are flaws there, things I just couldn't fix, no matter how many times I went at it. It's a damn fine book regardless, I think, but I do look at it and wish I could have done even more with it. That's not the case with HH. I've got this book down to a tee. If people don't like it, fine, that's their opinion. But I know I've done the best possible job in this case that I could do, and I'm as proud of this as I am of anything I've yet to produce. I think City of the Snakes will be even better once I've had a couple more passes at it -- it combine the tight narrative of HH with the more fantastical elements of Procession -- but for the moment I'm going to sit back and give myself a rare pat on the back for a book that I've lived with for a long time, and which I'm now ready to send out into the world for the second but final time.

13 years ... Wow. Hard to believe that much time has slipped by, and how my life has changed. Looking through my diary for that entry brought back so many memories. I was still working in a TV cable company in Limerick when I started HH -- I would quit later that month to try writing full time. It was an exciting but scary time of my life. I was taking a great leap, with no guarantee that it would lead to anything. I believed I could fashion a career for myself as a writer, but what if I was fooling myself? What if I wasn't as talented as I thought? What if it all went wrong and my dreams were crushed and the world laughed in my face and I ended up looking like a fool? I'm not a terrible brave person. I always say that my central characters in my books are a lot braver than I am in real life, and for the most part that's true. But taking that step -- leaving a job, risking all, challenging the world from my lonely bedroom in the arse-end of nowhere ... That was the bravest thing I ever did, and I'm proud that I found the strength to do that. It's a strength every writer must find when they make the decision to chase their dream. It isn't easy. It isn't nice. It's bloody horrible and terrifying actually, and there's nothing anybody can do to make it any easier for you, to help you find the strength within yourself that you'll need to make it in this business. But find that strength you must. It's a huge part of what separates the real writers from those who just play with the idea of doing it. The hardest part is making that initial leap, accepting that you might fail, but pushing ahead regardless. If you can find the strength to do that, everything else will come with time. But this is a tough business, and you have to start out tough if you want to force your way ahead in it.

13 years ...

It's a lifetime for most people, but for writers it's just the blink of an eye, the flashing of your imagination, the turning of a page.

Edited another big chunk of the page proofs of Hell's Horizon -- 130 pages!! Going through the proofs is the closest I ever get to "reading" any of my novels, and I go along at almost the pace that I would if reading someone else's novel, just a little bit slower. It's a crucial test -- after all the edits and re-writes, the months and years spent immersed in the world of the story, it's really only at this stage that you can experience the book in much the same way that readers will. If there are flaws in the pace or structure, things that you missed out while editing, but which bug you now -- tough!!! It's normally too late to go back and change them!! But if you've done your job right, everything should flow smoothly, and I'm happy to report that that's the case here. HH is probably the tightest, most polished of any of my books, since I've spent more time on it than on just about anything else I've ever worked on. I'm proud of all the books I've published, but I'm especially pleased with this one.

I got an email from a would-be writer called Samantha last week:

I just want to say first of all, that I am a big fan of your books. I have enjoyed them so much. I have two sets of the vampire saga and I have convinced my mum to read them after a few months of nagging. She also really enjoys your books and has hardly put them down since I introduced them to her. But that isn't why I'm writing to you. I know that you have answered some of this on the questions page, but I have something a little extra to add. The question I want to ask is not just how to write a good story, but how to develop my ideas. I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember. My mum even made me a game to encourage it. My main goal in life is to write a good book. It has always been a dream of mine. I can get a few ideas, and most of the time I remember them until I can write them down, but I can never seem to develop them. It is like I have permanent writers block. I love to write, I could write for hours, but when I can't develop my ideas I'm stuck. I know that you may not reply to this email due to your work, but if you can I look forward to your reply.

Ah yes -- the development of ideas!!! The timing of this email couldn't have been neater, since Hell's Horizon was one of the most troublesome books I ever had when it came to developing the central ideas! The first draft was virtually nothing like the book which will be released next March. It was a straightforward detective novel, a pastiche of Raymond Chandler that just didn't work. The second draft was better, but it didn't work either. It was only on the third or fourth go that I began to really develop the ideas and take it in a new, exciting, fresh direction.

There's no simple answer to Samantha's question, except the one I offer up to so many queries of this nature -- practice. You just have to get in the trench and start digging. Ideas are like quicksilver -- they flash all over the place and are hard to pin down. Sometimes a story will come together neatly inside your head, but usually it's not that easy. The best way to develop is to start jotting ideas down on paper. I've always found that when I write something down, it helps me focus on the idea. I then start questioning what I've written, playing around with it, bouncing other ideas off of it. That usually helps me take the ideas a bit further. And then I start writing, and in the writing process more ideas come to me. If at the end of all that, the story hasn't worked quite the way I want, I either move on to something new, or go back, examine it, pick at it, and try again. You have to prepared to get messy when you write. Writing is often about discovering answers as you go along, not just coming up with them at the beginning and then committing them to paper. You have to believe that a story will come together as you work on it, and if it doesn't, you just have to work even harder!!!!

Now that I've concluded the lecture for the night, a couple of light YouTube clips to finish up on. As I said in my last gew blog entries, I saw lots of great shows and comedians at the Edinburgh Festival. One of my favourite shows was a new piece called Crocosmia, by 3 young actors. You can see a trailer for it on YouTube, a very cleverly put together clip of bits and pieces from the show, which gives you a neat idea of its style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIhDbml_LOk

One of the comedians who made a big impression of me was a Dutch guy called Hans Teeuwen. I didn't see his full show, but he was part of a late-night show I went to. The highlight was a song he did about Nostradamus, and I managed to find a clip of it on YouTube. This will put a BIG smile on your face, but be warned -- you're going to be humming this to yourself, and out loud in front of other people who will look at you strangely, for the next couple of days or longer!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PatELskRWWA

I started editing the page proofs of Hell's Horizon (my next D B Shan book) today. By this stage an author shouldn't have much to do on the book -- if all has gone according to plan, you should merely be on the lookout for small errors or printing typos. If you find yourself wanting to make important alterations at this point, you've probably let the book go to print too soon!! That happened to me on Ayuamarca when it was first published. I was still learning how to edit a book, and when it went to the proofs stage, there were still a lot of things I wanted to change in it. The trouble is, once you get to the proofs part of the process, changes are costly and difficult to implement, so the book had to be published flawed. These days I have a much firmer control on my work, and I make sure I do enough edits before the book has to be proofed, so that I'm completely happy with everything. I'm happy to report that I've found nothing of note to change in the proofs of Hell's Horizon, bar one or two extremely minor things. It's always a relief (for me anyway) when you realize you have nothing left to do on a book, that you can put it aside at last and move on. I'm sure some writers feel a sense of loss, that they don't want to let go; you can get so wrapped up in a novel that it can be scary to finally finish with it -- but since I always have several books on the go at the same time, I'm never faced with a "What the hell will I do next?!?" scenario, so I'm always delighted when work wraps, as it leaves me free to go on to something fresh!!!

I received an email last week from a librarian named Melanie in Arizona which made me smile:

Three years ago I sent you the email below about visiting my school. I was a new librarian and didn't know much about you or your books, only that the kids requested that I ask you to come visit. Now with the past three years experience, I know how hugely popular you and your books are. They're always flying off the shelves. I am now a fan too.

Well...... I'm so excited to say that through perseverence, you are scheduled to come to Shepherd on October 29th!!!!!! I'm thrilled and my students are ecstatic. If we can do any thing to make your visit be just perfect, please let me know.

I always tell people who are interested in trying to arrange a Darren Shan event that it's by no means an impossible task. I tour a LOT, and I'm always willing to go to places where there's a demand. While it's not possible to respond positively to every request that comes in (I'd need 3 or 4 times the number of days in a year to do that!!), if you're organised, and determined, and keep trying, you CAN get me -- and Melanie is proof of that!!! I do what I can to help you guys. I make myself accessible, I provide links for my publicists, I give you tips on how to approach them and what they're looking for. But ultimately you've got to do a lot of the ground work yourself, seize the initiative and make things happen.