Picture book and school event
26 October 2023A busy day today! This morning I was busy filming a short video with an artist friend of mine to add to a fundraiser that we're setting up to finance the publication of my first ever picture book.
You -- "EXCUSE ME?!?"
Me -- yep, you heard right!! I'm going into the picture book business!!! (Lord Loss for babies?!? Not quite -- but not a million miles off, either!!!) I'll be talking a lot more about that here very soon (and trying to part some of you from some of your hard-earned cash!!), so I'll just leave that nugget of information there for now, for your brains to go into meltdown over!!
Then, in the afternoon, I went to Scoil Ide in Limerick for a school event with their 5th class students. This was my first in-the-flesh school event in a LONG time -- the last was some time well before the COVID lockdowns, I think. Maybe well before. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy that side of things. It definitely helped that they had a really good audio system in the hall where the event was held -- I read from Lord Loss, and there's a moment in the scene where I raise my voice suddenly. I think every single child (and teacher) leapt in their seats at that point!! A huge round of relief-laughter followed the gasps and screams, and it took about half a minute before everyone settled down and I was able to continue!!!! Fun times!!!!
That's a photo of me with EMMA, one of the students, at the signing afterwards. Emma's mother actually set the ball rolling on this one -- she emailed me, asking if a visit might be at all possible, and put me in touch with the teacher who could set it up. I probably won't be doing too many events like this over the coming year (though I'm still doing online events, for any teachers or librarians who are interested -- just reach out and make contact with me to enquire), but 2025 will mark the 25th anniversary of the release of Cirque Du Freak, so I'm hoping to get out on the road again for my first full tour since 2016, when my Zom-B series finished. Blimey -- hard to believe it will have been 9 years of being off the road by that stage!! Touring used to be a massive part of my life. Now that my kids are a bit older, maybe I need to start thinking about doing a bit more of it again...
Darren Shan USA
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Darren Shan Taiwan
Zom-B UK Site
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Comments
I actually even turned a former bully into a friend thanks to your books; I introduced him to Cirque du Freak whilst I was reading through The Demonata saga for the first time. I distinctly remember one day, he took the bus home with me from school, we went straight into my living room, both of us pulled out our books, and we practically read in silence for hours. He and I remain good friends and you were definitely one of the pillars of the foundation of our bond.
I've been out of school for many years now, and managed to find my old copy of Hell's Heroes - it's the only book I ever bought for myself. I didn't have money to buy all the books as a kid, but the library in school had most of your Vampiric saga and Demon saga books, and my friends lent me the rest. Then when Hell's Heroes came out, the library didn't have it and neither did my friends, so I used my money to get it.
Just holding the book took me back to those moments, eager to get to the next page but dreading when the pages had run out. I lost the slipcover long ago, and the hardback cover shows its age.
It inspired me to do what I couldn't as a kid; I'm collecting your books. I was fortunate enough to find a signed copy of Lord Loss online, so now I'm determined to have a full signed collection! It's coming along nicely. I finally managed to get the Limited Edition copies of Lord Loss, Demon Thief and Bec. Since I already have a signed copy of Lord Loss, I'm going to give it to the friend who first introduced me to your books all those years ago.
I've never cared much for displaying things; my walls are bare save for a single painting I was gifted recently. But I've made space for my modest - and growing - collection.
I guess, seeing this blog post, seeing these kids who love your books, took me back there again, just like finding my copy of Hell's Heroes did. So I wanted to write this out, for you, for someone else who stumbles onto this page, or maybe to nobody at all. But that's fine, I got to take a trip down memory lane for a little.