A Very Special Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Edition

I'll be speaking about my books at the El Cerrito Library next Tuesday, June 23, at 7:00 p.m. If you live nearby, please drop in and say hello! Also, I've updated my author blog, improved the layout, etc., and will try to post there more often.

CONTEST WINNERS: The winners of the contest for K. Celeste Bryan's time-traveling novel, Where the Rain is Made, are Llehn and Valorie! Please email your mailing addresses to me so I can send them to Kat for your prizes. Congratulations!

CheriePie reviews Carrie Vaughn's Kitty and the Silver Bullet. "In this fourth installment of the popular series, Kitty has returned to Denver to deal with family issues. Unfortunately, the alpha and his mate of the werewolf pack she ran away from is not happy to see her back in town." (CheriePie's Reviews)

I got an email from Paul at RIPT Apparel about a t-shirt they were selling last week with a "Queen of the Damned" design. Sure, I was going to post it, but they only sell each design for 24-hours, and then the design is retired. Here's the description of that shirt: "The face represented is that of the queen vampire adorned with hellish visions of the animal kingdom and death itself. The face also belongs to the grim queen of the vampires, at least according to Anne Rice's novelization." Who knew that white cotton could convey so much terror? Well, you've lost your chance to walk around with "a visual interpretation of a dark, gothic and fear looking queen as the symbolization of darkness and hatred," but RIPT has a new shirt every day.

Anthony Stewart Head, aka Giles on "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," will take on a new series on NBC in fall. "He plays King Uther in a prequel to the Arthurian legend. Uther has outlawed magic in his pre-roundtable Camelot and when young Merlin arrives, he's conflicted with the youthful Prince Arthur and the fantasy begins." (Modesto Bee)


Read an interview with Alexander Skarsgard, who plays Eric Northman on "True Blood" -- and more important, played Meekus in "Zoolander." "That's what I loved about the scene; I could have come down in a long black leather cape, looking tough. But I came down with foil wrapped tips. Look, Eric's beauty session with Pam was interrupted. What can I say?" (NY Post)

Reading with a Bite reviews the premiere of the second season of "True Blood." "I really need to work on separating in my mind the book and the TV show because they are so different, especially leading into season 2."

Read an essay on the appeal of vamp stories to teenagers. "Teens suffer from unwilling physical changes, new desires that they do not understand and problems they have never faced all with a sense of immortality. They are filled with confusion, ambiguity, and fear of the future. Many times teenagers identify with the characters in the books and play out that character to see if it fits them." (Examiner)

Will Coldplay write the soundtrack to "New Moon," the next in the Twilight movie franchise? ""It's very likely that a Coldplay song will end up on the soundtrack to the Twilight sequel." (Buddy TV)


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

I think someone needs an orange mocha frappaccino. Okay, it's me. The GVDS today go out to Eric Northman of "True Blood," played by Alexander Skarsgard.