Finished editing "Slawter"!!!! Very pleased with the final work. I've tightened it up nicely, made lots of little nips and tucks which, while unremarkable and unnoticeable in and of themselves, should add up to make it a smoother, faster, more enjoyable reading experience that it otherwise would have been. The book itself isn't, in my view, the best in the series -- I don't think it's as scary as "Lord Loss", as fluid or twisty as "Demon Thief", or as dark and hard-hitting as some of the later "Demonata" books. But it's creepy, fast-moving fun; it advances the character of Grubbs; it teaches us more about the workings of magic; it expands upon some of the themes and background details from the first two books; it contains some material which will read very differently in light of events in later books; and overall serves its purpose very neatly. I look upon it as the "Vampire's Assistant" of this series -- a book which is more important in the grander scheme of things than in its own right. Although, having said that, I've met LOADS of fans who say "Vampire's Assistant" was their favourite book of "The Saga", and I definitely think this is better than that book was, so I suspect this will prove to be some readers' favourite of "The Demonata"!!!!!!

Watched "Goodfellas" again last night. I can remember when I first saw it at the cinema back in 1990 with Pablo and another friend of mine, David O'Dwyer. (*aside* We all called him Rick. He was the worst golfer I've ever seen. Which makes it rather ironic that he lost the sight in one of his eyes recently in a freak golfing accident!!!!) Pablo acclaimed it as an instant classic. I was less fulsome with my praise -- a great film, yes, but not a CLASSIC. I'm still of that opinion. It's wonderfully filmed, and the acting is amazing, but I wouldn't put it in the same class as "Taxi Driver" or "Raging Bull".

Forgot to mention that I saw the Stephen Spielberg "War of the Worlds" a few days ago. Thought it was OK, but an odd choice for him to tackle. It was a very limited story, and moved a bit stiffly. Nice effects -- but we've known for a couple of decades that Spielberg can do good effects. This seemed to be a bit of a lazy project for him, something he did to keep his hand in while he waits for something bigger and better to come along.

Finally on the movie front, I saw a TV movie called "A House in Umbria" tonight. Starring Maggie Smith and the late Ronnie Barker (one of my all-time favourite TV actors), it's a very nice film about a writer living in Italy who takes in some survivors of a bomb blast. Carefully structured and paced, it's not an exciting film, but there's much to enjoy, and quite a few plot strands which develop neatly and not always expectedly over the course of the story. Most enjoyable.

Also saw Spurs play away to Middlesborough on the TV. A 3-3 thriller!!! To be honest, we were a bit lucky to get a point -- we were behind twice, and our goalie had to make a few world-class saves. Having said that, we almost nicked a win late in the game!!! That's the glory of football -- regardless of how well or badly you play, of how much you deserve or don't deserve a result, anything can always happen. On a match to match basis, it's one of the most unpredictable sports in the world -- I think that's one of the reasons why, globally, it's also the most popular.

Edited another 40+ pages of "Slawter" yesterday (Friday). The editing process is so much more fun than the first draft stage!! It's nice to have all the words in front of me and just have the job of fiddling about with them and making minor adjustments. I like the hard creativity of the first draft, of bringing a book into life out of nothing, watching it grow and change and develop. But editing's definitely a lot more enjoyable and easier!!!!

Went to see one of my favourite Irish bands, Fred - http://www.fredtheband.com/framepage.htm - play in Dolans Upstairs last night. They're a fun-filled, poptastic, tight-knit band who play great, entertaining tunes and seem to get at least as much of a kick out of their gigs as their fans do. I've seen them several times in Limerick, and there's always been a big turnout for them. But it was very quiet last night -- a disappointingly small crowd. They played a great gig regardless, very professional, but it's a shame that they haven't moved on to bigger, better things by now. Fred deserve to be playing much larger venues than Dolans Upstairs -- and, at the very least, if they DO have to play small venues, those venues should be packed to the rafters!! But, alas, last night it wasn't. In music, as in writing and art, hard work and talent aren't always enough. Some bands never get that lucky break, and as good as they are, they never rise as high as they should. It's looking like Fred will never make any sort of real commercial breakthrough, and that truly is a pity. But c'est la vie! At least those who have gone to their gigs and listened to their albums will be able to tell the rest of the world, "Once ... there was a band ... and they were one of the coolest bands around ..."

Watched a few more episodes of "Doctor Who". Edited another 40 or so pages of "Slawter" today (Saturday). Saw a 1970s Japanese film called "Vengeance is mine". A serial killer flick, but nothing like the Hollywood serial killer films of recent times -- this was much more subtly structured and themed. A bit on the long side, but well acted and mostly engrossing.

Started my final full edit of "Slawter" (the third "Demonata" book) yesterday. My editor's sent me lots of notes and recommended little changes and deletions. Small stuff, but the devil's the details!! Once I get through this edit, the book will go to what's called the Proofs stage -- that's when it will be typeset, i.e. printed up the way it will appear when the book is published. At that stage I'll have one final read-through, looking for any tiny mistakes, making VERY minor adjustments. But this is the last REAL edit that I'll do on the book, the last chance I have to make real changes. The book's about the same length as the last two -- 184 pages on my computer. Got through 45 of those yesterday -- the entire first section of the book. Because "Slawter" is a Grubbs book, I have to recap certain events from "Lord Loss", so it doesn't flow quite as smoothly at the beginning as "Lord Loss" or "Demon Thief". But it doesn't feel TOO static -- I've worked hard at tightening it up and telling the back story as concisely and unobtrusively as possible.

Watched another episode of "Doctor Who". I'm enjoying it a lot -- a nice mix of action, intrigue and comedy. Then, in the night, Bas and I took three of my cousins (Lorcan, Kealan and Tiernan) to see the new Narnia movie, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". They all liked it, but I have to say it didn't do much for me. I never read the book as a kid, only when I was at university. I thought it was an OK book, but it didn't overly excite me, and the film didn't either. I felt it was at least half an hour to forty-five minutes too long ... it moved very slowly in the first two-thirds ... it didn't make as much use of the stunning New Zealand scenery as it could have ... its attempts to be serious were ludicrous ... etc. etc. I certainly didn't HATE the film -- I just felt it was a bit stodgy, with grandiose ambitions that it couldn't quite match in the execution ... just like the book. I know the book is loved by many, and the film seems to have been a big hit too, but for me both are decidedly average forms of entertainment. Bah humbug!!!!!!!

Another day of sorting stuff out, making phone calls, tidying things up. I'm just about up to date with everything now, and plan to start editing "Slawter" tomorrow -- fingers crossed!!!

Bas and I bought a Roboraptor recently -- a robotic dinosaur which is supposed to be almost as good as a pet. We were keen to see it in action. I took it out of its box today, to start it up, only to find that its legs are screwed to a support base. No problem -- I got my screwdriver to unscrew the screws -- only to find that the head wouldn't fit!!! Rather than have the screw heads close to the surface, where you can easily get to them, the fools who designed this set them at the end of a long, incredibly narrow tube!!!!! Now I have to go try to find a thin, long screwdriver to set the Roboraptor free!!!!!! Somebody in design at that company should be losing their job over this!!  *Grrrrrrrr*

Watched "The Polar Express". Quite good, though easy to see how it didn't make quite the splash a Robert Zemeckis/Tom Hanks film would normally make. Too syrupy and "Aw Shucks"ish by far!! Had some good effects and some nice moments, but definitely no Christmas classic!!!!!!

Came across the "Jayne's World" blog earlier today. It's the blog of Jayne Nelson, an SFX interviewer who interviewed me recently. It's a fun blog, so I've included a link to it from mine -- check out the left side of this page ...

Also created a new, "secret" area of my www.darrenshan.com web site today. You can find out more about it by going to my site and clicking on the "Become a Shanster" link. It's fairly basic at the moment, but I'll be tidying it up (with the help of my web designer, Liam Fitz) and doing lots more with it in the future. One thing you CAN see on it now, which I think it worth the price of admission alone (not that there's any price attached!!) is the first draft of the UK "Slawter" cover -- it's a savage, slimy little beast!!!!!

Went in to town (Limerick city) in the morning. Had to go to the tax office to have a double taxation form signed (snore). Then did my weekly shopping in Tescos. Normally do that on a Saturday, but Bas was away at the weekend. When we got home, we went to Curraghchase (a nearby national park) and bought a Christmas tree. Set it up, watched "March of the Penguins" -- very enjoyable; drives home just how miraculous and amazing nature really is -- then decorated the tree. It's the first time we've had a proper Christmas tree in the house -- I moved in two years ago, but we were away last Christmas. I like it, even though I grumbled a lot about putting it up!!!!!

A dark day on the tax front. After my trip to the tax office, I later learnt that in the budget last week, the government abolished the "artists and writers tax exemption" clause which has been in operation here since 1969. It was introduced at a time when the country was struggling financially, to encourage people to gamble and pursue creative paths at home, rather than emigrate and secure safe jobs. It was Ireland's way of saying to the world that the Irish people respected and cherished creativity, that the country was prepared to reward those few who earned success even though most people at the time were struggling to make a living. It showed that we put culture before cold economics.

Well, times have changed. The Irish people have never had it so good. There are jobs for just about everybody, mod cons are everywhere, the country's one of the wealthiest in Europe. And now, when the country has never needed to tax writers and artists less, they've decided it's time to cut us down to size and slap a tax on us again. It's pettiness, pure and simple. The country doesn't need the (relative) pittance they're going to squeeze out of the very few writers and artists who've managed to make a decent amount of money working in a peril-filled craft. The government -- and, it seems, quite a lot of the voters -- just doesn't value art and creativity any longer. Culture's no longer important now that the country's riding high. Creators are no longer deemed to be anything special.

As one of the few people who's been in a position to take advantage of the tax breaks over the last few years, it's difficult for me to talk about this and not seem like I'm just being greedy and bitter. But I was a reader long before I was a writer, an Irishman long before I earned any money. I was proud of the cultural stance my leaders took, the importance they placed on the arts, the benefits they rewarded. It set us apart from every other country in the world. They didn't NEED to give us those benefits -- they did it because they believed we were worth rewarding, that we gave back more artistically than we ever could financially.

Now that's all changed. And, yes, of course I'm angry because of how it affects me personally. But I'm more sad and ashamed than angry. Because we had something truly great here. Something unique and pure and -- if you've ever enjoyed a song by an Irish singer, or a painting by an Irish artist, or a book by an Irish writer -- unarguably good and positive. And a few small-minded, unimaginative, creativeless men with euro signs instead of souls have torn it to shreds, dragged us down to their level, and let everyone know that they can put a price on creativity just as easily as they can put a price on a slab of beef.

Congratulations, gentlemen and gentleladies. You've delivered a powerful blow to this country's creative heart and lungs -- but you've made a few extra euros in the process. And that's all that really counts, isn't it?

Saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" again last night. It's not long since I saw it at the cinema, but I just fancied watching it again on DVD. My opinion didn't change -- inferior to the original, but fun, nicely shot and cast, suffering only from a truly clunky finish.

Spent today catching up on bits and pieces, answering e-mails which had been mounting up, paying a few bills which came while I was away, etc. Also, some of my copies of "Demon Thief" arrived last week, so I signed several of them for family and friends. Still have stuff to be done over the next few days, and I have the final draft of "Slawter" to edit, and a Christmas tree to get, put up and decorate, and ...

*sigh*

Looks like I won't be resting up properly any time soon!!!!

One piece of good news -- watched Spurs beat Portsmouth 3-1 on the TV, to cement our position in fourth place in the league. It was a strange match. We completely dominated the first half, but went behind to a flukey goal. We didn't play so well in the second half, but managed to score three goals and win!!! Anyway, the three points are all that really matter. I can't remember the last time we went into Christmas this high up the table!!!!!!

There's an auction on Ebay for signed first editions of all 12 of the UK versions of "The Saga of Darren Shan". The last time a signed set like this came up, it sold for over £300!! Thought I'd let you all know about it, in case any of you fancy buying an extra nice Christmas present for yourself or anybody else!!!! Please note, I have nothing to do with the auction -- I'm just letting fans know about it, in case any of you are interested. The link to the auction is: http://cgi.ebay.com/Darren-Shan-Books-1-to-12-SIGNED-1st-1sts_W0QQitemZ6994392173QQcategoryZ2232QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Watched "Edward Scissorhands" again last night, for the first time in several years. Nice to see that it's aged well. Sometimes films can dissapoint when you see them as an older viewer, but I still got a big kick out of this one. It works beautifully most of the time, a nice mix of the absurb and romantic, the kitsch and morose. I think Burton's at his best when he mixes the surreal humour with a dark, strong emotional core -- like here, and in "Ed Wood". The films where he just focuses on the laughs - "Mars Attacks", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" etc - are fun, but don't do as much for me. You need characters you can care in, and who go through some pain -- otherwise it's just 2D.

Did some work on my web site today, adding new covers to it. Watched the first episode of the recent "Doctor Who" series. I saw it on a plane a few months ago, but it was nice to see it on a big screen in all its glory. I was never a big "Doctor Who" fan -- it wasn't on Irish TV when I was growing up, so I never had any real exposure to it. But I'm looking forward immensely to the rest of this series!

Also saw a film called "Murder Set Pieces". It's a truly gruesome piece of work, extraordinarilly bloody and vicious. It has no moral redeeming features whatsoever, though it's technically very well made, with better dialogue and acting than most slasher movies. As a movie designed to shock and nauseate, it achieves exactly what it intended. But there's nothing else to it apart from the bloodshed. It could have done with more plot drive -- it would have been even more disturbing if it had been able to draw viewers in a bit more closely. Still, whether you love or loathe it, it's certainly a film you won't forget in a hurry, which is a rarity for a slasher flick. I suspect that this is a movie that will prove a talking point for many years to come ...

The touring is finally over!!! Well, for 2005 at least!!

Got up early on Friday and caught the train down to Cork for my busiest day of the "Thief in the Night" tour. Did my first event at Torytop library. A couple of schools had sent kids to the event, and there were some members of the public there too. I did my "Lord Loss" extract, took lots of questions, then signed lots of books. Went to Douglas library next. Ate a sandwich when I got there, then did another talk and Q&A session. There were kids from one school at this event, and quite a lot of individuals -- mostly Mums who'd been sent by their kids to get books signed!!! Lots more signing to do at the end of the event, then it was on to Mayfield library for a public event. Read my "Lord Loss" extract for the final time on the tour, took lots more questions, then signed for those who'd come.

Waterstones beckoned after the libraries. I went straight there from my final event, and got signing immediately. I didn't have as large a crowd as the last time I was here, but it was a very good turnout, and I was there an hour and a half in total. Signed lots of stock, then popped into Easons and signed all their stock too -- so there are plenty of signed copies of my books in Cork right now!!!

Checked into my hotel, the Gresham Metropole, about 18.45. A nice place. Then met up with three of my old friends from school -- Cathy Kelly, and Liam Marian FitzGERALD. Went for a nice Thai meal, then moseyed on for some drinks. One of Cathy's other friends, Moira, joined us, and we stayed out drinking until 02.00a.m. Wasn't too drunk, though I did drink a bit more than usual. Walked back to my hotel, went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly ...

... but I woke up at 07.30ish and couldn't get back to sleep!! It was just one of those  nights. Stayed in bed and dozed, then got up at 09.00, shaved, and got a taxi over to Cathy's house. She drove me back to Limerick, to an accompaniment of some very dodgy tunes on her MP3 player!!! There was a huge crowd in Easons when I arrived. I was signing for over two hours twenty minutes in total. It was great to see such strong support on my home territory -- my Limerick fans have never let me down!!!!!! Popped into O'Mahony's when I was finished and signed lots of stock there too. And that's it -- I'M DONE!!!! The touring is over, at least for a month! It's been a long, hard year of travel, but I've enjoyed everywhere I've been and I think the hard work's been worth it -- the books are selling stronger than ever in most countries, and the transition from "The Saga" to "The Demonata" has been pretty seamless. Book tours aren't easy, but they play an important role in the lifespan of a book, they keep writers close to their fans, and I don't see myself retiring from the road any time in the near future!!!!!

Had fish and chips in the Lobster Pot afterwards, then got a taxi home. Checked my e-mails and watched a recent horror flick, "The Descent". It was pretty good, with some nice creepy moments and a strong line in cruelty. I'll probably watch another film in a while, then hit the sack.

Had a nice lie-in. Was checking my e-mails on the TV internet in my room about 10.00a.m. when the phone rang -- a local radio station, Galway Bay FM, had read last night's blog, saw that I was in the Great Southern, and wanted to interview me. Liking their cheek, I agreed and gave a short interview a bit later.

Did a talk and signing in Glaway library. The librarians there are very enthusiastic and sweet -- always a nice library to go to! Got a good crowd, full of questions about my books. Most were about "The Saga", naturally, but I'm pleased to see that I'm already getting quite a few questions about "The Demonata" -- the majority of fans here have followed me to the new series and seem to like what they've seen of it so far!!!

Had a quick bite, then went to sign in Easons. Another strong turnout, including a family who'd driven a hundred miles to come see me! Signed LOADS of stock after I'd got through the line, of all my books, and was there for almost two hours in total. Caught the bus down to Limerick. My Dad picked me up at the station and drove me home. Spent almost three hours sorting through my mail and e-mails. ALMOST finished -- just have to unpack a stack of DVDs, and then I'll be able to slip upstairs and have a nice long soak in my oversized, oh-so-welcome Jacuzzi tub -- one of the best luxury items I've ever treated myself to!!!!!!!!!! My only regret is that Bas won't be there to scrub my back -- she's gone over to England for the weekend, for a friend's 30th birthday party. Boo!!!!!