Jacqueline Carey Giveaway, Ugh "True Blood" Marketing

Just a quick post today since I'm at the final stage of my current rewrite.

SciFi Guy has an interview with Jacqueline Carey and a giveaway for five copies of her new urban fantasy, Santa Olivia. "Initially, my editor and I were concerned that coming out with a book so completely unlike anything I’m known for writing could have a negative impact on sales momentum."

Amanda at Love Vampires reviews Keri Arthur's Chasing the Shadows. "The Nikki and Michael books are a four-part serial vampire romance that always features the same protagonists: Nikki (a psychic PI) and Michael (a 360 year old supernatural investigating vampire) so it is necessary to read these books in series order."

If you're reading lots of paranormal/urban fantasy anyway, why not get college credit for it? Aurora University has a class on vampires. (Aurora, land of Wayne and Garth, is also a city where I have lots of teen readers. Coincidence, or not?) "But vampire narratives also probe themes with teeth. The fanged fiends offer an unusual perspective on cultural changes and taboos about gender and sexuality." (Chicago Tribune)

The marketing team behind "Twilight" and "New Moon" is sleazily passing itself off as a fan-generated production in order to generate new ways to suck money from them. "'By Fans For Fans' my ass. Try 'By Studios For Stalkers.' This has got to be one of the biggest marketing scams of all time." (Screencave)

Personally, I hate the marketing team behind HBO's "True Blood," who passes off an extremely expensive, traditional, manipulative campaign as viral marketing. They spam bloggers with crap because they want us to sell for them, but don't bother to respond to our return emails. Exploitive marketing is not "edgy" marketing. It's the same old.

Here's what an HBO marketing exec says about their new "True Blood" campaign. ""We're always looking for ways to do something unique and unexpected and break through the clutter..." Ugh. Why not just have the actors go to a dialect coach so their accents aren't all over the place? Why not just make a great show? Why not spend the money on designing and building more convincing sets?

See, this is exactly what I mean about "True Blood's" sleazy marketing team -- passing off a paid advertisement as an actual blogger opinion piece. "Gawker found itself in the middle of an advertising-blurring-with-editorial controversy after our sales department and HBO pretended that an advertorial blog was a Gawker editorial property." (Gawker) Deceptive is not "innovative." It's more of the same old.

Jackson Rathbone, who got nominated in the Ultimate Hawt Vampire Poll for his role as Jasper Hale in "Twilight," will now rock on in the flick "Lords of Chaos." "Rathbone, who plays the most volatile 'Twilight' vampire in the Cullen family, will make a shift from one dark character to another..." (Access Hollywood)

I'm a "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" fan, so it makes me very nervous that a movie is in the words without the wonderfully talented Joss Whedon. "'Buffy' creator Joss Whedon isn't involved and it's not set up at a studio, but Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment are working with original movie director Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui, on what is being labeled a remake or relaunch, but not a sequel or prequel." (Hollywood Reporter)


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

I noticed that I had a few video links parked in my email inbox that I never posted here. Just a little eye candy featuring Richard Armitage, Rufus Sewell, Toby Stephens, and Gerard Butler.




I adored Doyle in "Angel." He was played byIrish actor Glenn Quinn, who died shortly after the character did. He gave the character humor, charm, an aching vulnerability that made his moments of bravery more striking. Here's a video with him and Cordelia.