On Sunday I edited the 7th volume of the "Cirque Du Freak" manga. I don't have much to do with these -- the translations are very well done, I simply read through and make a few tweaks here and there. It's the closest I've ever come to reading my stories the way you guys do, as something objective which I haven't created. "Hunters" was a lot of fun since it's where we first meet Evanna and Vancha, two of my favourite characters from the series. The artist gave them very unique looks! I love what he did with them, and I think fans of the manga will too...

Today I had to plough through a lot of office-related stuff, and also stuff to do with the extension to our house. One of the things I've had in mind ever since I moved in was to one day get a headstone to erect outside, with the name of the house on it!!! Today we finally went in and picked one out! A bit strange, to be buying a headstone that isn't going to be used in a graveyard, but nice too! The name of the house, by the way, is Shanville, which was also the original name for my website back in the day, and the reason why my monthly newsletter is still called the Shanville Monthly.

I also started my latest edit of the first book of what will hopefully be my next series for teens after the Mr Crepsley books. I've come up with a new prologue for it, so I wrote that today. It begins quite bloodily, you'll be pleased to hear!!!

I received a very nice email from a fan called Ben DeFusco today:

Some people call me a rising star, but I'm not entirely sure that's true! Hey, I'm Wyclef's guitarist, Ben DeFusco. (If you don't know who he is then look him up on Youtube; you should be able to find a video of him performing at the Nobel peace prize.) I just wanted to say that you inspired me to follow my dreams. I knew that I could end up in a bad position, but despite the risk, I went for it, and look where I am now! Just goes to show, that with the talent, skill, and a little luck, you can really go places! Thanks!

Wyclef Jean wrote one of my favourite songs, "Gone Till November", which I still play quite regularly on my iPod, so this was a real pleasure for me! I always like it when someone says I helped them chase their dream -- and I like it even more when they realize that dream!!! As Ben noted (and as I often comment on in my blog) it can be a dangerous thing when you chase a dream, with no guarantee of financial success. But if you don't dream big, you can't BE big. As long as you're prepared to take the rough with the smooth (or even just the rough if that's the way your hand plays out) then you'll at the very least have a fascinating, life-changing ride. And if the fates are on your side, you might get the rub of the green that Ben got and wind up going all the way!!! Oh, and as well as being Wyclef Jean's guitarist, Ben also fronts a band called L-SKI. You can check them out on MySpace by CLICKING HERE.