Bas and her friends got back from their tour of Western Ireland last night. After a quick change of clothes, we all went to Bunratty Castle, for a Medieval Night. I've been a couple of times before, and it's always great fun. Bunratty is an old, beautiful castle which has been lovingly restored. You can go in and just look around during the day, but at night they have feasts, in which you eat old-style food and listen to traditional Irish music. You also get lots of Mead and wine to drink!! I'm not that keen on wine, but I have a soft spot for Mead! We spent the night eating (with a knife and our fingers -- no forks!!) and drinking and listening to music -- which is a pretty good way to spend a night, in my opinion!

Finished editing the proofs of "Demon Thief" -- hurrah!!! But, wait a minute, I'm not entirely finished with it yet -- my editor, Stella, has a few last-minute suggestions she wants to run by me next week ...

Also edited the American proofs for the book, pencilling in the changes and corrections which I'd made to the UK version. My books get "Americanized" for publication in the States -- just small stuff, like changing "Mum" to "Mom", and altering words or expressions which American readers might not understand.

Ended up changing the last couple of paragraphs of the book. The ending itself hasn't changed, just the wording -- I wanted it to be a bit tighter than it was in the previous draft. I usually know the last line of a book before I start to write it -- I like having something definite to work my way towards. But sometimes that line can change, if I get to the end and think of something better. Occasionally, even the ending itself might change, but that's fairly rare for me.

I've almost concluded my editing duties on "Demon Thief" -- should wrap it up tomorrow. There was one major gaffe, which my sharp-eyed editor fortunately spotted -- at one stage, I make mention of the film "2001: a Space Odyssey", except, in a display of bumbling incompetence, I called it "2001: A Space Oddity"!!!!! I've only seen it, like, 10 times!!!!! My excuse is that I got the film title mixed up with the classic David Bowie song, "Space Oddity". Or else I'm just an idiot!!!!

Had an e-mail from a fan who's coming to my "Lord Loss" event at Edinburgh. He was worried -- I've only been talking about my "Saga of Darren Shan" event here, and he wondered if that meant the Saturday event was going to be crap!!!! No way, Jose!!!!! ALL of my events are brilliant!!!  :-)   Seriously, the Saturday event is in the bigger tent, with 3 or 4 times the capacity of the children's tent, so I'm going to be putting a hell of a lot of work into that one too!!! The only reason I've mentioned the Friday event so much is that it's different type of event to the one I normally do.

If any of you haven't bought tickets yet, but intend to, and are dithering over which event to come to, let me put it this way -- you should come to both!!!! But, if you can only make one, the Friday event will provide more of an insight into the way I work, and will show you how "The Saga of Darren Shan" came into being, the hurdles I faced, how it all happened. It won't be as funny or as frightening as my typical type of event, but it should provide plenty to entertain. The Saturday event will be more like what I usually do, and I'll be using it as a test-run for my October tour of the States, trying out some new material. I'll be reading 2 or 3 extracts from later books in the "Demonata" series (maybe even a few more extracts, if they're short) -- and I've only ever read out one of those in public before. So most of the extracts will be getting a world exclusive airing in Edinburgh!!!!

At both events, I'll be answering questions from members in the audience, like I always do -- that's normally the most enjoyable part for me!! And I'll be rounding off each event with the song I mentioned in an earlier Blog entry ... So, if you have delicate ears, you might want to slip away a few minutes before the end!! And, of course, I'll be signing afterwards. I'll happily sign every one of my books that fans bring along, but I'll be limiting dedications to 2 per person on Friday, and 1 per person on Saturday. (A dedication is when I write "To .......", then write a short message, then sign and date the book.) So, if you bring all 13 of my books on Friday, I'll dedicate 2 of them and sign the rest. On Saturday, I'll only be able to dedicate one, but I'll still sign all the others. (N.B. on Ebay, signed books are worth far more than dedicated books -- no collector wants a book that has some other fan's name in it!!!!)

By the way, tickets for Saturday's events are now almost sold out, and you can't order them online any more!! So if you're interested in getting tickets to either event, you'll need to ring the box office at this number: 0131 624 5050  (0044131 624 5050 if you're outside the UK)

Got through a hefty chunk of "Demon Thief". I'm pleased by how little there is that I want to change. When you get to this stage of a book, you should be happy with what you've done. If not -- if you find lots of sections you want to do more work on -- then you're in trouble!!!!

Finished going through my diary entries for the Edinburgh event. Amazed by how much I'd forgotten! Such as ... Collins originally wanted to call the series "Cirque Du Freak" ... and my original title for Book 9 was "Dawn's Crimson Flames"!!!!!! Now I've just to got to work all of my diary entries into an amusing, interesting story, which I can read out live to an audience at Edinburgh ...

Was going to watch the silent version of "Ben-Hur" tonight, but my DVD was scratched badly and wouldn't load! So I ended up watching Francois Truffaut's final film instead, "Confidentially Yours". Truffaut was a great director, but he did his fair share of dull flicks too. This wasn't a bad film, but it didn't do an awful lot for me. Very Hitchcockian, and filmed in a nice noir style, but it was a little too clever for its own good, and threw in way too many coincidences.

A day of work on the web, and work editing.

Now that I've moved web servers, I can do a lot more with the behind-the-scenes stuff on my site. I'm already loving checking out the stats each day, to see how many people are hitting my site. (I'll include a bit about that in the next issue of the Shanville Monthly.) I've also set up a new mailing list, which people can automatically subscribe for. Previously, when fans registered with my web site, their e-mail address came to me personally; I held it in a folder in my Outlook Express; then, each month, I had to save all the e-mail addresses to a folder on my PC (by manually clicking on each e-mail and saving the sender's details!!); then I had to convert them into a database form which I could upload to my mailing list!!!! Now, all you have to do is click on a subscribe button -- my mailing list will automatically send you an e-mail, and once you reply to it, you'll be subcsribed!! That's going to make my life a LOT simpler in future!!!!

Also returned to editing work on Book 2, "Demon Thief". I'm making only minimal changes at this stage, altering the occasional word here or there, or fixing some small error or other. But because this is the last chance I have to make any changes, it's slow work -- I have to take my time, to make sure I don't overlook anything that I'm going to regret later!!! Although, as I've said before, I never read any of my books once they're published, so the minor changes I'm making now are purely for the benefit of the perfectionist within me -- it's not like I'm going to read through the book in a few years and go, "Ah hah! That's a great word! I'm glad I decided to stick that in at the last moment!!" So why go to all this time and effort, huffing away over minor stuff that most readers won't notice and that I'm not going to ever spot once the book comes out?!? Well, that's just the way I am!!!!

Had an introspective, nostalgic day yesterday. The electricity was off for most of the day (I often get unexpected electricity cuts living in the Irish countryside, but this was a scheduled cut, so at least I could prepare for it). Since I couldn't work on my PC, I decided to prepare some material for my events in Edinburgh later this month. First I wrote out the words of a new song which I'll be singing (to the tune of Supercalifragalisticexpealidocious!!!!!). Then I started looking through old diary entries of mine. Basically, I'm planning to tell the as-yet untold story of the early days of "The Saga of Darren Shan" -- when I wrote it, why, what happened when my agent sent it to 20 publishers at the same time, etc.

I kept a diary for 12 or 13 years (maybe even more), before finally quitting 3 and a half years ago. I quit because I stopped enjoying it. I'd lived a very ordered life up to that point, and still do for the most part. But I felt the need to break free a little and make some changes, to be a bit more spontaneous and loose. One of the things to go from my life was the diary. But I'm glad I kept it for such a long time, because it contains all the details from that era of my life, all the difficulties I faced starting out as a writer, my dreams and hopes, my delight when things started to go my way.

It was fascinating to look back over entries I'd written 5, 6, 7 years ago. I'd forgotten most of what I'd written, and even some key events -- such as when my agent threatened to withdraw "Cirque Du Freak" from my publishers and send back the money we'd received (and which I'd already spent!!). To get the full lowdown, you'll have to come to my Vampire event in Edinburgh!!!!   :-)   Although, if it goes down well, I might do it again at some future events ...

Several of Bas's friends arrived in the evening. They're going off on a short holiday together, driving around the west of Ireland. That's why I didn't write up this entry last night -- I was playing host!!!!

Started editing work on the page proofs of  "Demon Thief". This will be my final work on the book -- once I wrap up editing duties on the proofs, that's it, game over, it'll be ready for printing! Which means this is my final chance to fix anything that isn't working as smoothly as it should be!!! I enjoy the final edit of a book -- it's the closest I ever get to actually reading my own work. I never read a book of mine once it's been printed, but at this stage of the editing, most of the hard work has been (or should be!!) done, so I can go through the book quite quickly, much the way that I do when reading another author's book. At least, that's USUALLY the way ...

Things have changed with "Lord Loss" and "Demon Thief". During "The Saga of Darren Shan", the UK editions of the books came out long before they did anywhere else, because the first book was published in the UK long before it saw life anywhere else in the world. But a few countries have caught up -- Taiwan and Japan, to be specific. And America will start releasing "The Demonata" books before the end of my vampire series there. So these countries all need the books NOW! Translating a book is a lengthy process (if done right), and sometimes my translators can spend a couple of months working on one of my books.

But actually publishing a book is an even lengthier process. The translation is just the start -- the book then has be checked by editors, typeset, proofread ... the jacket and interior design has to be sorted out ... the books have to be physically printed ... In short, if a country like Japan or Taiwan is going to release a translation of an English book at the same time or soon after it's released in its home country, they need to have the book translated several months in advance. That was fine when I was working on "The Saga" -- we simply sent an English copy of each book to them when it was published. But that doesn't work any more. They need to get the books BEFORE they're released over here!!

What all this means is that I sent an unfinished draft of "Demon Thief" to a few of my international publishers a couple of months ago. It wasn't the very final draft, but it was close to it. They've made translations of that, and are now waiting for me to go through the UK proofs, make any last-minute changes or corrections, then forward those changes to them. That means that, while I'm going through the proofs, if I decide to alter a line, I have to stop, make a note of the page and line number, type out what I'm changing and what I've changed it to, then make up a list of all the changes and forward it to my translators when I'm finished!!!!

Sounds complicated? It is!!! But that's just everyday life if you're an author whose books are on sale in different countries at the same time! You have to get used to it, adapt, and get on with things. Of course, if you're an author who only write one book a year (or every 2 or 3 years), it's fine -- you simply make sure the proofs are ready nine months before publication, so that everyone has lots of time to translate them. But when you bring out a book every six months ... well, you don't have that kind of luxury!!!! It's the curse of being prolific. Sometimes I think I should just slow down and only release a book once every five years or so ...

:-)

Went to see the new Willy Wonka film last night (which is why there was no entry yesterday!). Extremely stylish, with some very funny bits. But what the hell was that hopelessly flat ending in the movie for?!?!? I couldn't believe how wrong they could go at sucha crucial time of the movie!! I can appreciate them wanting to do something different than the original, but this missed the mark by a mile. A real shame, as the rest of the movie was most enjoyable. I was dubious when I heard about the Oompah Loompahs, and how one guy would be playing them all, but it worked! And the sets were amazing, and the actors just right. But oh, that dreary ending!!! All in all, I'd probably mark it seven and a half out of ten. The original's still my favourite though, but then I grew up with that one and have been enjoying it regularly over the last twenty-five or so years -- so it was always going to be a tough one to top!!!

Spent most of Sunday putting the Shanville Monthly together. The Monthly usually takes the better part of a day to knock into shape. Even though I cut and paste most of the items from the News section of my message board - http://p090.ezboard.com/fdarrenshanmessageboardfrm9 - I like to re-edit and re-shape most of the entries, make sure all the links work, and add some new material.

Bas returned yesterday, which was nice. I haven't mentioned Bas on my blog yet!!! That's because she was away all of last week. She's my live-in lover -- well, just my girlfriend, really, but live-in lover sounds much more racy and exciting!!!!

Saw a fascinating documentary tonight, called "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl." She was a film director who made "Triumph of the Will", a notorious movie about a Nazi rally in 1934. She later filmed the 1936 Olympics, again for the Nazis. Now, lots of directors and movie folk worked for the Nazis in the 1930s (as did just about any German who chose to stay in the country when Hitler came to power). What made Riefenstahl different is that she was a true movie artist. Her 2 major movies were two of the most beautiful, groundbreaking films of their time, lovingly staged and shot. She was incredibly talented, and both films deservedly won awards and international plaudits.

But ... they were virtual love poems to the Nazi ideology. They portrayed Hitler and his merciless crew in a positive, spellbinding light, setting them up almost as gods. They endorsed their fascist view of an Aryan, united Germany, where physical beauty, strength and power were essentials. They ignored the plight of the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and other victims of the Nazi reign.

So ... did that matter? Should art exist separately to politics? Should a director make a beautiful film about an ugly subject? Where does social responsibility begin and end? Can - and should - we as a society promote objectivity when it comes to art, or must art always obey humane and moral laws? i.e. Is it OK to make a beautiful film in which people are tortured and murdered? What if Riefenstahl had turned her lens on the concentration camps and made a beautifully crafted film detailing the wonderful efficiency and organisation of the Nazi genocide machine???

Troubling, difficult questions, especially if you're involved in the arts like me. I live in a time where I'm free to write pretty much what I want. But what if I'd been living in 1930s Germany? What if I'd been approached by Nazis and told I could write a saga about vampires and vampaneze, but my vampires had to be noble, honest, upstanding Aryans, and the vampaneze had to be vicious, vile, treacherous Jews? If they'd said I had to write the books that way or not at all. If they'd promised me fame and fortune if I played ball ... a one-way ticket to the camps if I didn't. Would I have caved in to their demands? Would I have been one of the few to reject their rule and defy them? If so, at what cost?

We don't live in a world of black and whites. Society is a grey zone, and I try to reflect that when I write. But Leni Riefenstahl's times were a lot greyer than mine. The documentary didn't take sides, but tried to explore the issues from all angles. I thought it was one the best docs I've seen in a long while. Quite apart from the issues surrounding her 2 most infamous films, Riefenstahl was an amazing character. She started out as an actress in mountaineering films ... made her 2 1930s masterpieces ... was reviled and denounced as a Nazi sympathizer after the war ... lived in relative solitude in the 1950s and 60s ... then returned to the public eye in the 1970s with a book about a native African tribe. The book was criticized as being fascist, and she was hauled over the coals again. At the age of 90 (yes, ninety!!), she was filming underwater scenes, merrily scuba diving with all the skill and agility of a woman half her age.

But it's "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympiad" that she will always be remembered for, and which will always generate the greatest debate. Two acknowledged classics, which happen to be two hymns to Nazism ... two of the world's most beautiful films, about one of the world's ugliest political parties ... visionary genius or Nazi collaborator?

Finished my current edit of Book 6 of "The Demonata". A very dark book, just like #5. I think these two form the real heart of the series, and I expect them to have a big impact on fans when they come out, much the same way that I expected books 6 and 9 of "The Saga of Darren Shan" to go down particularly well.

I had to do a bit more work than usual on this edit. I wrote the first draft of book 7 last month, and needed to make some changes in book 6 to tie in with new ideas I came up with while working on the seventh book!! That's pretty much the same way that I worked on "The Saga" -- because I'm constantly bouncing back and forth from later to earlier books, I can take ideas from the later entries and include scenes or make changes in the earlier books, to link everything together. Out of chaos, order gradually grows, and by the time the books see print, it looks like I planned out every last detail far in advance!!!!!!!