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Darren
Shan
is
one of
the
Crowgrrl’s
favorite
authors!
I’ve
been
hooked
on his
books
ever
since I
first
sank my
fangs
into the
first
book of
his
Cirque
du Freak
vampire
series,
Cirque
du
Freak: A
Living
Nightmare.
The
entire
series
is
deliciously
macabre
and at a
fast
pace
where
the
reader
can’t
wait to
see what
happens
next.
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Darren
creates his own
realistically
believable world
of Vampires, a
new mythos that
immediately
draws the reader
in. Now
Darren has
another series
as well, the
Demonata,
which offers a
new insight into
a demonic world.
The Crowgrrl
recently caught
up with
Darren to
talk about both
of these
phenomenal book
series!
How was the
Edinburgh Book
Festival?
Great. I've
gone for the
past 6 years and
I love it up
there. I stay on
for a few days
after my events
and go to lots
of plays and
comedy shows.
The best show I
saw this year
was "Dirty
Fan Male" --
real transcripts
of letters
written by fans
to soft-porn
models!!!!
With all the
book-signings
and touring, how
do you find time
to write?! Do
you work on the
road as well?
No, I never
write when I'm
traveling. I try
to do my touring
in chunks, i.e.
go to a few
different
countries within
the space of a
month. Then I
write when I
return home.
It's a bit
tricky, and I
don't get to
spend as much
time writing as
I'd like, but
that's just part
of being a
successful
writer in
today's wide
open world.
I’ve noticed
you’re always
hard at work on
future books
before others
are officially
released. How
far ahead do you
stay of your
publishers?
Usually 2 or
3 years. I don't
like working to
a deadline!!
The new
Vampire mythos
you created in
the "Cirque
du Freak"
series varies a
bit from more
conventional
vampire beliefs
in popular
culture. How did
you come up with
your Vampires’
world?
I just
thought a lot
about the old
myths and tried
to think what
life would
really be like
if you had to
drink blood to
survive and
could live for
hundreds of
years.
Do you have
any personal
favorite books
in that series?
Not really.
For me, it's one
big book which I
simply released
in installments.
So, "Cirque
Du Freak" is
chapter one for
me, "Vampire's
Assistant"
is chapter two,
etc.
What were
your
inspirations
behind your
Demonata
series?
I wrote "Lord
Loss" as a
stand-alone
novel, a 3 or 4
years ago. I set
it aside for a
couple of years,
to focus on
finishing my
vampire series.
During that
time, I had
ideas for other
books about
demons.
Originally, the
books weren't
meant to link or
form a series.
But, as I wrote
the other books,
links began to
fall into place
and I saw that I
could knit all
the various
plot-line
together to
create an
overall series
story-line.
Are the two
series ever
going to cross
into each other,
or remain
separate?
They're two
entirely
different
stories, and
won't cross at
all.
Your books
are translated
in lots of
languages; how
do the
storylines have
to change with
each culture
where the books
are released?
Well, because
I only speak
English, it's
hard for me to
know if
anything's been
changed in the
translated
editions!!!!
:-) I think
the actual plots
are kept intact,
and only certain
words and
phrases are
changed, when
they wouldn't
make sense for
foreign readers.
e.g. in Japan
they don't cross
their fingers
for luck, so my
Japanese
translator
always has to
use some other
expression.
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The
short
stories
and
"deleted
scenes"
and
other
extras
on your
website
make the
stories
even
richer!
Did you
work on
most of
that
while
writing
each
book, or
do you
revisit
the
stories
from
time to
time?
I
wrote
the
extras
as each
of the
first
books
was
released.
My
original
plan was
to write
some
short
stories
each
time a
book
came
out.
But, as
the
popularity
of the
books
increased,
and I
was
called
upon to
travel a
lot to
promote
them, I
found
myself
with
less and
less
time to
write.
Something
had to
go --
and
unfortunately
that was
the
extras.
All
of your
books
that
I’ve
read so
far
would
make
great
movies.
Is that
possibility
in the
works?
Universal
have
optioned
the
rights
to "Cirque
Du Freak",
and
Brian
Helgeland
("L.A.
Confidential",
"Mystic
River",
etc) is
working
on a
script. |
Would you be
writing the
screenplays
yourself?
Nope. Writers
normally have no
input when a
movie is made
from their
books. I'm happy
to stand back
and let the film
people do as
they like.
What
was your tie-in
with
Jetix UK,
and will that
happen with
Jetix US
as well?
My publishers
set up the
tie-in with
Jetix. It
wasn't something
I was involved
in.
You’re very
hands-on with
your website,
aren’t you?!
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Yup!! I
love
having a
web
site. As
a fan, I
would
have
been
ecstatic
if I'd
had the
internet
when I
was a
kid. I'd
have
been
surfing
it day
and
night to
find out
more
about my
writing
idols.
The web
allows a
writer
to build
extra
links
between
themselves
and
their
fans,
and I
try to
take as
much
advantage
of that
situation
as I
can.
Apart
from the
design
of my
site,
which is
done by
Xeropoint.net,
I do
everything
on the
site --
I scan
in and
upload
the
photos
and art,
update
all the
pages
... the
lot!!!
It means
the site
isn't
updated
as
regularly
as it
should
be,
since I
have to
squeeze
work in
around
my other
commitments,
but it
means
that
everything
fans see
there
came
from me
personally!!!
What
have I
not
asked
that you
would
like to
tell
Perch
readers?
When
is my
next
book
out?!?
:-)
Book 10
of my
vampire
series,
"The
Lake of
Souls",
is on
sale
NOW, and
the
first
book of
my demon
series,
"Lord
Loss",
goes on
sale in
October
(but
might
start
appearing
in shops
as early
as
September!!!).
http://www.crowgrrl.com/reviews/091805perch.htm
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