Darren Shan was born in London and moved to Ireland at the age of six. He began writing for fun in his teenage years. He enjoyed his first taste of literary success at aged 15, as a runner-up in a TV script-writing competition for RTE in Ireland, with a dark comedy script entitled A Day in the Morgue. Although he quite liked the idea of writing a children's book one day, Shan considered himself an adult writer first and foremost. In fact, his initial breakthrough was with an adult book, under his real name of Darren O'Shaughnessy. Then, in 2000, his first children’s book, Cirque Du Freak was published. It was the first in a twelve book series entitled The Saga of Darren Shan and it attracted rave reviews and much media attention. His latest work is The Demonata, a ten-book series which will take readers into new realms and universes, all of them populated or threatened by demons.His adventures have been read by millions of people around the world in several different languages, yet much of his life remains shrouded in mystery. He lives in seclusion in the depths of Ireland. And he never drinks blood. Or so he claims.