Welcome to the August edition of the Shanville Monthly. I spent a lot of July writing, and plan to do a bit more in August, before heading to the Edinburgh Festival in the middle of the month, for a week of books, theatre, comedy and music -- nice!! July was a tense month for me away from the writing front -- my Granny underwent a serious, life-or-death operation. Luckily everything has gone well and she's on the mend. You can follow the day-to-day drama of the month by scrolling back through the entries on my blog at http://darrenshan.blogdrive.com/ As for happenings on the books front, well, there's a chance for you lot to quiz me for an exciting CD Rom that will be coming out in the UK and Ireland later in the year ... there's news of the release of book 3 of "The Demonata" in Japan ... I've written my first set of notes about "Bec", revealing some of the ways in which the book evolved (and also revealing quite a lot about my writing technique) ... there are updates about my October tour of the UK and Ireland (I'm getting to visit Northern Ireland, which I'm delighted about! I'd hoped to fit in a visit to Wales too, but alas it wasn't possible this time -- but I'll come soon, faithful Welsh fans of mine, I promise!!!!) ... and a whole lot more! So, if you can tear yourself away from the beach and all the joys of your summer holidays for five or ten minutes, dive on into the world of Darren Shan and find out what's new!!!!!!

WANT TO GRILLE DARREN SHAN?!?

Heads up, UK and Irish Shansters!! Waterstones are running another cool promotion when "Bec" is released in October! If you buy "Bec" from a Waterstones store you will get a free CD Rom, packed with exciting and exclusive material about me and my books!!! One of the coolest features on the CD Rom will be video clips of me answering a series of questions. What makes it so special is that YOU will be setting the questions! We're inviting questions from fans between now and Monday August 14th. Once we've received them all, we'll pick out approximately 10 of the most interesting questions, which I'll answer in front of a video camera at the HarperCollins offices later in the months. The results will appear on the CD Rom in October.

So get thinking if you want to quiz me about my books, my personal life, my writing habits ... anything!!! But take note -- you can only submit ONE question! If you send more than one, your entries will be rejected! Try to make your question original, precise and thought-provoking. Obvious, general questions, such as "Where do your ideas come from?" will be the first to be junked!!! We want to make this a unique, fan-propelled interview that will cover ground that most interviewers never quite get around to!! Once you've thought of the ONE question you would most like to ask me, e-mail your question to:

kate.enefer@harpercollins.co.uk

Please put DARREN SHAN QUESTION in the subject box when you send your e-mail. Don't forget, the closing date for acceptance of questions is Monday 14th August. Make sure you include your correct e-mail address, name and full address with your question. We will send a signed Darren Shan poster to each person whose question we use!! (If more than one fan asks the same question, we'll randomly choose the person to receive the prize.) Sorry, but only questions from fans in the UK and Ireland will be accepted and used on the CDRom.

NEW COVERS

"SLAWTER" MICROSITE

http://www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk/microsites_advertiser/demonata/index.jsp

AHOY, MATES!!!

COMPETITION WINNERS

The winners of the July Shanville Monthly competition were:

1 - Gregory Creighton, UK.

2 - Devin Orosz, Canada.
3 - Jack Vincent, UK.
4 - Kirsten Koseck, USA.
5 - Venisa Patel, UK.

6 - Jonathan Demastus, USA.
7 - Jeff Stern, USA.
8 - Robert Fisher, UK.
9 - Ricky Murray, South Africa.
10 - Chris Chamberlain, UK.

I informed all the winners by e-mail, and shipped out the prizes towards the end of July. Thanks to everyone who entered. Regrets to those who didn't win -- better luck next time!!!!

JAPAN - "SLAWTER" ON ITS WAY!!!

"Slawter", book 3 of "The Demonata", will go on sale in Japan in August. The cover hasn't been revealed yet, but I'll add it to my site as soon as it is. The Japanese covers are always gorgeous, stunningly designed and executed, and I'm sure "Slawter" will be no different!!! If you can read Japanese, you can find out more about the book, and the other books in the series, by visiting the official Japanese "Demonata" web site at http://www.shogakukan.co.jp/demonata/ I recommend a visit to the site even if you're not Japanese, as it features lots of cool artwork and other items which can be enjoyed regardless of the language barrier. You can buy the book through the Shogakukan web site when you visit, or else through Amazon Japan by clicking here: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4092903235/249-3527722-5330718?v=glance&n=465392&s=books

NEW REVIEWS

I've added some new reviews of "Lord Loss" and the first few British reviews of "Slawter" to my site. The reviews are surprisingly positive for the most part -- I'm amazed by how positively most critics have taken to "The Demonata"!!! Some are short, some are more substantial. You can find them all by clicking here: http://www.darrenshan.com/demons/reviews/index.html

I've also added some fresh, American reviews of "Lord of the Shadows" - released in the States recently - to the site at: http://www.darrenshan.com/vampires/reviews/11/indx-11lord.html
 

SECRET SHANVILLE -- "BEC" NOTES

I've started adding my notes about the writing of "Bec" - book 4 of "The Demonata" - to my web site. Along with a very short plot summary (I don't want to give too much away at this early stage!), I've described the process leading up to the origins of the book, how I got some of the ideas, and what prompted me to take the seemingly strange step of writing a book set in Celtic Ireland!!! There will be more about the book over the next couple of months, but for now you can dig into the first revealing slice by clicking here: http://www.darrenshan.com/secretgateway.html
 

THE 2006 TOURS

BOSTON PARTY REPORT

Shanster Alex went to the Darren Shan Celebration event at the Boston library in July (see the July issue of the Shanville Monthly for details), and here's her report:

I just wanted to let you know I attended the "Darren Shan Celebration Day" in Boston today. Personally, I had a wonderful time. I even got dressed up. Although it was a small crowd, consisting of three kids, our parents and two librarians, we still managed to have a good party. First, we did trivia questions from your books... Most of them were rather easy, but here and there were difficult ones. Then we had a bit of a book discussion, with topics ranging from favorite characters to favorite quotes and predictions for the 12th book (for the other two guys who hadn't read it yet.) I even read a segment aloud, the Cirque Du Freak show section with Jekkus and Cormac Limbs in "Lord of the Shadows". And then we got a few great prizes... I got the "Vampire in a Box" which was a box with fangs and blood. But I know you would've appreciated the "Instant Irish Accent Spray." At the end, my mum took a picture of where we met, but I wasn't able to download it. When I do, I'll send it to you. Thanks so much for alerting me, and the other two (who both heard about it through your website as well.) I had a really spectacular time!

Sounds like it was lots of fun!!! A pity so few fans turned up, but I know from personal experience how difficult it is to draw a good crowd to something like this. I hope everyone there thanked the librarians -- they deserved a few prizes of their own for going to such an effort!!!!

EBAY AUCTION

There was more Darren Shan-related activity on Ebay last month. A complete set of the 24 "Demonata" trading cards, which were available through Waterstones, sold for £41 -- more than $76!!!! You can check out the link here: http://cgi.ebay.com/DARREN-SHAN-TRADING-CARDS-COMPLETE-SET_W0QQitemZ250007904641QQihZ015QQcategoryZ219QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The seller had a second set which he was offering for the same price, so they might still be available -- you can try contacting him/her through the ebay link if you're interested. I will be making the cards available through my web site at some stage, probably later this year, so that fans will be able to complete their sets, and those who weren't able to get any at the time of the promotion will be able to apply too. I haven't yet finalised the way this is going to work -- more information will appear in a future issue of the Shanville Monthly.

IT'S A WRAP