GREETINGS!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the February issue of the Shanville Monthly! The days are starting to lengthen and the nights to shorten as we inch towards spring here in Ireland -- bad news for vampires, but great for us humans!!

I'm trying to ease myself back into a steady work schedule, though I must admit I had quite a lazy January. Note to self -- must try harder this month!!

As for the latest Darren Shan news... the next episode of Cirque Dub Freak is live online... the artist of the UK Demonata covers is hoping to tempt you with a Lord Loss print... there's a podcast episode about how my books taught a young boy never to trust authors... I present my reading roundup from last year... and lots more. Enjoy!!

CIRQUE DUB FREAK 5

Episode 5 of CIRQUE DUB FREAK went live on New Years Day, the perfect freaking way to kick off 2026!! 

It's at the point in the story where Darren strikes a dubious deal with Mr Crepsley, and struggles to adapt to his new life as a reluctant creature of the night. It ends with one of my favourite lines from the entire series!

You can watch the episode by CLICKING HERE.

Cirque DUB Freak is a fan-made, non-profit manga dub of The Saga of Darren Shan, based on the official manga adaptation of the book series. It's not an officially sanctioned project, but it IS pretty damn coolio!!!! 😍

MEL GRANT PRINTS

How coolio is THIS?!?

From Shanster RUTH who posted this on Facebook:

"It’s no secret that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Darren Shan verified's The Demonata Series, so much so that the book covers themselves fill me with so much joy and nostalgia – much like the original artwork of the Pokémon Red and Blue Gameboy games. I decided to check out the artist of the book covers (Mel Grant) and came across his website, where he was selling prints of the original Lord Loss cover, amongst his other works.I just knew had to get one and it came to me, signed with a certificate of authenticity! Thank you, Mel! I will treasure this forever PS (If you could do prints for the other covers, that’ll be great!)"

If any of YOU would like a Demonata print, you can visit Mel Grant's website by CLICKING HERE. Guaranteed to make you the coolest (coolioest?!?) kid on your block!!!

PITCH FOR ME!

Here's a photo from a Zoom school event I did a while back. The beauty of Zoom is that I can do events like these with schools anywhere in the world -- these guys happened to be in the good ol' US of A.

My online events run about 35 minutes. I do a reading from one of my books, chat a small bit about myself, then anwswer whatever questions the students want to lob my way. The events are fun, informal and, best of all, FREE!!!

If YOU are a teacher or librarian, and are interested in doing an online event with me, drop me a line at [email protected] and we can discuss. (A useful hint if you want to nab me -- the more students you can involve, the better!!) And if you're a student, show it to a teacher or librarian -- hopefully they'll love your initiative and rush to touch base with me!! 😊

STORYTELLER'S SANCTUARY

There was a fab podcast episode a while back, on STORYTELLER'S SANCTUARY, in which the podcaster, Jack Rose, talks about the first author who made him distrust authors. It's a piece about authors you can't trust, who kill off main characters, catching you by surprise and breaking your heart -- but in a GOOD way!!

And before you all go, "Not ANOTHER fan crying about Killers Of The Dawn!!"...

...this actually has nothing at all to do with that book!!! Instead, this focuses on the first three books of the series, in particular the second, The Vampire's Assistant, which is the book that broke young Jack's faith in writers. He also trains his focus on Koyasan and Hagurosan, which is a nice bonus.

It's nearly an hour long, but it's an hour of your time that's well worth setting aside, so CLICK HERE and enjoy!!

MY FAVE BOOKS OF 2025

Each year I like to let my followers know how I've been doing on the reading front, how many books I've read, and what my favourites have been. So here's my 2025 report.

I read 48 books in total last year, which was 4 more than I read the year before, and 8 more than I read in 2023, so I'm on an upwards curve! I'll do my best to read even more in the year ahead, though of course the length of the books plays a part as well...

I read a good scattering of 4 star books... several 3 star books... a few 2 stars... and a sole 1 star. (I almost never dole out a single star, but it was a book I just couldn't get on with at all, and had to abandon before the end.)

At the top of the pyramid, three books merited full 5 star rankings from me on Goodreads, and they were, in the order read...

Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett.

One Day, by David Nicholls.

Bear Town, by Fredrik Backman.

If you'd like to see every book I've read since July 1987 (I started keeping records LONG before I became a published author!), and the ranking I've give each one, CLICK HERE.

Otherwise I'll see you back here next year for my 2026 report!!

HUNGARY HEADS UP!

I'm hoping to set up a string of signings/events in the UK and Ireland later this year, and with luck I'll start announcing those dates at some point over the next few months.

But in the meantime, my Hungarian fans might want to set aside some free time on June 11th, 12th and 13th this summer... More details to follow, but that's all I'm saying for now!! 😊

IT'S A WRAP!

And that's it for February. My aunt Maureen sent me the above photo of myself last month, one that I don't recall ever seeing before. I'm not sure where it was taken (I think it was near Ballybunion in Ireland), or what age I was (no more than 2 or 3), but hey, wasn't I a cutie in that cowboy outfit?!? 😊

I'll be back here online at the start of March with all the latest news and updates. Until then, all my bloody best, Darren Shan. x x x

You can follow Darren Shan on Facebook and Twitter and Bluesky. He also has a (very rarely updated!) YouTube page.