Darren Shan is the author of the New York Times bestselling Cirque Du Freak series. He was born in London but at an early age he moved to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents and younger brother. He grew up watching old Dracula horror movies and reading spooky comics, which were the inspiration for his books. Darren is currently working on the second book in the Demonata series, Demon Thief, coming spring 2006.