Sorry it's taken me so long to get round to this, but the last half of the tour was full-on, and I've been bouncing about the place since finishing!! Anyway, after a hugely successful stint on the south coast, I flew up north and had an equally enjoyable and busy time up there. Newcastle was first up, where I did a couple of schools and a big public signing in the massive Metro Centre -- how big IS that place?!? I did a multi-school event in Kendal the next day -- several schools came to the Kendal leisure centre and I addressed them all at the same time. I really like this format, and we're going to try and do most of our school events this way in the future in the UK and Ireland -- because we get so many requests, it's the fairest, easiest and only way to fit in even a fairly good number of them. By bringing several schools together at the same time, we give far more groups a chance of seeing me -- it's impossible to visit every single school or library that asks for me. So any of you thinking of sending in a pitch for me to my publishers, please note that a willingness to travel (or if you have access to a large venue and you're prepared to help accomodate other groups) will bump you WAY up the waiting list ...

I did a talk and signing in Preston on Friday evening, in a court!! No, not a tennis court -- a court where a judge and jury hear trials!!!!! It was a fun, interesting location, a bit different to my usual type of venue, and I enjoyed the setting tremendously!! It was on to Leeds after that. I got a good night's sleep, while my publicist Geraldine was up dancing the night away with Chris Moyles (heh heh -- sorry, Geraldine, I couldn't resist!!!!). Did two good signings the next day, in Wakefield and Leeds, then went on to Manchester, where I did a big public signing on Sunday at WHSmith in the Arndale centre, then signed stock at 3 more shops later in the day. On Monday we finished up in York, where I did one final school event (I finished with my favourite scene, the hand-biting one from "Cirque Du Freak"), and one last public signing in the afternoon ... and that was that!!! Overall it was an excellent tour -- huge turnouts, lots of copies of "Demon Apocalypse" bought by fans, no crap schools (I usually get at least one stinker, but this time they were all top-notch!), nice hotels, perfect organisation. It was busy, but much less so than my massive "Blood Beast" tour, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Also, because it was half the length of the BB tour, I never got to the stage where I was sick of signing copies of the book! I have to admit, after 3 weeks of writing similar messages in endless copies of BB, I could have quite happily never looked at another copy of that book again!!! But I don't feel that way with "Demon Apocalypse". Maybe I'll stick to the 10 or 11 day tours in future, to keep things more interesting for myself -- I always think that if an author's having fun on the road, that comes through, and people enjoy his events and signings more. I was able to do a lot more talking to people in lines on this tour, because I wasn't as exhausted as I was in the last half of the BB tour four months ago!!!!

As always, endless thanks to Geraldine, Mary, Catherine and Emma for organising the tour, escorting me around, and ensuring everything passed as smoothly as possible. And everybody else who helped out in any way, shape or form along the way -- you're too innumerable to mention, but I appreciate the input of each and every one of you!!! And, of course, my greatest thanks as ever to those of you who turned up to say hello to me, whether you were a long-established fan who'd seen me before (and I met some fans who'd seen me 7or more years ago!!), or a brand new fan who was coming to meet me for the first time. You guys are what it's all about at the end of the day, and as long as you lot keep turning up, so will I!!!!

Got back to London on Monday night, then went to visit Bas's aunt the next day. Mary is a Carmelite nun -- she lives in an enclosed order in a convent near Norwich. We spent a couple of days there, chatting with her and relaxing. It was a nice way to calm down after the tour! We also got to visit Banham zoo, which impressed us both -- if you're in the area, it's definitely worth a visit! We got back to the flat late on Wednesday, then strolled around central London for a while today, before going to see a new version of "Glengarry Glen Ross" at the theatre. Jonathan Pryce is the star. I've seen him before on stage and he was electric, and he was brilliant as usual tonight -- he's one of the most commanding and charismatic actors I've seen live. If you can ever catch him (in anything), do. He could make even the dullest of plays seem like a classic! And in a strong play like GGR, he leaves you feeling dazed and slightly awed.