2003 Tour Schedule

UK / IRELAND
MARCH
Saturday 2 - 14.00 - Public signing at Easons, Limerick.
Thursday 6 - 09.00 - School event at Gaelscoil O'Doghair, Newcastle West, County Limerick.
Saturday 22 - 14.15 - Did an event at the Annual AGM of Schools Libraries Association, Dublin. I was talking to lots of school librarians, but I did it as a normal event, and even got them to act out the Cirque Du Freak scene with me!!!

MAY
Thursday 29 - 11.00 - Public event at Listowel Book Festival, County Kerry. This took place in a room next to a court house, so we had to keep the noise down!!!

JAPAN
JUNE
Saturday 14 - 09.30 - Four public events in a theatre in Tokyo. The theatre had been transformed into a "World of Darren Shan", with elaborate displays about me and my books, cardboard cut-outs of some of the characters, a coffin for me to enter through when I came on stage, etc. etc. I even acted out a scene in Japanese!!! It was a massive, theatrical affair, great fun!!! There were approx 250 people at each event, making a total of about 2000 over the two days.
Sunday 15 - 09.30 - Four public events in a theatre in Tokyo. As above.

SOUTH KOREA
Friday 20 - a.m. - Two school events in Seoul. This was my first time doing a school event in the Far East, and it was very interesting!
Saturday 21 --a.m. - Public event in Seoul. I was meant to carry on with the Far East tour, to China, Taiwan and Thailand, but an outbreak of SARS meant we had to cancel!!!

UK / IRELAND
JULY
Saturday 5 - 11.00 - Signing sessions at War Child Launch event, Waterstones Picadilly. This was an event to celebrate the launch of Kids' Night In. There were two panel events. I wasn't able to take part in them, because I'd originally been scheduled to still be on tour in the Far East, but I did turn up to take part in the signing sessions.


AUGUST
Saturday 9 - 10.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. My fourth year in a row! I did Part 3 of "The Song of Darren Shan", covering books 7 to 9. Signing for 2 hours after.
Saturday 9 - 17.30 - Public panel event at Edinburgh Book Festival. This was a discussion about fantasy books. I did it with Garth Nix and Theresa Breslin.
Sunday 10 - 11.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. For this one, I did my "Shanta Claus" play, in which I turned the short Christmas story on my web site into a play! I sung too!!!!!
Sunday 10 - 17.30 - Public panel event at Edinburgh Book Festival.This was an event to promote Kids' Night In, which I did with Annie Dalton and Garth Nix. I read out some of my short story, "Hagurosan", and spoke about how I was inspired to write it.

SEPTEMBER
Saturday 27 - 17.30 - Public event at Polka Theatre, Wimbledon, London. approx 220 people -- one of the largest public events I'd done in the UK to that date.

OCTOBER
Thursday 2 - 15.45 - Public signing at Children's Bookshop, Muswell Hill, London.
Saturday 4 - 09.30 - Public signing at O'Mahony's Bookshop, Limerick.

AUSTRALIA
Saturday 11 - 12.00 - Public signing in Sydney, at Angus and Robertson, Shop 445, Westfield, Chatswood, NSW 2067.
Saturday 11 - 14.00 - Public signing in Sydney at Borders Macquarie Centre, Herring Road, North Ryde, NSW 2113.
Saturday 11 - 16.00 - Public signing in Sydney at Shearers Gordon, 790 Pacific Hwy, Gordon.
Sunday 12 --11.00 - Public event to promote Kids' Night In, in Sydney at Dymocks, George St, Lower Ground Floor, 424 George St, Sydney NSW 2000. I was part of a group of authors who did an event and signed copies of Kids' Night In.
Monday 13 - 16.00 - Public signing in Melbourne at Angus and Robertson, Shop 1014, Southland shopping centre, Nepean Highway, Cheltenham.
Tuesday 14 - a.m. - School event in Melbourne.
Tuesday 14 - p.m. - Public Kids' Night In event in Melbourne. I was part of a huge group of authors who did an event and signed copies of Kids' Night In.
Wednesday 15 - a.m. - School events in Brisbane, arranged through The Book Garden.
Friday 17 - 18.30 - Public Kids' Night In event in Brisbane at Avid Reader Bookshop, 193 Boundary Road, West End, Brisbane.

NEW ZEALAND
Friday 31 - a.m. - School events in Auckland, arranged through Whitcoulls.
Friday 31 - 16.00 - Public signing at a bookstore in Remuera, Auckland.
Friday 31 - 19.30 - Public Halloween Event with Childrens Literature Foundation at Auckland College of Education.

NOVEMBER
Saturday 1 - 12.30 - Public event at Whitcoulls Botany Downs, Auckland.
Friday 7 - a.m. - Schools event in Wellington at Heretaunga College, arranged through Bookends Kapiti.
??????? - p.m. - Public event at a book store in Christchurch.

* * * * * * * * * *

A MUCH quieter year on the road!! In fact, I virtually took the year off! I did a few events close to home, and the Edinburgh Festival, but not much more in the UK and Ireland. I was supposed to do a big trip of the Far East and USA in the middle of the year, but SARS put paid to most of the Far East events, and my American publishers decided to wait and bring me back later. And I only did the Australia and New Zealand events because I was over there on a long holiday and it made sense to do a few events while I was there. This was actually an important year for me -- not touring meant I was able to spend more time writing, and get well ahead of my publication schedule. It's a delicate juggling act, mixing long tours with writing. I never write on tour, so I always have to ensure I give myself enough time at home over the course of any year to get my work done. I was feeling a bit pressured after three years on the road, so it was time to take a break and focus on my books -- after all, they're the most important things, and without good books to promote, there's no point touring!!!