It was my birthday earlier this month -- my thanks to everyone who emailed or Facebooked or Tweeted or posted or sent smoke signals wishing me a happy birthday. (OK, nobody sent smoke signals!) You're a great bunch of fans and I was really touched by how many of you took the time to wish me well.

While I never like to single out favourites -- all my fans are equal in my eyes -- a special mention must go to a fan with the user name MikeYoshi, who drew this incredible picture featuring "The Three Darren Shans" -- from left to right, that's Darren as described in the book/movie, the "real" Darren (i.e. me) who writes the books, and Darren as drawn in the manga adaptation of Cirque Du Freak.

Once you're done admiring my three faces, hurry over to the Shanville Monthly, where there's still time to enter the cool little July competiton that I'm running, but be quick -- it closes late Sunday night! https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly/