Author Darren Shan Bio and Signed Books

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VJ Books Presents Author Darren Shan!

Darren Shan's real name is Darren O'Shaughnessy. Although he is Irish, he was born on July 2, 1972, in St. Thomas' Hospital, London. At the age of six, he moved to Limerick in Ireland, with his parents and younger brother, and has lived there ever since.

Darren was 17 when he finished his first novel. Although it was never published, he relished the writing experience, and found himself focusing more on novels in the coming years, leaving behind the short-story format. For the next several years, sandwiched between university and work, he wrote an average of one book a year, experimenting with different ideas, genres, lengths and styles. When he started writing full-time, his output shot up to 5 to 6 books per year! But that has dropped back to 2 to 3 recently, due to all the travelling around he's been doing to promote sales of his books.

All of these early books were adult-oriented. Although Darren quite liked the idea of writing a children's book one day, he considered himself an adult writer first and foremost. In fact his initial breakthrough was with an adult book, in February 1999, called "Ayuamarca" (later republished as "Procession of the Dead"), the first of a trilogy of books known as "The City".

A big film buff, with a collection of more than four thousand movies at home, Darren also reads lots of comics and books, and likes to study and collect original artwork, especially comic art, impressionist and post-impressionist art, modern art, and sculptures. Other interests include long walks, watching football (he's a Tottenham Hotspur and Ireland fan), listening to pop and rock music, theatre, worldwide travel, sampling the delights of both gourmet cuisine and finger-licking junk food.

Darren spends most of his time in Limerick, Ireland.

Darren Shan Book List
His website: www.darrenshan.com
Similar authors: Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Anthony Horowitz, R.L. Stine