Is It Friday Yet?

The graphic above is from Nightwalker, a "Blood Ties" fanlisting. I've been really enjoying the "Blood Ties: Season One" DVD, just an episode at a time, and will report on them later.

I'm taking the day of blogging, which doesn't pay me anything except the joy of posting Gratuitous Videos of the Day (which is considerable), because I need to do the tweaks on my manuscript for Nancy's Theory of Style.

Check out the posts on my blogroll -- all excellent sites full of good stuff. One of my favorite sites, Love Vampires, doesn't have updates because it operates as a website, not a blog, but there's always new content there, as you can see below.

Latest Vampire Book Reviews on LoveVampires

Moonshine by Rob Thurman - review posted 27th June 2009
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan - reviewed 24th June 2009
The Struggle: The Vampire Diaries 2 by L.J. Smith - reviewed 20th June 2009
The Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko - review posted 16th June 2009
Dead If I Do by Tate Hallaway - review posted 12th June 2009
The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod - review posted 8th June 2009
Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill - review posted 4th June 2009
Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson - reviewed 30th May 2009
Chasing The Shadows by Keri Arthur - review posted 25th May 2009
Royal Blood by Rona Sharon - review posted 20th May 2009

I feel bad about leaving you with nothing but links, so here's something for your viewing pleasure and have a wonderful Fourth of July!



"Burn Notice" is back on, yeah! The terrific video is from LadyKnight1991.

"Vampire Diaries" & Flagrant Misuse of Hugh Jackman in a Leather Costume

BOOKS

Enter my contest for three copies of Stephanie Meyer's The Host.

Nightdweller at Bibliphiles 'R' Us is having a contest that runs through July 15 for a copy of Marjorie M. Liu's The Iron Hunt. "Along with the book, the winner will also receive a flask necklace inspired by Kim MacDougall’s book Luminari and some author swag."

Read an interview with the dynamo writing team of P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast, authors of The House of Night series. " I was in the very beginning of writing chapter 1, before Kristin had gone to live at college for her first semester, and I kept calling down the hall to ask her for word choices. After about three or four times I just thought this would be so much easier if I could just write it and have Kristin go back through it. " (Fresh Fiction)

SciFi Guy has new cover art for Linda Robertson's The Hallowed Circle. Uhm, am I the only one thinking, what the hell is growing out of that girl's butt? Not all design ideas are good ideas. (Don't even ask me how I feel about the covers of my first two books.)


MOVIES & TELEVISION

Read a recap of the CW's (and what the hell does CW stand for and why the the?) new series pilot, "The Vampire Diaries." "...what sets it apart is its offering of pure innocence combined with light doses of romance and comedy. Think more along the lines of 'Kyle XY' combined with 'Moonlight' and you will be closer to what this vampire story portrays. It has lots of 'heart,' poignancy, humor and light-weight suspense." (Rabid Doll)

Fangoria reviews the classic Hammer flick "The Brides of Dracula." "When Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur) frees the captive Baron Mienster (David Peel), she unwillingly unleashes all hell…or, just one really bad vampire. One way or the other, village people begin dropping like flies, and the charming Baron Mienster is responsible."

Review of "Van Helsing," which is the worst use of Hugh Jackman in a leather costume that one can imagine. "The result is the kind of expensive flop that makes you feel very sad for everyone involved. " (The Realm of Madness)

Hugh, leather, the possibilities were endless, but they blew it, as I have illustrated below.

I have tried to watch this "Van Helsing" in bite size chunks (about five minutes worth at a time), but I always end up spitting it out because it's so damn rotten. If you need to see a bad, unwatchable movie that has many five-minute chunks of Gerard Butler deliciousness, watch "Dracula 2000."


GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

"The X-Files" tribute continues, because Vampire Wire cherishes commitment to a theme. And one of the GVD's reoccuring themes is BAD EURO DISCO! Yes, this video of David Duchovny, who played Fox Mulder, is almost too much goodness in one place. Please wait through the slow beginning.



Vampire Wire is also dedicated to fangirl collages and graphics. I hope you will enjoy the flying hearts as much as I do.

Bad Remake Ideas and Teen Vampires and Werewolves in Lurve

Okay, it's all movie and TV stuff today. Some days the news is like that. I don't know why and I've got another deadline so I can't cogitate on it much.

Don't forget to enter my contest for three copies of Stephanie Meyer's The Host.

The popularity of the "Twilight" movie franchise has producers talking about remakes of werewolf movies. "... new similar Twilight themed properties are surfacing to take a bite out the Twilight Saga love, including talk of a remake of the classic John Landis directed An American Werewolf in London." (Deadbolt)

Oh, dear, I know this will not end well. The American remake of the Swedish vampire hit, "Let the Right One In," will be directed by the guy that did "Cloverfield." Did you see "Cloverfield"? No, no one did. He said, "It reminded me a lot of my childhood, with the metaphor that the hard times of your pre-adolescent, early adolescent moment, that painful experience is a horror." In other words, he's going to throw in a hawt neighbor girl, fart jokes, and references to "Star Wars." Why, why, why in the name that all that is holy do you take an already marvelous film and "remake" it for people who can't be bothered to read sub-titles?

Read a recap of "True Blood" Season Two, Episode Three. "Fortunately Bill arrived just in time to stop Jessica and glamour her family 'within an inch of their sanity.' I wish he'd do that to me.

Here's another "True Blood" recap. "Did not understand why Sookie now owes Eric a favor for helping save her and Lafayette. I mean, going to Dallas to hunt wayard vampires? Who does Eric think Sookie is, Buffy Summers?" (Entertainment Weekly)


TEEN VAMPIRES IN HIGH SCHOOL

Review of CW's upcoming "Vampire Diaries" pilot. "Stefan is introduced to the teens as he registers himself for school. The pilot loses points for me here, because it is one of those scenes where the lead merely has to walk down a hall and instantly everyone is in love with him. I realize this is targeted towards hormonal teens, but just once couldn’t the lead do something to earn such adoration?" (TV Overmind)

In reference to the above and in defense of "Vampire Diaries," I'd say that if someone looks like Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon, no, he really doesn't have to do anything but look like Ian Somerhalder to earn admiration.

BuddyTV does casual experiment by forcing non-Twilight fans to watch "Twilight" the movie. "Moreover, they could not understand why the vampires attend high school over and over again... After a long argument, I had to admit I see no point of attending public school. They already know all the material and frankly, they don't socialize with anyone but each other. If the point is to resist temptation then I'm not quite sure how going to a school full of tasty humans will help." Uhm, maybe they heart the cafeteria food.

Michael J. Fox's seminal masterpiece of teen angst, a passion for basketball, and transformation, "Teen Wolf," is being remade. "MTV announced today that the cable network will reinvent the 1985 Michael J. Fox classic for today's MTV audience, and that it will combine horror elements and werewolf mythology, and feature a sweeping romance at its center." (Entertainment Weekly) MTV's producing it and that spells high QWALITY! Here's my casting suggestion for the lead.

Here is a plot summary for the orginal "Teen Wolf." Get your box of Kleenex ready because you'll be laughing and crying at this tender, heart-moving tail! "Scott subsequently learns to use his family 'curse' to gain popularity at school, becoming the team's star basketball player, and learns to transform at will between his normal self and The Wolf. His basketball team goes from last to first, and Scott begins spending most of his school time as The Wolf. He also wins the heart of Pamela while ignoring the affections of his best friend, Boof (Susan Ursitti), who has loved him since childhood."


GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

It's sci-fi week for GVDS, which means that I'm just going to post more "The X-Files" videos. TBagEdge has a video for her favorite character, Alex Krycek, played by Nicholas Lea.



RIP1009 also made a video in honor of the enigmatic Alex Krycek. Beautiful song by John Hiatt.

Contest for THREE Copies of Stephanie Meyer's THE HOST

It's Monday and you're thinking, "What big, juicy book can I hide under my desk to pass the boring and meaningless hours at the office?"

Well, Vampire Wire feels your pain and I'm thrilled that Hachette Books has offered THREE COPIES of Stephanie Meyer's new sci-fi novel, The Host, for a contest. Yes, I agree that it is a show of awesome generosity, and thanks go to Miriam Parker at Hachette, a publisher that understands the value of online readers and bloggers.

SciFi Guy and others have assured us that this new novel is very good, and Meyer has described it as science fiction that can be enjoyed by people who don't normally read science fiction.

The book's website has all sorts of goodies: from excerpts, trailers, audio clips, author's info... Here's the publisher's description:

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

One of the most compelling writers of our time, Stephenie Meyer brings us a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the very essence of what it means to be human.

THE RULES: The contest runs for a week, through the evening of Sunday, July 5. To enter, leave a comment and mention something you like about scifi. It could be a movie you like, a book, or that you love the contest of space travel. It could be that you would like to expand your dating options to non-human sentient creatures. Whatever.

Winners will be chosen at random and winners will be restricted to residents of the U.S. and Canada.


GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

The GVDS will be dedicated to scifi shows in honor of the contest for The Host. Yes, I am using this as an excuse to post "The X-Files" videos all week.



Oh, I love this very clever video by RebeccaScully, set to "Sway" by Dean Martin.



Charvill created this video with a great cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time."

Winner of Deidre Knight's Contest

Congratulations to DEEDLES, who has won the contest for Red Kiss or Red Fire by Deidre Knight!

Deedles, please send me an email with your mailing address and tell me which book you would like.

Thanks to everyone who participated and a special thanks to Deidre Knight, who took the time from her very busy schedule to visit Vampire Wire and talk to me about her exciting books and high-octane agenting!