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KIRSTIE NEWTON
MET TEEN AUTHOR
DARREN SHAN ON
HIS RECENT VISIT
TO PLYMOUTH.
I'm not a big
fan of horror,
so reading the
first chapters
of teen author
Darren Shan's
Lord Loss
was a
hair-raising
task. Chapter
one: a vengeful
boy chops up a
dozen rotting
rats and places
them carefully
in his sister's
bath towel.
Chapter two: he
discovers a
scene of
unspeakable
carnage in his
parent's
bedroom.
As I walked to
Plymouth College
to meet Darren,
I became
convinced that I
had stepped on
the remains of a
rat (it was a
shiny wet leaf
with a very long
stalk). Darren
laughs. "Chapter
two is the
scariest thing I
have ever
written," he
says proudly.
"Because it's
the first book
in a new
series, The
Demonata, I
wanted to start
it off with a
real bang.
Originally, it
was even
scarier, but I
toned it down."
His gore
benchmark:
"Anything that I
don't feel
comfortable
reading out
to kids, I
adjust".
Darren Shan is
seriously hot
among nine- to
16-year-olds. He
has an estimated
nine million
readers
worldwide, girls
and boys, and
last year one of
his books sold
on ebay for
£320.
Darren knew from
the age of six
that he wanted
to write,
acquired his
first typewriter
aged 14 and
published his
first novel aged
17, under his
real name of
O'Shaughnessy.
"I had always
liked children's
fiction - The
Secret Garden
was a particular
favourite, and
Roald Dahl - but
I was waiting
for the right
story to come
along."
That story was
Cirque de
Freak, in
which a young
boy meets
vampires at a
circus. Writing
for children
under the name
of Shan, he
decided to
present the work
as a "true"
story - hence,
Darren Shan is
the hero of
this, and 11
more books in
the Vampire
series.
"I wanted to
offer a bridge
between
Goosebumps
and adult
horror,"
explains Darren.
"That wasn't
around when I
was 11, so I had
to go that step
up to the likes
of Stephen King,
James Herbert
and Clive
Barker.
"People who
don't like
horror ask what
the appeal is.
It's like a
roller-coaster
ride - scary but
fun. I wanted to
provide
youngsters with
a different
experience -
draw them into
this world, make
them laugh, cry,
feel tension."
Cirque
was written
before Harry
Potter, when
the industry
believed that
"there was no
money in
children's
fiction". So its
phenomenal .
success took
everyone by
surprise - even
Darren. "By then
I had resigned
myself to not
being a
best-seller. As
a teenager I
wanted to be
really famous
and sell
millions. Then
you get into the
industry and you
realise how
difficult it is.
But I just
wanted to
support myself
by writing, and
would have been
happy making the
minimum wage."
Cirque
could soon be
coming to a
cinema near you;
Universal owns
the screen
rights. But
Darren remains
level-headed in
the face of
fame. "It didn't
happen
overnight, and
I'm glad of
that. I still
live in Ireland,
in the little
village in
Limerick where
I've always
lived. I've been
able to see the
world, but I'm
not interested
in the jet-set
lifestyle."
There will be 10
Demonata
books. The
second, Demon
Thief, is
already released
in hardback, and
the third,
Slawter, is
due in June.
Darren has all
but completed
the series in
draft form.
"That way, if I
think of a plot
development, I
can
edit backwards."
His book talks
are incredibly
popular, with
his readers
often asking
specific
questions, which
Darren takes
fully on board.
"I love meeting
my readers. A
lot of writers
don't - it's a
solitary
profession, and
writers aren't
always good at
promoting their
work. But I love
it when people
are excited
about my books.
That's the best
side of the job.
It gives me a
buzz, that's why
I do so much of
it."
For World Book
Day, Darren is
releasing a
stand-alone £1
short story
called
Koyasan. The
story is set in
Japan, where
Darren regularly
tops the adult
and children's
fiction charts.
"Last year, I
visited a
graveyard on a
mountain called
Koyasan, and
something
happened there
which inspired
this book.
You'll have to
read it to find
out!"
Maybe I will -
I'm hooked, and
go straight home
to devour Lord
Loss to the end.
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