It's a Sunday, and the start of a new month, which means two things to any Shanster worth his or her salt -- some Shan clan photos, plus the release of the latest issue of my monthly newsletter!

Starting with the second point of order, I'm please to report that the August issue of the Shanville Monthly is bursting at the seams with lots of news about my new book, Archibald Lox and the Slides of Bon Repell, and the third volume of the Cirque Du Freak manga omnibus. There's info about a blog tour that I'm undertaking, and the return of a special story to my website. There are links to recent interviews I've given, plus reviews of Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt. And more -- so much more!!! You can check it out by clicking here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly

As for the photos... the Shans are just back from a week-long holiday on Fota Island in County Cork in Ireland. It's a lovely part of the world, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, and you can expect LOTS of photos over the coming weeks (maybe even months!), but let's start with these four.

In the first, we take a stroll through the lovingly landscaped gardens of the hotel where we stayed. Not too shabby, eh?!?

In the second snap, my daughter Gaia admires an elephant-shaped water fountain.

In the third, Dante rests beneath a tent that we constructed one day when we went on an adventure course. (I've got to be honest -- I'm absolutely terrible at stuff like that, never having been involved in the Scouts or anything similar, so I'm glad we we were able to jog back to our lovely holiday home at the end of the adventure, and didn't have to put out rather feeble little tent to the test!!!)

Finally, there's a family shot where Mrs Shan told everyone to pull a funny face, but I seem to be the only one who heard the order. Hmm... I've just looked at that photo again, and was shocked by how yellowy/brown my teeth look!! I quickly nipped out to check in a mirror, and while they're hardly the whitest of white, they're not THAT discoloured!!! It's either a trick of the light, or Mrs Shan has been playing with the colour filters on her phone... :-) :-) :-)