Welcome to the November edition of the Shanville Monthly!!! It's a bit early this month (as it was in October) because I'm heading off on a short holiday and I figured it would be better to post early rather than late!! October was a hectic time for me, encompassing the release of a new book and two tours on two separate continents. At this point in time it feels like I've been releasing new books and out on the road forever!!! But that's what happens when you release two books a year! I learnt quite a while ago why most authors prefer to release no more than one book a year, but what can I say -- I'm a glutton for punishment!!!! Anyway, it's eight months now until the next book of The Demonata goes on sale, although I do have the release of Procession of the Dead in March to keep me busy!!! It will be nice to take things a bit easier for a while and get some writing done -- the only bad thing about being on the road is I can't write while I'm touring, and I get cranky if I'm away from my stories for too long!!!! There's lots of news to report this month, about the fate of the new book and more, so I'll leave you to catch up with all that's hot 'n' happening in the world of Darren Shan, and I'll bid toodle-pip at the bottom, as per usual.

DEMON APOCALYPSE!!!!

I was finally able to reveal the title of Book 6 of The Demonata at the Bath Festival near the end of September, and for those who haven't heard yet, the title is DEMON APOCALYPSE. I'm particularly proud of this little baby, especially when taken together with Blood Beast, and early response from the fans has been amazing -- most of the people I've heard from agree that Book 6 is the best of the series so far!!! I can always get a fairly good idea of how my books are faring by messages on my Message Board, emails I receive, and things fan say at events and signings, and Demon Apocalypse has been a runaway fan favourite so far!!! Of course, some of you have asked how can I top a book like this -- but don't worry, Shansters, I have even more fiendishly demonic plans in store for the final four books of the series!!!!

I've added the cover for the UK edition of Demon Apocalypse to my web site, as well as the original draft of the cover by artist Mel Grant, so that you can see how it changed en route to publication. You can find both version in Secret Shanville by clicking here: www.darrenshan.com/secretgateway.html

Demon Apocalypse has also been one of my most successful books to date in terms of sales and chart placing. It got off to a very bright start on Amazon UK -- it was the #1 Children's bestseller in the early part of October, and rose to #5 on the overall chart -- that's children's adults, hardbacks, paperbacks, fiction, non-fiction -- everything!!! That's the highest any of my books has been on the Amazon chart -- coolio!!!! On its first week of sale, Demon Apocalypse entered the UK children's bestsellers chart at #3, behind only Terry Pratchett's paperback version of Wintersmith, and a Dr Who annual. It was the #1 hardback children's bestseller, and was the #4 bestselling hardback fiction book on the general list (although it wasn't listed -- they only include adult books on the general list!!). It also (even more crucially) sold the most books in a week of any of my Demonata series so far!! It was a pity not to hit #1 on the children's chart, especially after Blood Beast got there in June, but October is always a hard month where the chart is concerned -- it's when loads of A grade books get released by publishers in time for the Christmas rush, and it's also when the annuals appear. The most important thing is sales, and with Demon Apocalypse selling better and faster than any of the other books, it shows that more and more fans are coming on board and -- most important of all -- that those already there are coming back for more, which proves you lot are happy with what I'm doing!!!!

In Ireland, Demon Apocalypse entered the children's bestseller chart straight at #1!!! That's the first time in a long while that that's happened, and I'm delighted about it!!!

For anyone in the UK or Ireland who hasn't bought the book yet, and wants to, you should be able to find it in just about any bookshop, or else you can order it online from Amazon here: BUY DEMON APOCALYPSE

SIGNED COPIES

The web site Play.com is selling signed copies of Demon Apocalypse on their web site -- and it actually costs less than the unsigned edition!!! These are genuine, validated signatures -- I signed the books exclusively for Play at the start of my tour at the beginning of October. They were actually the very first books that I signed during the tour!!! Stocks are limited, so if you want to get hold of a signed copy of Demon Apocalypse, my advice is to act swiftly!!!! You can find it by clicking here: BUY A SIGNED COPY OF DEMON APOCALYPSE

AMERICA - NEW RELEASES

Blood Beast, book 5 of The Demonata, is on sale in America NOW!!! If you want to find out why UK and Irish fans are raving about the latest adventure in the turbulent life of Grubbs Grady, this is your chance! You should be able to buy Blood Beast in any good book store, or else you can order it online:

AMAZON BLOOD BEAST

BARNES & NOBLE BLOOD BEAST

The paperback edition of Slawter is also now on sale in the States. Again, you can buy it in your local store or online:

AMAZON SLAWTER

BARNES & NOBLE SLAWTER

For those of you who haven't sampled the dark delights of The Demonata yet, a boxed set of the first three books has gone on sale. You should be able to find it (or ask the staff to order it in for you) in all good book stores, but if you prefer you can buy it online through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can also check out the cover on those sites, but I don't think the scanned version does the real thing justice -- it looks WAY cooler in the flesh, much darker and moodier!!! If you haven't bought into my new series yet, or are looking to get a demonically stylish Christmas present (either for yourself or someone else) this is the baby for you!!!!

Click here to buy from Amazon: BUY DEMONATA BOX SET

Click here to buy from Barnes & Noble: BUY DEMONATA BOX SET

Finally, the third Cirque Du Freak Boxed Set also goes on sale in October. Featuring the mass-market paperback editions of books 9 to 12 of my vampire series, this is the perfect, most economical way to buy the final third of the hottest, bloodiest teen Saga ever!!! Look for the boxed set in your local shop, or buy online here:

AMAZON BOX SET 3

BARNES & NOBLE BOX SET 3

USA DEMON APOCALYPSE COVER!

DAVE FANNING SHOW

Dave Fanning is one of Ireland's longest-standing and (if you're an indie fan) best DJs. I listened to him all the time in my mid-to-late teens, and still count myself as a fan. I was recently asked to go on his show and talk about one of my all-time favourite albums, and select a few tracks from it. I picked "Trompe Le Monde" by The Pixies. The interview (which will be spread out over nearly half an hour) will be airing sometime between 7.20 and 8.00pm on Wednesday, October 31st -- yes, Halloween!!! You can listen live on RTE radio 1 if you live in Ireland, or online by going to their web site and using the Listen Live option. Click here for the site: www.rte.ie/radio1/index.html

BLOOD BEAST CHALLENGE WINNER

The winner of the Waterstones Blood Beast Challenge competition  -- in which fans had to pass a series of gruesome challenge to prove they had the stuff that true Shansters are made of! -- was Charles Verity. Many congratulations to Charles, and many thanks to everyone else who took part in the Challenge -- your enthusiasm, imagination and willingness to "prove" your SHANtastic support made this one of the most enjoyable and rewarding competitions I've ever been involved with!! I hope you all got as much of a blast out of the entries as I did!!!!

IT'S A WRAP