Today is my birthday (47 years... young?!?) but let's not bother about that, as I'm saving my celebrations for the big 5-0, which is coming up far faster and more furiously than I would have imagined possible when I was a young lad looking out across the sea of my future.

Of far more significance is the fact that it's been a while since our last Tattoo Tuesday, so let's correct that today with this sweet offering from a fan called Megan. At first glance it doesn't seem to be specifically related to Cirque Du Freak or any of my other books, but there's a story behind the blank pages, and here's how Megan explained it when she shared the image with me.

"Hi there. I just wanted to message and say thank you for writing books. In year 4, we had reading groups where we were given a book that we would read a chapter of each week. We had to take the books home each week also to idk encourage responsibility or something also. That first class, I had never really been that interested in reading, but I read the first chapter of Cirque Du Freak and I read the entire book that night in bed. When I had to have surgery in year 6, I had to wait several hours in the waiting room and my Mum bought me all the series that were currently out - I believe I finished 4 more of those books while waiting. I even met you once at my old secondary school - you were doing a talk I could not go to as I was "too old" but I managed to blag my way into getting my copy of the Thin Executioner and some of the Demonata books (even though you were only supposed to sign one) signed. You are officially the author that got me into reading. I am about to start my PGCE Psychology course in September and in a round about way I would never have gotten here without your help. It isn't an officially themed tattoo, but as I am about to graduate my undergrad, my tattoo is nearly 3 years now and is informally inspired by you, as well as all the other magnificent authors."

Don't miss the July issue of the Shanville Monthly which is now live, with all the latest Darren Shan and Darren Dash news and updates, plus a brand new COMPETITION: https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly/