Got the following VERY sweet email today from a lady named Jo:

I’m a (nearly) 40 year old single parent and you’ve just made me cry. My soul started to sing to me last March and told me to write. I’ve written ever since. I’ve been lost and now I’m found. I’m fighting my way through the rejections that get returned to me. I’m wading through the stormy sea towards a literary agent. I don’t care if I stay on benefits for the rest of my life. I don’t care about success and fame. All I want to do is write. If I spend five years letting my soul sing then I’ll be happy. My demons and angels live with me night and day. They tell me their stories and I think the world is ready to hear them. Thank you for your blog of Saturday 5th April. I wouldn’t have even thought of reading your genre (I hate that word) but in researching agents I came across you. Went to the library and read Demon Thief yesterday afternoon and have started The Vampire Prince. You have made an old lady very happy. You’ve inspired me to keep going. God(!) bless you. I’m still crying, not big snot bubble tears, just gentle and lady like.

Aw, gee, shucks -- that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!!! This is why I try to tell it like it is when I’m writing my blogs. I know some people think I’m being negative, but I’m not. Writing is hard, it’s a struggle, and if you’ve made the choice to seriously go for it, I think it’s important that you hear other writers talking about the hardships of the job. I think REAL negativity for young writers would be to read blogs where established writers gave the impression that writing comes to them easy, that getting published was child’s play, and that they’ve been living in the lap of luxury pretty much since day one. That would just be depressing for someone finding it hard to get their ideas on paper, who’d been rejected loads of time, and who wasn’t making any money from their writing!!! When you hear a published author saying yes, it’s hard, but it’s worth the hardships ... I think that gives you encouragement.

Bas and I went for a drive this morning, a walk through the small mountains around West Limerick in a charming little spot called Ashford. It was chilly but sunny for most of the walk, but we got a couple of hail showers too. I like walks where the weather throws a few different things at you -- it makes the walk more interesting!!

Spent the evening adding some reviews of Procession of the Dead to my D B Shan site. As always, I add every review of my books that I can find, whether they’re positive or negative. I’m delighted that most of the reviews so far have been pretty upbeat. There have been a few knocks and criticisms, as every book will attract, but the general response from the critics has been surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be when I re-released my adult book. I think most children’s authors would agree with me when I say that there’s a very definite degree of snobbery towards children’s books in the world of adult reviewers. A lot of reviewers and journalists tend to look down their noses at children’s books and children’s authors. I can understand that, and I don’t have any problem with it -- it’s the way things are, and if you choose to work in children’s literature, you just accept it and get on with things. But it can be a problem if you make the crossover from children’s books to adult novels -- reviewers can view the move with mistrust and sneeriness, and form an opinion of your work long before they open the cover. I wasn’t sure if Procession would be given a fair crack of the whip on the reviewing front. But, to date, it has, which has left me feeling very pleased. It’s always nice when you’re treated fairly! If you’re interested in checking out the reviews, click here: http://dbshan.co.uk/thecity/category/reviews-of-procession/