Dawn O' Porter and Darren Shan at Easons

I had the opportunity to interview writer Dawn O'Porter during a recent book signing at Easons. Goose, the highly anticipated sequel to Paper Aeroplanes was released on April 4th. The story follows Renee and Flo, two best friends who face life’s ups and downs and the trials we go through that lead us to adulthood. Set in the mid 1990’s, Renee and Flo are two wildly different fifteen year old girls growing up in Guernsey. Brought together by their shared loneliness and dysfunctional families they become firm friends.
Goose picks up the story a year and a half later as Renee and Flo each choose their own paths in life and discover that their friendship is tested. Will their bond be broken?
“I think that I’m most like Renee. I do take elements from my own life and use them in my books. The school used in the book is like the one I went to, although I changed the name.”
Dawn is enjoying life as a writer and wants to continue as an author for the foreseeable future. She is also currently working as a columnist in Glamour magazine and is currently filming a C4 documentary on vintage clothing.
“I have two more books planned that cover Renee and Flo’s life in their twenties and then in their thirties. I don’t know how it ends yet but I’d like to follow them as they get older. I like the idea of that.”
Dawn is married to comic actor Chris O’ Dowd and has previously worked on television documentaries including My Breasts Could Kill Me, a documentary on breast cancer and how it affects both women and men. She wrote a book called The Booby Trap and Other Bits and Boobs with the proceeds being donated to Breast Cancer Awareness. She also worked on a BBC3 documentary called Super Slim Me where she looks at what women go through to be a size zero.
 At the moment she is happy to stay at home and write in the company of her dog and cat, “I would be very surprised if I was still in television in five years’ time. I enjoyed it but I don’t like being away from home for all that time.”
You can find out information on any future signings and events on Dawn’s website www.dawnoporter.co.uk. You can follow her on Twitter @hotpatooties.

Author Darren Shan was in Eason’s Belfast on Monday April 7th too promote his latest Zom B release – Mission. Darren, famous for his Cirque Du Freak novels, met fans and read excerpts from his books to them.
Pupils from local school Friends and pupils from Belfast Boys Model and Belfast Royal Academy all attended the event, eager to have their copies signed by the author.
Darren began his writing career in 1999, writing fantasy and horror novels for both adults and teens. His books have sold over 20 million copies and have been translated into 31 languages. His Zom B novels follow B Smith, a fifteen year old girl who must battle her way through a zombie apocalypse in London.
“I think different things inspire me to write my novels. For the Zom B novels, I was living in London shortly after the terror attacks and I noticed how the attitudes shifted among people. I really wanted to write something about racism and how we can’t let certain people change our views of people from different races and religions.”
B Smith must deal with her racist father and the affect it has on her growing up around him. She soon realizes that zombies aren’t the biggest monsters around.
The series will feature a total of twelve books which are being released in three month intervals. His next release will be in July 2014.
To find out more about Darren Shan check out his website www.darrenshan.com.