Flew over to London this morning, ahead of the UK leg of my upcoming tour. Got to the flat, checked emails, sorted out my flights to and back from Canada, tried to print out details -- printer wasn't working. Finally fixed it. Then did the October issue of the Shanville Monthly and sent out an email to everyone (though lots of fans won't get it for another 6 or 7 hours -- it takes a LONG time to send out emails to a list as long as this one!!!). Got some treats from a noodle house after 9.00pm and had a late dinner while watching "Evan Almighty", which was harmless enough fun -- no classic, but then I don't think there was any danger that it might be! Ideal for late night munching, when you don't want to use your brain too much!!!

And now here I am, at the start of another tour. It seems like only a few weeks since I was saying much the same thing at the start of June, when my "Blood Beast" tour was about to begin!! The last 4 months have whizzed by at a crazy pace. While I'm sure I'll have fun on this tour (it's always a buzz to meet my fans), I have to admit I'm looking forward to some time away from the road after this. Come mid-October, that's it, end of the promotions for a while -- in fact, I don't plan to do any more touring until a short trip to Hungary next April, then probably an Irish and UK tour for Book 7 next June. Famous last words???? I hope not!!! I never like saying no to tours when the opportunities arise, because I know how fortunate I am to be in demand -- there are untold thousands of writers out there who would give their right arm to be able to go on a book tour like mine -- but sometimes you've got to take a break, just to keep things fresh, or you can run out of steam and start operating on miserable auto-pilot, which isn't good for anybody. A winter break from touring, some real time spent writing, and I'm sure I'll be itching to get back on the road by next spring!!! But in the meantime, I have the UK tour to get through, and then the Canadian tour -- so come on, anyone living anywhere near any of the venues where I'll be hitting -- come on out and give me your support, and help me close out the year (touring-wise) on a frenzied, happy high!!!!!!!!