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The True
Story of Darren Shan
Over
the past several years, a British author has written
a series of books that have
captivated
readers around the world. It's an author whose books
involve adventure,
terrifying
enemies, and heroic young characters with special
powers. No, it's not J. K. Rowling. As millions of fans
across the globe already know, the author is Darren
Shan.
Darren Shan is the
pseudonym for Darren O'Shaughnessy. Originally
born in London in 1972, O'Shaughnessy has lived most of
his life in Ireland. He began writing stories,
comics, and
books during childhood. Starting at the age of 26, he
published two
books for adults. At the same time, O'Shaughnessy wrote
a children's book, Cirque du Freak, which included
frightening creatures like
vampires and
werewolves. Though children's writing was not
his focus, this book was his biggest success.
O'Shaughnessy began to
work on
sequels to Cirque du Freak featuring a boy
named Darren Shan. This extremely popular series, The
Saga of Darren Shan, now
encompasses
a total of 12
books, which have been
translated into 29 languages and sold in 36
countries.
Recently in Taipei, Darren
O'Shaughnessy spoke about his experiences as a writer.
Because his books are often
bloody, they can be
intense. However, O'Shaughnessy says that
carnage is not
the point of his stories. While readers won't really
see their friends killed by terrifying monsters,
everyone encounters
death sooner
or later. "It's important for children to
examine . . . these issues," O'Shaughnessy says. "If
you explore ideas of death and loss in fiction, it makes
it easier to deal with
loss when it happens to you in real life." Through their
frightening adventures, O'Shaughnessy's characters
teach readers lessons about coping with and
recovering from the
trials of real life.
As for readers who may want to be writers
someday,
O'Shaughnessy suggests that they write as much as
possible. According to O'Shaughnessy, writing is hard
work, but the most important thing is to keep writing
the best stories that you can. With over 10 million
books sold worldwide,
it's fair to say that this popular author
knows what he's talking about. |
