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!!!!!!!

After several years of hosting my web site on Irishtourism.com, I'm moving web hosts, and setting up with a firm called Clook. I had virtually nil down time with Irishtourism.com over the past few years, so I was reluctant to move, but they had a very poor stats site, and I was very limited with what I could do with my site. Many of my publishers want to know how many hits I'm getting each month, where they're coming from, which pages fans visit, etc. So eventually I had to move to a firm which could let me access those facts quicky and in depth.

There shouldn't be any problems with the move -- users shouldn't even be aware that anything has changed!! but you might want to hit your refresh button the next time you visit the site. And if you can't see anything, so please let me know!!!!

Didn't get much work done today, because of various interruptions.

First, I was awoken early by a delivery man -- I bought some art recently, and it was delivered shortly after 8 this morning. (Not early for most people, I know, but I rarely move much before 9!!!) I decided to pop back to bed for another hour. A few minutes later, there was a ring at the door -- electricians had come to wire up a few of the paintings!!! I had to help them out for a while, which ate up most of my morning work period. Checked my e-mails around noon time, had lunch, then tried to get a bit of editing done.

I'd barely set to work when my phone rang a couple of times and I had to answer. By the time I'd got through with the calls, and answered some more e-mails, most the afternoon was gone, so I wrapped up the chapter I was working on, then let it lie. It means working over the weekend, but that's OK. I enjoy the editing process much more than when I'm writing a first draft. I try not to work more than 5 days a week when I'm on first draft duty, but I can happily go over when I'm editing.

Also, the page proofs for "Demon Thief" arrived from HarperCollins today. I'll get stuck into them once I finish the current edit of Book 6, and that will be the final work I do on the book!!! "Demon Thief" is unusual, in that it's less than a year since I wrote the first draft of it. Usually I'll spend at least 2 years editing a book, but in this case I didn't have the luxury of that much time. I haven't rushed it or taken any short cuts -- I've simply had to work on it twice as hard in half the time as normal!!!

Watched "The Last Minute" today, a film by the director of "Blade" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". This was an entirely different type of film, exploring the perils of those who chase fame. For the most part it was fairly pretentious twaddle, but it was stylishly directed, and had some curiously interesting and affecting moments. It's overall message - "Don't waste time or time will waste you" - is, of course, perfectly true, but was put across rather bluntly and unimaginatively. But a far more interesting line for me was near the end, when the main character was wondering what makes a work of art (any work of art -- book, song, film, etc) GOOD and WORTHWHILE. He thought it was public acceptance, but another character said, "No -- the public just give you a career."

And it's true!! One of the points I always try to stress, when talking with wannabe writers, is that you have to do it for yourself. You should write because you enjoy it, and judge your work by how happy YOU are with it. Sure, it's great if you can sell something that you like, and even better if you can make lots of money out of it, but the most important thing is that YOU like it. You have to be your own judge. Immediate, widespread acceptance doesn't mean you've written a good book -- just as rejection, disinterest or poor sales doesn't mean you've written a stinker. The public can be fickle. Sometimes they get it right -- sometimes they don't.

Pursue your dreams. Be true to yourself. Write (sing, paint, etc.) from the heart. Don't sell out.

Those ways happiness lies.

A historic day for Ireland -- the IRA have agreed to set aside their arms and reject violence. This has been a long time coming, and is a huge step forward. It's a complex situation up North, and I suspect there's still a long way to go before the area can truly succumb to peace, but this is a vital, positive move. As someone who's lived on this small island for most of his life, this day could possibly, if everything works out, prove to be as important for me and other Irish people as Independence Day is for the Americans!!!!

Started editing book 6 of "The Demonata" -- the third time I've edited it. This is a key book in the series. It's when all the various plot lines of the first 5 books come together, and readers start to realise precisly what's going on with all these stories. It also sets up the main plot thrust of the last 4 books.

Saw the documentary movie about Metallica, "Some kind of monster" today -- quite apt, given the book I was working on! Metallica are one of my fave bands. I used to be very anti-heavy metal in my teens, until I listened to their Black Album and was blown away by it. I experimented with metal a bit after that, but never really developed a great and abiding love for any other metal band. But Metallica still excite me when they're at their best. The movie's OK, but hard to see it appealing to anyone who isn't already a fan. The scenes of them in therapy are quite surreal!!!

Watching it, I was delighted that, as a writer, I don't have any of the crazy work relationships that wrench at the minds and hearts of many bands. But at the same time I almost envied them. Sure, they drove each other mad much of the time, but when everything was clicking, it was great for them to have others to share the euphoria with. As a writer, you tend to write alone, and others only see your work once it's finished. A good day at the office ... or a bad day ... it doesn't really make much difference, since you've nobody to get excited with or mad at!!! It can be a lonely old life sometimes, but then every writer knows that when they sign up for the job, so there's no use complaining!!! Besides, I know that when I'm out on the road in the States in October, I'll be pining for the solitude and peace of home!!!!!!!

Finished my most recent edit of book 5 of "The Demonata" this afternoon. Although the first 4 books are designed to stand alone, books 5 and 6 are a 2 part story -- so I get to end book 5 with a HUGE cliffhanger!!! I love cliffhangers, which is why I wove so many of them into "The Saga of Darren Shan". There aren't so many outright cliffhangers in the new series, but the one in book 5 is a classic -- one of my favourite cliffhangers out of all the ones I've written!!!!! I can't wait to hit readers with it, though I guess I'll have to -- the book won't be published in the UK until May 2007!!!!!