An Other Place is on sale through Amazon stores worldwide, either as a paperback or low-cost ebook. If you live in a country that doesn't have an Amazon market, you won't be able to buy the ebook, but you should be able to buy the paperback in your nearest Amazon store and have it shipped to you.

When I released An Other Place, I was very unsure what sort of a reception it would get. It's very different to any other book that I've published, a dark, twisted, Twilight Zone-type mix of science-fiction, horror and Kafkaesque dystopia. I was expecting confusion and revulsion, but instead it's picked up one of the best set of reviews of any of my books, whether for YA or adults. The reviews have come from industry heavy-hitters like Kirkus, SFX and Starburst, as well as indie reviewers like Kelly Smith Reviews, Dread Central and The Literary Connoisseur. If you'd like to check them out, I've gathered all the links together in one convenient place, along with links to a couple of interviews I gave to promote the book. You can find them in the BLOG over on the official Darren Dash site: http://www.darrendashbooks.com/

All 12 Zom-B books are also available on audio in the USA, again either as CDs through a site like Amazon, or as downloads through Audible. In the UK, the first 4 books were released in audio by a British company, and these are on sale through Amazon UK or Audible UK. But that company then went under. You can get the American CDs for the other books through a site like Amazon UK, but they're normally expensive. They're not currently available on Audible UK -- I'm looking into it, to try to have that changed, so wish me luck!

Lady Of The Shades, one of my books for adults, is available either as a CD or download through Amazon UK and Audible UK. It's also available through the USA Audible site, although it doesn't show on Amazon. (Though you could always order it through Amazon UK or another site if you were happy to pay the shipping charges.)

Hagurosan, a short story that Barrington Stoke adapted into a short book, is available as an audio CD in the UK though a site like Word For Word: http://www.wordforwordaudio.com/product.php?id_product=1174

Finally, the first 6 Demonata books were released on CD in the UK years ago, and can probably be tracked down online through a site like Amazon UK or Abebooks or Alibris or eBay. These are not currently available through Audible.

BARGAIN CITY!

[Again, this is a repeat from last month -- bargains like these deserve to be shared!]

If you love a bargain, and don't own all the books in The Saga Of Darren Shan (aka the Cirque Du Freak series), then have I got exciting news for you! The complete set is back in stock at Lowplex UK, for the eye-watering, virtually giveaway price of just £16.99!! Yes -- all 12 books for just 17 quid!!!! That's a whopping 76% discount. And their international shipping rates are very reasonable too, so even if you live outside the UK, this will still probably be the cheapest way you're ever going to find to buy the whole series in one go, especially given the fact that sterling has fallen by so much over the last year or two. Click on THIS LINK for a shortcut to Cut-price Freak Heaven!!

And the good news doesn't stop there! If your collection is shy The Demonata series, you can pick up all 10 books for just £17.99. CLICK HERE

If you want to buy both series together, without having to click more than one link, you can do that too -- all 22 books for £31.99. CLICK HERE

Want to find out what Mr Crepsley's like was like in the 200 years before he met Darren and Steve, but don't want to spend more than £10.99 on the four book prequel series? CLICK HERE

They also sell the UK paperback editions of the first 6 Zom-B books -- but be warned, these are the old look editions, and the rest of the books are being released in a different format. CLICK HERE

Finally, they have the first 6 manga volumes of The Saga too, but there's only 5% off those, so it may well be that you can find them cheaper elsewhere. CLICK HERE

CAT-B!

There's nothing a cat loves more than reading a few pages of a zombie book before settling down for a snooze!  I spotted this adorable photo on the So Many Books, So Little Time site, when they reviewed Zom-B Angels. They didn't like it quite as much as the previous couple of books in the series, which was fair enough -- Zom-B Angels was one of those books where it was necessary to slow things down and answer some questions that had cropped up in the first three novels. I try not to do that too often with a series -- the ideal is to keep the story flowing while providing the reader with enough background information to fill them in on what's happened in the past -- but sometimes a story demands that I put the brakes on, and for me, the story is always king, and I just do what it tells me!! If you'd like to read the review, CLICK HERE but read it quietly, OK -- we don't want to disturb the cat... Oh, and by the way, the cat is called Princess Trixie -- clearly not named after any character in a Darren Shan novel, then!

WRITING TIPS

A fan called Brownwyn wrote to me recently. She's hoping to make it as a writer, and is beavering away industriously (which is always a promising sign) but she wanted to know "were there times when you lay awake at night in terror wondering if you were making a huge mistake? Did you not ever envisage yourself homeless and destitute with only your rejected manuscripts as your pillow as you lie on the cold, hard sidewalk, begging for change?"

My answer ran as follows: "We all start out in the same place, and it's just as terrifying for all of us. You need to believe in the work and keep pushing yourself, which you seem to be doing, but that’s no guarantee of financial success. Lots of good – even great – writers aren’t, for one reason or another, popular writers. Most need to have other jobs to support themselves, even established authors – sometime those jobs can be related to their writing, e.g. charging for workshops in schools, but often it might be something else entirely. Have a backup plan. When I went writing full-time after having a crappy job for a couple of years, I figured I’d give myself a year, two at most – if nothing was happening, I’d get another crappy job for a year or two, then have a proper crack at the writing again. Even when I had the crappy job, I was writing at the weekends. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to support yourself by your writing alone – but most writers have to find a balance. Many find that they enjoy that balance – you do your day job and make money to pay the bills, then at night or the weekends you get to dream and do something just for fun. I never saw that weekend writing as a job – it was an escape, and it was lovely."

Brownwyn also said it would be nice if there was a charity organisation set up by successful author to help out struggling writers, and wanted to know my thoughts. This is what I had to say on that point: "I actually don’t like the idea of a charity organisation for writers, because I don’t see us as charity cases. Loads of us struggle, yes, but that struggle is what defines us. I have quite a right-wing view when it comes to writing. I think each of us stands alone, and I think that’s a good thing, because it encourages us to push ourselves harder, out of our comfort zone. It’s very easy to sit around with other would-be writers, talking about how hard it is and how the world of publishing is dead set against newcomers, but I think newcomers shouldn’t be sitting around and moaning – they should be writing. Always writing."

And for lots and LOTS more advice from me, some of it sage, some of it... not so sage... see the Writing Tips part of my site, where I've gathered together most of my thoughts on the writing process over the years.