Well, my agent has had a busy day in Frankfurt!! As many of you will have already seen on Twitter, Facebook or in the news, I haveannounced not just one new set of books today, but two!! The first announcement was on the children's front, where it was revealed that Simon & Schuster have bought the rights to my latest teen-aimed series, called Zom-B. There will be 12 books in total, and we will be releasing them at the rate of one every three months -- so I have a busy few years ahead of me!! The first one will come out in aumtum 2012. There series is about zombies, and I don't really want to say too much else about it right now, except that the books are short and grisly! I'll be revealing more information next year, closer to the release of the first book, although because this is a series full of twists and turns, don't expect me to give too much away!! You can read more about the deal here: http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/admin_assets/1631_SS_Darren_Shan_press_release.pdf

In the second announcement, we revealed that Orion have bought the rights to two adult books from me. The first, due to come out in September 2012, is called Lady of the Shades. I don't want to say too much about it, as it packs probably the most surprises of any of my books, but in a nutshell it's a thriller with a ghostly undercurrent. It's about a writer with a (literally) haunted past who moves to London to research a new book. He falls in love with one of the locals, but her situation is far more complicated than she leads him to believe, and every step that he takes leads him further into a world of nightmares, bloodshed and shades of the dead. Dark, suspenseful stuff, with several jaw-dropping twists that will hopefully blow your mind!! You can read more about the deal here: http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/36508

Those who have been following my blogs and tweets over the last few years will know that I have been working hard on both these projects for a long time. I wrote the first Zom-B book three and a half years ago. I knew from the start that I wanted to write a series of short books which would be released swiftly -- it wasn't a commercial decision, just the method that would best serve this particular story. Very few writers would be brave or crazy enough to try to release a new book every three months, so I knew I had to give myself lots of time to get ahead of my publication schedule, to allow me to make sure that every book lived up to the high standards that I have always set myself. There won't be any rush job with these vicious little babies -- I've already written first drafts of 11 of the books, and have started the 12th, so each book will have at least three years of hard graft behind it!!!

Lady of the Shades goes back even further than the Zom-B series. I wrote the first draft a long time ago, but set it aside while concentrating on my children's books. The success of my vampire and demon books meant that I didn't have as much time on my hands as I would have liked. Something had to give if I was to write and edit each book to my satisfaction, while regularly going on tour to promote them. That something was my adult output. For several years I just didn't have time to focus on my adult career, so I set it to one side, until I felt ready to return to it and kick things off again. That process began a few years ago when HarperCollins asked to republish my original series for adults -- the City Trilogy. I went back and re-edited the books, and carried on from there, going back to a couple of my set-aside works, while also turning my thoughts to new material. I haven't rushed the process, which is why there has been a break between City of the Snakes and Lady of the Shades. But now that I'm firmly back in the saddle, I hope to fire ahead solidly on the adult front while keeping up my punishing children's schedule. It's a big ask, but I've always relished a challenge!!!

The next few years are going to be a hectic, exciting time for me, and I hope you guys get as much of a buzz out of the new books as I've had writing them!!