Had a few hours off after my first event, so when I finished checking my e-mails, Jennifer and I went to visit a whaling museum. This was a strong whaling community in the past and the museum had lots of fascinating info and whaling artifacts. The only down side for poor Jennifer was that she had to graon through a series of "Aaar's!" and "Shiver me timbers!" -- I couldn't help myself, I just went inot complete over the top Old Sailor mode!!!!!!! "Thar she blows"!!!!!!!!

My second event was at Friends Academy in North Dartmouth. Had a very good turnout, and some VERY excited fans!! The venue was fab too, and those organising it had put on lots of nice treats for the kids attending. I think a jolly good time was had by all!!!!

My final event was at Borders in Kingston. I didn't get a huge crowd, but the numbers were very good for a Monday night public event -- I thought this might be a "no show" or that I'd only have a handful of fans, so I was delighted when I saw plenty of bottoms on seats!!!

Stayed in Cohasset, which is a lovely spot, but alas I didn't get to see too much of it, since I arrived late at night and had to leave early in the morning. Oh well -- maybe I'll get to swing back by one day and take in some more of the scenery ...

Sorry for the couple of days of inactivity -- didn't manage to get to a computer over the weekend.

Had a great event at the Howard County Library Miller Branch on Saturday. Loads of fans turned up, and it was brilliantly organised. I had to sign fast, as I had a train to catch, but I managed to sign everyone's books in the end. It's always a buzz when you get a large crowd at a public event. I even did my "Must Be Murlough" song at this event -- a special treat for the fans, who responded by joining in whole-heartedly and swaying to and fro in the aisles!!!!!

Got the train to New York after that. Jennifer and I met with one of my editors, Cindy, and a couple of others, for a few drinks, which was nice. I took it easy in the Big Apple -- it was nice to chill for a short while. Slept in late (until midday, almost!), then went for a little walk of the Soho area. Found a store selling cartoon art and spotted a couple of Tim Burton sketches which I liked, so I picked them up.

Then met up with Jennifer again and got the train to Providence. It was an hour delayed, but that was OK -- I'm used to delays like that on the British trains!!!!   :-)   The hotel, the Biltmore, is a lovely old-style hotel, and they put me up in the Presidential Suite which was VERY large and VERY swish and came equipped with a jacuzzi shower which was lots of fun once I figured out how to operate it!!!

Had my first lie-in on the week today! Didn't have to get up until 08.15 -- hurrah!!!! Shaved, checked my e-mails, then went with Jennifer and our driver, Greg, to my first event at D.C. Public Library. There was a teacher and 3 kids there when we arrived. The teacher smiled and introduced himself and said that he'd have liked to bring more kids but he could only fit three in his car! For an awful moment I thought (and Jennifer did too) that something had gone wrong and that these three kids were going to be my entire audience!!!!!! But then we met the librarian and learned that more classloads were on their way, and minutes later I had a packed room -- phew!!!!! Acted out my "Woman gets her hand bitten off by the wolf man" scene from book one. The volunteers who came up to assist me were all very strong, which made it a lot of fun. Plenty of questions afterwards too.

Got a Carvel strawberry milkshake for the first time ever on our way to the next event -- tasty!! The event was actually a lunch at Francis Hammon High School. Lots of fun! Just ate and answered questions from the kids -- all boys, part of a boy's reading club at the school. Nice and relaxed, and the kids were huge fans of my books. The perfect lunch event!!!

A long drive to my next event, at the Carroll County Arts Council in Westminster. We arrived about half an hour late, because of a slight over-run at the lunch event, and very bad traffic. Had a huge crowd, full of enthusiastic and probing questions. Had to sign at super-swift speed to make sure everyone got their book signed in good time (not wanting to be late for my next event), so it was a bit of a rush for me, which was a pity, as I'd have liked more time to chat to the people who arranged the event, and have a proper look around the lovely old theatre. Oh well, hopefully I can return one day and arrive early next time!!!!!!

The fifteenth day of the tour ...

My phone rang at 4.45 -- a mistaken wake-up call!!!! Groaned and tried to get back to sleep, but couldn't drop off properly. Was picked up at 7.30, then drove out to Salem, about an hour outside Milwaukee, for an event in the Community Library, followed by an event in a nearby school (whose name eludes me). It was quite off the beaten track (like the school I went to yesterday), so the kids and parents were VERY enthusiastic!!! I thought a school would be coming in for the first event in the library, but it turned out to be a public event. Some of the kids there had a day off school, but others bunked-off!!!! My kind of fans!!!!!!! I liked kids and parents who don't stick to the rules all the time!! 

:-)

Arrived at the airport a couple of hours ahead of my flight. Had a bite to eat, then proceeded to security. I took off my shoes as I always do over here in the States (an absolutely needless procedure, by the way, but since most airports insist on it, I figure "What the hell -- just go with the flow!"). But the guy at this checkpoint also told me to remove my SWEATSHIRT!!!! That's the first time, in all the airports in the world that I've been to, that I've been asked to do that! When I asked why, he got a very serious look on his face and said that "a few years ago" a couple of women in baggy sweatshirts boarded a plane in Chechnya and blew it up! I just looked at him blankly and said "They blew up a plane with a sweatshirt?!?" He started to babble then, but I just sneered, handed him my sweatshirt and moved on. The world is full of power-crazy idiots in positions of very mild authority. I find it's easiest just to humour them. You can't argue with a moron, so why try? Besides, with people like that, their workmates will always back them up, so I didn't want to argue with him and have him turn it into a "This guy threatened to blow up our plane!!!" story. When you come face-to-face with a loser who has a bit of power, the best thing is to just walk on by and leave them to rule the roost in their ridiculous imaginary tower of power.

Got to Washington D.C. early and met Jennifer, my publicist, at the airport. I have a rare free night, so once I'm through typing up this, I'm going back to my room to have a nice long bath, then maybe watch a film, or perhaps just channel surf. I have a nice lie-in tomorrow too, so I should be fresh and raring-to-go for my Friday and Saturday events!!!!

I'm two-thirds of the way through my American tour, and I received wonderful news tonight, which makes all the hard work worthwhile, and gives me an extra buzz to finish my third week on a high:

my "Cirque Du Freak" series has re-entered the New York Times Top 10 Bestsellers Chart at Number 7!!!!!!!

First, an apology. I was quite worked up yesterday, after my morning snafu, and didn't pay as close attention to my wording as I should have I ended up giving the impression that the staff at Beito Juarez were to blame for the situation, and that was wrong and entirely unfair. They had organised the morning under the impression that I was happy to do 4 events, because nobody had told them otherwise. The problems arose because of communication lapses between the bookstore and my publicist. Andersons is a geat store, and Jennifer is a great publicist, but sometimes these things happen. It wasn't the fault of Benito Juarez, and I didn't mean to blame them -- my frustration just came out that way. So, a big SORRY to all involved at B.J. -- you took flak that wasn't intended for you, and which you didn't deserve.. That's the problem with a blog -- things can be said without the right measure of thought!! In future I'll try to let myself cool down before taking any wild shots!!!!! Now for today... My first event was a school event. I spoke to a group of about 400 kids. I like big groups like that. I haven't done many events on that scale on this tour, so I got a good buzz out of it!!! Had a few hours off after that. Checked e-mails, had lunch, then went for a short walk. Next I did a public event at Schaumberg library. I was very pleased to be able to come here. On my last American tour, I was scheduled to come to Schaumberg, but my flight was delayed and the event had to be cancelled. It all went smoothly this time though. Had a good crowd, including several Japanese fans with Japanese versions of my books. Everyone was highly impressed by them -- the quality and beauty of the Japanese books always surprises fans in other countries!!!!! My final event was at Skokie Library, where I had gone to on my previous visit here. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and I think the questions could have gone on all night if there had been time!!!!!!!

On a dodgy TV web keyboard, so will keep this short! Had lots of fun at Anderson's in Downer's Grove. A large crowd of mostly dedicated Shan fans. Read from "Lord Loss', answered questions, then finished with my song, "Must be Murlough", which I hadn't performed in ages! Everyone joined in, and many were literally swaying in the aisles!!!! Great fun! Signed lots of books afterwards, then drove on to my hotel for a good night's sleep. Happy halloween to freaks, vampires and demons everywhere!!!!!

Day got off to a dodgy start! Had to get up early (6.10) which was bad enough! Got to the school (Benito Juarez High) on time, only to find out that they wanted me to do four events back to back!! My publicist had heard about this last week, and had asked the people involved to re-schedule, since that was WAY too much to ask of me -- but obviously our request was ignored!!! I was furious, especially as I still have a cold. I hate it when people try to take advantage and over-work me. A those who've met me on this tour will, I hope, agree, I always try to give good value, and push myself hard. But for some, that isn't enough and they want even more. In the end I spoke at the first 2 events, then just signed at the second two. The staff at the school were lovely, and had gione to a lot of effort to make me feel welcome. It's just a pity they hadn't realised that they were looking for more than I could give them.. I think I'll have to start issuing guidelines for future events, to prevent situations like this from happening again. Anyway, half the kids got to hear me speak, and they all got their books signed if they had one, so overall it still went pretty well, I think. My head was pounding long before the end (my cold is making a comeback!), but it'll take more than a blocked nose and headache to stop Shan in his tracks!!! Paid a quick, fun visit to Ruiz school next. Answered questions, had lunch, and signed lots of books, all in the space of just over half an hour!! This was a last-minute, add-in event, which I'm glad I was able to squeeze in. I'm just sorrry we didn't have a bit more time, to do a full event, From there it was on to Pickard School. The kids were lively and a bit fidgety, but they gave me a nice welcome and weren't afraid to get involved!! Now I'm having a short rest, before heading out for my Halloween booksigning party in Downers Grove. More on that in my next report!!!!

First, forgot to mention yesterday that one family of fans drove for SIX HOURS from Oklahoma to come to my events!!! I appreciate the efforts that all of my fans go to when coming to an event -- I know it's not always easy getting to a store, or convincing your parents to bring you. But a 12 hours round trip is dedication on a truly top-notch level!!!!! Oh, and they gave me a really cool home-made T-shirt too!!!!!!! Flew out of Texas this morning, to Illinois (the outskirts of Chicago). I'm staying in Northshore. There's not very much around the hotel where I'm based, but since I won't be in my room that much, that's OK!!! I killed the free hours I had today by checking e-mails and watching"The Wedding Crashers" (fun -- much better than I anticipated). Also went for a walk. It was nice to get some fresh air. I haven't really been exercising since I got here. as there isn't much free time. I'll have to do some extra long walks when I get back home!!!! Was picked up by my new escort, Heidi, who also drove me around the last time I was here. We went to an event at Barnes & Noble at Old Orchard Center in Skoki.I thought it might be a small turnout, since Sunday events are often quiet, but there were over 120 people there!!!!! I was delighted that so many fans had turned up. And, lo and behold, one family (like in Austin) had driven 6 hours to be there, and are staying to come to my next event too!!! Others had driven for an hour, two hours or more!!!! I find such enthusiasm truly touching. I don't show it at the events (I don't want to blub in public!!) but I'm honestly blown away by having such dedicated fans!!!! You guys ... *SOB* .... you're the BEST!!!!! I also met some fans who'd come to my events the last time I was here. Sorrry for not recognising all of you, but I've seen literally thousands of faces over the last 18 months, and as those who know me will tell you, I've never been very good with faces and names!!!!!!! All in all, a top-notch event -- hopefully the first of a series of A1 Chicago stops!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 10 of the tour marks almost the mid-point -- it's a 21 day tour, so I suppose officially the middle comes halfway through tomorrow -- but this is close enough to it for me to celebrate!!!

Had another good day in Texas. The panel event that I did at the festival in the morning was fun. I read out some of the "Guyifesto" that I wrote for the book "Guys write for Guys read". It was the first time I'd read the piece out, and I have to say I really enjoyed it -- a lot different to what I normally do at an event!!! There were three other writers on stage with me, and a moderator. We all read a bit, then answered questions. It was slightly embarrassing, since most of the questions were directed at me, and were about my own books, not the "Guys" book!!! It was flattering, of course, to be the focus of attention, but I always feel a bit uneasy when that happens (OK -- it's only happened once or twice, but then I've only done a very few panel events!). I don't like to talk about my own work when I'm sharing a stage with other writers -- it's not fair on them, and I know I wouldn't like it if the positions were reversed. So I tried to open the questions up, to include the others, or else answered very briefly.

Signed for about 40 minutes after the event, then did a solo event in the Capitol building. It's a lovely old building (well, old by American standards!), but quite a maze inside. I'm surprised any of my fans were able to find their way to the room where I was!!!! Had a good crowd, and answered lots of questions. Then signed for another 40 or so minutes. My overall impression of the festival is favourable. Apart from the poor communication in terms of them telling me what they wanted me to do, it was very well set-up, with a huge team working to facilitate score-loads of writers. There were loads of people at it, and plenty of copies of books to buy. I certainly wouldn't say no if I was ever invited again while I was over here on a tour.

Had a couple of hours to relax. Packed my bag (I got some laundry done today -- hurrah!! I'll smell nice and clean for the next half of the tour!), then went to do another event at the Book People shop. A nice event, with a good crowd for a Saturday evening. I read my "Lord Loss" extract again. I've been focusing on that more than any of my other pieces, since it's such a powerful chunk of text, and since that's really the book I'm here to promote. I was a bit worried that some parents might think it was too bloody for younger kids, but I've had no negative feedback so far.

Went for a Mexican meal (probably my last of the tour, since I'm heading north after this) with Jennifer and Sabrina. They're great company -- we had lots of laughs together, and ended up telling each other dirty jokes and talking about dubious sexual practices!!!!! That's the side of Darren Shan the fans don't see on tour. I might look sweet and innocent at my events, but it's all a facade, Shansters -- away from the limelight, I'm a crude, rude, foul-mouthed dude!!!!!!!!!!

:-)