More than twenty years ago, when I started making money from book sales, I was faced with a nice but rather puzzling problem -- what to do with it?!? I could have gone the safe, sensible route and invested in property or shares, but I felt that would be a bit boring. So instead I ploughed quite a lot of my earnings into... ART!!!

I've been quite a serious art collector for more than two decades now. I began by collecting comic art, from comics and graphic novels that I loved, but then branched out and began buying pieces by all different types of artists. My tastes are broad and I added all kinds of works to my walls, some of it fairly conservative and calming, some of it rather weird and challenging!!! But always I bought works that I enjoyed -- I never bought for investment purposes.

Although I have a big house, my collection eventually outgrew my wall space, and last year I realised I really did have to trim things down. I went through the collection rather ruthlessly -- I still enjoy all of these works, but I didn't want to start putting them into storage, so it was time to let them go.

I'm selling the works through a variety of auction houses, but a lot of them are coming up for sale on May 10th, through a British auction site called Bellmans. There are major bargains to be found here (some from as little as £100!!!), as it includes pieces that I bought from the USA, from artists who are well known there, but who aren't well known in the UK. There are also plenty of pieces by modern British or European artists, again mostly going for far less than I paid for them.

If you're an art collector looking to snap up a Philippe Bertho, Dale Mathis, Dave Kinsey, or Marla Olmstead at a steal... or nab a lovely Alicia Dubnyckyj, Alexandre Nicolas or Jenny Pockley for far less than you'd normally pay... or if you just want to buy something that once belonged to Darren Shan...then this is the auction for you!!

Even if you're not interested in bidding, but are curious to cast an eye over the kind of works that appealed to a budding "Master of YA Horror," you can browse the sale online and gain an insight into my mind and world which nobody except my family and friends has ever before been privy to!

My works are those listed as lot numbers 305 to 363 in the sale, and the link for the auction is here: https://mailchi.mp/bellmans.co.uk/selling-at-auction-4848729

You can also read a bit more from me on the Bellmans site, here: https://www.bellmans.co.uk/property-from-the-darren-shan-collection-10-may-2022