Author Interview Search:
Darren Shan
Darren Shan first became known for his debut book, Cirque Du Freak, which quickly turned into a bestselling series.
Palace of the Damned is the latest title in Darren Shan's Larten Crepsley series and is aimed at readers aged ten or 11 years plus (although many Darren Shan fans are younger than this...). We put a few questions to Darren about his new book.
The Larten Crepsley books are a prequel to his Cirque Du Freak series. In Palace of the Damned, we learn why Larten Crepsley becomes the tormented figure we see later in the Cirque Du Freak books.
Q:Why did you want to return to the Cirque du Freak books, and why decide to write a sequel?
A: I hadn't planned to write any more books about vampires, but Larten Crepsley had a very mysterious background in the original series. I never really felt like I knew what made him tick.
While I was working on The Demonata, I found myself thinking about Larten and trying to piece his story together. I didn't want to write any books about him -- I just wanted to know for myself.
Eventually, so much revealed itself that I felt compelled to sit down and start writing -- I knew that was the only way that I could fully scratch the itch!!
Q: How many books do you plan to write about Larten Crepsley?
A: There will be four books in total. The fourth and last book comes out in May 2012.
Q: You like to kill off main characters, but obviously Larten Crepsley needs to survive - did you feel hampered by not being able to kill him and some of the other characters in these books?
A: It was a challenge, but for me that was part of the appeal of the project. I couldn't structure it in the usual dramatic way, since we knew that Larten and so many of the other characters would survive. So how could I make it interesting?
It was like a puzzle, and solving that puzzle was a large draw for me. I had to push myself in a new direction, to write a type of story that I had never written before.
And for me that is ultimately what writing is all about -- I don't like writing within my comfort zone -- I'm always looking to try new things and pull off the impossible!
Q: Palace of the Damned pits vampires and vampaneze against each other - what made you decide to create a new 'breed' of vampire?
A: I created the vampaneze back in the original series. I wanted to explain why people had such a negative view of vampires, and my reasoning was that they had confused vampires with the murderous vampaneze over the centuries.
The vampaneze are very important to this series -- the fourth book sees Larten at the centre of a plot to start a war between the two clans...
Q: Do you ever find yourself holding back from particularly gory descriptions, or from making your characters 'too' evil?
A: No. Since books are the domain of the imagination, I think writers have far more leeway than other creators. i.e. a scene is only as powerful as a reader's imagination can let it be.
Books are a collaborative creative ground -- a story is always a unique union between the writer and each reader. Those with advanced imaginations will make the most of my gorier scenes, but are perfectly placed to deal with the product of our shared imagination. Those with less vivid imaginations will not squeeze as much disturbing drama out of a scene.
It's not like a movie, where an "innocent" viewer can be exposed to upsetting scenes that they might not be equipped to deal with. A reader is engaging in a dance with an author, and if you're clued-in enough to match the writer's steps, you're more than capable of dealing with whatever they throw at you, no matter what age you are.
Q: Was there any part of this book that you found particularly difficult to write?
A: There's a scene in book 4 that always brings a lump to my throat, as it finds Larten at his most exposed and pained.
He's a character I care about deeply, but as we know from Cirque Du Freak, something very bad happened to him that forced him to sever all of his ties with the vampire clan and the people he cared about most.
This series has all been leading up to explaining why he went into enforced exile, and the reveal is almost as gut-wrenching for me as I'm sure it will be for readers of the books.
Q: When did you first start reading horror?
A: I read some scary tales from about the age of 8 or 9, but I was about 10 or 11 when I read my first Stephen King book, Salem's Lot, and I've never looked back!
Q: What was your favourite horror book / film as a child / teenager?
A: Salem's Lot. I saw the film first, and loved it -- it gave me nightmares, which I think is the best compliment I can pay a work of horror! And then I read the book, and that freaked me out too!! A double whammy!!!!
Q: Could you see yourself writing in a different genre for young people - comedy, perhaps?
A: There's actually a lot of humour in my books. I think it's important to have some lighter moments in a very dark book, otherwise it becomes a miserable experience!
In fact, I've worked lots of different genres into my books over the years -- fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, drama -- there's even a touch of romance in Palace of the Damned!
I see the horror field as a springboard -- I like to have a horrific undertow to my books, but I think it's the other areas I explore which makes them so interesting for such a wide variety of readers.
Q: What are you writing now? When can we expect to see the next book in the series?
A: Brothers to the Death comes out in early May 2012. I will be starting a new series in October, but I can't say anything about it just yet -- it's top secret!! I hope to be able to announce details soon on my web site, www.darrenshan.com
Q: How has being a successful author changed your life?
A: I can afford to buy new books in hardback rather than having to buy second-hand paperbacks!!
Q: Tell us a little bit about your writing day.
A: If I'm working on a first draft, I try to write ten pages a day, at least five days a week (sometimes more, if I'm about to dart off on tour somewhere).
When I finish a first draft, I set it aside for a few months and work on something else. When I return to it, I might edit twenty or thirty pages a day during the first edit.
By the time of the final edit (six or seven drafts later) I might get through 60 or 80 pages a day -- by that stage, I'm trying to read it the same way a reader will, at the same fast pace, making only a few tweaks here and there.
As well as all that, I'll answer lots of emails, tweet several times, check the web for reviews of my books, update my web site, maybe do a blog, etc. etc. And sometimes I'll answer a batch of fan mail as well. Busy busy!!
Published Books
