Darren Shan's Back! RUN!

Pinch, punch, first day of the month! And maybe we should all run for cover as look who's snuck back! Darren Shan, international best selling author of the Cirque Du Freak series, the Demonata Series and the Archibald Lox is back with Archibald Lox: Volume 2!

Now, quick backstory. Volume One of Archibald Lox was published as three separate ebooks back in April 2020 as some relief due to the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. These are (hang on, long title time): Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds, Archibald Lox and the Empress of Suanpan and Archibald Lox and the Vote of Alignment. These were put in a bind-up so you can read in one gulp (or, if you are curious to dip toe into this weird world-jumping fantasy, Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds is, I think, free!)

Now, Volume 2 will contain three new instalments which will be published individually then put together in one bindup. eBook 4 aka Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt is out TODAY (!!!), ebook 5 aka Archibald Lox and the Slides of Bon Repell (possibly my fave title in this series) will be out on 3rd August 2021 and the sixth ebook aka Archibald Lox and the Rubicon Dictate is out 1st September 2021. 

So, this is gonna be a typical guest author post, I hear you ask. No, dear reader, it's not. It's a little different. Darren did an open call to his fans via his website and socials late May/early June for questions that he will answer on here. As you can imagine, I am excited and terrified to see what you all asked him and how he answered (I haven't read them at the time of writing this!). This is gonna be a deliciously dark mess, isn't it?

Before I hand you over to the Q&A, I just wanna thank Catherine from Catherine Ward PR for emailing and going "I have an idea you might like" and for Darren for being so up for this! And to you, the fans of Cirque du Freak, Demonata, Zom-B and Darren's other works, for going "Answer Me This, Darren!". And if you wanna check Darren out on social, you can find him on darrenshan.com or pop him a hello on either his Twitter (@darrenshan) or his Facebook (facebook.com/darrenshanverified/). 

Ok, we're going in. Deep breaths everyone!!!

Darren Shan Talks World-Building

SURPRISE! And you thought this was going to be another Self-Isolation read post!

No, I am thrilled to welcome Darren Shan, author of well known and well-scary series such as The Saga of Darren Shan (aka Cirque du Freak), its prequel series The Saga of Larten Crepsley, The Demonata, Zom-B and his new series, Archibald Lox.

This new series is a little different compared to Darren's other series as to how they are going to be released. There should, in theory, be at least three volumes and each volume will have three short novels in them. The first three novels (aka Volume 1) are out now due to Darren wanting to bring a bit of cheer due to the COVID-19.

The first story is Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds. In this, we meet Archibald Lox (or Archie), a young locksmith who, by accident, steps from one world to another, discovering a universe beyond our own called The Merge. In discovering these new worlds of wonder, Archibald is about to come face-to-face with hell jackals, rivers of blood and cold-blooded killers...

Plus, this is free! FREE! I will pop a link somewhere so you can rush further and treat yourself!

I am thrilled that Darren has found time to write this post, as I know he is very busy being a writing demon (he might be a demon. Are we sure he's human?), but as soon as PR person Catherine emailed about Darren, I emailed back going "CAN HE BE ON MY BLOG?!". I remember vividly reading Vampire Assistant, the second book in Cirque du Freak series, by accident while on work experience at Ottakars (a book shop chain that was bought by Waterstones) when I was in secondary school. I remember reading Demon Thief on the bus home from somewhere and gasping VERY LOUDLY at a scene in the middle of the book. And people find it weird that I say "I'm not a horror fan" but will recommend Darren and Lord Loss in the same breath!

So, before I hand it over to Darren, just want to say thank you to him for finding time to write. And a thank you to Catherine from Catherine Ward PR who emailed about Darren's new series and got us emailing back and forth. If you want to say hi to Darren, go to darrenshan.com or pop over to Twitter. He's @darrenshan, FYI.

And if you want Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds (and why not? It's free!), check out Amazon UK or Kobo UK. Now, over to Darren!!!

GoodRead - Ocean Of Blood

As you guys are probably aware, I have read a few Darren Shan novels in my past. I have read the first five books in his The Saga of Darren Shan (or Cirque Du Freak series if you prefer) and then, randomly, the eighth. I read the first five books in the Demonata series (my fave in this series is Lord Loss and Bec, though Demon Thief unnerved me the most!) and I read his short story for World Book Day 2006, Koyasan. I even reported one of his book signings last year (not read it? Here you go!)

At the event, I bought myself a copy of Ocean of Blood, the second book in The Saga of Larten Crepsley and now, over a year later, I actually decide to actually read it! (yes, I know I haven't read the first book in the saga and, technically, I should be reading his new series, Zom-B... Oh well... Read it now!)

In this, the second book about the past of Larten Crepsley, Larten is away from his master, Seba Nile, and is enjoying his freedom with the Cubs - wild young vampires with a taste for mindless fun, whether that be with gambling, women, or going to be the middle of battlefields in the middle of the night and enjoying the bloodbath. But fate has plans for Larten and continues to throw his life in a spin time and time again. But by the end of the book, what kind of vampire will he become? True to himself and his master... or lost forever in death and destruction...?

As I said earlier, I have read a few books in the Saga of Darren Shan, and there were times reading those books (mainly book four and five, Vampire Mountain and Trials of Death) where I felt that there was more the Crepsley than met the eye. So, to have this series and this book is awesome as it explains him better, whether you know of him via the Saga of Darren Shan series or you read The Saga of Larten Crepsley first. For me, it felt like going back and meeting an old friend.

But, saying that, it did feel like I met an old friend and there was distance between us. The book almost felt clinical, and I think that this is because it was written in third person. I was never close to Larten Crepsley in the Saga of Darren Shan, but I thought this series would make me see what make the man tick. But I was kept at arm's length and that bothered. So was the time jumps. How many times did we jump several years forward? I know vampire age slowly so several years to us is nothing to them, but we did jump several times and that bother me.

And how long did it take for the Ocean to make an appearance?!

Now, what I'm going to say will probably get me attacked from all you true Darren Shan fans, but I didn't feel scared or creeped out by Ocean of Blood. In all his previous books, I can remember scenes that creeped me out or, in one case, had me exclaim "Oh God!" on a bus (Demon Thief, in case you're wondering). But this didn't scare me. Maybe I'm too old for the scares of Darren Shan (good grief, I hope not!)

While I do want to know what happens in the third book in the saga, The Palace of the Damned (which I don't own), and the finale, Brothers to the Death (which I do own), I'm not going to be in any hurry to return to them. I want to keep my return to them like meeting an old friend. But I do hope that, when I do, they scare me just a wee bit...

An Evening With Darren Shan!

(AKA How I Held Up The Line [Again] And Got Strangled By The Author... No, Seriously...)

My local independent bookshop, Just Imagine (keep your local independent bookshops alive) set up an event with HarperCollins for "An Evening with Darren Shan" to celebrate the release of Ocean of Blood, the second in The Saga of Larten Crepsley.

After a chilling reading from Lord Loss (one of my faves, FYI!) in where the mircophone choose that moment to turn itself on (and scare everyone witless followed by laughter!), Darren (or should I call him Mr Shan? Not sure.) explained why the Saga of Larten Crepsley was never meant to be a series. He said that in The Saga of Darren Shan, he left Larten Crepsley's history vague and when he was writing the Demonata, he started thinking about his past and wondering what made Larten Crepsley the vampire he was when Darren (and us) first met him in Cirque du Freak. He revealed the title for book three and fourth (& final) titles in the series: Palace of the Damned and Robbers of the Dead (can I say I love his titles?).

After a quick reading from Ocean of Blood (which makes me want to read the book!), Darren answered a few questions from the audience. There ranged from "Why do you kill children off in your books?", "Why is the main character in the Saga of Darren Shan named after you?", "Which is your fave book?", "How long does it take you to write?" (Three to four weeks and about 2 years to edit - INSANE, right? But he does work on several novels at one time. At the present moment, he is on book 8 or 9 in a new series!), "Do you get sick of writing gory scenes?" and "What scares you?" (the answer to that was surprising. He was scared of spiders, hence why he wrote Madame Octa).

After a short reading of his World Book Day novellla Koyasan, everyone lined up to have their books signed. And after having a moment of panicking about me bring a few copies of my books (Three, if I'm honest with you but I only really ), I saw other people with their whole collection of The Saga of Darren Shan, Demonata or his adult novels, I felt less panicky. And what was more brilliant was the group in front of me and the person I went with (aka The Person I'm With) had a photo with Darren Shan. The group had a little boy with a cuddly toy and, in the pic, Darren strangled the cuddly toy. Not idea why, but I found it super cute (see, I have a heart under my cold, blogger skin...)

And then, my turn. As Darren signed the books, he asked if I had a question I wanted to ask him. Now, as I write, I should have asked about how he got his literary agent or his publishing contract, right? Nope. Instead, I asked "Was there any scenes that your editor or publisher thought was too gory and asked for them to be toned down?". He answered with "Yes, in the scene of Lord Loss I read out [end of chapter 1, start of chapter 2]. The parents were switched because the mother was, in the drafts, on the roof. The publisher thought it was too much, so I switched the parents about. So, do what you want to the Dad in writing, but tone down the Mum. Also, the publishers are a tad funny with sex." He explained about ideas he had in Vampire Mountain, one of them being that there was going to be gay vampires (as they are very few female vampires). But, he said "Am choosing my battles carefully..."

Can I say now, if Darren writes a bloody yet sexy sex scene that people will freak out about (like the birth scene in Breaking Dawn or True Blood standards), I would happy buy several copies of that book!

All in all, I had a great night! Darren was brilliant with everyone and that was great! I do hope his hands aren't aching due to all the signing he did!

So, thank you to Darren Shan for coming to Essex. Thank you to Just Imagine to setting up the event! Thank you to Tiffany McCall (Publicity Executive @ HarperCollinsChildren's Books UK with a dangerous sense of humour) who did a tweet that made me burst into fits of laughter (see below)! And thank you to The Person I'm With for coming with me, even though he knew NOTHING about the author. That's twice I did that to you...







SURPRISE! I thought that, as I was going, that I would give you a treat. That's right... I managed to nab myself a signed copy of Ocean of Blood and I have decide to give it away to one lucky winner! Do you want to win the book that left The Book Zone breathless and awaiting his next fix of Darren Shan (review here!)? If you have a UK address that I can send to, then YOU CAN ENTER! All you have to do is fill in the form and GOOD LUCK!



Closing Date will be Sunday 15th May 2011 at 6pm GMT. Again, GOOD LUCK!!!