GREETINGS!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the March issue of the Shanville Monthly! The VERY exciting lead story this month concerns my series The Demonata, which has recently been optioned with an eye on turning it into a TV series! But don't stop there, because I have loads of other news to share with you this month, including... I give an hour-long interview on a radio show... I'm due to make a rare public apperarance in the UK at a sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention...  and I'm going to be jumping off the top of a rugby stadium!!! For all those stories, and lots, lot more, read on...

DEMONIC TV!

This is something that I don't think we've ever seen up for sale on the open market before -- a copy of the British "demon skin" limited edition of Hell's Heroes. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266685884086

Only 50 of these were printed, and most went to people in the book trade. It's by far and away the rarest edition of any of my traditionally published books. Super fan Peter Durn spotted the sale on eBay and brought it to my attention. He managed to get a copy through a private sale many years ago, and was rather shocked to see one pop up out of the blue on eBay like this!

The bidding, as I write this on March 1st, with nearly two days remaining in the auction, is at £666. That's a big chunk of change, I know, but Peter has been open about the price he paid for his copy, which was £1,000 -- so it's by no means without precedent. The provenance looks airtight -- the seller won a copy in a competition that my publishers ran, and even has a copy of the letter they publishers sent to him informing him of his good fortune. I doubt we'll ever see many (if any!) of these come to market in the future, so if you ARE interested, and CAN afford to bid, this may well be your last chance in a long time (possibly ever!) to get hold of a copy. Good luck!!!

ABSEILING

If you've ever wanted to push Darren Shan off the top of a very tall building... here's the next best thing!! :-)

I'm going to be abseiling off the top of Thomond Park, home of the Munster Rugby team, on Saturday, April 20th. It's to help raise funds for a rebuilding project at the school which my children attend. I'll be abseiling 45 metres/125 feet from the roof of the building. It's something I haven't done in almost 40 years, so hopefully I still have a head for heights!!

If you'd like to find out more, and maybe make a donation to help sponsor me to do it, please CLICK HERE

ZOM-B TOUR

Last month I set off on the first ever ZOM-B WALKING TOUR of London!! A fan called MARTIN had bought the perk when I was running a fundraising campaign for The Terrified Troll (my upcoming picture book for young children). We met in Liverpool Street Station, then set off on a long walk towards the centre of London, during which we passed by several places which featured in my Zom-B series. (Including the block of flats where I lived when I first came up with the idea for the books.) We discussed Zom-B, my other books, and a whole lot more.

The tour took just under 3 hours, which included a break to sit down and have a drink in a cafe in a crypt. (There HAS to be a crypt on a Darren Shan tour!!) We finished up at County Hall, where this photo was taken. County Hall was a notable finishing point for three reasons. 1 -- because it featured very strongly in the books (since I moved into the building while writing the series!). 2 -- that's where my Archibald Lox series started life (we actually walked over the footbridge where I was struck with the idea for the first Archie book). 3 -- and while there, we were able to see the building where I was born!!! (That's it in the distance behind Martin and myself.)

Although the fundraiser has finished, I'm still offering some of the perks. The Zom-B tour is one of those (it costs €300). There's also a Bec tour (€250) in Ireland. You can meet me in Limerick (€200) or London (€275) for a couple of hours. Or you can do a 40 minutes Zoom chat with me (€150). If you're interested in any of those, drop me a line at [email protected] and we can discuss it further.

FATHER REVIEWS

Father of the Future, the sci-fi book I released last year under the name of Darren Dash, picked up not one, not two, but a trio of 5 star reviews from READERS' FAVORITE reviewers! Very nice comments from the reviewers included such gems as...

"Dash excels at building a futuristic dystopia that embraces and exaggerates some of the hotly debated societal issues of the world today..."

"The book serves as both a cautionary tale and a compelling adventure that resonates with contemporary discussions on AI's impact on our lives..."

and "Darren Dash’s depiction of the ultimate Utopia and one citizen’s problem with perfection could not have been better portrayed."

If you'd like to check out all three reviews, CLICK HERE

Father of the Future is on sale as an eBook from all the usual main stores, so pick your favourite seller from the likes of Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Google Play, Apple, etc. Or you can buy it as a hardback or paperback through Amazon stores worldwide. (I advise spending the bit extra on the hardback if you can -- it turned out rather beautifully in that format!) Or, if you prefer to absorb it as an AUDIO BOOK...

FATHER AUDIO

Good news for audio book fans -- Father Of The Future, my most recent Darren Dash novel for adult readers, is now on sale as an AI-narrated audio book through GOOGLE PLAY stores worldwide. If you'd like to buy a copy, or just listen to a sample for free, CLICK HERE

I know opinions vary greatly on the moral standing of AI audio books. I've written about my views on the subject previously, so I won't rehash them again, except to say that in this specific instance, even if I was in a position to pay for a real narrator, I'd probably stick with the AI option. Why?!? Well, the book's plot revolves around the dangers of living in a world where an AI has too much control over humanity. It basically serves as a warning that we shouldn't be trusting our computers TOO much, and that we may well come to regret the amount of autonomy that we're granting them.

The notion of having an anti-AI story narrated by an AI programme is just too deliciously twisted a prospect for the schoolboy prankster in me to resist!! So, yeah, as I've said before, if the Darren Dash books ever start selling in greater numbers and generate more of an income, I'll be happy to hire narrators to produce proper, human AI versions of my self-published books -- but NOT for this little audio book outlier, which will remain an AI-generated product that Father himself would be proud of!!!

DEMON THIEF REVIEW

There was a lovely review for Demon Thief, book 2 of my Demonata series, over on THE PHOENIX PROJECT. CLICK HERE

Demon Thief was the key to the entire series. Although the second published, it was actually the sixth Demonata book that I wrote. I was having trouble figuring out how to structure the series, and was thinking I might have to set aside Bec (which was the second book that I'd written) and make it a short series where the sole focus was Grubbs Grady and his journey. I didn't WANT to do that, because I could sense a much bigger, more ambitious story lurking in the depths of my subconscious, waiting to be revealed -- but I just couldn't find my way towards it.

Then, very late in the day -- the release of Lord Loss was looming, and I was almost at the point where I had to submit a second book to my publishers -- I had the idea for Demon Thief, and that opened everything up for me. I saw that the series needed three narrators, and the order in which they would best appear, and how it should be ten books in total, with the order of narrators the same backwards as it was forwards, in order to tie in with the time-can-be-cyclical story elements. And I was off!!!

LORD LOSS REVIEW

THE PHOENIX PROJECT also posted a great review for the first book in the series, Lord Loss. CLICK HERE

I was going to write a few words about how Lord Loss began life, so I had a quick look at my author notes for Lord Loss (I publish notes for all of my books, although I've fallen behind in recent years, and haven't done it for a last few). I hadn't read the notes in years, and I was fascinated when I did, and figured you guys might like to see them too, so instead of truncating them here, I'm going to direct you towards my AUTHOR NOTES FOR LORD LOSS on my website, where you can read the entire back story. I hope you enjoy your look behind the grisly scenes!

BERNARD READS

THIS IS A REVIEW THAT APPEARED ON FACEBOOK, FROM A FAN/REVIEWER CALLED BERNARD CATAM.

I could still remember the ending of the last book. And reading this reminds me that Darren Shan has changed a lot since the first book when it comes to perspective yet he still has A LOT to learn about vampires such as politics and heirarchy introduced in this book. As always, trivial matters like cat's blood bad for vampires are what amazed me with details for this Saga.

Book 3 is both "Vampires in the City" and "Christmas Special" sort of. We're far from our Cirque Du Freak setting. Darren encountered another human friend and potential love interest which make his life more complicated. I was intrigued with Vampire-Generals and I thought he was the man in the cover but actually it's not, and that someone is miles more sinister. What I like is the easy-reading, middle grade level dialogue. I'm not exhausted by too much exposition and world building. Just enough to know more about Darren's vampire-world. Darren and Evra's friendship is heartwarming. I'm just constantly worried everytime Darren made another mistake again, although seems normal for a teen, and for a human himself haha.

It had introduced another character tied with the mystery. Even though I also thought Darren is stupid with his plans to solve the mystery himself, I can't help but say that it's because he's a teen. There's also a discussion of a moral dilemma as who would be considered as evil or not. Darren is brave bit stupidly brave. I really love the dialogues between Darren and Mr. Crepsley, of how they argue about sacrifice and things they should have done, even about love. How mature Darren is now and how understanding Mr. Crepsley is. If I was him, I've already lost my mind on every stupid decisions Darren make along the way but since he's a half vampire and half teen, that's part of the package.I was actually apprehensive as I read the climax because one wrong move, I know the saga could turn into multiple options and some of those options are horrible.

As expected naturally from middle grade books, the ending was cleverly put even though I can smell it from far away. Overall, this is a great addition to the saga. I enjoyed it a lot, with all the tensions I feel for every idiotic decisions the main character made however, I'm not sure where he draws the braveness he had against these menacing villains. Also, I'm pretty sure the ending would take impact for future installations and I hope I could read them and witness it unfolds.

P.S. Sorry for the smudge in my copy in the photo, as it is preloved (secondhand). It's so hard to see copies of old series here in the Philippines.

THE PAIN OF BEING A SHANSTER

IT'S A WRAP!

And that's it for March. I'm looking forward to hitting the road again, albeit briefly, for SFW XV. I miss meeting fans and getting to chat with them and sign their books. It will be great to be back out there on the road, even if only for a couple of days. I'm also going to be flying over to London during the month to meet the guys who are hoping to adapt The Demonata into a TV show -- it will be interesting to sit down with them and hear their thoughts on how that might best be achieved (and to maybe offer up a few thoughts of my own!). I'll be reporting on both of those trips in the next issue of my montly newsletter, along with everything else that happens in the world of Shan over the next 31 days. So I'll hopefully see you back here at the start of April for that. Until then, all my bloody best, Darren Shan. x x x

Follow Darren Shan on Facebook and Twitter. He also has a (very rarely updated!) YouTube page.

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