Kitty Norville Book Giveaway & Official Eric Northman Club

Many thanks to Valerie Russo at Hachette Books for supporting the Ultimate Hawt Vampire List Contest! Valerie and Hachette are contributing a set of Carrie Vaughn's exciting, sexy, and hip Kitty Norville series as a prize.

Kitty Raises Hell

Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

Kitty and the Silver Bullet

Kitty Takes a Holiday

Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty and The Midnight Hour

You don't have to be a fan of weres and shifters to love this series. Kimberly Swan at Darque Reviews says, "Ms. Vaughn pens a tale of dark magic, and populates her world with intriguing characters that never fail in keeping readers engrossed as the story unfolds... If you’re an urban fantasy reader and haven’t gotten hooked on Kitty’s adventures yet, you should start this series at the beginning and not miss a word."

Literary Escapism says, "This is one of those series that continually drags you in and doesn’t let you go; and, honestly, if you haven’t checked it out yet, you really need to."

Werewolves, rock n roll, radio...you really can't go wrong with this series. Thanks, Valerie & Hachette! Enter the contest here.

Also, the Ultimate Hawt Vampire List contest is turning out to be a bitingly tense rivalry between Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) of "True Blood" and Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid) of "Blood Ties" -- both young for their ancient roles.

Now, not everyone will win the fabulous prizes and so to stave off bitterness and resentment, I've come up with these little trinkets for you.

Print them out, post them to your site, wear them and share them.




GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

You don't know how many videos I had to go through to find one that didn't have a cloying, nanny-nanny-whiny song. Henry Fitzroy seems like a guy who would rock out, not be all Evanesceney. Yes, I hate Evanescence.



Here's a Henry/Vicki video from TheHuntress792, who displays an admirable obsession with vampy shows.



This song is hilariously schmatzy, so enjoy! Please, Alexander Skarsgard, lose the girly hair and because I find it uncomfortably confusing.





This video is very wrong and I feel ashamed for enjoying something which takes an innocent song and twists it, but I thought Alexander Skarsgard fans would appreciate it.

Ultimate Hawt Vampire Poll Cont. & Hearting Henry Fitzroy/Kyle Schmid

In honor of the Hawt Vampire Poll and Contest (prizes to be announced when I get some), I've got some gratuitous videos of the day of the illustrious list of nominees.

But first, one of Vampire Wire's readers, MM, wanted to share the love of Kyle Schmid, the young actor who deftly portrayed a four-hundred year old vamp in "Blood Ties."

She wrote: "Several of my friends and I had the pleasure of meeting Kyle at Megacon in Orlando over a year ago. Not only is he incredibly good looking but he's a real sweetheart to his fans. He made each and every one of us feel special. He's an incredible flirt and sometimes a bit of a little stinker...

"Sherilyn Kenyon mentioned once that if Archeron ever got made into a movie she'd love to see Kyle as Archeron.... He's also one of the founders of LCC (Love Cures Cancer) which is an organization that is trying to get the younger generation involved in supporting cancer research."

Thanks, MM, for giving us the personal info on the actor behind the character!

Unfortunately, it looks as though "Blood Ties" might not be picked up for a third season. You can keep up on the renewal news at BloodTies Central. I know that I've had a hard time figuring out when it's on and remembering to watch. I'll set my digital recorder to catch it.

Here's a GVD from TheHuntress792 for Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid) and Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox) of "Blood Ties," which really shouldn't be cancelled. And they should do some sort of ad campaign that tells viewers on other channels that it's on (because I don't watch Lifetime otherwise).



Here's another Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid) GVD from Edenslily.



Here's a new vid for Alex O'Loughlin, who played Mick St. John in "Moonlight." Word up, baby, what's the word?



Here's Det. Nick Knight (Gerriant Wynn Davies) in "Forever Knight." I never realized how many duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duhs are in "Hungry Like the Wolf."



Hawt is not just for the dude vamps. Kate Beckinsdale kicks butt and looks fabulously sexy as Selene in "Underworld." Thanks to Craptasticxx for the video.

Ultimate Hawt Vampire Poll & the Usual Gerard Butler Admiration

I realized that I had never gotten the Ultimate Hawt Vampire Poll done, so I spent five minutes on the internets looking for a decent poll. The problem is that you all gave me way too many nominees for most polls.

So I'm listing all of them. You can vote for up to FIVE nominees. (My votes will probably be Gerard Butler, Gerard Butler, Naked David Boreanaz, James Marsters, and Gerard Butler.) The vamp with the most total votes will win, or Gerard Butler will win by some inexplicable fluke because he oozes sexy charisma in the unwatchable "Dracula 2000."

Leave your votes as a comment to enter the contest.

UPDATE: Hachette Books is contributing a set of Kitty NorvilleCarrie Vaughn as the prize books by! You don't have to be a werewolf/shifter fan to enjoy this exciting, hip, sexy series.

UPDATE II: I wrote down the wrong date. The contest really runs through Sunday night, May 10. I am trying to get even more cool prizes!

In honor of this important poll, I'll be posting Gratuitous Videos of the Day of the nominees. You may have to watch some of these videos repeatedly, and, yes, some classics will be included.

Here are your nominees:

• Dracula in "Dracula 2000" - Gerard Butler
• Dracula in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" - Gary Oldman
• Dracula in the BBC's "Dracula" - Louis Jordan
• Count Vladislaus Dracula in "Van Helsing" - Richard Roxburgh
• Vlad Dracula in "Dark Prince" and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" - Rudolph Martin
• Mick St. John in "Moonlight" - Alex O'Loughlin
• Josef in "Moonlight" - Jason Dohring
• Louis in "Interview with the Vampire" - Brad Pitt
• Lestat in "Interview with the Vampire" - Tom Cruise
  
• Armand in "Interview with the Vampire" - Antonio Banderas
• Lestat in "Queen of the Damned" - Stuart Townsend
• Mark Frankel in "Kindred: The Embraced" - Julian Luna
  
• Edward Cullen in "Twilight" - Robert Pattinson
• James in "Twilight" - Cam Gigandet
• Dr. Carlisle Cullen in "Twilight" - Peter Facinelli
• Jasper Hale in "Twilight" - Jackson Rathbone
  
• Bill Compton from "True Blood" - Stephen Moyer
• Eric Northman in "True Blood" - Alexander Skarsgard
• Mitchell in "Being Dead" - Aidan Turner
• Henry Fitzroy in "Blood Ties" - Kyle Schmid
• Angel in "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" - Naked David Boreanaz
• Spike in "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" - James Marsters
• Drake in "Blade Trinity" - Dominic Purcell
• Deacon Frost in "Blade" - Stephen Dorf
• Lothos in the movie, "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" - Rutger Hauer
  
• Selene in "Underworld" - Kate Beckinsdale
• Michael Corvin in "Underworld" - Scott Speedman
  
• Viktor in "Underworld" - Bill Nighy
• Michael in "Lost Boys" - Jason Patric
• David in "Lost Boys" - Kiefer Sutherland
• Nicholas Knight in "Forever Knight" - Gerriant Wynn Davies
• Nick Knight in "Forever Knight" - Rick Springfield
• Miriam in "The Hunger" - Catherine Deneuve
• John in "The Hunger" - David Bowie
• Aaron Gray in "The Breed" - Adrian Paul
• Barnabas Collins in "Dark Shadows" - Jonathan Frid
• Jan Valek in "John Carpenter's Vampires" - Thomas Ian Griffith
• Alex in "Tale of a Vampire" - Julian Sand
• R.B. Harker in "Howling VI, the Freaks" - Bruce Bayne
  
• D in the anime "Vampire Hunter D"

Also, the How Clueless Can You Be? prize today goes to the New York Times' Stephen Holden, who wrote this of Gerard Butler in his first major role as Dracula back in 2000: "The clunking fill-in-the-blanks screenplay portrays Dracula as irresistible to women the moment he walks into a room. Gerard Butler, the pale, glowering actor clad in chi-chi black duds who plays him, radiates a certain suave self-assurance, but he is no head-turner." Let me repeat what he said, Gerard Butler is no "head-turner." This is why you can't trust guys to review movies.


As regular Vampire Wire readers may know, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) in "True Blood" has a 'do that disturbingly reminds me of my best friend from high school, a pretty tall blonde. However, this video by WickedSpice83 makes me rethink my whole girl-hair issues.



This is a new tribute to that guy that doesn't make heads turn, Gerard Butler. I really try to like Willie Nelson because, you know, he's one of our nation's major potheads, but this song makes me almost lose my will to live.



This song is much better. You'll be singing it all day long!

"New Moon" & "Eclipse" News; Anita Blake Movie; and BAD TO THE BONE

AUTHORS & BOOKS

Read a description of and an excerpt from Richelle Mead's new Vampire Academy novel, Shadow Kiss. "It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all...might be seeing ghosts."

Read the description and an excerpt from Ilona Andrews' just released Magic Strikes. "Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that's saying a lot."

Read Kimberly Swan's review of A Flash of Hex by Jes Battis. "They’re working a disturbing case where at first glance the victims appeared to have nothing but the drug, Hex, in common. As they dig deeper into the backgrounds the links become apparent and it looks as though the ritualistic killings have a much larger purpose." (Darque Reviews)

Read Charidee's Q&A with Angie Fox about her new book, The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. "As she experiences all kinds of new (and weird) things in Vegas, Lizzie is determined, once and for all, to master her powers. In fact, she’s going to write the book on demon slaying." (Novel Reads)

Jeri Smith-Ready, author of the upcoming Bad to the Bone, is guest blogging at Lynda Hilburn's Paranormality about world building. "Even in urban fantasy, these visions of 'our world' can vary. They can be identical to the one we know, where the supernatural remains secret; or a parallel world, in which magic is integrated into society. As it so happens, I write one of each, so I’ll try to describe some of the challenges I’ve faced."

Read an excerpt from Jeri Smith-Ready's Bad to the Bone, to be released in May. "The things I believe in can be counted on one hand-even if that hand were two-fifths occupied with, say, smoking a cigarette, or making a bunny for a shadow puppet show, or forming 'devil horns' at a heavy metal concert."

Lots of new paranormal and fantasy books are being released today, and SciFi Guy has a list of them to check out.

Author Catherine Karp has a very cheerful vampire-themed music video on her site. You may want to organize your co-workers to all dance to it on top of your desks. (Suburban Vampire)


MOVIES & DVDS

Melissa Rosenberg, the scriptwriter for "New Moon," hopes that Channing Tatum will be cast as Riley in "Eclipse," the third in the "Twilight" series. "He really is tragic. He’s a puppet for Victoria [bad-girl vampire played by Rachelle Lefevre]. So he has to break your heart a little bit at the end when he realizes that she doesn’t want him. Channing could do that beautifully.” (E! News)

David Slade has been named the director of "Eclipse," the third in the "Twilight" saga, adapted from Stephanie Meyer's books. "We weren’t really sold on Slade until we realized that, duh, he directed one of our favorite films, the 2005 scary psycho-sexual thriller 'Hard Candy,' starring a then-unknown actress named Ellen Page." (Los Angeles Times) It will be interesting to see how male directors take on this quintessentially female story. I'm guessing: bigger budgets for more CGI graphics, more elaborate fight scenes, and more female nudity, because that's how guys tend to do it. But I hope I'm wrong.

Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen in the "Twilight" series, has been cast as the lead in "Remember Me." "Landing the 'Remember Me' lead marks the first major role for Pattinson since he rocketed to public adulation for his portrayal of vampire Edward Cullen in the 'Twilight' franchise." (MTV News)


TELEVISION

IFC Television will be producing "Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter." "Mixing mystery, fantasy, and horror, the film will center on the character of Anita Blake, a street-savvy, down-to-earth vampire hunter with a lousy dating life and a penchant for bringing dead people back to life. Blake also works as a police consultant investigating preternatural crimes." (Fresh Fiction)


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

Someone last week Roxanne bemoaned the too-young, too-thin werewolves cast in "New Moon," and wished for bigger, older, muscley dudes. I'm sure providing GVDs with big, muscley guys is part of the Vampire Wire Mission Statement. So, Roxanne, this is for you.

We're So Cosmopolitan: Mexican Vampire Books, Korean Vampire Films, & British Time Travel TV

From Screen to Book: Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, acclaimed director of "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy," is writing a gory vampire trilogy to come out in June. "Del Toro’s vampires will lack all humanity and will be 'as threatening, as real, as absolutely disgusting and alien as possible,' he said." (Latin American Herald Tribune) The first in the series, The Strain, is co-written by Chuck Hogan.

Kerreylyn Sparks, author of the Love at Stake series, guest blogs about her first book sale. "Something weird happened in my brain, and I got an idea about a debonair, sophisticated vampire losing one of his fangs from biting something he shouldn’t have. How embarrassing! He might be condemned for all eternity as a lopsided eater." (Dear Author)

Read an excerpt from Kerrelyn Sparks' upcoming novel, Forbidden Nights with a Vampire. "“He did a dance with a fifteen-foot-long python, and it got loose and wrapped itself around one of my customers. She had to teleport away before it could crush her. I told Max to take his snake and hit the road.”

Read a review of Mark Henry's new zombie-fest, Road Trip of the Living Dead. "If you enjoyed Happy Hour of the Damned, the first book in Mark Henry’s Amanda Feral series, you will thoroughly enjoy the sequel, Road Trip of the Living Dead." (Love Vampires)

Here's another review of Mark Henry's Road Trip of the Living Dead. "This time around, Amanda's vampire best friend Gil has started a new business - Luxury Resurrections, Inc. If you want to become a vampire, Gil will arrange, for a hefty price, of course, for you to become 'resurrected' just the way you want it. " (Mrs. Giggles)

New Vampire Movies: Last year, all the buzz was about the Swedish vamp film, "Let the Right One In," and this year everyone's excited about Park Chan-wook's "Thirst," which will be premiering at Cannes. It's about a priest who becomes infected by a vampire. Talk about your internal conflicts.

"In this story inspired by Emile Zola’s 'Therese Raquin,' Park creates a sinister parallel universe where 19th-century French realism and the Western vampire myth melt naturally into modern South Korea. Visually, things are familiar yet exotic, with local Catholic churches evoking a European flair; gaudy, outdated boutiques that are set in a Japanese colonial-era style home; and striking claustrophobic spaces a la Stanley Kubrick." (Korean Times)

You can read more about the movie at Slash Film, and here's the Korean trailer. U.S. release will happen sometime later this year. It looks great, but I always love trailers.



To learn more about the director, visit Park Chan-wook's website.


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

Okay, I'm bummed that "Ashes to Ashes," the sequel to "Life on Mars," won't be on again until next year. BBC America can go to hell for replacing it with a DINOSAUR show. Here's a video tribute from SadBaby01 to the gorgeous, delightful Keeley Hawes who plays DCI Alex Drake, a police psychologist who finds herself in 1981. Of course, she knows that the world she's in is her own imaginary construct.



Ivgarfitt has a great video tribute to Gene Hunt, played by the fabulous Philip Glenister, and Alex Drake, played by Keeley Hawes. Glenister is one of those actors who proves that sexy is not the same as pretty.