Wow

Now then... THAT was a tour.

And it's all over. I've been home for a few days in between, but the fact is this tour has been going on since August 5th, and it ended September 15th. Last night I was walking around my garden, looking up at the stars, and the thought hit me: it's over. It's done.

Sure, sure, I have other things to do. I have an interview tomorrow, and signings and events in Bray, Ennis, Bangor, Belfast, Dublin and Cheltenham to come over the next few months, but essentially, that's me done for the year.

It's been a good tour. No, it's been a great tour. I got to meet so many of my Minions, both from Blogland and Facebook and the Forums and even Bebo, for God's sake. And then I got to meet so many more, those of you who don't even post comments. And then I got to meet those Minions who don't even know I have a Blog, or that there are Forums and Facebooks and Tumblrs and whatnot out there.

Already, some of you are being talked about in the corridors of Harper Collins. The tall blonde with the T-shirt in London. The hot chick in Australia, who asked me to marry her and assured me her girlfriend wouldn't mind. The readers who gaped, who froze, who hopped and skipped, who babbled and blubbered. The readers who proposed and flirted and flattered. The readers who came in costume, the readers who came with gifts... the artwork on display, the stories, the effort and dedication and the sheer talent. The massive four hour signing session in Liverpool 1, the even more massive five hour session in Bluewater...

And then all the bro-fists and the hugs and the tears from the hyperventilating teenage girls. The parents and guardians who stood in line so patiently, and who were so good-humoured. I hope you Minions thanked them for driving/escorting/waiting with you- they thoroughly deserve a hug.

It was exhausting. It was manic. It was fun. I wasn't able to take all the gifts with me on the plane, so they're being shipped over and I should have them in a few days. Once they are in my possession, I shall post some photos. Some of this stuff is astonishing.

So thank you, everyone who came out to see me and get a book signed. For some of you, it was our first time meeting. For others, we've met before. Others still, you've come to see me practically every single tour. I remember a lot of you. I know some of your names. And I love seeing you again.

And I'd love to say that now I'm going to take a holiday- but really, what are the chances of that? I've got stuff to do, and things to write, and sometime over the next month or so I'm going to have to start Skulduggery Pleasant Book 8...

Brief Respite

My face is sore. I'm not used to smiling this much. I think I need a lie down.

I'm back home for a bit before my last weekend away, and I've spent today wandering around the house staring blankly at things. It's only when I'm back for a few days that I start to decompress and behave normally, so it looks like I'll have to wait a while for that to happen...

My few days in Ireland were awesome, as usual. I signed in Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Drogheda and Cork. The Cork signing was probably the longest, because I haven't been there in a while, but everywhere there were enthusiastic readers laden down with books. Some truly bizarre and cool people.

Then I had a few days off before my event at the Mountains to the Sea festival, where I chatted on stage with Dave from Eason bookshops about movies that have influenced the series, and we even got to show clips.

Dave showed bits from Starship Troopers (awesome!) and A Nightmare Before Christmas (amazing!) and It's a Wonderful Life (uhm... what?)

I showed a few trailers for a few things, but I don't think I'll tell you what they were... In fact, it might make an interesting blog post, discussing these movies and showing clips... Oh goody, I've worked out what I'm going to be talking about next time!

I headed over to the UK on Friday- just in time to experience the heat- where I signed in Southampton, Bournemouth, Dulwich and Bluewater in London. Last year, I was signing in Bluewater for four hours. I figured there was no way I'd be signing for any more than that this time. Five hours later, I had changed my tune. From people coming in costume- I'm thinking of a skeleton morph suit in particular here-

to people who had made their own Skulduggery T-shirts (and a certain tall blonde with the most awesome T-shirt ever, festooned as it was with lines from the books)-

there was no chance of my smile ever dipping. It's the sheer enthusiasm and energy of the people who turn up to get their books signed that energises me every single time.

And the hugs...

Book Charts and Breaches

Ah, my Minions...

As some of you are aware, KOTW was released early in some parts of the UK. Mistakes were made, I am told, and by the time news got out, it was already too late to do anything. Our official release date had been breached.

I was told all about it. I shrugged. Hey. It happens.

While this tends to mean very little for the overall sales of the book- the same amount of people are going to buy it, after all- it CAN mean that a new book doesn't get to rise as high in the book charts as it otherwise would have, and so doesn't get discussed in the media, and so more people aren't made aware of it...

For example, if a thousand people intend to buy a book the first week it's out, then a thousand sales will move it to a certain spot in the chart. But if five hundred of those people manage to buy the book a week EARLIER, then those sales are spread out over two weeks, and so it doesn't reach as high.

A breached release date can mean the difference between a best-selling book and a NUMBER ONE best-selling book, which is what all publishers are looking for.

Me personally? I'm not OVERLY bothered. Death Bringer was a number one bestseller last year in the UK and Ireland, and that's enough for me. Like I said, I wasn't too fussed at the idea that a few thousand books has been sold before the release date. So what if I didn't reach number one twice in a row? Did I really care? Nope, I didn't.

Which doesn't mean I wasn't utterly delighted by the news today that DESPITE a breached release date, KOTW is now the number one book for young adults in the UK- so thank you, Minions! (I haven't been told how we're doing in Ireland yet, so I'll hold off my extra-wide grin for THAT moment...)

The reader reaction to KOTW has been wonderful. I know a lot of you were stunned by certain events- of which you are free to talk about in the Spoiler Zone post below- and I know some of you would have quite liked to throttle me upon closing the book, so I want to thank you for investing so much of your faith and emotion in these characters. All I can say is: prepare yourself. You have, I assure you, seen NOTHING yet.

And speaking of the final installments, here's a link to a short thingy I wrote for the Tesco website...

http://booksblog.tesco.com

Requiem Ball

And right before I head off to another signing, I give you Bloggy Minions this post to... uh... do whatever it is you were planning to do for this Requiem Ball thingy you all seem to be organising...

Amazing Phil

The Spoiler Zone is still the only place you can discuss KOTW, but while you're doing that, this is a book review that Amazing Phil did on Blue Peter. I used to watch Blue Peter all the time when I was growing up, so it's pretty cool to be featured on it, and I reckon Phil did a fantastic job of grabbing the attention of non-Skulduggery readers.

It's also really nice to catch a few glimpses of Skulduggery himself... I think the exploding pillar thing is EXCELLENT... and it really makes me want a Skulduggery movie even more...

Spoiler Zone

Publication day! OFFICIAL release day! And the usual rules apply...

The comments section for THIS blog entry are reserved for MILD SPOILERS. There is to be NO casual conversation here- that's what the previous entry is for. THIS entry is for discussions about the book. Even so, try to exercise SOME caution, because you just KNOW that someone is going to stumble onto it by accident, or they're going to pop in before they've FINISHED and then they're going to be horrified that the ending is now ruined for them...

So. If you haven't read Kingdom of the Wicked, continue using the previous comments section. But once you have read it... discuss it here.

Inis

Ever so slowly dragging myself back into realms of communication...

Answered emails today. Avoided them all weekend. Made some phone calls. Paid some bills. Life after a tour always seems to stilted. It takes a while to process everything and figure out the best way to tackle a few weeks' worth of stuff piling up outside my door...

While I'm getting back into the swing of things, here's something for you Irish Minions...

http://www.inismagazine.ie/blog/entry/help-wanted-interview-derek-landy

And here are a few things that the Minions-With-Funny-Accents gave to me while I was Down-Under...