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The third and final book in the Demon Road series is almost upon us... (of course, if you're in Ireland, it may be upon you already...)

Tour details are below. If you can make it, AWESOME. If we're not going anywhere near you, hopefully we will at some stage in the future.

So... a new Skulduggery, eh?

I don't have a title for you yet, sorry. I'm close to being halfway through it, though, and so far it's working out to be exactly what I want it to be. Which is good. And I'll also be finished long before my deadline, so I'll be able to go over it a few times. And then a few times more! And possibly even more after that!

Ah, the luxury...

But what CAN I tell you about it?  Well, like I said, it was probably around Last Stand of Dead Men that I realised the story could go longer than I'd planned. I knew vaguely what I wanted to do with certain plot threads, and I knew for CERTAIN what I wanted to do with others, and I made a few notes and jotted down some stuff, but back then I was focusing on making sure Phase 1, as I had taken to calling it, ended just how I wanted it to end.

And it did. Phase 1 came full circle, ending with the same line, pretty much, as the first book. Most of the plot lines were wrapped up, most of the character stories were paid off... it was good. I was happy with it. More than that, I was proud of it.

But I had bigger plans...

My agent already knew, and so did my editor, but when the rest of the Skulduggery team eventually found out, it was all treated with the utmost secrecy. We didn't mention the word "Skulduggery" when discussing it in public. We simply called it the "series after Demon Road". Apart from anything else, such as how much I love springing surprises on the readers, I didn't want anyone to know because I wanted some breathing room. And I wanted, quite honestly, the option to change my mind.

I loved writing Skulduggery. I loved writing the ninth book as much as I loved writing the first. But as I went on to work on Demon Road, I wondered if my love would fade, and take my enthusiasm with it. If this happened, I didn't want to have to turn round to the expectant readers and tell them, "Uh, actually, I've kind of changed my mind..."

Hence, the secrecy.

But time passed, and I was writing other things, and my love for Skulduggery Pleasant remained as strong as ever. And the fact was, the 10th anniversary of the first book was approaching, so if I was going to do this, I'd better make a decision, one way or the other. Either commit, or let it go. So the decision was made, and plans were set in motion.

Over the next few months I'll be able to answer some of the more popular questions, such as how many books will there be and who'll be returning. Right now, I can tell you that Skulduggery and Valkyrie are back, and they have a brand new co-star. Omen Darkly WAS going to be the star of his own trilogy, but Phase 1 worked because it was a combination of three or four separate story ideas all thrown into one, and I figured Phase 2 could use the same kind of mojo.

Deciding to include Omen in Phase 2 saved it, to be honest, because I had one pretty major problem with continuing the series: it's hard to have a "children's" book without any actual children in it.

Now, I've never had a problem with this idea. One of the most popular (new) fictional characters of the last 20 years has been Jack Sparrow, after all, and he's no kid. I've never believed that young people need to read about other young people... but the fact is, Valkyrie is now in her mid-20s, and if there isn't anyone younger in the cast list, then Phase 2 would pretty much become YA.

And while I do harbour dreams of someday writing a Skulduggery and Valkyrie book for adult readers, it's not a bridge I wanted to cross just yet.

So Omen is allowing me to keep the book for younger readers, while also dealing with the ramifications of what Valkyrie has been going through for the past 5 or 6 years. He's also letting me delve deeper into the culture of magic and the rules and traditions and whatnot � basically all the stuff that I glossed over in Phase 1. What I can say is that there'll be loads of new characters, and loads of new villains, and some of these villains will be connected to villains who've gone before, both in the books and the short stories.

Some of your favourite supporting characters will return. Some of them won't. Some will survive the onslaught to come. Some will die. Horribly.

I'll be releasing more information over the next year, both here and on Twitter, so keep an eye out. We've got Tom Percival back doing the artwork (right now he's hard at work on the Phase 1 books, which we're re-releasing with new covers in the first few months of 2017 for the 10th anniversary), so the whole gang is back together for this. It's gonna be fun. Well, it's gonna be fun for US.

For you, it's going to be torture.

With Desolation only a few days away, I am still hard at work on the third and final Demon Road book.

From the beginning, I wanted these books to be as streamlined as possible � I wanted them short and punchy. Now, I completely failed with Demon Road, as it was a pretty big book, and only got slightly better with Desolation, which is shorter, but it looks like I'm finally getting the hang of this with Book 3, which will hopefully be the perfect length.

And the title?

* may not contain ice-cream.

Behold the awesome!

On April 5th, in London, as part of my tour, we are offering a day at the movies, where I will be discussing the many movie influences that have shaped my life and, more specifically, that have shaped the Demon Road trilogy.

We are breaking the day into two halves.

At 1 PM, younger readers, accompanied by an adult, can go to the Picturehouse Cinema in London and experience 80's comedy-horror classic GREMLINS on the big screen...! It'll be my first time seeing it up there too � I've only ever seen this film on TV, so I am HUGELY excited.

Desolation will be available to buy, I'll be doing a Q&A, and signing whatever you have. It's going to be FUN.


And then we'll be repeating the format at 8:30 that night, when we'll be showing the original A Nightmare on Elm Street to a STRICTLY over-18 crowd...!
Again, I was too young to see this in the movies when it came out, and as one of my all time favourite horrors, I can't wait to see this in all its glory.Come! See Johnny Depp get blender-ised in his Bed of Death! Naturally, anyone 18 or over can come to both movies and make a day of it � as I will be � but sadly the younger Minions can not savour the delights of Freddy Krueger � at least not until you're older...

Greetings, Minions...

So the UK and Ireland tour is set out below, and you'll notice one or two extra cool moments included. For a start, I'll be doing an event in Birmingham with Darren Shan and CK Skuse, which is going to be tonnes of fun, and in London we're going to the movies (more to follow in the following post).


Sunday 3rd April, 4pmOxford Literary Festival EVENT
Monday 4th April1pmWaterstones Manchester Arndale Centre PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING
6pmWaterstones Liverpool One EVENT
Tuesday 5th AprilDerek Landy’s I-Scream Spectacular @ Picturehouse Central, London1pm: Including a screening of Gremlins, 12A8.30pm: Including a screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street, *strictly 18+* 
Wednesday 6th April, 6.30pmWaterstones Birmingham High Street EVENTThe Best of Horror Panel w/ Darren Shan and CJ Skuse
Thursday 7th April, 1pmWaterstones Bluewater PUBLIC BOOK SIGNINGIRELANDFriday 10th April4.30pm: Easons, The Pavilion Shopping Centre, Swords PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING
Saturday 9th April11am: Dubray Books, Kilkenny PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING3pm: The Book Centre, Waterford PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING
Sunday 10th April, 1pm:Eason O’Connell Street, Dublin: PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING
Sunday 29th May, 11am:Brighton Festival EVENT
All Waterstones tickets available: 

Hello children.

February already, is it? Dear lord, where does the time go?

Into the void, that's where. Into the void with all the PLANS we make and the PROMISES and the GOOD INTENTIONS and the LIES... Ahem.

I'm busy. I'm working away. On what? Different things. Some will see the light of day. Some will not.  That's what happens. I've pretty much started the third and final Demon Road book, which is good, since my deadline is HILARIOUSLY close and I have an awful lot of work to do. But there are so many distractions! So many different projects to work on!

But I must focus. I must.

So, right now, my publishers are busy nailing down UK and Ireland tour dates for Desolation. First thing I have to tell you is that the release date has been changed, pushing it back a week to April 7th. Not that much of a big deal, and there are a load of external factors involved in the decision. It was explained to me but I zoned out. It's something to do with... something. Anyway, whatever, it's out on the 7th, although it will be available to buy a few days earlier at certain locations on my tour.

So, roughly, from April 3rd to the 7th, I'll be in Oxford, Manchester (don't know if it'll be available to buy early here, will check), Liverpool, Birmingham and London. Irish dates include Dublin and Kilkenny so far, from the 8th to the 10th.

As soon as these things become solid, I'll post them.

We're doing our best to have something cool happen in London, so keep your eyes peeled, ladies and germs. Awesomeness awaits. And possibly nightmares. Which is awesome in itself.

Ah, 2015. What a year you've been.

A lot of people would take this opportunity to compile a Best Of list... and I am no different. And so, without further ado...

Best New Horror: It Follows



Jaw-droppingly good. A wickedly smart throwback to horror movies from the 80s. Bliss.

Best New Addition to a Franchise From Far, Far Away: The Force Awakens



Good GOD I loved this. It has heart, soul, warmth and grit � a huge departure from the prequels and a wonderful continuation from the original trilogy. I couldn't have done it better myself.

(Well, I could have, but they didn't ask, so...)

Best TV Show: The Walking Dead



This was a close one, with Game of Thrones running a tight second, but its White Walker mayhem was matched by episode upon episode of zombie thrills. And unlike GoT, I didn't know where The Walking Dead was going to end up...

Creepiest Horror Seen on Blu-Ray: Sinister



Oh I love a good creepy horror, and this hit the spot.

Most Disappointing Horror:  The Babadook



I don't get it. I just don't.

Best New Addition to a Franchise Thought Long Dead: Fury Road



A car chase that lasts an entire movie. How awesome is that? Not as feminist as I'd been led to believe, but still a thousand times more awesome than most other movies.

Best YA novel: The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness



Get this book. Read this book. Love this book.

I didn't get to see all the movies I wanted to, didn't get to watch all the TV I wanted to (Ash Vs The Evil Dead and Jessica Jones being top of my To Watch list), and definitely didn't get to read all the books I wanted to, but all in all 2015 was a good year.


Next year is going to be busy. I've got the second Demon Road book out at the very end of March and the third and final one out in September. But I've learned my lesson, oh yes. No more six month publication schedules for ME, boy howdy. A lot of things have suffered as a result  of this workload (that still isn't over, by the way) and I want to get back to a nice and healthy communication routine with you, my lovely Minions.

2016 is going to be FUN.

I'm working hard. Writing fast. Deadline's looming. But while I work, other people have been working too, such as the awesome folks responsible for the covers...

And so, without further ado...