Wrote 10 more pages of Book 8 of "The Demonata". Also plotted out the last couple of chapters. Had an idea for one of the earlier books in the series (book 6) while I was doing that. The nice thing about writing the way I do is that I can bounce about between books, tweaking earlier novels in response to ideas or changes in the later entries. It can get a bit confusing at times, but I like the chaos!!!

Hung a few paintings in the evening. I've got a lot of artwork sitting around or lying in drawers. I've started hanging it over the last few months, but it's going to be a long time before I get everything up. In fact, there won't be room for everything, so a lot of it will have to stay under wraps until and unless I build onto my house or move -- or else I'll just flog some of it on ebay!!!

Saw "The Breakfast Club" again. It's definitely a movie that's best appreciated by teenagers. I liked it when I saw it tonight, but it didn't hit me the way it did 17 or 18 years ago. Still, I'd certainly recommend it for anyone in their teens, especially if you feel like life's dealt you a raw hand and you're all alone in the world. This film will help show that most kids feel awkward and out of place at one time or another. My teenage years were pretty miserable in a lot of places and I know that I took a lot of comfort from movies, books, comics and bands which reflected the uncertainty I was feeling. It's comforting to know that you're not the only person in the world with problems and fears.

Got back to work on book 8 of "The Demonata". Wrote 10 pages. There wasn't much dialogue, so they were 10 fairly packed pages. I'm moving into the closing stretch now, although there's still quite a way to go. I'm hoping to finish some time next week. I also have to do an edit of Book 3 before I head off for the States in a couple of weeks -- so it's busy, busy, busy here in Shanville!!!

Had a meeting with my agent this morning, to discuss a few bits and pieces, then flew back home from Gatwick on Ryanair -- hey, I might be a global bestselling author, but when it comes to short-haul travel I've an eye for a bargain!!!! Went shopping in a newly refurbished store in Limerick (the Jetland) and stocked up on grub for the coming week. Unpackd back home, opened my post, then watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". I've seen it a few times before. I don't love it as much as some Python fans do, but it's a lot of fun. I watched it now because I'm going to see "Spamalot", the mnew musical version, on stage in New York in a few weeks, so I wanted to refresh myself with it!!! My favourite Python movie by far is "Life of Brian" -- one of the funniest movies ever made, in my humble opinion.

Went in to HarperCollins today and signed the 666 book plates for the UK Waterstones limited edition of "Demon Thief". Took me a bit more than 2 hours. As before, I wrote in all the numbers too. Most of the books will just carry my signature and the number, but a few have little messages as well -- it's pure luck as to who winds up with those!!!!

Went to see "Land of the Dead" when I was finished signing. It was OK. Had its good parts, but plenty of dud bits too. Still, as zombie flicks go, it's far from the worst!! After that, I had dinner with Bas and Maiko (Mexican grub, at the Texas Embassy near Trafalgar Square), then went to see "Les Miserables". It's the 4th time I've seen it, and it never ceases to amaze me. It's easily the best play in London, as far as I'm concerned -- great story, brilliant songs, perfectly paces, and wonderfully staged. (I preffered it in its previous theatre, since there was a much bigger stage, but that's a minor gripe.) The guy playing Thenardier (who gets to sing my favourite song of the show, "Master of the House") wasn't very strong this time, but the rest of the cast were top-notch. If you're in London, or coming there soon, and haven't seen "Les Mis" yet -- GO!!!!! You won't find many better ways to pass a few hours in this life!!!

My Japanese agent, Maiko, came over to meet Bas and me at our flat in London this morning. After showing me lots of recent articles about my books from Japan, we went for a stroll along the Thames, from Tower Bridge up to the Tate Modern, where we had a quick look around. That's one of my favourite walks in London (though I usually continue on to the West End, as I'm normally on my way to a movie when I do it!). All the cool stuff in on the south side of the river, but I prefer walking along the north, as you can see everything better that way!!

We went to see the show of "The Lion King" after the Tate Modern. It was my first time seeing it. The costumes, and the way they recreate the look and movement of the animals, are amazing. The singing and music are first-rate too. But it didn't affect me as much as the movie. I had the same problem when I saw "Beauty and the Beast" in New York a couple of years ago -- I just don't think a real life show can improve on a brilliantly animated film. I enjoyed the play, certainly, but the film was much better (and shorter!!). Having said that, Maiko, who hasn't seen the film, was blown away by it all and said that she couldn't imagine a film improving on the play -- so maybe it's just a matter of which you see first ...

Went for a delicious meal at Cecconi's after that. I shouldn't really have eaten most of what I ate, still being on the Atkins diet, but I decided to allow myself a bit of leeway this weekend -- YUM!!!!!

A day of almost non-stop watching! I flew over to London from Limerick yesterday, to meet up with my Japanese agent who's in town for a few days -- she's become a friend, so it'll be pleasure, not work. Finished "Raven's Gate" by Anthony Horowitz on the plane over. I liked it. Not as good as his Alex Rider books, in my opinion, but fast-paced and with plenty of action. My favourite bit was set in the National History Museum, when a load of dinosaur skeletons come aloive -- a fab idea!!! Started to read "Hard Freeze" by Dan Simmons after that. Simmons is a writer I've been following for a long time, ever since "Carrion Comfort" (an amazing book) came out years ago. He's written all sorts of books -- horror, sci-fi, thrillers, etc. His work is variable, but his best work is brilliant -- his 4 "Hyperion" books are modern sci-fi classics.

Today I saw 2 films and a play. First up was "Howl's Moving Castle", a weird, wild fantasy adventure from Japan. Beautifully animated, with all sorts of imaginative and suprising touches. It lost me a little bit towards the very end, and I wish they'd shown more of the inside of the fabulous castle, but it;s certainly original and impossible to predict. Recommended! After that I saw "Me and You and Everyone we Know", a quirky film about family, relationships, childhood, online chat rooms and a whole lot more. I really liked it, though I certainly wouldn't say it was suitable for children!!! Finally, after a quick dinner at Wagamama's with my brother and his girlfriend, I went to see "A Few Good Men" in the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Rob Lowe is the main draw, and there were lots of admiring gasps from many of the ladies in the audience when he first came on! To be honest, I thought he was a bit stiff and weak. I liked Lowe in "The Stand", and think he's perfectly cast in "The West Wing", but he wasn't animated enough, I felt, for this role. Also, he botched the big "I want the truth!" scene near the end!!! He wasn't awful by any means -- just not great. Most of the rest of the cast were better, and overall it moved along neatly and was fairly enjoyable. But I preferred the film!!!

Wrote 10 pages of Book 8 of "The Demonata". This was a key scene, when one of the major characters of the series ... but no, that might be giving too much away!! I'll be taking a break from it over the next few days, because I'm going to London, but I'll get stuck back in next Wednesday.

Saw the original film of "The Invisible Man" again tonight. I've seen that film LOTS of times over the years, and it never fails to impress. The effects are great, even 70+ years later, and it has a nice savage sense of humour. I've got a boxed set, with several of the sequels, which I'll probably watch over the next week or two.

I've also been watching the first series of "Angel" this week. I have to say I was very disappointed with the first handful of episodes. It feels very awkward and forced, nowhere near as much fun as "Buffy", or as vibrant. I'm hoping it will improve over the course of the series, but so far I've seen nothing to make me want to watch series two ...

I posted details of my November/December UK tour on my Message Board today, which you can access from my web site. They're in the NEWS forum.

Wrote 9 pages of Book 8 today. Again, lots of action and description, so even though I worked the same number of hours as usual, I came up a page short. I could have pressed on, but I was at the end of a chapter and it's almost nice to end the day at a chapter's end.

Wrote 9 pages of Book 8 of "The Demonata" today. It was virtually all action scenes, and they can sometimes take a lot of time to write, because you have to describe so much of what's going on. So even though I didn't make my 10 page quota, I was happy with my output, and probably put more into those 9 than I would into an "ordinary" 10!!!

Also finished editing "Koyasan", my World Book Day novelette. I pushed myself hard to wrap it up -- it was nearly 22.00 when I stopped! My editor wanted it by the end of Wednesday, and though there was no great urgency to get it in by then, I've never missed a deadline yet, and don't want to start now!! I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow, which will take a big chunk out of my day (I have to drive into Limerick city, and then there's a couple of shops I need to go to), so I knew if I didn't do it tonight, I'd run late.

I was supposed to go out with my uncle to a pub, to see Spurs play Grimsby in the second round of the Carling Cup. He cancelled, which I was pleased of, because it meant I could work on "Koyasan". I'm even more delighted now, because the useless shower LOST!!! To a second divison side!! i.e. a side 3 divisions below us!!!!!! If I'd watched that debacle I'd be in a right miserable mood -- but, having chosen to give it a miss, I can at least count my blessings on that score! Football!!! Just when you think you might be turning the corner, along comes a shambolic result to remind you of reality!

Wrote 10 pages of Book 8 of "The Demonata" yesterday -- the action has hotted up to boiling point!! I also edited the first third (20 pages) of "Koyasan", my World Book Day novelette. I was going to do more of that later, but we had a power cut! Part of the drawbacks of living in rural Ireland is that we get power cuts quite often. You can never tell how long they're going to last. This one lasted about two and a half hours, wrecking my night-time editing plans. In the end Bas and I went to see my Granny and Grandad, and a few other relatives, and passed a pleasant enough night in half-light. It came on again about 10.30, so we were able to watch the end of the movie we'd been viewing when it went off earlier -- "Sahara", the Matthew McConaughey adventure movie. It was better than I thought -- absolutely ridiculous, but shot in lovely settings and fast moving. Ideal for when you want just simple entertainment.

By the way, in response to a comment -- when I talk about pages, I mean A4 pages. My average page is about 300 words.