GREETINGS!

Welcome to the March issue of the Shanville Monthly. March is usually the start of spring in Ireland, but this year we've been hit by a late burst of arctic wind, so it's pretty chillifying outside right now!!! Hopefully it'll mellow out a bit later in the month -- but if not, who cares -- I'm off to sunny Thailand near the end of the month!!! (see below) I'm hard at work at the moment on the first draft of my latest book, which I'm trying to finish before I head for Thailand. This book probably won't be published (assuming it DOES get published -- and I never take that for granted!) until June or October 2006!!! Sounds like there's loads of time to work on it, right? But from past experience I'm sure that the next couple of years will fly by, and before I know it I'll be working hard on the final draft, no doubt trying to finish it off before I head somewhere else on the neverending promotional trail!! What's that? You want to know what the name of the book is? And what it's about? Well, listen, I'll tell you ... can you keep a secret? ........... good ................... well ......................so can I!!!!! Heh heh -- an old Paul Daniels quip, but one I never tire of!! Anyway, enough of future novels -- let's get on with the present news!!

SHAN ON TV IN IRELAND

Heads up, Irish Shansters!!! Coming soon to a TV set near you is ... ME!!!! I'm due to appear on the kids' show, S@TTITUDE, on Saturday, March 6th, on Network 2. The show starts at 10.00. I'm not sure what time I'll be on, or for how long (though I think it will only be a short segment), or even what I'll be doing on it!!!! So you'll just have to tune in or set your recorders if you want to find out more!!! To check out the show's official web site, go to http://www.rte.ie/tv/sattitude/

THAILAND & TAIWAN

My trip to the Far East has now been narrowed down to Thailand and Taiwan, since my Chinese and Japanese publishers both preferred to have me over at a later date (maybe later this year, or else in 2005). I'll be going to the Bangkok Literary Festival during the last week of April, and to Taiwan during the first week of May. I'm not yet sure of exact dates, or if I'll be going anywhere else in Thailand. For news about my Taiwanese events, try checking for details on the official Taiwan Darren Shan web site at http://www.crown.com.tw/darrenshan/index.htm I'll try to post more information about my schedule in both countries in the next issue of the Shanville Monthly, which I hope to put online just before I leave for Bangkok.

AMERICAN ROAD TRIP

Plans for my American tour in April and May are falling quickly into place!! Here's the list of events and dates which have so far been confirmed. Please note -- "School Event" means I'll be going in to a school during school time, or schools will be coming to see me in a store, so only the students from that school will be able to attend. (But if the event's being held in a store, it MIGHT be possible for individuals to come too! Or for you to arrange for YOUR class to come! Contact the stores in question for more details!!!) "Public Event" means ANYONE can come to see me in the store. "TBC" = To Be Confirmed.
April:
Monday 26th -- La Jolla Country Day School, La Jolla, CA -- 11.00-16.00 -- school event.
Tuesday 27th -- Yellow Book Road, 8315 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa, CA -- 10.00-11.00 -- school event.
Tuesday 27th -- Mysterious Galaxy Books, 7015 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Suite 302, San Diego, CA -- 17.30-18.30 -- public event.
Wednesday 28th -- San Diego Library, Santee Branch, 9225 Carlton Hills Blvd, #17 Santee, CA 92071 -- 15.30-16.30 -- public event.
Wednesday 28th -- Barnes & Noble, San Diego, CA (store address TBC) -- 19.00-20.00 -- public event.
Thursday 29th -- Whale of a Tale, 4199 Campus Drive Suite A Irvine, CA -- 16.00-17.00 -- public event.
May:
Saturday 1st -- Cody’s Books, 1730 4th St, Berkeley, CA -- 19.00-20.00 -- public event.
Saturday 1st -- Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St, Oakland, CA 94612 -- 14.00-15.00 -- public event.
Sunday 2nd -- Borders, San Rafael, CA -- details TBC.
Monday 3rd -- M is For Mystery, 86 East Third Avenue, San Mateo, CA -- school event (I'm not sure if the students will be coming to the store, or if I'll be going to their school; if they're coming to the store, you should be able to come at the end of the event to meet me -- phone store for more details)
Tuesday 4th -- Rakestraw Books, 409 Railroad Avenue, Danville, CA -- 15.30-17.00 -- public event.
Wednesday 5th -- IRA Convention, Reno, NV -- details TBC.
May 6th to 12th -- details TBC, but to include trips to Denver and Minneapolis.
Wednseday 12th -- Anderson’s Bookshop, 5112 Main St, Downer’s Grove, IL 60515 -- 19.00-20.00 -- public event.
Thursday 13th -- NYC -- details TBC.
Friday 14th -- Just Books, 28 Arcadia Road, Old Greenwich, CT 06870 -- 15.30-17.00 -- public event.
Saturday 15th -- Book House of Stuyvesant, 1475 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203 -- 14.00-15.00 -- public event.
Saturday 15th -- North Shire Book Store, 4869 Main Street, Manchester Center, VT 05255 -- 19.00-20.00 -- public event.
If you can't make any of the public events, or you want to get me on your own turf, it's still possible for YOU to get in on the act!! Although a lot of dates have now been filled, some are still available. So if you live in or near one of the areas mentioned above, ACT NOW and you might be able to arrange for me to visit your school, or for your class to come and see me in a book shop or library. See last month's issue of the Shanville Monthly for tips on the best way to "snare" me, then ask your teacher, librarian or local book seller to write to the following address: Darren Shan tour, Jennifer Abbots, Little Brown & Company, Books for Young Readers, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10020 Or, better yet, they can send an e-mail to [email protected] Please DO NOT e-mail Jennifer yourself -- such e-mails will only be a waste of her time and will be ignored!

ULTIMATE BOOK GUIDE!

The Ultimate Book Guide is a new book, released in the UK this month. It features reviews of over 600 children's books, and many of the reviews are written by authors, such as Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz, David Almond -- and a couple by a certain Darren Shan!! Readers often ask me (or each other, on the Shanville Message Board) to recommend good books for them to read. With The Ultimate Book Guide, you need never ask that question again -- or at least not any time soon, unless you're s SUPER fast reader!!!!! I think it's definitely worth investing in! Have a look in your local book shop for it if you're interested, or you can order it through Amazon by clicking on the following link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0713667184/shanville

HUNT FOR SHAN ON EBAY

Many of my books have been turning up for sale on Ebay recently. Most of them are straightforward printings of the American and British books, but hard-to-find items have also been cropping up fairly regularly, such as signed books, book proofs (limited editions which are printed up before a book goes on sale, to be distributed to journalists, book sellers, etc), vials of fake blood (used in the UK to promote book 5), and so on. If you're interested in such items, you can look for them by clicking on the following link: SHAN ON EBAY Or, if that doesn't work, just go to http://www.ebay.com and enter the words DARREN SHAN in the search box. Good luck!!!
p.s. I have nothing to do with any of the auctions -- I'm just providing the link as a public service!!!

DEJÁ VU

In case anyone missed it last month, a collected edition of books 4, 5 and 6 is now on sale in the UK and Ireland, called Vampire Rites. It's the price of two books, so basically, if you buy it, you get one book for FREE!!! The first three books have also been collected, under the title of Vampire Blood. Both collections come with shantastically cool covers, and feature the updated, corrected editions of each book. (There were little -- and some not so little! -- errors in the early printings of each book, such as misspelt words, which we later found and fixed.) If you don't own the books already, this is the simplest -- and cheapest!!! -- way to get hold of them!! You can find thumbnails of the covers on the shanville uk site which link to larger images of the covers and some info about the books. You can also buy the books from here, via Amazon.

IT'S A WRAP

And that's it for March. I'm off to try and get through the rest of my new book. There'll be no rest between this and the end of the month -- except for St Patrick's Day on the 17th, of course!!!! The next issue of the Monthly will come online early, about a week or so before the end of March, since I won't be able to post it while I'm away in Thailand and Taiwan! (The next -- May -- issue will also have to be early, since I'll be in the States at the start of the month!) Until then, all the bloody best, and don't drink too many green pints of Guinness on Paddy's Day!!!!!! Darren Shan x x x