Welcome to the October edition of the Shanville Monthly!!! This is going to be an incredibly busy month for me -- I launch Book 6 of The Demonata in the UK, while Blood Beast debuts in America and Hungary. On top of my long-organised tour of the UK (during which I'll finally be revealing the name of D6 and the cover!), I'm also doing a tour of Canada!!!! I've had lots of requests for a tour from Canadian fans over the last few years, so I hope lots of you turn up at my public events to make me feel welcome!! In other news, there's been a wonderfully creative response to the Design A D6 Cover And Title competition which went live in the UK and Ireland in the middle of September -- check out the entries and prepare to be amazed! There are new interviews, photos and covers from around the world, all uploaded to my site for your discreet perusal. Oh, and make sure you double-check my tour schedule for the UK if you're thinking of coming to any of events -- I've added several new events, and had to cancel one (in the ASDA store -- they were installing a new ordering system that week, so we thought it would be better to come to the store at another time). There's loads more, so I'm going to stop typing and leave you to scroll down and enjoy!!!

CANADA TOUR -- THIS MONTH!!!!

I'm coming on tour to Canada this October!!!! Sorry about the late heads-up. I normally like to give fans a few months notice, and give them a chance to "pitch" for me to come to their area, but this proposal from my Canadian publishers only came through recently, and if I hadn't seized the moment, it would have been at least October 2008 before I could come!! I've been looking forward to visiting Canada for a long time, so I hope lots of you turn out to greet me!!!! The dates and places where I'll be coming are listed below:

Monday, October 15: morning – School event - details TBC.

Monday, October 15: 7:00 pm – PUBLIC event at Highlands Community School, 3150 Colwood St, North Vancouver. arranged by Vancouver Kidsbooks. Tickets are $5 and you can book them through their web site: www.kidsbooks.ca/

Tuesday, October 16: 9:00 am – School event at Cloverdale Library.

Tuesday, October 16: 11:00 am – School event at Strawberry Hill Library.

Tuesday, October 16: 7:00 pm – PUBLIC event at St. James Community Square, 3214 West 10th Ave. (corner of 10th and Trutch), Vancouver. arranged by Vancouver Kidsbooks. Tickets are $5 and you can book them through their web site: www.kidsbooks.ca/

Wednesday, October 17: 7.00 pm - PUBLIC event at Indigo Yonge & Eglinton, 2300 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 1E4 Canada. phone: (416)544-0049. web: www.chapters.indigo.ca/ho...etails/278

Thursday, October 18: morning - speaking to Indigo staff at a seminar.

Thursday, October 18: 1.30 pm - School event, details TBC.

Thursday, October 18: 4.30 pm - intimate PUBLIC event at The Flaying Dragon Bookshoppe, 1721 Bayview Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M4G 3C1. This is only going to be open to 40 fans, and the store are offering first choice to their loyal Shan-fans (i.e. fans who have bought my books there in the past). It's possible that some others MIGHT be able to be accommodated, but they can't make any guarantees. If interested, you MUST contact the store in advance and register your interest -- if a place becomes available, they will try to fit you in. phone: 416-481-7721. web: www.theflyingdragon.ca/

UK - BOOK 6 CAMPAIGN

Book 6 of The Demonata goes on sale on October 1st -- hurrah!!! Normally my books come out a week or two early in the UK, but this time we've tried to hold copies back, to keep it a total secret -- I haven't even received my own copies yet!!! From October 1st, you should be able to find D6 in almost any book shop in the UK or Ireland. Or, if you prefer to order online, you can get it from Amazon UK by clicking here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Beast-Demonata-Darren-Shan/dp/0007231326/shanville

To help spread the good word about the book, my UK publishers, HarperCollins, have created a VERY cool trailer for Book 6 of The Demonata, featuring the vocal talents of Rupert Degas. You can check it out by clicking here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vxJBeUg__Z4

HarperCollins also created a special micro-site for Book 6 of The Demonata, mainly to promote a truly brilliant competition. They gave artistic fans a chance to design their own D6 title and cover. The two winners (one chosen by fans, the other by me) will each receive a Nintendo DS Lite and 2 games for it. PLUS the two winning covers will be included in the Book 6 paperback edition when it is released in June 2008!!! It's a truly fantastic, once-in-lifetime prize, and the entries have been of an incredibly high standard!! The closing date was September 28th, but fans will all have a chance to vote for their favourite cover, starting October 1st! Click on this link to see the stunning efforts, then click on it again after October 1st to cast YOUR vote -- and tell your friends to vote too!!

www.darrenshanchallenge.com/

BATH COMPETITION WINNERS

I will be revealing the title and cover of Book 6 of The Demonata for the first time ever at my event at the BATH FESTIVAL on Saturday, September 29th at 10.00a.m.. It's going to be a special day for everyone who comes, but my publishers, HarperCollins, made it EXTRA special for ten lucky people, by running a competition last month and inviting each of the ten winners to come and see me before the event in Bath, where they will receive a free, signed copy of Book 6 -- as well as two free front-row tickets for my event!!! Because of the age limit (16 or under), there were less entries than I normally get for competitions -- 120 in total -- meaning everyone who entered stood a good (1-in-10) chance of winning!! And those winners are:

PAUL CARROLL.
REBECCA WINSTANLEY.
JACK GORDON.
ROSIE CORNISH.
CLARE BRIDGER.
MICHAELA HINKS.
SAM WEST.
JACK EVANS.
STEPHEN GASSON.
LISA-MARIE LINDSAY.
STEVEN DICKSON.
SHANNON JAMES.

There were 12 winners in the end, rather than 10, because a couple of the 10 originally drawn were unable to come to the event -- they'll both still get a copy of the book, but we thought it would be nice to give their place at the event to other winners. Congratulations to all those who won -- I look forward to seeing (most of) you in Bath, and regrets to those who weren't so lucky -- maybe you'll win next time!

AMERICA - NEW RELEASES

October is a VERY important month for me in the States, with LOTS of activity on the Shan-front!!! First up, Blood Beast, book 5 of The Demonata, goes on sale in October. The official release date is November 1st, but it should be available in most states from early October. 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 also goes on sale in the States this month. Again, you can buy it in your local store or online:

AMAZON SLAWTER

BARNES & NOBLE SLAWTER

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

BLOOD BEAST HITS HUNGARY!!!

UK SAGA BOX SET

A boxed set of the first half of The Saga of Darren Shan goes on sale in the UK and Ireland on October 1st. This collects the first 6 books of the series in a stylishly designed "box" cover. This is the perfect way to buy the first half of The Saga if you don't already own it -- or if you want to buy someone the perfect Christmas present!!! The boxed set should be available in most shops, or you can order it from Amazon by clicking here: BUY BOX SET HERE

BLOOD BEAST NOMINATED FOR NICKELODEON AWARD!

NICKELODEON KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS UK

As I revealed last month, Blood Beast has been shortlisted for the first ever UK Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award!!!! This is a huge honour -- there are only 4 books on the shortlist, and the other 3 are all women -- Holly Black ("Spiderwick Chronicles"), Jacqueline Wilson and J K Rowling. The award is voted for entirely by fans, so I suspect Miss Rowling will walk away with it by a LONG mile!! But it's amazing to even be nominated for such a high-profile award! This is the most prestigious award I've ever been shortlisted for, and even if I don't win, I'm delighted to have made the final four. You can find out all about the awards, which also include movies, bands, songs, video games, etc, by clicking on the following link. It also provides details on how to vote, so I hope you lot give me your backing -- we're outweighed vastly by the armies of Potterites, but if we have to go down, we can at least go down fighting ... or, rather, voting!!!!!!!!

NICKELODEON KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS UK

For anyone in the UK and Ireland who hasn't yet read it, you can buy Blood Beast in just about any book shop, but if you prefer to buy online, you can also get it through Amazon.co.uk. Just click on the following link -- AMAZON UK - BLOOD BEAST