Reading (well, duh!!!), both books and comics. Watching movies -- it used to be an obsession, and at my peak I'd watch 2 or 3 movies every day of the year (and I do mean EVERY day!), but these times I usually only watch 1 a day. I like to travel, which is good, since my job involves a LOT of it!!! I've become very interested in art, especially impressionist and post-impressionist artists, and comic art, over the last several years, and have started to build my own rather modest (but exciting to me!) collection.
Music
WAY too many to mention!!! I'm not as into music as I was in my teen years, but I still listen to a lot of different material. My favourite way of getting into a band is to start with their first album and chronologically work my way up through their back catalogue. Yes, I know that's rather sad, but hey, it works for me!!! Some of my fave bands/singers include, in no particular order:
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, David Bowie, Pixies, Fred, Nick Cave, Talking Heads, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Half Man Half Biscuit, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, The Go-Betweens, The Hitchers, The Magic Numbers, Metallica, The Who, Tom Waits, The Smiths.
Hmm ... I actually managed to mention quite a few in the end, didn't I?!?
Movies
Now, this one is REALLY difficult!! As I said above, I'm a major film fan, and have seen literally thousands of films, from the age of the silents, through the "classic" era of the 1930s and 40s, the widescreen epics of the 50s, the experimental flicks of the 60s and 70s, then the "modern" (i.e. films I saw at the time of their release) films of the 80s and beyond. I used to grade and write a review of every film I watched (I have them all still on file, and might make them available one day). I stopped a few years ago because I just didn't have the time any more. But from those graded days, here are the ten films that came tops:
Sunrise -- a 1920s silent classic.
Destiny -- another silent masterpiece.
The Grapes of Wrath.
Casablanca.
The Seven Samurai.
The Seventh Seal.
Raging Bull.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
Once Upon A Time In America.
Pulp Fiction.
Some of my other faves, off the top of my head, include Being There (a brilliant Peter Sellers film), The Wizard Of Oz, Les Enfants Du Paradis, Santa Sangre, Bambi, Salem's Lot (the 1970s version -- flawed, I know, but it scared the living bejesus out of me when I was a kid!), It's A Wonderful Life, Sunset Boulevard, Aliens, Blue Velvet, The Masque Of The Read Death, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Raiders of the Lost Ark ...
Right, I'm going to stop there, or I'll be at this forever!!!
Television
Again, lots of different shows, but some of those which stand out in my memory include:
Hill Street Blues, Cheers, The Secret Garden, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Star Trek The Next Generation, Ray Bradbury Presents, The Sopranos, Frasier, Six Feet Under, MASH, Sapphire And Steel, The West Wing, Tales Of The Unexpected, Oz.
I was also into soaps in my younger years, and at various times loved the likes of Dallas, Dynasty, Home And Away, and Coronation Street (my favourite, and the one I watched the longest, up until 2001 or thereabouts). But no longer -- these days chez Shan is a soap-free zone!!!
Books
Probably the biggest minefield of the lot!!! Let's just limit it to a few fave books and authors:
Lord of the Rings, Jonathan Carroll, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, The Machine Gunners, Robert Cormier, Clive Barker, Dan Simmons, Huckleberry Finn, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, David Eddings, James Ellroy, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman and Dave Sim (primarily comic writers, I know, but great writers nonetheless). Current children's authors who I like to read include: Philip Pullman, Garth Nix, Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer, Melvin Burgess, Margaret Mahy, Louis Sachar, J K Rowling.
Heroes
Alan Moore, for writing the greatest graphic novel ever (Watchmen).
Dave Sim, for spending more than a quarter of a centruy working on one single story and seeing it through to the end.
Stephen King, for lighting up my early teens with his amazing stories, and keeping up the pace ever since.
About me: I am the author of two series of books, "The Saga Of Darren Shan" (known in the States as "Cirque Du Freak"), and "The Demonata". For more information about them, as well as loads of facts about me, my touring schedule, how to send a letter to me, movie news, etc. etc. please go to my official web site at www.darrenshan.com
"The Saga" was a 12 book series about a boy who becomes a vampire's assistant. It has been published in more than 35 countries around the world, and is available in dozens more. All 12 books have been released in the UK, America and several other countries. Some of the countries where the books have been bestsellers include: Hungary, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Taiwan, United Kingdom, USA.
The movie rights to "The Saga" were bought by Universal Studios. The producer is Lauren Shuler Donner (she made the "X-Men" movies). A script was written by Brian Helgeland ("L.A. Confidential", "Mystic River"), and then re-written by director Paul Weitz ("American Pie", "About a Boy"). It combines the first 3 books and will be called "Cirque Du Freak". Chris Massoglia will play Darren Shan, Josh Hutcherson will play Steve Leopard. John C Reilly will play Mr Crepsley. Salma Hayek will play Madame Truska (in a part expanded from the books). Filming began in February 2008 in New Orleans, and wrapped in June. The film is set to be released in the USA in January 2010. There are currently no release dates yet confirmed for any other countries.
"The Demonata" will run to 10 books in total. The most recent entry, "Dark Calling", the ninth book in the series, was released in the UK at the start of May 2009 -- book 10, "Hell's Heroes", goes on sale on october 1st 2009. "Wolf Island," the eighth book, was release in the States in April 2009 -- books 9 and 10 will be released in America in October 2009 and spring 2010. For release schedules in other countries, you'll need to check the LINKS section on my web site.
For writing tips and advice, please scroll through the BLOG on this MySpace page -- there are lots of nuggets scattered throughout it! You can find out much more about the books, and about me, by visiting my officially, personally maintained and updated web site: www.darrenshan.com
Please note, although I do read every email that is sent to me, it is impossible for me to reply to all (or even most) of them. If you want a guaranteed reply, you will need to post a letter to me. You can find the address on my web site.
Who I'd like to meet: Stephen King. David Lynch. Mick Jagger. Ray Bradbury. David Bowie. Michael Stipe. Neil Gaiman. Dave McKean. Alan Moore. So many others ...
Stopping by to say you rock!! I just started the Cirque Du Freak series and finish the second book in less than 24 hours, the fastest I have ever read a book, I just couldnt put that thing down, great stuff!!!!!
My friend Lily wants to say Happy Belated Birthday!! We both LOVE your Cirque du Freak series. I am on book ten and I can't wait to get The Lake of souls ;)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASTER SHAN~! I can't wait for the next book to come out~ I hope you live to have plenty more birthdays [and maybe write a few more books too huh xD] Hope today's is and will be special
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I can't wait for hell's heroes. its gunna be amazing. and the cirque du freak movie is going to be epic. come back to california for a book tour please. =] much love, mike
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LIKED THE CIRQUE DU FREAK BOOKS BUT THE DEMONATA BOOKS NEED A LITTLE WORK CUZ THEIR BORING AND THE CHARACTERS CHANGE TOO MUCH! I THOUGHT GRUBBS WAS A GOOD BUT TROUBLED KID, HE'S MORE SELFISH NOW! THE CHARACTERS NEED TO GET THEIR PRIORITIES IN ORDER!
