A fan called Will sent me the following email recently, with the headline: FLITTING.

"Holy s**t man... Cirque du Freak was my favorite series when I was younger. I’m 27 now, reading Dracula for the first time after picking it up in a secondhand store. I was enthralled and starting to speed read until that word jumped out at me.

"“A little way off, beyond a line of scattered juniper-trees, which marked the pathway to the church, a white, dim figure FLITTED in the direction of the tomb.”

"Rolled over and grabbed my phone immediately so I could share this brief moment of excitement to the only other person who would presumably share some elation. Cheers, Darren. Thanks for the years of fun."

Now, hands up, I must admit I didn't invent the word "flitting" -- it's been around a long, long time, and I merely appropriated it and gave it a bit of a re-polish, so the chances are that this is merely a case of another author using a word that was fairly common even in the late 19th century.

BUT!! as I pointed out to Will, if you've read the Mr Crepsley books, you'll know that Bram Stoker met with Paris Skyle when researching Dracula, so maybe it WAS a knowing nod to the ways of the REAL creatures of the night...

:-) :-) :-)

In the May issue of my online newsletter -- THREE new books! Updates about the Cirque Du Freak manga and movie! An "album" of sorts! And lots, lots more. Click here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly