One Wednesday evening near the end of May, the Shans went for a stroll back the strand from Ringmoylan pier, a regular stomping ground for us since it's at the end of the road on which our house stands. On this particular day, my son Dante wanted to try his hand at skimming stones, so I showed him how it was done, then helped him have a go. He found it tricky, not least because we couldn't find the right types of flat pebbles for skimming, but he definitely made progress, as you can see in the third photo, which for some reason reminds me of that famous cut jump in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, when an early man, having discovered the usefulness of weapons, throws a bone into the air, which arcs up... and up... to become... aw, go and watch the movie to find out!!! :-)

In the fourth photo, two-year old Gaia sits by the water's edge, staring at the ripples, knowing two things -- 1) she's too young to be skimming stones, but 2) her day will come...

The day has also come for the release of Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt, which went on sale last Thursday! You can find out all about it -- including where you can buy it -- in the July issue of my monthly newsletter: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly