And so another tour draws to a happy, busy end!! I've been on the road for the last couple of weeks, around the UK and Ireland, on tour to promote "Palace of the Damned", the third book in the Mr Crepsley series. (If you haven't bought a copy yet, head down to your local book store, or buy a copy online -- it's available both in its regualr hardback format and as an eBook.) Since it's imporrislbe to cover all parts of the country on any one tour, I try to target specific areas each time I hit the road. This time the focus was largely on the south and southwest of England, since I hadn't been down that way in a couple of years. I started in Birmingham, and also took in Worcester, Bath and Bluewater, but for most of the time I was hugging that southerly British coastline.

Because I tour so much here, and have a great publicity team backing me up and organising everything, my tours usually run like clockwork, and this was no exception. The time flew by, nicely packed with events, but not so overcrowded that I burnt out! We got to almost every venue in time, and on the few occasions we were late, it was just by a few minutes. The school events were fun, large crowds at each. I mixed up scenes that I read up -- I always like to vary my routine. My Lord Loss extract was in there, of course, but I also did my Cirque Du Freak scene (where the woman gets her hand bitten off by the world man) for the first time in a long while. The factory scene from Birth of a Killer was also a regular, plus I read out The Good Ship Tree at a few of my public events, an article I wrote for the Times Educational Supplement many years back -- you can find that in the EXTRAS part of my site if you're interested.

In total I spoke to about 3,300 fans at the various school and public events. The signings averaged out at about 2 hours per venue. The longest was at Bluewater, where I signed for over 3 hours. I visited several places where I had been before and met some good old friends, but I also made it to some new places too -- I especially liked my trip by hovercraft to the Isle of Wight!! Thanks, as always, to the HarperCollins staff involved in arranging the events and escorting me safely around -- Mary, Sam, Tiffany, Laura and Geraldine (who was absent from one of my tours for the first time since Lord Loss, because she was off having a lovely little daughter -- but her presence was felt even though she wasn't there in person!!). Thanks also to every teacher, librarian and bookseller who helped us set up and run an event or signing -- you guys gave us a warm welcome everywhere we went. And, of course, extra special thanks to every student who sat quietly in an event and gave me their attention, and especially every fan who made to the effort to come to one of my public events or signings -- my tours couldn't happen without you guys, and I always do appreciate it when you come along and make time for me. I sometimes get asked during long signings if I'm bored of scribbling my signature yet, and honest answer is always a very firm NO -- how could I ever get bored of signing for the best fans in the world?!?

Anyway, that will probably be it for my touring schedule until next year. I plan to devote the next few months to writing. I'll be returning to the Middle East next March, then touring the UK and Ireland again in late April or early May to promote Brothers to the Death -- I'll confirm dates and details for those tours closer the time, once they have been determined. Until then I'll probably be lying low and writing like a whirlwind. 2012 is going to be a busy year for me, with new works to look forward to on both the teen and adult front. I hope to announce more information about those books within the next few days, so stay tuned -- I have some VERY exciting announcements to make!!!!