First working day back home. Not working on any books at the moment -- since I'm only here for a week, I don't really have time to start anything new, and nothing was waiting for me when I got back. So I'm going to do some work on my web site over the next few days. Started by adding several new reviews of "Lord Loss" to the demon part of the site. Although I fell WAY behind on the reviews front on my "Saga of Darren Shan" series (a situation I hope to rectify in the not too distant future), when I DO add reviews of one of my books, I add ALL the reviews that I can find, be they good, bad or ugly. Most of the reviews that I get are actually far more positive than I believed they would be when I first started publishing horror books for children and teenagers (which is how my books are seen in more countries, although I look upon them more as fantasy adventure books which readers of all ages can enjoy). But when I do get a negative review, I slap it up just as swiftly as a good one -- I don't believe in cheating by selecting only those which have nice things to say about me!!!!

Also had a lot of e-mails to answer today. Got the finalised schedule for my upcoming UK tour, and added all the details to the current issue of the Shanville Monthly. It's not an overly extensive tour, but I'm getting about a nice bit, and I have more events lined up next year. Rather than try to cover the entire country in 3 weeks, as I did in the States recently and on my DesTiny tour in October 2004, I'm going to do shorter tours in the UK, at more frequent intervals, over the next year. So the chances of me coming to a town near YOU some time in the near future are pretty good!!!

I'm off to a pub quiz in my local village shortly. I don't do pub quizzes very often, and I don't have a great store of trivia knowledge at my fingertips, so I'm not expecting great success. But Bas and a few of my friends are eager to go, and there'll be plenty of drink available, so it should be a good night regardless of how we get on with the questions!!!!!

It was my grandfather's 80th birthday party on Saturday (he doesn't actually hit the big 8-0 for another couple of weeks, but this was the only Saturday close to it that we could book!). Lots of family and friends flew back from England, and many more came from locally. We had it in the Woodlands Hotel in Adare. I had seven relatives and their partners -- Davina and Mark, William and Manuela, Kevin and Ali, and Siobahn -- staying, so it was a full house! Bas and I played host to the guests on Friday and Saturday, making sure they had enough to eat and drink, getting their beds ready, etc. It's hard work when people come to stay, but I love having company, so I never mind.

Got a bus to the Woodlands and a wonderful night. It was fun to see so many relations and friends, the food was great, the service was first-class, the band was ideal. Lots of mingling and chatting, catching up on all the family gossip, telling people about my trip to the States, etc. My granny hasn't been in the best of health recently, but she was in sparkling form on Saturday. The evening was a little bit poignant, in that I found myself looking around every so often and wondering if we'd all ever be together like this again, or if we'd have lost a few of the family by the time of the next big get-together. But at the same time, the knowledge that a death or two was likely over the course of the next year or so also helped me enjoy the night more -- it's one of the things I stress in my books, that we should all enjoy our good moments in life to the fullest, because there's no way of knowing when things will take a turn for the worst. Of course, most of us don't pause to reflect when life is good, and only realise the high points long after they've happened. But on Saturday I was aware that this was a lucky time for us all, that we were all together, all in good form, all happy and relaxed. In life, you can't have a great night every night, but this was one of the great ones, and I recognised that at the time and did my best to enjoy the night to its fullest.

The bar stopped serving at 02.00, so everyone went home. But several came down for an impromptu party at my house. Luckily I had lots of drinks in the fridge, and we stayed partying for a few more hours. It was 06.30 before I got to bed!!!! A longer night than I'd anticipated, but all the sweeter for the unplanned extension. I didn't even mind cleaning up after everybody when all the others in the house were in bed and snoring at the end of the night!! It was quite fun to be the only one awake, drawing gradually to a close rather than just hitting my bed and falling asleep immediately.

Back in good old Pallaskenry! The flight home was smoothe as a mouse (as a Biestyish friend of mine would say). Got in at 05.25. Bas picked me up. Went to bed for a couple of hours when we got home, then treated it as a normal day, making myself stay awake -- that's the way to beat jetlag!!! Took a long time to wade through my post and catch up with everything, but by late evening I was on top of it all. Went to visit my grandparents and parents, watched a few episodes of season two of "Little Britain" -- extremely funny, although I do feel that some of the characters are growing a bit stale by this stage -- then crawled into bed and slept the sleep of the just. (Or just very tired!!!)

Got up at 10.30 today. Had quite a few e-mails to check. Then went to do some shopping with Bas -- we have a horde of relatives descending upon us, starting tonight, for my Grandad's 80th birthday party tomorrow, and they eat like a swarm of locusts!!!!! Knocked the latest issue of the Shanville Monthly into shape. Saw another couple of episodes of "Little Britain" -- "bitty" is definitely my fave out of season two!! And now I'm off to meet some relatives in the local pub, to sink a few pints and get the weekend started!!!!!!

Seems hard to believe, but this is the end of my 2005 USA tour!! The last three weeks have flown by in a blur!

Started the day in Portsmouth High School. Several schools had bussed kids in for the event, so there were lots of fans there, with loads of books to be signed!!! Met Alexandra again (cup cake girl!) and lots of other fans. A very busy but hugely enjoyable event -- just the type of large scale session I wanted for my final day!!!

Scooted over to Hampton Academy next, for another BIG event -- three or four hundred kids, I'd guess! Did my "Lord Loss" reading (which I've done at most of my events here, though I have tried other readings and skecthes, to make things more interesting for myself). Didn't have to sign quite as many books this time, but the line was pleasingly long -- another top-notch school event!

My final visit of the day - and the tour! - was to Manchester City Library. It was an early afternoon event, so I didn't have high hopesof drawing a big crowd, but was delighted to get an extremely decent turnout. Gave "Lord Loss' one last spin, answered my final set of questions, signed my final piles of books -- and that's it!!! All over. Ginny dropped me off at Logan airport in Boston, where I said a sad farewell to Jennifer. She put a lot of hard work into organising this tour, and was brilliant company on the road -- it would have been a LOT duller without her!!!!!!!! Jessie -- you my sweet Scottish bee-AWtch!!!!!!!!

And now it's time (or soon will be) to board my plane and head back home for a bit of rest and recuperation. And then the touring starts all over again for my UK and Ireland tour!!!!!!!

Cheerio, America! I had GINORMOUS fun and hope to be back in the VERY near future!!!! To Jennifer ... the staff at Little Brown ... the teachers, librarians and booksellers ... the escorts who drove me around ... and especially all of the amazing fans who showed up to say hi and have their books signed ... DARREN SHAN SALUTES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 20th -- and second last - day of my 2005 USA tour! And it was one of the busiest of the entire tour!!! I started by getting up at 07.00 to do a short radio show on WATD FM. Then went to Norwell Middle School, where I did two events, performing for a few hundred kids at each event. They were incredibly well behaved!!

I went back to Buttonwood Book Store (they arranged the school events) for lunch. I'd come here on my first American tour 4 years ago, so it was nice to meet some old friends! Went to Gates Intermediate School after lunch, for two more events. They were supposed to be big events, with lots of kids, but when I got there I was told that I'd only have about 20 in each group. I asked the librarian if she could increase the numbers, more out of hope than expectation -- in my experience, staff at schools are very reluctant to make any changes on the day of an event. But to my delight she rounded up a few extra classes and the events were very enjoyable in the end.

Did a signing at Buttonwoods at 3.00pm. Lots of fans turned up. I was signing solidly for an hour, then less busily for another hour and a quarter. Said goodbye reluctantly in the end to Totsie, Hal and everybody else, then drove up with Jennifer and our driver, Ginny, to a HUGE Barnes & Noble store in Burlington. Had a medium sized crowd, but the kids were avid Shan fans -- one had driven for 4 hours fom New York to see me!!! Overall,a tiring but highly enjoyable day. The perfect way to end my last full day of the tour!!!!

p.s. When I got to my hotel, I found a big basket full of cup cakes waiting for me!!! Many thanks, Alexandra and co -- they were YUMMY!!!!!

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!!!!!!!