I'm heading off today in the early afternoon for the weekend -- I'm going to a wedding in England, one of Bas's friends. So there'll be no Blog updates until Sunday or Monday!

I meant to do half a day's writing, but I was out late last night, so that plan fell by the wayside!! I went in to Limerick to watch Ireland play France in a crucial World Cup qualifier. We lost 1-0. I was gutted!! Germany is looking very far away right now, although if we win our last 2 games we should make the play-offs. But that's quite a big IF, methinks!!!!! Couldn't even take much enjoyment out of England losing 1-0 to Northern Ireland (one of their worst defeats ever!!) -- although even in the midst of my despair I managed a small chuckle at their expense!!!!!!!!    :-)

Went to see a band called The Editors afterwards. They're a newish band, doing very well at the moment -- they've even had a Top 20 hit in the UK!!! It's rare that big (or even on-the-way-to-being-big) bands come to Limerick, so it was great to see The Editors bucking the trend! They played a fast, exciting set -- very enjoyable. I would have liked to heard some of their songs before - gigs are always more fun if you know the songs - but I'll definitely pick up their album. You can check our their web site at http://www.editorsofficial.com/

A Limerick band, Vesta Varro, played support. I'd heard about them before this, but hadn't seen them. I thought they were pretty good -- the lead singer certainly throws himself body and soul into his performance!!! You can check out their web site here: http://www.vestavarro.com/

Meant to go home after the Editors, but I was with my friend Pablo and he wanted to have a few more drinks in a nightclub. We meant an old friend of ours who we hadn't seen in years in there, and by the time we finished catching up and I caught a taxi home, it was 3 in the morning!!!! I didn't have a hangover when I woke up (I don't really get hangovers, because I drink in moderation and don't get roaring drunk!!), but my head was a bit sore and buzzy, and I wasn't in any fit frame of mind to sit down and write. Oh well -- I'll make it up next week!!

Wrote 12 pages of Book 8 today, which I was very pleased with! Although, actually, not all of them were entirely original -- books 7, 8 and 9 overlap in certain sections, and the scene I was working on today was one that also takes place in book 7, so I had to take specific bits of that - such as dialogue - and work them into the body of the new text. It was trickier than it sounds, since I didn't want the "new" scene to read exactly like the original, as that would be boring for readers, so I had to alter things while keeping the core from the Book 7 scene intact. Where it will really get fiddly is when I edit book 7 further down the line -- any changes I make to dialogue in that scene, I'll have to replicate when I come to book 8!!! I'll have to careful, because I know that if I make any mistakes, eagle-eyes Shansters will be baying for my head -- especially now that I've tipped them off about it in advance, so they know what to look for!!!!!!

Away from my PC I'm about halfway through series 3 of "Six Feet Under". I don't watch a lot of TV "live", but prefer to wait for a series to end. Then, when it comes out on DVD, I buy it and watch it at my own pace, normally getting through an episode a day. I liked "Six Feet Under" from the start, but didn't think the first series was as amazing as some of my friends did. One guy I know (Liam) said he thought it was the best TV show EVER!!! Conversely, I've come to enjoy it more as it progresses, while my friends who raved about the first series haven't enjoyed the later episodes to much -- Liam didn't even watch the third series!!

I've had a good listen to each of the 6 CDs on my jukebox by now (see earlier entries for a full list). I like them all, though I wouldn't say any were great. The Eels is a bit disappointing -- I thought all of his earlier albums were brilliant, or at least in patches, and while this one ("Shootenanny") is good, it doesn't measure up to his previous work -- or so says I!! The highlight of the bunch for me is the first song on the Magic Numbers album. The album itself is very good, but a bit too long, especially for a debut album. But the first song, "Mornings Eleven", truly is magic!!! It's the coolest song I've heard in a long time -- I break out into a big goofy smile every time it kicks in!!!!!

Wrote 11 pages of Book 8 today. I've moved away from the recaps and on to the story proper, which is more enjoyable. I'm also able to do more dialogue scenes now, which is probably my favourite part of the writing process -- I'm not that keen on long descriptive scenes, but I love putting characters together and letting them talk to each other!!

Saw a 1914 silent Italian film called "Cabiria" a few days ago. This was a hugely influential movie at the time -- an epic set in Ancient Rome, it featured some elaborate, gigantic sets, a convoluted storyline and an enormous cast. Given how young cinema still was, and the limits they had to work under back then, it's a technical marvel. Not as enjoyable now as it would have been then -- some old films just don't weather well, whereas others, like Chaplin's better films and Buster Keaton's, are just as much fun now as they were originally. The best scene was where 100 children were sacrificed in a statue of fire to the god Moloch -- coolio!!!!

Watched a documentary about Federico Fellini this evening, called "Fellini: I'm a born liar". Some interesting insights from Fellini himself (filmed before his death, obviously!) and some of the people who worked with him. Fellini's one of my favourite directors. Not all of his films worked for me -- some I absolutely hated! -- but his best works are cinematic classics, like "La Strada", "8 1/2", "La Dolce Vita" and "Amarcord". It's been a long time since I sat down and watched any of those -- seeing the documentary put me in the mood to reacquaint myself with them again, and soon!!!

Started work on Book 8 of "The Demonata" today! I hadn't finished writing up my plot notes, but I can do that as I go along. I wanted to get stuck in as soon as possible -- I hope to finish it before heading for the States in October, but it's going to be tight!! Every day counts!!!

I have a nice catchy title for the book, but I won't be revealing it until much closer to the publication date -- don't want to give the game away too early!!

Wrote 10 pages, which is my target every working day of the week (usually Monday to Friday, though I occasionally work at weekends too). It's always nice to hit the 10 mark at the end of the day -- that's when I know I've put in a good day's work and can down tools! A lot of those 10 pages were recapping events from earlier books. I'll probably trim them down later, or move them to later in the book if possible, but I find it's helpful to lay the recap out at the start -- it refreshes things inside my own mind.

Spent the last few hours updating the Shop and Covers sections of my web site. Doesn't sound like a lot of work, but appearances can be deceptive!! I had to check on Amazon and Barnes & Noble to see what books were and were not available now. Then I found out that the Audio CD apaptations of the first 3 books in my vampire series are now listed on Amazon UK, so I had to add links for those. And then ... in the end, a job I thought would take maybe half an hour ended up taking at least two hours!!! This is why I don't update my site as often as I'd like to -- the simplest of tasks usually runs over by a lot more than I expected! Still, I don't feel too guilty -- I provide updates a lot more than most writers!! You can find links to the new stuff by clicking here, if interested: http://p090.ezboard.com/fdarrenshanmessageboardfrm9

Had a night out with Pablo (my board moderator) in Limerick last night. Just sat in a pub (the Trinity Rooms) having a few drinks and chatting. The pub used to called Doc's, and I used to go there a lot when I was a student and in my early 20s. Hadn't been there in years, so it was nice to check it out -- hasn't changed that much. Popped in to a night club briefly afterwards (it was attached to the pub, and entrance was free, so why not?!?), but neither of us has ever had much time for discos (except for indie discos when we were younger, where we happily thrashes around to music we actually liked!), so we left after a short sojourn.

I commenced my preparatory work on Book 8 of "The Demonata" today. I started, as I always do when plotting a book, by jotting down a rough outline of the book on a couple of sheets of A4 paper. I always write directly to a PC, except when I'm planning a book -- at this early stage, I prefer to write by hand. I'm not sure why -- it's just a habit.

I came up with some nice twists and ideas while working on the plot. Would-be writers often ask me about how to develop ideas, and I think the key is to actually write. Thinking's all well and good, but when I actually sit down with a pen in my hand and start to scribble, I find ideas pouring out -- the writing down of one idea usually leads to others. I had a vague idea of what I wanted the book to be like yesterday -- today I have a fairly full structure which, while it still needs a lot of work, should see me safely to the finish.

Once I finished the rough plot outline, I began work on the chapter breakdown. I don't always do this (with "Cirque Du Freak" and "Lord Loss" I worked from the rough plot only), but usually I do. I write a short description of what will be in each chapter. I find that this helps me flesh out the plot -- I usually have some more ideas at this stage -- and, when complete, it makes the writing process a lot easier. As I go along, I tick off each chapter on the pages, and that gives me a real sense of progress. Of course, I can veer away from the chapter descriptions along the way -- I often find that I'll split a longer chapter up into a couple of shorter chapters, or run a few together -- but I usually stick quite close to them.

I received the UK audio CD version of "Lord Loss" today, and all I can say is -- WOW!!!! The reader, Rupert Degas, has done a brilliant job! He reads at just the right pace, and handles the voices absolutely perfectly -- his Lord Loss is ace, exactly the way I imagined it should be, not overdone; Dervish's accent isn't quite the way I thought it would be, but it works very well; but my favourite is Bill-E -- he makes him sound like a wannabe rap star -- hilarious!!!!! The packaging is great too, and there's some spooky musical effects to round it all off.

I'd definitely recommend the CDs if you're into audio books. If you can't find it in your local shop, ask them to order it for you. Alternatively you can order it directly through my publishers, HarperCollins, by clicking on this link: http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/books/default.aspx?id=33332

You can also order it through Amazon by clicking here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0007213891/shanville -- but they're currently quoting a 4 to 6 week wait for it!!

Spent today working on the September issue of the Shanville Monthly. I didn't have a huge amount of news to report this month (August is generally a quiet month, since lots of people are on hols), so I added some reviews of "Lord Loss" and extracts from my Blog to pad it out a bit. I meant to have it finished by midday, so that I could work on some other stuff, but it stretched into the afternoon, as it nearly always does.

Started listening to a new batch of CDs yesterday: "Want Two" by Rufus Wainwright; "Shootenanny" by Eels; "Fisherman's Woman" by Emiliana Torrini; "The Magic Numbers"; "Staring at the Sea" by the Cure; and "Golden age of radio" by Josh Ritter.

One of my cousins, Ronan, was going to his Debs tonight. I went out to see him off in the afternoon. Have to admit I felt quite old watching him. He's the first of 5 kids that one of my aunts had, and they've been like younger brothers and a sister (4 boys and 1 girl) to me. I've babysat them all over the years, and it seems like just a couple of years ago that I was pushing Ronan around in a pram. Now he's several inches taller than me and heading out for a night of carousing and mischief (if he's lucky!!!), while I'm sitting home, probably to watch a movie and have a mug of hot chocolate. Time's a-passing and poor Shan's getting older. *sob*

:-)

In all seriousness -- have fun while you can, my young and crazy Shansters, because once time passes, it can never be bought back ...

Finished my first edit of Book 7 of "The Demonata"! It went quicker than I expected. Normally, at the first edit stage, I have quite a lot of rewriting to do, but this one seemed fairly solid -- hopefully that's a sign that it's going to be a very good book!!! Strange to think it won't see print for another 3 years -- May/June 2008!!!! But I'm glad I'm so far ahead of the publication schedule -- it gives me plenty of time to work on the editing process of the books in between, and also to write the last 3 books of the series. In fact, if all goes according to plan, and I finish the first drafts of books 8, 9 and 10 by the middle of next year, I'll have loads of time to focus on other books and projects, meaning, when the series ends in December 2009, I should have plenty of new material ready and waiting to hit you all with!!!!!!!

It was a dog of a day in Limerick. It rained almost non-stop, and we had thunderstorms around lunchtime -- lots of thunder and lightning. Had a power cut later, when I was eating my dinner. I thought I might be in for a night of no electricity, but luckily it snapped back on after 20 or 30 minutes. Living in the countryside is nice and peaceful, but you do sometimes find yourself at the mercy of the elements!!!!