The Ocean Of Blood Facebook App competition is OVER!!! Yes, we finally hit the million drops mark, several days short of the targeted closing date. HarperCollins are in the process of sending out the final batches of prizes. If you entered and won, but hit the Play Again button before you could submit your claim, please post on the Darren Shan Facebook UK page  — there’s a link from the home page on http://www.darrenshan.com The system kept a note of every winner, so they should be able to sort you out fairly swiftly, though it would help if you had an idea of the prize number. Thanks to everyone who entered, especially those of you who donated multiple times — your dedication is legendary!!! I hope that everybody who won something is happy with their prize -- and commiserations to those of you who didn't have the luck of the vampires this time round!!

In the UK and Ireland Palace of the Damned goes on sale on September 29th., while it the USA its official release date is October 3rd. The third of the Mr Crepsley books, this picks up where book 2 finished, with Larten lost in the icy wastelands of Greenland, in search of a fitting death. From there it sweeps across the globe, taking in such vistas as Paris in the early 20th Century, the battlefields of Eruope during World War I, and Russia not long after its Revolution. We also get to meet the TRUE love of Larten's life, the woman who meant the most to him, who touched him most deeply. Plus we'll find out what happened to that snoring little baby!!! The book should be on sale in all good book stores, but if you prefer to order through the internet, you can get it (in hardback or kindle format) through Amazon UK or Amazon USA.

In the UK and Ireland, the fifth and final collected volume of The Demonata goes on sale on September 1st. It contains Dark Calling and Hell's Heroes. should be on sale in book stores around the country from the start of September. If you can't find it on the shelves, please feel free to ask a member of staff to order in a copy for you. Or you can order it online by clicking on this link: AMAZON UK

In Sweden, Sons of Destiny goes on sale in September, so my Swedish fans will now be able to find out how The Saga Of Darren Shan ended. Sweet!!

NEW INTERVIEW

I had a brilliant time in Edinburgh as I always do during the Festival. I saw loads of shows and comedians during my visit. Oh, and I did a couple of events of my own as well, of course!! My panel event with Barry Hutchison and Alexander Gordon Smith went wonderfully, ably chaired by the shy, quiet, clean-shaven Philip Ardagh (!!!). I really enjoyed chatting with them about horror, our favourite books, our love of the genre. We could have done with an extra 20 or 30 minutes, to give the audience more time to ask questions, but it was still lots of fun.

My solo event on Sunday went well too, though I over-ran for the first time in my career!! It was supposed to be two hours, but clocked in at just under two and a half!! The problem with such a long event was that it was impossible to rehearse it fully ahead of time. I thought I was on line for two hours, but it took longer than I thought once I started adding in accents and dramatical pauses. I think everyone enjoyed it regardless, judging by the feedback I had later when signing, but I was annoyed at myself for running over. Thankfully the festival were very understanding and let me finish -- other organisers would have cut me off at the two hour mark!! If I ever do the event again (and I think I will, very occasionally, as I loved doing it), I'll do another edit of the script beforehand to ensure I come in on time. Anyway, even with the overspill, it was an amazing experience, and I'm delighted I set myself the challenge -- it was something I'll never forget, and I hope everyone who saw it got as much of a kick out of it as I did.

THE DARREN SHAN GREAT GLOBAL GIVEAWAY!!

When my books are published, my publishers always send me free copies of them. I've built up a massive collection of Darren Shan books over the years, from countries all around the world. I always keep a few of each book for myself, but in many cases I have extra copies. These were stacked away haphazardly in my old house, then in storage for a year while I was living elsewhere, but when I moved back in, I had a chance to go through them and sort them out. Which means that I am now in a position to start GIVING THEM AWAY FOR FREE as competition prizes!!! Most months, for the next few months, I am going to run a competition for readers in different countries. The number of prizes will vary for each country depending on how many books I have to give away. I won't announce the number of books up for offer for any given country in advance -- all I will say is that I have a LOT of books to give away, so I'm going to be trying to issue as many prizes as possible each time! You don't get a choice of book as a prize -- basically, I'll see what I have available, and issue prizes accordingly. And, of course, I will SIGN every book before I send it out!!

This month, I am giving away books for fans in BRAZIL, the CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY, TAIWAN and TURKEY. (There were no entries for Turkey last month, which is why I'm giving my Turkish fans another chance.)

GENERAL TERMS FOR ALL ENTRANTS:

1) This competition is only open to fans who live in BRAZIL, the CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY, TAIWAN and TURKEY. (You cannot enter if you work for one of my publishers or are one of my relations.)

2) You can only enter ONCE, and there can only be one entry per household. If you try to enter more than once, ALL of your entries will be disqualified.

3) Put the NAME OF YOUR COUNTRY and YOUR NAME in the SUBJECT BOX when you send your e-mail. (For example, if I was entering, I would put Ireland -- Darren Shan). And make sure you INCLUDE YOUR FULL POSTAL ADDRESS in the body of the e-mail. This is so that I can easily send your prize to you if you win! Also, if you are 15 years old or older, and would like to be considered for one of my adult books, please note this in your entry.

4) Closing date is midnight, UK Time, Sunday, September 10th, 2011.

6) Information submitted by entrants WILL NOT be shared by me with any other individual or company. I'll keep your details on my PC, then delete the info once the competition ends.

7) My decision will be final.