| Darren O'Shaughnessy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Darren O'Shaughnessy 2 July 1972 London, England |
| Pen name | Darren Shan, D. B. Shan |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Writing period | 1999—present |
| Genres | Horror, Fantasy |
| Notable work(s) | The Saga of Darren Shan, The Demonata |
| Official website | |
Darren O'Shaughnessy (pronounced /oʊˈʃɔːknəsi/; born 2 July 1972 in London, England[1]) who commonly writes under the pen name Darren Shan,[2] is an Irish writer and author of The Saga of Darren Shan. He also is currently writing The Demonata series, as well as writing The City Trilogy, a series of books for adults under the alternative name of D. B. Shan.[3]
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Biography
Darren O'Shaughnessy (Shan is his pen name) was born in 1972 at St Thomas' Hospital, London. He lives in Pallaskenry, County Limerick, Ireland, with his girlfriend Bas. 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 lived ever since.
He received his primary education in Askeaton, and attended secondary school at Copsewood College, Pallaskenry. He returned to London to take a degree in Sociology and English from Roehampton University.
Career
Darren worked for a television show company in Limerick for two years before he decided to become a full-time writer. He bought his first typewriter when he was fourteen and wrote many 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 he loved the writing experience, so he started focusing on novels more and not on short stories.
All of Darren's early 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 breakthrough came with Ayuamarca, written under his full name instead of a 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 by some to be a better book, but sold fewer copies than the first. Ayuamarca was re-released in March 2008 under the title of Procession of the Dead and under the pen-name D.B Shan. Hell's Horizon followed in March 2009, and the third in the trilogy, City of the Snakes is set to be released in the UK in March 2010.
Interests
Shan is in possession of thousands of films and collects 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 travelling worldwide.
Bibliography
The Saga of Darren Shan
- 10. The Lake of Souls
- 11. Lord of the Shadows
- 12. Sons of Destiny
note 1: in the UK, the first five books were published in a similar style, with a small image and the title of the book in large print; with book 6 the style was changed, and a skull and crossbones logo was introduced; the first five books were later reprinted with new covers to match those of book 6 onwards. There were also proof copies (copies intended for reviewers and booksellers, printed and made available ahead of the book's release) of Books 1, 3, 4 and 5. All copies of the books were released in paperback, although the first was also released much later in a special hardback edition—so far, no other books in the series have been released in hardback.
note 2: in the USA, the books were all published in hardback first, then in a large paperback version (which kept the cover of the hardback), then in mass market paperback editions (which used new covers). Also, in the USA the books are known as the Cirque Du Freak series. The first book is often referred to as A Living Nightmare in the States, but this is NOT an official title.
Short stories
- "An Essay on Vampires" "by" Steve Leopard - 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
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This article or section contains information regarding scheduled, forthcoming or expected future book(s). The content may change as the book release approaches and more information becomes available. |
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The Demonata series currently has nine books released, with the tenth to be released in October 2009. 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 April and October, i.e. book 8 in spring (May) 2009, etc.[4] The author gives additional publication data on his own website.
- Lord Loss
- Demon Thief
- Slawter
- Bec
- Blood Beast
- Demon Apocalypse
- Death's Shadow
- Wolf Island
- Dark Calling
- Hell's Heroes (October 2009)
The City Trilogy
The City Trilogy was written for adult readers and was released under the name of D. B. Shan.[5] The third book was never published and they are now out of print. They were published by Orion Publishing Group. However, in March 2008, Ayuamarca was re-published as Procession of the Dead (with substantial changes) by the Voyager imprint of Harper Collins (Shan's children's publisher). Hell's Horizon was released in March 2009 and City of the Snakes is due for release in March 2010.
- Ayuamarca - Re-named Procession of the Dead - First published in the United Kingdom in February 1999 and later in Russia. Re-released in the UK in March 2008.
- Hell's Horizon - Sequel to Ayuamarca. First published in the United Kingdom in February 2000. Re-released in March 2009.[6]
- City of the Snakes - Coming - March 2010. [7]
In March 2008, Ayuamarca was re-released as Procession of the Dead with the author's name as D. B. Shan. Shan vastly re-edited the book for its re-release. In March 2009 Hell's Horizon followed 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.
Future books
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This article or section contains information regarding scheduled, forthcoming or expected future book(s). The content may change as the book release approaches and more information becomes available. |
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Shan has mentioned on his blog and MySpace page that he is working on other books, including "a one-off Fantasy-book", "a four-book-series" and a "long-book-series." He regularly reads an extract from the first book of the four-book series when he tours.
Short stories
- "Hagurosan" - Originally written for Kids' Night In.
- "Young Alan Moore" - Originally written for Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman, a book written to celebrate the 50th birthday of Alan Moore.
- "The Good Ship Tree" - Originally written for the Times Educational Supplement, and accepted.
- "Life's a Beach" - Originally written for the Times Educational Supplement, but rejected.
- "Guyifesto—Who We Are" - Originally written for Guys Write For Guys Read. (Play on words of "manifesto")
- The Saga of Darren Shan tie-in short stories - See above
Unpublished books
- Mute Pursuit - A futuristic cross between The Terminator and Stephen King's The Dark Tower; Shan's first completed book, when he was 17 years old. Shan has written lots of books which have not been published, mainly for adults, and most of these books are still at the first draft stage.
- 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. Shan 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 Shan decided to end the series with Sons of Destiny, which was written and released instead.
Future film(s)
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This section of a biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2008) (Find sources: Darren Shan – news, books, scholar) |
Universal Studios bought the film rights to the first three books of The Saga and combined them to make a single movie. If it is successful, they might make four films in total, each film combining a trilogy of books from the series. Lauren Shuler Donner is producing the film, Paul Weitz directing, original screenplay by Brian Helgeland but rewritten entirely by Paul Weitz. The first movie will be called Cirque du Freak and is due to be released in the USA on January 15 2010.
The cast:
- Darren Shan - Chris Massoglia
- Larten Crepsley - John C. Reilly
- Steve Leopard - Josh Hutcherson
- Madame Truska - Salma Hayek
- Mr. Hibernius Tall - Ken Watanabe
- Debbie Hemlock - Jessica Carlson
- Annie Shan - Morgan Saylor
- Mr. Destiny - Michael Cerveris
Awards
The Saga of Darren Shan
In 2001, Cirque Du Freak (Book 1) received 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) received an 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(Book 2) 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.
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 USA.
In 2008, Blood Beast was shortlisted for the Doncaster Book Award, in the UK.
In 2008, Demon Apocalypse was shortlisted for the Worcestershire Teen Book Award, in the UK.
In 2009, Death's Shadow was shortlisted for the Worcestershire Teen Book Award, in the UK.
References
- ^ "Darren Shan Biography". http://www.darrenshan.com/facts/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ "Biography". http://www.darrenshan.com/facts/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ "About D B Shan". http://dbshan.co.uk/thecity/about/. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ "Demonata books". http://www.darrenshan.com/demons/books/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ "About D. B. Shan". http://dbshan.co.uk/thecity/about/. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
- ^ http://dbshan.co.uk/thecity/
- ^ http://dbshan.co.uk/thecity/
External links
- Darren Shan Demonata website
- Darren Shan website
- D.B Shan website
- Darren Shan blog
- Darren Shan talks about Cirque du Freak
- Darren Shan lists his favourite books at bookarmy.com
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