It's been a while since we had a BOOKSHELFIES post, so let's get back in the groove with some serious Shanster collectors!! I know we're not supposed to turn everything into a contest these days, but hey, I'm 50, and when I was growing up, everything WAS a contest, and old habits die hard!! So let's throw down the gauntlet and see which of these four marvellous fans with loads of my books in their collection is that little bit MORE marvellous than the others!!!!!

First up we have ERICK, who boasts an impressive 37 of my books in total, including a full set of the manga, and some very hard-to-find Spanish editions. Nice work, Erick!! BUT...

A Tweeter with the user name of HER SHELVES ELVES has Erick topped, with an even more impressive 42 of my books, inlcuding some of my Darren Dash books for adults, and the individual Archibald Lox books -- I normally urge fans to opt for the omnibus editions if they're going to buy physical copies of that series (HSE has one of those too!) but I must admit it's nice when a fan disobeys my orders!!! Super nice work, Her Shelves Elves!!! BUT....

LORNA allegedly has her pipped, with a whopping 43 of my books!! I say "allegedly" because about half of them can't be seen, as they're nestling behind other books on her shelves. But I trust Lorna -- we all know that Shansters, like the vampaneze, tell no lies!! Super-duper nice work, Lorna!!!! BUT...

Cometh the hour, cometh the monster Darren Shan collector who goes by the name of PETER THE GREAT!!! (Actually, to be fair, he just refers to himself as Peter -- I added "the great" myself!) Peter has been an avid collector of my work for many moons now, and almost certainly has the second best collection of my books in the entire world (after myself). As you can see, he owns memorabilia as well as books, and at last count those books totalled... 103 copies!!!!

Erick, Her Shelves Elves, Lorna, and the rest of you... time to pull up your socks and start PROPERLY collecting!!!!!!!

(Just to be clear, I honestly AM just joking!! It's NEVER a competition in my eyes. I don't care if you have 103 of my books, or just 3 of my books, or even none of my books if you're read library copies or borrowed them from a friend. Your support is ALWAYS appreciated, and I love you all equally.)

(But Peter obviously IS better than the rest of you!!!!)

(JOKING!!!!!!!!)