CHRISTMAS EXTRA!
Merry Christmas, everybody!!! Although I posted the December issue of the Shanville Monthly at the start of the month, I've decided to run a short, updated version, mainly to again wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and share with you the following card:
That pretty much says it all -- except to remind you that my Shanta Claus story is online NOW and has been getting a great response from those who've read it -- you can read it by CLICKING HERE -- but you'd better be quick, as I'll be removing it for another year very shortly after Christmas Day.
Oh, and keep an eye out for Zom-B Underground -- although it's not officially on sale until January 2nd in the USA and January 3rd in the UK and Ireland, as I expected, some stores have put it on their shelves a bit early, in time for Christmas!! But if you don't spot it in a shop near you, you can pre-order it online from a variety of retailers in the UK by CLICKING HERE, or from Amazon in the USA by CLICKING HERE.
Oh, and UK fans -- if you like eBooks (or get an eReader for Christmas), and have not yet bought the first Zom-B book, keep an eye on the Amazon UK site from Christmas Eve -- you might find a pleasingly priced undead offer there...
Right, I have lots more news, but I'll save it for the January issue of the Shanville Monthly! In the meantime, if you missed the December issue earlier this month, here it is in all its glory (except I've removed the email addresses for the competitions, since they're now out of date -- but I'll be announcing some more exciting competitions in the January issue!). I truly do hope that you have a wonderful time this Christmas and New Year, regardless of whether you celebrate such occasions or not. Stay safe, wrap up warm, eat lots of good food, go for nice brisk walks, and I'll see you all back here shortly for the start of 2013. Cheers!!!!
GREETINGS!
Ho Ho Ho -- Merry Christmas, everyone, and welcome to the December issue of the Shanville Monthly!!! This is a really jam-packed issue, with all the latest Zom-B news... more interior art from Zom-B Underground... details of tours in Scotland and the USA... manga resurrection in the UK... a couple of short stories... a competition... and lots more. So let's crack straight on with it!!!
ZOM-B UNDERGROUND
Zom-B Underground, the second book in the series, goes on sale in the UK and Ireland on January 3rd, and on sale in the USA on January 2nd -- not a bad way to start 2013!!! There's even a chance that some shops might stick the book on their shelves a bit earlier than planned, in time for Christmas, so keep an eye out, just in case! It also goes on sale in Canada on January 18th, and I think in Australia and New Zealand in January too, but I'm not sure of the precise date, so don't quote me!
Without giving too much away, I can reveal that the book takes place in an undergound complex, where a group of unusual teenagers are being held captive. Where book 1 gave us zombies mostly of the normal, expected variety, this book takes us into new, fresh territories, as I start to put a real Shan-stamp on things! The book has already received its first reviews, which you can check out, along with LOADS of reviews for the first book, by CLICKING HERE.
Zom-B Underground should be available in all good book shops in Ireland, the UK and USA from the start of January (if you don't see it on the shelves of your local store, please ask a member of staff to order it in), along with most other places that sell books (e.g. Tesco, ASDA, etc.). Or you can buy it online (or download it) through a number of sites, including Amazon. If you live in the UK/Ireland and want to buy it through Amazon UK, CLICK HERE. If you like in the USA, you can CLICK HERE.
I'm also pleased to reveal another cool image from inside the book (after last month's first sneak peek) by the wonderful Warren Pleece. This actually reveals a lot more about the book, and the direction that the series is going to take, than might at first be apparent, so make sure you take a good, long look at it!
ZOM-B MICROSITE
UK and Ireland fans -- don't forget to bookmark and keep checking out the Zom-B UK site. Run by my publishers, Simon & Schuster, it will feature exclusive downloads, competitions and more over the course of the series. At the moment there's a fab comp where you can win the first two Zom-B books, along with a limited-edition T-shirt!! And there's an even cooler competition coming along shortly, to tie in with the release of Book 2. I'll be revealing more about that next month...
PAPERBACK ZOMBIES
I'm pleased to be able to announce that Zom-B will be coming out in paperback in the UK and Ireland on March 14th, at the same time as the release of the hardback edition of Book 3, Zom-B City. The paperback schedule will then mirror that of the hardback schedule moving forward, i.e. book 2 will come out in paperback at the same time as book 4 in hardback, etc. I think this is also going to be the case in the USA. We're planning a few extra touches for the paperback editions, so watch out for them! While you're waiting, you can check out the cover for the first UK paperback below, which nicely tweaks the image used on the hardback. To pre-order the paperback online, CLICK HERE.
A GERMAN LADY
Late addition: 4/12/12. Sorry for this late, extra addition to the December issue, but I just found out that Lady of the Shades went on sale in Hungary on December 3rd. It features a stunning, brooding cover, and I'm sure the translation will be top-notch, as all the other translations of my books into Hungarian have been!! Lady of the Shades has had a great reaction from fans and critics in the UK, Ireland and Australia, so I hope you guys like it too!!
A GERMAN LADY
I have some exciting news for my German fans. Lady Of The Shades is going to be released in a German translation in April 2013, under the title of Die Toten, Die Ich Rief. Sadly, the German publishers of my Demonata series decided to stop before all of the books had been released. Hopefully, if the new book does well, it will enable us to get the rest of my demon series published over there, so please go out and buy the book if you live in Germany, and try to drum up as much support for it as you can.
ZOM-B AUDIO
Listen up!! Zom-B has been released in a very cool, downloadable audio format in the USA, narrated by Emma Galvin. You can order it through Amazon by CLICKING HERE. It is available to buy through other sites too, one of which is The Audio Book Store, which also allows you to listen to a sample chapter for free! To access that page, CLICK HERE.
Plans are also afoot to release an audio version of both Zom-B and Lady of the Shades in the UK, and I expect to be able to announce more details about those in an upcoming issue of the Shanville Monthly, so stay tuned...
UK MANGA
As I'm sure many of you already know, The Saga Of Darren Shan was adapted into a manga in Japan several years ago, and has been translated and published in lots of countries around the world since then. The editions were originally coming out at the same time in the UK and USA, but then the UK schedule hit a snag (it's a long story) and stalled at volume 7. I'm absolutely delighted (and relieved!) to be able to announce that everything has now been sorted out, and that the remaining volumes are finally going to be released in the UK and Ireland.
Volume 8: Allies of the Night goes on sale on December 6th.
Volume 9: Killers of the Dawn goes on sale on January 3rd 2013.
Volume 10:The Lake Of Souls goes on sale on January 31st 2013.
Volume 11:Lord of the Shadows goes on sale on March 28th 2013.
Volume 12:Sons Of Destiny goes on sale on June 6th 2013.
The manga probably won't be as widely accessible as my books, but your local bookseller should be able to order in copies for you if you ask for them. Or you can order by clicking on the Amazon UK links above. I absolutely LOVE the manga adaptation -- it is extremely faithful to the books, yet also works in its own right, tweaking the story where it needs to, in order to make it work visually. If you have not yet read any of the manga, this is the perfect time to start -- with Christmas just around the corner, now you know what to ask for!!!!
American fans -- all 12 volumes are on sale already in the States. As in the UK, they probably aren't as widely available as my books, so if you don't see them on the shelves of your local bookseller, either ask the staff to order them for you, or you can get them on Amazon. This is the link to Volume One, and you can find the rest from there.
A LEADER AMONG CYNSATIONAL ZOMBIES
There was a very nice article about me in one of my local papers, The Limerick Leader, in November, including some comments from me about Zom-B. I recommend you check it out, and you can do so by CLICKING HERE.
You might also want to cast your eye over an interesting piece that appeared on the Cynsations site, talking about books for boys. Several authors were interviewed for it, and I was one of them. Again, I'd highly recommend this, and you can find it if you CLICK HERE.
THE CITY eBOOKS HIT THE UK
I know I already spoke about this last month, but with Christmas coming up, I figured I'd run the news again, in case any of you want to buy a gift for the older Shansters in your life -- or if you ARE an older Shanster!! Although Lady Of The Shades was released in the UK as an eBook at the same time as the hardback release, the first three books that I wrote for older readers, The City Trilogy, were only recently made available in eFormat. You can now download them from Amazon UK for your Kindle or other eReader. The City Trilogy books are also available in eFormat in the USA -- you can find them on Amazon.com along with the hardback and paperback editions.
To download Book 1, Procession of the Dead, CLICK HERE.
To download Book 2, Hell's Horizon, CLICK HERE.
To download Book 3, City of the Snakes, CLICK HERE.
SHORT STORIES
I wrote a special Halloween-themed short story for The Times UK, called "A Change Of Heart," which appeared in the paper on October 30th. I have now made it available on my web site. You can access it by CLICKING HERE. It's a dark, grisly tale about a most horrid boy who learns a very valuable lesson while Trick-or-Treating. Enjoy!!!
I will also, of course, be adding my infamous Shanta Claus story to the web site again shortly before Christmas. This has become a Shanville tradition -- every year around Christmas time I post up a short, funny story about Santa, working in references to lots of my books and characters. It's a the same story every year, but I always tweak it and add some new sections. This year i plan to work in some Zom-B mentions, though I'm not sure yet where exactly they're going to fit in... Anyway, I'll tweet and Facebook the link when it goes live, but if you want to bookmark it now, the link will appear HERE, where you can also find loads of other extras (short stories, deleted scenes and more) that I have released over the years.
MOVEMBER
I decided to grow a handlebar moustache for Movember. For those who haven't heard about it, Movember is a charity drive that takes place every November, where men worldwide grow moustaches to try to raise funds for prostate cancer charities and research. I had fun with my tache, which I named Artemis after Eoin Colfer made an extremely generous donation. I've already raised over €1,500, which was way more than I had hoped to raise, but there's still time to donate (or MONATE, as I prefer to call it!). You can check out lots of photos of me and Artemis, taken over the course of the month, by CLICKING HERE. You'll find the option to donate on the page. And here's a snap of me on the very final day of the month, with Artemis in its proud prime, and me bidding it goodbye!!
YA FOR NJ
I was on holiday in New York just before Hurricane Sandy struck, so I'm delighted to take part in a fundraising drive to benefit the victims of the storm in New Jersey. All monies raised will go to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey. There are LOADS of autographed books and other items up for auction, so have a look through all of their entries by CLICKING HERE -- you might find the perfect Christmas present for that special someone in your life, and contribute to a great cause at the same time! I have donated a signed copy of the UK edition of Zom-B, along with a very rare signed Vampire's Assistant movie T-shirt, and some signed cards too. You can bid on my lot by CLICKING HERE. The auction ends of December 7th. Best of luck!
LEGO CREPSLEY
I love this Lego trailer for Birth Of A Killer, so I recommend you have a look by CLICKING HERE. The creator has also made trailers for some of my other books, which you can access after having a look at this one.
JANUARY TOUR - UK AND SCOTLAND
I will be doing a short tour in Scotland to support the release of Zom-B Underground in January, with some London events/signings thrown in for good measure. The finalised schedule will appear in the January issue of the Shanville Monthly, but here is all the info that I currently have to hand.
If you can't make it to any of the events listed below, please note that the tour will include an online, interactive event, open to schools all around Scotland. The project is called Authors Live, and is run by the ever-brilliant team of The Scottish Book Trust. It will be during school time, so you will need to get your teacher to register for it. Once they do, you and all of your classmates will be able to watch the event live on Thursday, January 24th at 11.00am. You will even be able to submit questions, although as questions will be coming from schools all over the country, I will only be able to answer a small sections of them. To learn more about the event and to register for it, CLICK HERE.
A school event is for invited schools only. A public event is open to anyone who wishes to attend, but tickets normally need to be reserved in advance -- you should always contact the organiser in advance. A public signing is open to anyone who turns up -- there are no limits on numbers. Please note, I am always happy to sign as many of my books as fans wish to bring along from home or buy on the day.
19th January, Saturday
12.00pm -- lunch with the winners of the Zom-B Feast competition.
pm -- might be doing a signing in London. Details TBC.
20th January, Sunday
11.00am -- public signing in London. Details TBC.
21st January, Monday
10.00am -- schools event, Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh.
6.30am -- public event, Waterstones Aberdeen. Please contact store to book tickets.
22nd January, Tuesday
am -- schools event, Aberdeen. Details TBC.
pm -- schools event, Dundee. Details TBC.
pm -- public signing/event, Waterstones Dundee. Details TBC. Please contact store to book tickets.
23rd January, Wednesday
10.00am -- schools event, Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
1.15pm -- schools event, Newton Mearns. Organised by Waterstones.
4.00pm -- public signing, Waterstones East Kilbride.
24th January, Thursday
11.00am -- live, online, streamed schools event -- see above.
pm -- maybe a schools event. Details TBC.
6.00pm -- public event, Warerstones Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Please contact store to book tickets.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY TOUR - USA
And my touring doesn't stop there! After my Glasgow events, I am flying out to the USA for my first American tour in over 2 years!!! I did a one-off event in New York in October, but this will be a full-on, two-week tour that will take in several areas. My publicist is still putting the tour together, so details are very sketchy at the moment, but we have most of the dates and places now pinned down, although these are still open to alteration, so check back in January for a full and final listings. But, for now, here is where I will be coming, subject to final approval:
26th January, Saturday
Appearing at the ALA Midwinter Conference in Seatlle, WA.
27th January, Sunday
Public event at a bookstore, Seattle WA.
28th January, Monday
am -- schools events, Seattle WA.
pm -- public event, Seattle WA.
29th January, Tuesday
5.00pm -- Live At The Lounge video chat. See below for more information.
30th January, Wednesday
am -- schools events, Dallas, TX.
pm -- public event, Dallas, TX.
31st January, Thursday
am -- schools events, Dallas, TX.
1st February, Friday
am -- schools events, Austin, TX.
pm -- public event, Austin, TX.
2nd February, Saturday
am -- public event, Austin, TX.
3rd February, Sunday
public event, San Francisco, CA.
4th February, Monday
am -- schools events, San Francisco, CA.
pm -- public event, San Francisco, CA.
5th February, Tuesday
am -- schools events, San Francisco, CA.
pm -- public event, San Francisco, CA.
6th February, Wednesday
schools events, Los Angeles, CA.
7th February, Thursday
public event, Los Angeles, CA.
8th February, Friday
events, Los Angeles, CA.
As part of my tour of the USA, I am doing a Live At The Lounge event, an online, interactive, video event, which will be open to fans all across the country. You can read more about Live At The Lounge by CLICKING HERE. And you will be able to join in live on the day by CLICKING HERE. So, if you are not able to make it to one of my American events in the flesh, you can get the second best thing and catch me in action online!
There's still a chance for booksellers, teachers and librarians to pitch for me. If you are based in or near one of the cities mentioned above, and want to try to be included in the tour, then contact my publicist Hallie (details below). In fact, it's worth sticking in a request even if you live elsewhere, in case any section of the tour changes between now and January. There are just a few rules you need to follow to ensure that your entry is given serious consideration. First, pitches need to come from either a teacher, librarian or bookseller. So if you're not one of those (i.e. if you're a student, or simply a fan of mine) then you need to approach your teacher, librarian or local bookseller and try to get them interested. If you succeed, they can then submit a request to Hallie. Second, please supply as much information as you can, e.g. the size of your school/library/book store, the number of students/fans you can squeeze into the event, or the numbers you hope to attract if you're a book store, where the event would be held, how far away you are from an airport, etc. The more advance info you can supply, the better your chances of catching Hallie's eye! Third, if you have contacts in neighbouring schools/libraries/book stores, try to get them interested as well, so that you can submit a joint request.
Anyway, for those who want to try, here is Hallie's email address. Be nice to her, now!!! [email protected]
COMPETITIONS!!!
I'm running two great competitions this month, the first for a CITY BOOK and the second for a VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT T-SHIRT, open to fans anywhere else in the world -- and you can enter both!
In the CITY BOOK comp have a chance to win 1 of 20 signed copies of the American hardback edition of City Of The Snakes, the third book in my City Trilogy for older readers. I recommend these books for readers aged 15 upwards, so if you enter this competition, please state that you are either 15 or older, or have the permission of an adult to enter.
In the VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT T-SHIRT comp, you have a chance to win 1 of 10 signed limited edition movie tie-in Vampire's Assistant T-Shirts. You can see one of the T-shirts in the picture on the YA For NJ eBay page (see entry about that further above). These were created to link in with the movie release a few years ago, and are quite rare. There are 2 different designs, and the following sizes: YM, S, M L, XL. Please state your size preference when entering, although I can't guarantee your preferred size.
Please make sure you read all of the guidelines before entering -- incorrectly submitted entries will be eliminated from the competition.
1) Answer this question: "What is the name of the second book in the Zom-B series?"
2a) If you want to enter the CITY BOOK comp, send your entry to: xxxxxx (remember, you can enter BOTH competitions)
2b) If you want to enter the VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT T-SHIRT comp, send your entry to: xxxxxxxxx (remember, you can enter BOTH competitions)
3) You can enter both competitions, but you can only enter each competition ONCE. If you try to enter more than once, ALL of your entries will be disqualified.
(4) Put your NAME in the SUBJECT BOX when you send your e-mail. I will not accept your entry if you don't! And make sure you INCLUDE YOUR FULL POSTAL ADDRESS in the body of the e-mail, as well as the answer, and a statement about your age if you are entering the City Book comp. This is so that I can easily send your prize to you if you win!
(5) Closing date is midnight, UK Time, Sunday, December 9th, 2012.
(6) This competition is open to everybody, unless you work for one of my publishers or are one of my relations.
(7) Only one entry per household -- if you send in more than one entry, ALL of your entries will be rejected. If more than one person in a house wants to enter, you'll need to make a joint entry.
(8) The draw for the winners will be made on or after Monday, December 10th, 2012. It will be a completely random draw, made by Darren Shan personally (I use an online number generator to pick the winners). I will try to notify the winners by e-mail, and will post their names on the Shanville Message Board, in the January issue of the Shanville Monthly, and possibly on Twitter and Facebook too.
(9) 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.
(10) My decision will be final.
SHANGNAM STYLE!!!!
Finally, there's nothing Bas (the future Mrs Shan) likes more than messing around on Jib Jab, and recently she created a little video of me doing (rather, inserted into) the Gangnam Style dance! I posted the link on Twitter and Facebook, where it went down rather well, and where one sharp-minded Shanster instantly renamed it SHANGNAM STYLE!!! I figured I'd post the link again here -- consider it another small Christmas gift from me to you!!! http://www.jibjab.com/view/MkCKGrDCSSuUwbXlDAUOAw
IT'S A WRAP
And that's it for December. I'm going to be at home for most of the month, editing the Zom-B books (and maybe a bit more), before heading to London for New Year's. I plan to enjoy this time at home even more than usual, because the first few months of 2013 are going to be crazy with touring and getting married -- this is the calm before the storm!!! I hope you all have a wonderful time this yuletide, and that you get to spend it with family and friends and those you love best -- or all by yourself, if you prefer your own company!!!! I'll be back here at the start of January with the first 2013 edition of the Shanville Monthly. Until then, all my bloody Xmas best, Darren Shan. x x x
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