NEW CHAPTER
IN SHAN SAGA
IS ALL
FANGS TO
HARD AND
FAST WORK
Pallaskenry's
Darren
O'Shaughnessy
has acheived
phenomenal
international
success as
the
best-selling
children's
author,
Darren Shan,
and has been
called
Ireland's
answer to J
K Rowling of
Harry Potter
fame. Here,
he talks
about
writing,
about his
success and
about his
life to
Norma
Prendiville.
Darren
O'Shaughnessy
talks as he
writes.
Fast. Very
Fast. And he
brings an
unbridled
enthusiasm
to his
words. It's
one of the
reasons children
like him so
much. He is
very much
one
of their
own. And
they love
the
books he
writes as
author
Darren Shan
and have
shown their
appreciation
by
making him
an
international
best-selling
author with
sales of 10
million
books. Yes,
you read
that right.
Ten million
in 35
different
countries.
From a
child's
point of
view, Darren
is good
value. He
writes these
deliciously
scary and
fantastic
books and
there is
always a new
one on the
way. Then
when he
gives a
reading, he
pulls out
his showman
skills and
puts
enormous
energy into
entertaining
them and
above all,
into
answering
their questions.
"I like it,"
he says of
what he
calls
public
events. "I
just enjoyed
it from the
very start.
When I am on
stage I get
geed
up. It is
great fun. I
think going
to a
writer's
event can be
very boring
if it's
only just
reading so I
always look
at it
as a show,
as an event"
But yes, he
says, it can
be a real
juggling
act.
"Everyone in
the room
will
have read a
different
amount of
books,
so I have to
be careful
not to give
anything
away" You
have to do
each reading
like a
self-contained
extract and
there may
even be some
who have not
read any of
the books."
"The
difficult
bit is when
it comes to
questions
and
answers."
Sometimes a
plot line
will be
spoiled, for
example, if
someone asks
why he
killed off
such-and-such
a character.
And is it
possible to
remember
every
character,
turn and
twist in 15
books? "I
never
pretend. I
am always
honest. I
never try to
bluff my
way.
Sometimes,
it
will take me
a little bit
to click...
But it is
all tucked
away
somewhere in
there
in my head."
But if he
doesn't know or
can't
remember, he
says so. And
that sometimes
gives his young
readers a kick.
"They love
thinking, hey I
know more than
him."
"Kids will read
books very
quickly
They will
re-read over and
over. And
because of that
they will still
have the
first four books
in their mind.
An adult
wouldn't pick up
as much as
children,"
he says.
Now in his 30s
and a full-time
writer for the
past nine years,
Darren, has 17
published books
to his name. His
first two,
Ayuamerca
and Hell's
Horizon were for
adults. But
his big
breakthrough
came in 2000
with
Cirque du Freak,
the first of ten
in the
Saga series for
children. This
has since
been followed up
by a new series,
Demonata, the
fifth book of
which,
Blood Beast, was
published this
week
and launched in
Limerick.
Explaining
how he
writes, he
says: "It
always
starts with
a specific
idea or
image,
normality
for a scene.
I picture it
like
a movie. I
see this
scene
playing out.
For Cirque
du Freak, I
had two
images, one
of a boy who
meets a vampire
at a circus
and the
second, of
the
boy walking
into the
night with
the vampire
and becoming
his
assistant.
They were
very strong
images. It
is like
trying to do
a jigsaw.
You have
this idea
that gives
you your
first
piece."
"I started
writing
Cirque du
Freak two or
three days
after I had
those
images. But
then, for
example,
with
Beck it took
maybe a year
or even two
before I
started
writing. It
varies from
book to
book. I tend
not to write
ideas
down. If it
is a very
strong idea,
it will
stick. If I
get an idea
and it
doesn't stay
with
me, it
probably
wasn't a
very
strong idea
in the first
place."
"I will let
it all
happen
inside. Once
I
have it
clear, I
write a very
brief plot
outline of
about one or
two pages.
That
gives me
more and
more ideas,
I can break
the plot
line down
loosely into
chapters. I
like to
build up
over the
course of a
series with
really
complex
plot lines."
Darren
agrees he
writes fast.
"I like it
when my
fingers are
flying away"
But
he is very
disciplined
in his
approach
and sets a
target of
3,000 words
a day or ten
pages which
he sticks
to. "I might
go
a little bit
over or
under but
that is what
I feel
comfortable
with."
"Page count
encourages
you to work
quickly.
Even if it
is on a day
I feel sluggish,
I have this
carrot at
the end of
the
stick. At
least you
have a
target. You
have good
days and bad
days.The
writing
tends to be
the same no
matter how
I'm feeling.
You learn to
write even
when you are
not in the
mood. The
difference
between a
professional
writer
and
an amateur
is that a
professional
writes even
when he
doesn't feel
like it.
I treat it
like a job.
You have to
get the
job done.
While the
quality of
the writing
is the same,
on good
days, it
comes
more easily.
On bad days,
I don't feel
inspired but
you have to
force
yourself
to do it."
He always
works a
couple of
years
ahead.
Demonata is
planned as a
series
of 10 books
with Blood
Beast at
number
five but
Darren
already has
a first
draft
of book 10
written.
"I will do a
first draft
very, very
quickly but then
I will spend up
to two
years revising
and editing it
while writing
other books.
It is just the
way I work. It
allows me
to make sure
that all the
books are connected
and linked. I
can make sure
they
all tie up." The
books are very
tightly
knit.
In many ways, he
explains, his
life
"is like having
two careers".
One
part of it is
about sitting in
his
rural home,
tapping away at
a computer,
writing his
daily blog,
updating his
website,
answering his
fans. The other
part is when he
hits the road
and meets
thousands of
people in the
course of
three or four
weeks.
With his books
topping
bestseller
lists in places
as far apart as
Hungary
and Japan,
Darren has done
a lot of travelling
to promote his
books. "Each
country is
different. I
have done events
with an
interpreter.The
events are difficult
to set up. I
have to speak
much more
slowly and in
shorter
sentences
which is
not natural for
me. Other
times I just do
signings."
The only
time he found
himself "struggling"
on a book tour
was in Hungary
when hundreds
upon hundreds of
people
turned up and he
was signing
books for over
10 hours. After
such a
marathon,
everything
ached.
But mostly this
thirtysomething,
who
reckons he's
just a big kid
at heart, cannot
believe his own
good fortune.
"I am very very
lucky I am doing
the
job I love
doing."
But, he
continues: "I
say to kids who
are interested
in writing, it
is hard
work. It is
still a job. It
would be lovely
to think you
just get
inspired but I
have
to work hard to
make the stories
work,
to give them
that flow."
For all that, he
says, his life
sometimes
feels bizarre
even to him.
"This
isn't really an
ordinary life, "
he has found
himself thinking
at times.
What he is
absolutely
certain about is
that he always
wanted to be a
writer.
"Even when I was
five or six, I
always wanted to
be a writer. Of
course I wanted
to be other
things too, an
astronaut,
a football
player, the Six
Million Dollar
Man, but
being a writer
was what I
wanted to be
more than
anything else."
He got his first
typewriter at 14
and
through his
teens was busy
writing stories,
comic strips,
books, writing
after
school, at
weekends, during
holiday.
"I was not quite
17 when I did
the
Leaving Cert so
I took a year
off before
I went to
college. I felt
I was a bit too
young to head
off on my own
and in
that year, I did
a lot of
writing."
After college,
in London, he
worked
for a time with
Chorus in
Limerick. He
liked the job
well enough
while there.
"It didn't drain
me...and I was
writing
at weekends.You
don't make money
when you are
starting out. I
didn't want
to pour
my efforts into
anything else.
But I thought if I don't make it the most important thing in my
life, I wouldn't
be happy"
So he decided to
give himself a
year
to see if he
could make it as
a full-time
writer, working
from his
parents' home
in Pallaskenry.
Getting an agent
quite quickly at
the tune was a
huge help. "That
was very
exciting. It was
a vindication.
Most writers
don't show their
work to friends
and family and
they don't
really know if
you are really
doing it
or are you
faking it.
Nobody
believes it
until they see
it."
Seeing his first
book, Ayuamerca,
an
adult book, in
print was a
great feeling
but while it,
and the second,
Hell's Horizon,
were well
received, they
did not
sell in big
numbers.
Meantime, however,
Harper and
Collins decided
to go
with Cirque du
Freak, which had
been
turned down by
20 other
publishers.
"It happens all
the time. Harry
Potter
was turned down
at first top.
Publishers
always say to
young writers we
are looking for
something new or
something
different, but
then they worry
it
won't sell.There
are lots of
great writers
out there whose
books don't
sell. Your aim
has to be to
write the best
book you can.
You can't write
for money"
"As a start-out
writer, you
don't get very
much money. When
Harper Collins
went with Cirque
du Freak, I
realised I am going to make minimum wage this year and that meant
I could
afford to write
full-time.lt was
amazing,
brilliant, being
able to make
enough so
I didn't have to
get another
job."
What happened
next was the
stuff of
dreams. Cirque
du Freak took
off in a
big way, the
others followed
and Universal
Studios are
still planning
to make a
film out of the
first three Saga
books.
"It is still
looking positive
but I have no
control over it.
I know the
writer is just
a little
cog. If it
happens, it will
be a bonus. I
hope they do a
good job and
that it brings
more readers."
Darren's
success has
allowed him to
travel more for
his own
enjoyment, to
get a full-size
screen and
projector for
the films he
loves to watch,
to get to his
beloved
Tottenham
Hotspur matches
and to move into
his own home
outside
Pallaskenry. "I
have done very,
very
comfortably out
of the books but
people
imagine crazy
figures and
things tend
to get
exaggerated."
"There is a lot
of luck involved
in
being
successful," he
continues. "Sometimes,
it's about being
in the right
place
at the right
time. My agent
is the same
agent as JK
Rowling and he
was interested
in getting other
children's books
at the time." In
the end, though,
he says,
the only measure
of success has
to be
that you write a
really good
book.
He reads less
these days,
explaining
that it is hard
to concentrate
on more
words when your
day is already
taken
up with words.
But he catches
up when
travelling. He
also spends time
these
days with his
girlfriend of
five years, Bas,
who works with
the charity "No
Strings" and who
is currently
finishing a
Masters in
Development at
UL. "We
met through
work," he
explains. "She
was putting
together a book
of stories for
the charity and
she came to one
of
my events
looking for a
story from me."
Darren is also
sure of one
other thing.
Pallaskenry is
home. "This is
where I am
from." His
grandparents
and parents,
Liam and Breda,
are from the
area and he grew
up there from
the
age of six when
the family moved
back
from London. "I
loved the
freedom of
it," he
recalls and he
has very happy
memories of his
schooldays at
Copsewood
College. "I got
to enjoy my
education,"
he says.
"The good thing
about living in
Pallaskenry
is that I am
just Darren
O'Shaughnessy
When I am here I
am part of the
community. I
have no real
sense of me
being changed."
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