Darren Shan

Darren Shan (born July 2, 1972 in London, England) is the pen name of the Irish author Darren O'Shaughnessy, as well as the name of the protagonist of his book series The Saga of Darren Shan. This series is also known as The Cirque Du Freak Series in the United States. He also is currently writing The Demonata series, which has had good reception in several different countries as of late 2007.

Universal Studios have bought the film rights to the first three books of The Saga and plan to combine them to make a single movie. If it is successful, they might make 4 movies in total, each film combining a trilogy of books from the series. Lauren Shuler Donner is producing the film, Paul Weitz is directing it, and the script has been written by Brian Helgeland. The movie will most likely be called Cirque Du Freak.

Biography
Darren O'Shaughnessy was born on July 2, 1972, in St Thomas' Hospital, London, England. He lives in Pallaskenry, County Limerick, in Ireland. At the age of three he started school at English Martyr's in London. When he was six, he moved, with his parents and younger brother, to Limerick, Ireland, were he has been living ever since. He received his primary education in Askeaton, and went to secondary school at Copsewood College in Pallaskenry. He then traveled back to London to study Sociology and English at Roehampton University.

Darren worked for a cable television company in Limerick for a few years and then decided to become a full-time writer. He bought his first typewriter when he was fourteen and wrote several short stories, comic scripts, and books that he never finished. His first success came to him at age fifteen, when he was a runner-up in a TV script-writing competition for Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland, with a dark comedy story entitled A Day in the Morgue. He finished his first novel at age seventeen. Mute Pursuit was never published, but Shan loved the writing experience, so he started focusing on novels more and not on short stories.

All of Shan's first books were oriented to adults. He thought writing children's books would be a nice idea for the future but adult books were his main focus. His first breakthrough was with his book, Ayuamarca, written under his full name instead of his pen name. It was published in February 1999 by Orion Publishing Group, and did not sell very well. The sequel, Hell's Horizon, published in February 2000, was thought to be a better book, but it sold fewer copies than did the first.

Then between the two adult books, Darren published his first children's book, Cirque Du Freak, and it launched him into becoming a best selling author as he started The Saga of Darren Shan which he would finish twelve books and five years later. After The Saga, he started his new series, The Demonata with eight books already released and two more on the way.

By 2007, Shan's books were on sale on every continent, in 35 countries, and in 28 languages (36 and 29 if you include the illegally published versions on sale in Iran!). He has been a children's bestseller in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and other countries, and he has topped the adult bestsellers charts in Hungary, Japan, and Taiwan. His books have sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Darren has a collection of thousands of movies, and he also likes to collect original artwork. He enjoys reading books and comic books, taking long walks, watching football (he is a Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Republic of Ireland fan), listening to pop and rock music, and traveling worldwide.

The Saga of Darren Shan
The series is comprised of 12 volumes:

The Cirque du Freak trilogy (Vampire Blood) The Vampire Mountain trilogy (Vampire Rites) The Hunters trilogy (Vampire War) The Destiny trilogy (Vampire Destiny)
 * 1. Cirque Du Freak
 * 2. The Vampire's Assistant
 * 3. Tunnels of Blood
 * 4. Vampire Mountain
 * 5. Trials of Death
 * 6. The Vampire Prince
 * 7. Hunters of the Dusk
 * 8. Allies of the Night
 * 9. Killers of the Dawn
 * 10. The Lake of Souls
 * 11. Lord of the Shadows
 * 12. Sons of Destiny

Short stories

 * "An Essay on Vampires by Steve Leonard - book 1 tie-in story.
 * "Annie's Diary" - book 1 tie-in story.
 * "Tiny Terrors" - book 2 tie-in story.
 * "Transylvania Trek" - a short story "written" by Sam Grest.
 * "Shanta Claus" (only available at Christmas)
 * "Lonely Lefty" - book 3 tie-in story.
 * "Bride of Sam Grest" - another short story "written" by Sam Grest.
 * "An Affair of the Night" - book 5 tie-in story (should be read just before or after book 5).

The Demonata
The Demonata series currently has eight books released. The series will be made up of 10 books. The release dates listed below refer to the UK and Ireland. In America, the books will be released every spring and fall, i.e. book 6 in spring 2008, book 7 in fall 2008, etc. For release dates in other countries, visit Darren Shan's website at www.darrenshan.com and go to the LINKS section, where you will find a full list of his publishers, with links to their web sites. You should be able to find out their schedule for the books on their sites or by contacting them.

Ordered by spot in the series and by publication date
 * 1) Lord Loss
 * 2) Demon Thief
 * 3) Slawter
 * 4) Bec
 * 5) Blood Beast
 * 6) Demon Apocalypse
 * 7) Death's Shadow (May 2008)
 * 8) ''Wolf Island (October 2008)
 * 9) Dark Calling (May 2009)
 * 10) Hell's Heroes (October 2009)

The City Trilogy
The City Trilogy was written for adult readers and was released under the name Darren O'Shaughnessy instead of Darren Shan. The third book was never published and they are now out of print. They were published by Orion Publishing Group.
 * 1) Ayuamarca - First published in the United Kingdom in February 1999 and then in Russia.
 * 2) Hell's Horizon - Sequel to Ayuamarca. First published in the United Kingdom in February 2000.
 * 3) City of the Snakes - Never published.

In March 2008 Ayuamarca will be re-released as Procession of the Dead, and the author's name will be D B Shan. Shan has vastly re-edited the book for its re-release. In March 2009 Hell's Horizon will follow it, again in a re-edited version. The third book, City of the Snakes, which was previously unpublished, will finally see print in March 2010.

Other books

 * 1) Koyasan - A special book released for World Book Day 2006. Darren Shan confirmed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2007 that he has also worked on writing a 4-book mini-series that explains how Larten Crepsley came to meet Darren Shan.

Short stories

 * 1) "Hagurosan" - Originally written for Kids' Night In.
 * 2) "Young Alan Moore" - Originally written for Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman, a book written to celebrate the 50th birthday of Alan Moore.
 * 3) "The Good Ship Tree" - Originally written for the Times Educational Supplement, and accepted.
 * 4) "Life's a Beach" - Originally written for the Times Educational Supplement, but rejected.
 * 5) "Guyifesto–Who We Are" - Originally written for Guys Write For Guys Read. (Play on words of "manifesto")
 * 6) The Saga of Darren Shan tie-in short stories - See above

Unpublished books

 * 1) The Contender - Code name for a book that Darren wrote before The Demonata and plans to release after it is finished.  There has also been rumors that The Contender is the same book as The Cannibal King, as Darren himself has stated that The Contender is based in a fantasy world, as the last chapter in The Saga Of Darren Shan was supposed to be.  However, on March 8, 2007, Darren denied this statement on his blog.  Has been confirmed to be Procession Of The Dead.
 * 2) Mute Pursuit - A futuristic cross between The Terminator and Stephen King's The Dark Tower; Darren's first complete book
 * 3) City of the Snakes - See above
 * 4) The Cannibal King - The planned 13th book of The Saga of Darren Shan. Never published because it was originally part of the planned 24-book Saga. Darren had planned to write 18–24 books for The Saga, with half of them taking place in the future wasteworld shown in Book 10, The Lake of Souls. This book was never published because Darren decided to end the series with Sons of Destiny, which was to be the 12th book if the series went the way originally intended.  There has also been rumors that Cannibal King is one and the same as The Contender.  However, on March 8, 2007, Darren denied this statement on his blog.

The Saga of Darren Shan
In 2001, Cirque Du Freak (Book 1) won 2nd prize at the Sheffield Children's Book Award.

In 2001, Cirque Du Freak (Book 1) was shortlisted for the WHSmith Children's Book Of The Year in the UK.

In 2002, Cirque Du Freak (Book 1) won the IRA-CBC Children's Choice Award, in the USA. (IRA = International Reading Association, and CBC = Children's Book Council).

In 2002, Cirque Du Freak (Book 1) received a certificate of Outstanding Achievement in Books from the Parent's Guide to Children's Media Inc, in the USA.

In 2004, Cirque Du Freak (Book 1) won the Wyoming Soaring Eagle book award.

In 2005, The Vampire's Assistant was shortlisted for the Wyoming Soaring Eagle book award.

In 2007, The Allies of the Night (Book 8) was shortlisted for the I Love This Book book award.

The Demonata
In 2006, Lord Loss won the Redbridge Teenage Book award, in the UK.

In 2006, Lord Loss was shortlisted for the Berkshire Book award, in the UK.

In 2006, Lord Loss was shortlisted for the Doncaster Book award, in the UK.

In 2006, Lord Loss was shortlisted for the Lancashire Children's Book Of The Year award, in the UK.

In 2007, Lord Loss was shortlisted for the Leeds Children's Book award, in the UK.

In 2007, Demon Thief was shortlisted for the Doncaster Book award, in the UK.

In 2007, Demon Thief was shortlisted for the Irish Children's Book Of The Year award, in Ireland.

In 2007, Demon Thief was shortlisted for the Lancashire Children's Book Of The Year award, in the UK.

In 2007, Slawter was shortlisted for the Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction book award, in the UK.

In 2007, Blood Beast was shortlisted for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award, in the UK.

In 2008, Lord Loss was shortlisted for the Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice award, in the