Blog Tour: Darren Shan & Giveaway!

To celebrate the final book in the brilliant Zom-B series, Zom-B Goddess, I've got Darren Shan on the blog to answer a few questions!

1. How was writing the Zom-B series as a serial different your previous books and series'? 
I hadn’t planned to write a long series before. The Saga Of Darren Shan and The Demonata evolved and grew as I went along. I had no idea when I wrote Cirque Du Freak or Lord Loss that I was at the start of something monumental. With Zom-B it was different, and I knew going in that it would be at least nine or ten books. That made it a very off-putting process, because I could see to the very top of the mountain that I had to climb before I took my first step, whereas with the other series I was halfway up before I realised what I’d let myself in for!

2. If you had to live through one of the Zom-B books as B, which one would it be and why? 

Well, B has a tough time of it in all the books, and I wouldn’t particularly like to live through any of them! But Zom-B Gladiator offered hope that the bad guys could be defeated through good old-fashioned grit and determination, and if I had to live one of the books, it would probably be that one, because it drew the first half of the series to an optimistic, happy close. In the second half, things got a lot darker.

3. There are a fair few characters in the Zom-B whose loyalties and are impossible to determine. What do you think makes a good villain/antagonist? 
I think the very best villains are the ones that we can see shades of ourselves in. I’m of the opinion that pretty much everybody has elements of good and bad inside themselves, that we’re partly determined by DNA and environment, but ultimately by the choices we make and the paths we choose to explore. The most intriguing villains are the ones who make us think, “There, but for a few good calls or lucky turns, go I.”

4. How would you ensure you survived the zombie apocalypse? 
The more interesting question to me is would I want to survive a zombie apocalypse. If the world descends that far into the darkness, and humanity is reduced to its ugliest, basest components, would I really want to go on and be part of a broken new world? I’m still mulling over the answer...

5. Can we get a peek into where you write? 
I write on a computer in an office at the back of my house, with a nice view over the river Shannon. Very dull for a horror writer, I know, but it is what it is!

6. Can you tell us anything about what's coming next for you? 
I’m working on a new series, but I can’t say much about it yet, except it won’t be as horror-driven as my last couple of major series. It will also be comprised of big books, rather than short books – so, just as long (if not longer) than my other series, but released in fewer volumes, which should make it easier (and cheaper!) to collect.

You can read my review of Zom-B Goddess here and don’t forget to check out the rest of the stops on the tour!

Thanks to S&S and Angel Publicity, I have a full set of the Zom-B series to give away! I know, the whole series!

Just enter the form below before 11:59pm on April 28th. This is a UK only giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is facilitated by the publisher so you must be 13 or over and have permission to pass your address along to them. I will also hold no responsibility for the prize once I have passed the information over.

Sophie