Hi gang, and welcome to the October issue of the Shanville Monthly. October, as usual, is going to be one of my busiest months of the year. I'm going to be on tour for most of it, hitting a variety of places in the UK and Ireland -- you can read all about that, and find out if I'm coming to a shop or library near YOU this month, by scrolling down and checking out the fully detailed itinerary a bit further down. I'm looking forward to this tour a lot -- it should be lots of fun!!! I'll be kicking it off in style at a castle in Craggaunowen (see last month's Shanville Monthly for more info about that), but every event will be just as important to me -- when I'm on the road, I try to perform to my best abilities every day. I'll be doing some exciting readings from old books, "Bec" and books yet to be released, and, of course, signing lots and LOTS of books!!! Next month I'll provide you all with a full rundown of how the tour went, but in the meantime there's loads to report in the current issue -- not least the release of "Bec" in the UK and Ireland!! There's an update on how you can win a lunch date with Darren Shan ... details about the special edition of "Bec" ... news about a new horror anthology book with a story by me ... we find out how "Sons of Destiny" did in America ... and we also talk turkey!!!! But before we get round to the turkey, let's start with the release of "Bec" and news about my tour ...

"BEC" HITS THE UK & IRELAND

"Bec", the fourth book of "The Demonata", has gone on sale in the UK and Ireland. If you live in this part of the world, you should be able to find it on the book shelves of a shop near you -- if you can't find it, raise holy hell and demand the shop orders it immediately!! Alternatively, if you prefer buying over the internet, "Bec" is available for sale at a good discount on Amazon UK. The link is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0007231318/shanville

I'm very excited about "Bec" -- it's a bit of a departure for me, featuring a girl as the main character, and being set in Celtic Ireland -- so I'm pleased to be going on a big tour of the UK and Ireland (there are full details further down) to promote its launch. I'll be starting with my launch event in a castle, in Craggaunowen on Saturday October 7th, and ending up with a spooky Halloween event at Waterstones Picadilly in London on Monday October 30th. In between, I'm covering as much of the UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland as I can, and hopefully meeting thousands of eager, screaming, bloodthirsty fans along the way!!!!!! As always, I'll be happy to sign as many of my books as fans wish to bring along, so if you plan to come to any of my events or signings, feel free to bring your whole back catalogue of Darren Shan books. Occasionally, if I'm working to a time constraint, I have to place a limit on the numbers of books that I can sign, but that only happens rarely.

FANCY A LUNCH DATE WITH DARREN SHAN?!?

"BEC" SPECIAL EDITION

The special edition of "Bec" which I mentioned in the previous issue of the Shanville Monthly is on sale NOW through the HarperCollins web site -- and it's a beauty!!! The link is:

https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/bec/

There are only 666 copies of the special edition, each signed and numbered in strong black ink by ME! Each book comes in a hard, protective box (known in the trade as a slipcase), which has been decorated with artwork from the front cover of the book. Each customer can only buy a maximum of 3 copies. They cost just £20, which is only £7 more than the regular edition!!! (Though you will have to pay post & packaging on top of that.) I think, at that price, they're a sheer bargain! Once they sell out, no more will be made available, so my advice, if you want one, is to act quickly before they're all gone -- if you have to buy one on Ebay later, you'll probably have to pay through the nose!!!!!

Unfortunately, because of legal reasons, the special edition is only available to fans living in the UK or Ireland. I know this might seem unfair to fans living elsewhere in the world, but there's nothing I can do about that -- international laws mean that book sellers are limited to where they can sell copies of their books.

"BEC" CD ROM

*A filmed interview with me, where I answer questions sent in by fans.
*The Library, where you can click on your book jackets for a synopsis.
*Could you be a Creature of the Night? (a multiple choice quiz with 3 outcomes)
*An audio clip of Lord Loss
*Win! Win! Win! (this is a competition to win a set of signed books)
*IM icons (these are Instant Messanger icons - all the rage apparently!)
*Creepy Special Effects Generator
*Downloadable screensaver and wallpaper

NEW REVIEWS AND COVERS

NEW FAN ART!!!!

After FAR too long a gap, I've finally got around to adding some new fan art to my web site! I updated and overhauled the "Demonata" pages to begin with, adding loads of fabulous new images. You can check them out by clicking here: http://www.darrenshan.com/demons/fanart/index.html

I then completely readjusted the art on the Vampires part of my site, adding new galleries as well as a couple of hundred or so brand new pieces -- some submitted to me as long as 2 years ago!!!!! I'm still working on the art pages, and should have them finished within the first few days of October -- the only galleries which have still to be completed are those for DARREN and VARIOUS. You can check out the new art by clicking here: http://www.darrenshan.com/vampires/fanart/index.html

Please note, it was impossible for me to include ALL the art which I have been sent over the last couple of years, so I had to be selective. If you sent art to me and it didn't make it to the site, my apologies. Please don't consider the omission a criticism of your art -- I just don't have the time or the space on my site to include every piece of wonderful fan art which gets forwarded to me.

AMERICA -  A MONTH IN THE TOP 10!

In America, "Sons of Destiny", the final book in my "Cirque Du Freak" series, went on sale in September. It spent a healthy 4 weeks in the  New York Times Top 10 Children's Bestsellers Chart, peaking at #8. If you live in the States and haven't bought the book already, you should be able to find it in your local book shop -- if you don't see it on the shelves, you can always ask the people there to order it in for you. Alternatively, you can order it online from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316156299/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-4045036-7476946?ie=UTF8 or from Barnes & Noble at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&pwb=1&ean=9780316156295

SHROUDED BY DARKNESS

I recently contributed a short story to a horror collection called "Tales of Terror -- Shrouded by Darkness". The story is a reworked version of a short story which you can find in the Extras section on my web site called "Life's A Beach". If you'd like to read the new version of the story, as well as other creepy stories by the likes of Neil Gaiman, Michael Marshall Smith, Graham Masterton and others, you can order a copy of the book by clicking here: http://www.telos.cuttingsarchive.com/ordering/ocfic_order01.htm#shrouded

All royalties from the book will be donated to DebRA, a national charity working on behalf of people with the genetic skin blistering condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). Please note, this is a book aimed at adults, so some of the stories might not be suitable for younger readers.

DARREN DOES DUSTIN!!!

If you don't live in Ireland, or do but missed my appearance on "Dustin's Daily News" on Wednesday September 20th, you can watch it online by clicking on the following link: http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/228-2174923.smil Dustin the Turkey is a huge TV star in Ireland, appealing to adults as well as children. As well as having his own TV show, he's released hit records in the past! He's a merciless interviewer, who loves to goad and tease his guests -- nobody gets the better of Dustin!!! I think I came out of the encounter better than many, but I still felt like I'd been swept along a few miles by a hurricane by the end of the show!!! If you check the show out, you'll see what I mean!!

You will need RealPlayer to watch the show -- if you don't already have it installed on your computer, you can download it for free by clicking here: http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=rnwk

SECRET SHANVILLE -- "BEC" NOTES & JAPAN COVER

I've added my third and fourth set of notes about the writing of "Bec" - book 4 of "The Demonata" - to my web site. These are the final notes on the book. So if you want to find out how to pronounce the names of the characters, and learn some more about Bec's place in the grander scheme of things, click here: http://www.darrenshan.com/secretgateway.html

IT'S A WRAP