I love the old Sister Sledge song, We Are Family! And while the song isn't something that ties in with the book directly, maybe I was thinking about it on a subconscious level when I decided to call the ninth Zom-B book...

ZOM-B FAMILY

That's right folks, you heard it here first -- book 9 of my Zom-B series will be called Zom-B Family. I'll be revealing the cover a couple of months from now, in the August issue of the Shanville Monthly, before it goes on sale in the UK and Ireland on October 9th, and in the USA a couple days earlier, on October 7th -- yes, for once my American fans are getting one of my books before anywhere else in the world -- although only just!!! Zom-B Family will hit stores in Australia, Canada and New Zealand around the same time in early October. With such a nice title, it's bound to be a lovely sweet book, right?!? Heh heh -- I think you guys know me better than that!! In fact, I think Zom-B Family is probably the darkest book in the entire series. Not the weirdest (that will be book 10), but certainly one that's going to take YA story-telling to the very edge of what's deemed acceptable in most quarters... and maybe a good bit beyond!!! I can't say anything more about it at the moment, because I don't want to spoil any of the plot twists of book 8, Zom-B Clans, but I'll be telling you a lot more about it, closer to its release date.

ZOM-B MISSION NOTES

When I publish a book, I always like to write up some notes about it on my site, to talk about the inspiration for the work, how I pulled the story together, where character names came from, etc. I've finally got around to publishing my author notes for Zom-B Mission -- sorry for the delay. To get all the inside scoop on book 7 of the series, including whether there is any link between Brian Barry in book 1 and Biddy Barry in book 7 (there is and there isn't!!) CLICK HERE.

ZOM-B CHRONICLES UK

I revealed back in the February Issue of the Shanville Monthly that my American publishers were releasing a collected paperback edition of the first three Zom-B books on September 9th. Well, my British publishers thought that was a great idea, and they loved the new title and cover, so they've decided to publish their own collection, even earlier, on July 3rd, at the same time as the hardback of Zom-B Clans and paperback of Zom-B Gladiator. BUT... and this is a crucial point, so pay attention... the UK edition will only collect the first two books, NOT the the first three.

"What the hell?!?" I hear angry British fans cry... and to be honest, that was my reaction too when they told me of their intentions. But there is actually a solid reason why they're doing this. In America, the books have not been released in paperback format, so Zom-B Chronicles marks the paperback debut for the series, and thus isn't in competition with any other paperback editions. In the UK, on the other hand, they started bringing out paperback editions six months after the release of the hardbacks. This means, if they were to collect three books together as the Americans have done, that there's a danger of them getting into a situation next year where the paperback editions start to overlap and compete with one another. To avoid that, and the confusion that would go with it, they've taken this route.

They're aiming Zom-B Chronicles at older readers who aren't familiar with the series, trying to use the differently styled cover to appeal to people who aren't interested in the more visceral hardback covers. I think the cover price is going to be £7.99 for the paperback and £4.99 on Kindle, so it will offer good value for new fans (albeit not quite as good value as the American edition!), but there's no reason why existing fans should feel pressured to buy a copy -- it's not going to offer anything new, except for the cool cover -- in fact, I don't think they plan to include any interior art, so it actually offers a bit less (albeit at a very good price!). If you're a completist who doesn't mind shelling out for multiple editions of books, then this is for you. If you haven't bought the books yet, and would prefer to collect the collections rather than the individual books, either because you prefer the cover or don't want to spend too much on the series, then this is for you. But if you already own the books, my advice would be to save your money to buy the last few in the series in the same format. But, hey, it's your call, and the customer is always right!!!

ZOM-B CIRCUS USA

I released an extra Zom-B book in the UK and Ireland in April. Called Zom-B Circus, it's not a full-length book -- it's about half the size of a normal Zom-B book -- and it doesn't focus on B Smith (though she has a small but crucial part to play in it). Instead it focuses on a teacher from B's school who gets caught up in the madness when the zombies attack, and undergoes a most surprising and disturbing transformation. The book is a stand-alone, though it also links in with B's story in certain ways, featuring appearances by some of the characters we have already met in the main series. It also gives us a chance to have another look at Mr Dowling and his merry crew in wild, kill-crazy action, to catch up on what they've been up to while they've been keeping low in the series...

ZOM-B CLANS

Zom-B Clans is the eighth book in the series, and it does on sale in the UK and Ireland on July 3rd, and in the USA on July 8th -- and in Canada, Australia and New Zealand not long after that. The sketches above are two of series artist Warren Pleece's roughs for the interior art. The first is a bit of a spoiler, I'm afraid, but I couldn't refrain myself from sharing the grisly news with you all -- yes, Dan-Dan is back!!!! The second piece lets you know that this one is going to have a hefty body count! Book 7, Zom-B Mission, ended on a massive cliffhanger, and Zom-B Clans picks straight up where that book left off. It features some BIG shocks and surprises, as well as answering some of the crucial questions thrown up in the first half of the series -- such as why Dr Oystein and Master Zhang haven't been able to lead their Angels in a direct assault on Mr Dowling and his followers. Plus, if you thought the cliffhanger for book 7 was unberable, you ain't seen nothing yet -- this one is going to leave you pulling your hair out while waiting for book 9, Zom-B Family -- but at least you only have to wait three months for it!! The pace and stakes are rising in the second half of the series, and every book from this point on provides readers with several steps upward and onwards. It's going to be a frantic, gut-punching ride all the way from here until the end -- only the truly brave will be able to tough it out!!

You can ask your local bookseller to pre-order Zom-B Clans for you, or else you can pre-order it online. CLICK HERE to pre-order it in the UK or Ireland, or CLICK HERE to pre-order it in the USA.

ZOM-B SCHEDULE TWEAKS

Although the Zom-B books have been coming out regular as clockwork, one every three months, we’ve decided to tweak the schedule slightly for the last three books, for a number of reasons, mainly to allow us to build up a good head of interest and anticipation as we come towards the climax of the series. So, where the original dates were the start of January, April and July 2015, Book 10 is now scheduled (subject to final confirmation, i.e. there's a chance the dates could alter slightly) to come out in the UK on February 19th 2015, and the USA on February 24th 2015. Book 11 will hit shelves in the UK on May 28th 2015, and the USA on May 26th 2015. And Book 12 will go on sale in the UK on September 3rd 2015, and in the USA in either late September or early October 2015. Sorry for the slight delays, but this will allow us to market the books more successfully, and it will also give me the opportunity to hopefully fit in more tour events than I would otherwise have been able to.

NEW KINDLE COVERS

My first ever published novel, Procession of the Dead (originally released in February 1999, under a different title: Ayuamarca), has been given a jazzy new Kindle cover, along with Hell's Horizon and City of the Snakes, books 2 and 3 of The City Trilogy. All three are adaptations of the Hungarian covers, and I think they look great! These are books for older readers, so I wouldn't recommend them for people who aren't reading books for adults on a regular basis. But if you're old enough, and happy to embrace some VERY dark tales, they're books that I'm still incredibly proud of, some of my most unusual and mind-bending works.

Procession of the Dead is available all around the world as a eBook (and in print in many countries too -- see the Covers part of www.darrenshan.com), but only through Amazon Kindle. If you don't own a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle App to your smartphone, PC, tablet or whatever, and buy and read it that way. Here are links to some of the global Kindle stores where it is available.
 

UK shop: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008M0AMV2/shanville
 

USA shop: http://www.amazon.com/Procession-Dead-The-City-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B008M0AMV2/
 

CANADA shop: http://www.amazon.ca/Procession-Dead-City-Trilogy-Darren-ebook/dp/B008M0AMV2/
 

AUSTRALIA shop: http://www.amazon.com.au/Procession-Dead-The-City-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B008M0AMV2/

You will be able to find links for Hell's Horizon and City of the Snakes once you've clicked on any of the links above.

For details of my latest release for adult readers, which came out as an eBook under a different name, CLICK HERE.

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