Hating on "True Blood" Marketing, Loving on Georgia Evan's Bloody Good

Allow me to rant for a minute: Yesterday, someone supposedly called Emily left a comment on one of my posts that read like spam -- because it was spam: "Have you seen the latest episode of Bloodcast News Network? It's on vampire self defense, so I don't even want to guess what will happen if you don't! http://www.iheartvampires.net/?p=335 For the latest in vampire news, go to iheartvampires.net"

Yes, the "the latest in vampire news" sounds familiar, right? (See my header.) I checked the site and, quelle surprise, it's a fake site that's put up by the marketing team, Campfire, behind HBO's "True Blood."

To understand why I hate this, we have to put it in historical context. A million years ago ad-wise, some people came up with the idea to use word-of-mouth to advertise their movie, "Blair Witch Project." It worked, just like mania for Beanie Babies and Cabbage Patch Dolls worked. (I won't put Tickle-Me Elmo in this category because I totally heart Elmo.) Anyway, these people said, "Lo, there is some major money in this crap!" and started a business.

Campfire now relies on hordes of employees to create everything from banner ads, posters, websites, blogs, etc. The message is about the message, not about the show. It's all sizzle and no frickin steak.

If they had a clue what drives viewers to the show, they'd have websites dedicated to Alexander Skarsgard as Eric Northman and they'd pay tribute to wonderful Charlaine Harris, who inspired legions of devoted fans. Charlaine's name is nowhere to be found on their sites and marketing materials, and that was what first turned me off on the advertising for "True Blood."

We're supposed to think that this campaign is cool and clever, but it comes off as manipulative and sleazy when multimillion-dollar companies post advertisements disguised as real people's comments on real blogs. If you want an ad with me, offer a DVD for fans. Offer an interview with one of your cast. Don't just use my site for your corporate profit.

You know the thing about sizzles? They fizzle.

End of rant.

Our pal, PopinFresh, interviews Georgia Evans, author of Bloody Good, and has a book contest. "Kate Duffy, my editor at Kensington, asked me if I'd like to write a WW2 set book. I jumped at the chance- we talked over plot ideas and she suggested making the vamps the villains... So vamp spies seemed the obvious choice." Also, Popin's Lair has a nice new design!

I like the covers of these books, which are clearly emulating the design of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series, which are themselves inspired by Marc Chagall paintings.


GRATUITUOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

Vampire Wire reader Lexie (a real human being, not an employee of a marketing firm) mentioned Spike (James Marsters in "Buffy") and Billy Idol videos on YouTube. Compare and contrast for ten points. Thanks, Lexie!



Very cool video from SerenitySapphire.



Oh, I had to wade through too many Spike videos with Evanescence, ugh, and this video by Suicune3 helps rinse the bad taste out of my brain.

Contest Winner, Moon Burn by Alisa Sheckley, & James T. Kirk

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest for The Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan! You all gave great suggestions of book blogs and I'll compile a list to share. I'll also add some of your suggestions to my blogroll.

The winner of the random drawing is:

MARY

Mary said, "SciFiguy is my fav thus far, he's pretty informative and keeps up to date."

Mary, I'll send you an email, or you can email me with your mailing address so your prize can be sent.

Speaking of SciFi Guy, aka Doug Knipe, he will be one of my upcoming guests in a few weeks and will answer the burning question, "Why is this guy so scifi?" On Monday, Deidre Knight, who's wildly successful as both an author and an agent, will be here to talk about her Gods of Midnight series. Both interviews will be accompanied by contests.

Read a review of Moon Burn by Alisa Sheckley. "Settling into her new life in rural Northside, Alba has encountered relatively few problems. This is both surprising and encouraging since one of Alba's problems is that she has contracted the werewolf virus, lycanthropy." (Fresh Fiction)

Read more about Moon Burn and an excerpt on Alisa Sheckley/Alisa Kwitney's site. "In the past year, veterinarian Abra Barrow has gone through some major changes: She's left Manhattan for the deceptively quiet small town of Northside, ditched her cheating husband and discovered that he has infected her with the rare werewolf virus."

Oh, the mainstream media has discovered that you can write anything about vampires these days. Here's a list of Ten Vampires Cooler Than Edward Cullen. Folks, slowly step away from the easy joke. "Everyone thinks he's got a sense of humor," observes Vinnie Antonelli (Steve Martin) in "My Blue Heaven." The movie was scripted by Nora Ephron, and I'm sure those are really her thoughts.

We were talking about time travel books in a recent contest, and Midnight Moon Cafe has a guest blog by T. Sue VerSteeg and a contest for her time-travel novel, Another Time, Another Place. "I’ve dreamt about medieval England many times and feel a kindred pull to the many castles there."

"Blood Ties: Season One" Contest: Are you still crying because you didn't win one of the "Blood Ties" dvds? Well, you're kind of a big baby. Anyway, Amanda at Love Vampires is giving away THREE sets of this prize! Her contest runs through June 26. Amanda doesn't mention what version of dvd is being given (the U.S. is in a different zone than England) though. She's also giving away copies of Tanya Huff's The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail).


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

For those who only know William Shatner from campy commercials may not realize that he was a hawt campy scifi actor. Before that he was a hawt serious actor in excellent dramas, too numerous to mention. He's got to be one of the hardest working men in Hollywood and his filmography is amazing. So, here's to you, William Shatner. Live long and prosper.



Who knew that legions of mostly female fans dig on the latent homoeroticism in old television shows? This amusing little video is beautifully edited.



Sometimes less is more. A clever commercial from CBS for the original "Star Trek" series DVDS.

"Supernatural" Across the Continents

Dottie at My Blog 2.0 gave my second novel, Midnight Brunch, a really terrific review. "Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta is another excellent addition to the Casa Dracula Series. I can hardly wait to read The Bride of Casa Dracula. Milagro is a character who is fabulously funny, curvaceous in all the right places, and wickedly smart. She's inquisitive and adventurous, which is one of the things that almost leads to her demise in this book." So glad you enjoyed my novel, and hope you'll love The Bride of Casa Dracula!

SciFi Guy has part two of his interview with Jacqueline Carey, author of Naamah's Kisscontest for three copies of her book. and a "One major difference is that my heroine, Moirin, possesses a gift of magic, the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself. Her mother’s people, the bear-witches of the Maghuin Dhonn are a wild folk who were never civilized, and they’re one step closer to the spirit world than anyone else in my alternate reality."

Read the first chapter of Christine Feehan's soon-to-be-released Hidden Currents. "Elle couldn’t read Stavros’s thoughts and emotions the way she did others when they touched her, and that amazed her. Her psychic ability to read thoughts was disturbing most of the time, but there were a very few who seemed to have natural barriers and she had to purposely ‘invade’ if she wanted to see what they were thinking." (Christine Feehan)

Read a review of Much Ado in the Moonlight by Lynn Kurland. "Lynn Kurland smoothly mingles time travel and ghosts into a story that is sad, fun, and uplifting all at once. This is a pure delight to read." (Eternal Night)

Maureen Ryan writes about "Supernatural" since she'll be on the "Supernatural" panel at this year's Comic-Con. "By the end of Season 1, it was clear that the spectral creatures the Winchesters are fighting are really mistrust, rage, pain, grief, fear and terror of losing -- or being stuck with -- each other. Don't tell anyone, but this show about dudes in their macho car, playing their testosterone-heavy dude rock, well, it's all about … feelings." (Chicago Tribune)

Watch behind the scenes video of Taylor Lautner and Kristine Stewart talking about "New Moon," the next in the "Twilight" franchise. "However, it’s mostly all about Taylor and his amazing body transformation in order to play the role of Jacob Black..." (On The Fix)


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

I got a very nice email from Iona in Scotland, who is a Vampire Wire reader and she gave me the link for this "Supernatural" tribute. Well, Vampire Wire is all about developing international relationships based on appreciation of hawt guys in videos. It starts with a GVD set to "Sex Bomb" and leads to world peace. Thanks, Iona!



I only do this to promote international accord. The GVD by Invasionfan2 features "hotter than Hades" Sam Winchester (Jared Paladecki) in "Supernatural."



And for Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) fans, here's a video from FreakyMissE.

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.

Who is Responsible for Vampire Suckage?

Is "New Moon" based on Stephanie Meyer's novel a little too similar to Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series, the basis of "True Blood"? And where does "Underworld" fit in? "Sookie Stackhouse, in season one, falls for tall, dark and undead Bill, and when he disappears she is left to be comforted by the shaggy werecollie Sam. At least Sookie has a superpower all her own, and Bon Temps vampires certainly do not sparkle in the sunlight like the vegan vamps in Twilight." (i09) Ah, the course of true love between a vampire, a nubile teenager, and a werewolf ne'er did run smooth!

Should we blame Anne Rice or "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" on the major vampire suckage? "Nowadays you can expect your vampire story to be full of sarcasm, romance and moody semi-dangerous vamps (they're called vamps now too). They may or may not be able to tolerate sunlight. They may or may not drink human blood. And they're very likely to become instantly fascinated with a sweet, shy ordinary girl and become helplessly devoted to her." (Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' News) Personally, I blame Vladimir Nabokov for writing Lolita, a stunning work about an older man's obsession with a comely teen.

Kimberly Swan reviews Haunting Beauty by Erin Quinn. "Ms. Quinn has created an intricately woven story where each day is touched by magic, and there’s little distinction between the living and the dead." (Darque Reviews)

Vicky London reviews Laurell K. Hamilton's Skin Trade. "Anita heads to Las Vegas after Vittorio, a serial killer vampire, sends her a head in a box as an invitation. Vittorio escaped execution in St. Louis and it looks like his cat and mouse game with Anita will come to an end in Vegas." (Vampire Genre)

Interview with Joss Whedon re: "Dollhouse" and the horror of a new "Buffy" movie by the original "Buffy" movie director. "Joss thinks that this new project is 'something better left untouched by me. So I wish them luck.'" (Screen Rant)

I am eagerly awaiting the third season of "Torchwood" even though BBC America hacks it up for more commercials. (I wrote to them and got a form letter back that basically said, thank you for caring and sharing and get a life.) Here's the trailer for the first show of the new season. I find it particularly terrifying for the same reason you all do: a boy with a blond Dutch boy haircut is ALWAYS a portent of doom -- or a lack of a good salon nearby.



I've got a busy day, so I'll leave you with the, ta da!, Gratuitious Video of the Day!

The GVDs go out to Captain Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman, in "Torchwood." The deliciously omnisexual Capt. Jack can never die --- for very long.



I know I'm going to be singing this song all day long!

Contest Winners for "Blood Ties: Season One" DVDS & Tanya Huff Novels!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest for two "Blood Ties: Season One" DVDs and two Tanya Huff novels! I liked learning about all your favorite secondary characters in books and shows. A big shout-out to Eagle Rock Entertainment for contributing these great prizes and getting the word out about a wonderful series.

The winners are:

"Blood Ties" DVD winner #1: I Heart Book Gossip, who's said: "My favorite secondary character would have to be Rhage from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward."

"Blood Ties" DVD winner #2: Carrie Sund, who wrote: "I liked Jenks and his wife in the Kim Harrison book I read. I also like the fairy brother and sister in the Charlaine Harris books."

Tanya Huff novel winner #1: Kytaira, whose fave is: "Dathan - the warlock from Linda Lael Miller's Tremayne vampire series. I always wanted a 5th book in that series with him as the hero."

Tanya Huff novel winner #2: Lynn Irwin Stewart, who said, "I would say Verbena, the lady's maid, in Colleen Gleason's Gardella Chronicles. She provided comic relief but was also someone Victoria could depend on (when all the men were acting up!)"

Congratulations! Winners, please send me an email (marta at martaacosta dot com) with your mailing address and I'll forward it on to Eagle Rock so they can send your prizes.

If you subscribe to Vampire Wire, you'll find out about upcoming contests, including interviews and contests with MaryJanice Davidson, Jeri Smith-Ready, Melissa Francis, and our fabulous SciFi Guy.