Friday Frivolity & Some Fave Review Blogs

On Monday, Doug Knipe, blogger of the deservedly popular SciFi Guy blog, joins me to discuss what he does in Canada, besides tapping maple syrup and trying to train a moose to tap dance. He's going to give away an ARC of Shadowfae by Erica Hayes to one lucky Vampire Wire reader.

Read his new review of MaryJanice Davidson's Undead and Unwelcome. "There are lots of snarky vampire heroines in paranormal but none quite like Betsy. She rarely fails to crack me up no matter how silly the plot or situation."

Read Kimberly Swan's review of the soon-to-be-released The Path of Razors by Chris Marie Green. "Dawn Madison left her job as a Hollywood stuntwoman and joined a team that hunts vampires. It’s a dangerous job, and those they hunt are masters of the Undergrounds.

Enter a contest to win the compete series of Joey W. Hill's Vampire Queen books. "Escaping the depraved servitude of a vampire master she killed, Jessica has found her way, with three nomadic guides, to the sun-baked desolation of the Sahara—only to slowly perish. " (Fresh Fiction)

One of my favorite sites, Love Vampires, has a brand new, very fun design. Beyond the design, there's new content, a newsletter, all sorts of stuff. A new reviewer, Katherine, has just jointed Amanda, who edits the site. If you love vampire and paranormal fiction, you should absolutely subscribe to Love Vampires.

Now, I actually went to several blogs and sites before I found the reviews that I've linked. What SciFi Guy, Darque Reviews, and Love Vampires all have in common is that the reviewers not only have a knowledge of the genre, but they take their reviews seriously. I think it's wonderful that so many readers are posting reviews, even though many are merely summaries or "I liked this book!" That's okay, because some of those reviewers will develop and improve over time and even the ones who don't change are still promoting reading and books.

As an author, I appreciate all the reviewers just as much as I hope you appreciate the ----

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY!

I think that Friday's call for a little more frivolity. Of course, I feel that way about the rest of the week, too. Enjoy the foreign commercials and have a great weekend!

Upcoming Events & Contests - "Dead Like Me" Movie on DVD

I've got a deadline to meet, so not much here today. However, I'll have everyone's favorite new blogger, Doug Knipe, aka SciFi Guy, as my guest on Monday. He'll talk about his site and his love for genre fiction and also answer my silly questions. Doug also giving away an ARC of a hot new novel.

In my contest for a "Blood Ties: Season One" DVD set, everyone keeps raving about "The Dresden Files" series, based on Jim Butcher's novels. Michele Hauf, author of the newly released The Highwayman, has very generously offered to give away her own "The Dresden Files" dvds in a contest! I'll be running the contest next week. I hope Michele will answer a few questions about her latest books!

One show that I thought was too good to be canceled was "Dead Like Me." I just found out that a straight-to-DVD movie has been made and has just been released! Why didn't anyone tell me this? I loved Ellen Murth as the apathetic slacker teenager, George. The real surprise -- and a good one -- was Jasmine Guy as Roxy. Guy reinvented herself from a pretty, girly girl to a raw-edged, tough, sexy woman who I find much more interesting.

Christine Wells is absolutely hysterical as the too-chirpy, completely twisted Dolores Herbig. Wells also plays Gladys in "Reaper" and she's an utter delight to watch.

Here's a trailer for the DVD of "Dead Like Me," the movie.




GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

We continue the theme of shows that were canceled before their time.

"Moonlight" fans, here's a GVD to Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) by MoonlightAddicted. You can watch the character eat a hot dog. In the immortal words of Patty Duke, "a hot dog makes some girls lose control."



I'm glad to see that others liked the supernatural drama, "New Amsterdam," too, starring Nikolaj Coster Waldau. This GVD to Coster Waldau is by PoetsNMadmen.



Joss Whedon's "Firefly" had so much potential and a really good cast.

In Which I Review "Warehouse 13 & Lament Cancelled Series

Enter my contest for "Blood Ties: Season One" DVDS. They're my own copies, watched only once, and I want to share the "Blood Ties" love.

Speaking of fab things, I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Charlaine Harris, had reviewed my first novel, Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. Charlaine said, "Marta Acosta’s book has moments of being absolutely entertaining... there are several hours of fun in HAPPY HOUR." It was quite a thrill for me to learn that she had read my book and enjoyed it.

Another fab thing, one of my favorite bloggers, Sarah Wendell of the deliciously snarky Smart Bitches, Trashy Books site, emailed me to mention that our books had been named as funniest reads for June by VoterMom: "The funniest book: Beyond Heaving Bosoms by Wendell & Tan. Marta Acosta's Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, The Bride of Casa Dracula."

I'm all ferklempt.

Enough about me. Last night I watched the new supernatural series on the SyFy Channel, "Warehouse 13." It was...okay. Reviewers referenced "The X-Files," "Indiana Jones," etc., but the show really seemed to owe more to the CW's very funny "Reaper" and perhaps a little to "Dead Like Me," a terrific series that was cancelled too soon.

Basically, two Secret Service agents (the he's-wacky-she's-by-the-books) are conscripted to work for a government warehouse that houses all the supernaturally things that no one knows what to do with. There are a lot of steam-punk type items mixed up with modern technology. They have to collect supernatural items, neutralize them, and return them to the warehouse. The task is all too similar to the "Reaper" crew having to collect souls and put them in a "vessel."

The task in the premiere was decidedly banal and silly (not the good silly, but the boring silly) -- the haunted hair comb of Lucrezia Borgia was causing a middle-aged woman to wreck havoc. (As if menopause isn't reason enough.) If you are like me, you find hair combs terrifying even when they aren't haunted. However, they're not as scary as elastic scrunchies, and the writers missed a better opportunity for tension here.

But I thought the real problem with the premiere was that it seemed like the actors were in two different shows. There were campy elements like the ridiculous-looking artifacts, and then there was a more standard investigative drama, but they didn't fuse in any way. The humor wasn't funny enough, and the drama wasn't moving enough.

Eddie McClintock plays Pete Latimer, the easy-going agent who follows his vibes. Joanne Kelly plays Myka Bering, the star agent who resents the assignment.

Saul Rubinek plays the supposedly quirky Artie Nielsen, the curator of Warehouse 13. Rubinek is a fine actor, but I think he was miscast, or misdirected, or trying to work with nonsensical dialogue. The quirky manager has been done much better by Mandy Patinkin as Rube in "Dead Like Me," who had an air of menace and anger under his rumbly, rumbled schlub. Ray Wise brings campy charisma to another manager-type role as the Devil in "Reaper."

The real delight of the episode was Joanne Kelley. Her face was so impassive and smooth in opening scenes that I was afraid that she'd Botoxed all expression out. But as the show went on, I realized that the blank face is part of her actor's repertoire. She had the thankless job as being cast as the smart, no-nonsense woman with a Troubled Past who has to Prove Herself to Her Parents, but Kelley make the stereotype sympathetic and believable. And she's great to look at -- not just beautiful, but interesting.

I hope the series will improve. They have to write better stories than scary haircombs, though.


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

The GVDs are tributes to those too-soon cancelled shows that Vampire Wire readers mentioned in my current contest.

Bad Euro disco and vampires? Vampire Wire is all over that. "Moonlight" and Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) are still missed by fans. GVD by Tortoiselle.



The chicks of "Farscape" kick ass in this GVD by Tishy53ster.



So many people mentioned the wonderfulness of "The Dresden Files," based on Jim Butcher's novels. I'm going to see if I can get a DVD for a contest. Here's a GVD to Harry Dresden by Cynvision. It's set to one of my favorite songs. Crank it up.

"Blood Ties: Season One" DVD Contest & "Warehouse 13"

Eagle Rock Entertainment, the distributor of "Blood Ties," the vamp crime show that got lost on Lifetime, gave me the dvds of Season One. After hearing all the fan raves about this series, I expected to like it and I did very much.

I expected to like: Christina Cox as the difficult, dogged Vicki Nelson, who will throw herself into danger to save others; Kyle Schmidt as hawt vampire Henry Fitzroy; the Toronto setting; the supernatural crime element; and the occasional humor.

But I was really suprised by a few things, including how damn likeable and engaging Dylan Neal is as the copy Mike Celluci, the third part of the crime fighting team. He has such a square-jawed, blown-dried look that I thought the character would be an uptight, by-the-books hardass. But Neal plays Celluci as a good guy whose able to adapt to the fact that his ex-girlfriend has partnered with a vampire. He's also got a nicely dry delivery of funny lines.

I loved many of the secondary characters and extras on the series. My favorite is Nimet Kanji as Dr. Rajani Mohadevan, who's surprised by absolutely nothing. Vampires, ghosts, monsters -- it's all in a day's work.

THE CONTEST:

To win my copy of "Blood Ties: Season One," just leave a comment telling me if there was a television series or book series that you thought got cancelled too soon. I'm pretty disappointed that "Blood Ties" didn't make it to year three, but other great shows, like "The X-Files," dragged on well-past their expiration date.

The contest runs through Wednesday night, July 15, and a winner will be pulled at random. You can comment if you're not in the U.S. or Canada, a winner must be in the U.S. or Canada.

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OTHER STUFF

Have you heard about "Warehouse 13," coming out on the SciFy channel? You can read an interview with its star. "Eddie McClintock was ready for his role on 'Warehouse 13.' In the new dramedy, premiering tonight at 9 on Syfy, the actor plays Pete Lattimer, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect a warehouse full of fantastical objects and investigate supernatural occurrences." (Boston Herald)

The reviews for tonight's premiere are good, including this one from the Los Angeles Times. "'The X-Files' meets 'Fringe' by way of 'The Librarian' with a little 'Indiana Jones' and maybe even 'Bones' thrown in for good measure, 'Warehouse 13' is unapologetically and delightfully derivative, happily plucking the best stuff from our favorite shows and leaving all the heaviness behind. In this loud and angry world of post-mythology and damaged heroes, how nice to see a television show satisfied with being simply entertaining."

Derek Tatum discusses a series that was not cut off too soon, the long-running, cult favorite, "Dark Shadows." "But my favorite Dark Shadows story by far involves one of my elderly relatives (who died before I was born) was going progressively blind. In order to 'save her eyesight up' so she could watch the show, she would shut her eyes until the program started. That, my friends, is dedication." (Mondo Vampire)

Beth Fantasky, the author of the teen novel, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, is giving away two prize packages on her blog, including signed copies of her book. "Once again, I was going to have you actually DO something to win - and once again, I changed my mind, thinking, "Summer is supposed to be LAZY. We should all just be reading by the pool!"

Okay, my dogs are whining because they want to go out to the park. I'll try to add a Gratuitous Video of the Day later.

We Have Our THE HOST Winners!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my contest for three copies of Stephanie Meyer's sci-fi novel, The Host, and thanks to Hachette Books for contributing the prizes!

The winners of the random drawing are:

Elaine G -- who's not a scifi fan, but thinks she'll like this book
etirv - who got hooked on "Dr. Who"
Heather - whose fave scifi shows are "The X-Files" and "Roswell"

(This reminds me that for a long time I told my spawn that I was born in Roswell, New Mexico, and, no, I can't remember why I thought that was funny.)

Weiners, please send me an email with your mailing address and I'll forward it on to Hachette so they can send your prize.

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IN OTHER NEWS


I'm signed up for Google Alerts about my book titles and sites and I got one this morning for "Vampire Wire." It seems that two women started a "Vampire Wire Tours" a few months ago and are Twittering about "Twilight" and OMG! LOL! Rob Pattinson. Well, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery -- but is copying imitation or copying copying? If they'd have asked me, I would have helped them think of other names for their site, like Stephanie Meyer Mania Tours, or Twittering Every Five Seconds About OMG Rob Pattinson Tours, or something pithy like that.

Well, Vampire Wire (since 2006) is often imitated, but never duplicated and my posts shall remain free of LOLs and OMGs unless I'm, you know, mocking something.


Derek Tatum reviews Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge. "Street Magic is one of the best opening novels to an urban fantasy series that I have read since Tanya Huff's Blood Price. In fact, this novel is so potent that I would recommend it to fantasy and horror fans who typically write off contemporary urban fantasy as being 'too girly.'" (Mondo Vampire) I think by "fans," Derek means guys.

Speaking of all things fabulously Tanya Huff, Eagle Rock Entertainment gave me the "Blood Ties: Season One" dvds and I watched them all. I really, really like the series and will write about it later this week. I'm also going to pass the goodness along and have a contest starting tomorrow to give away the dvds.

Kimberly Swan's contest for a copy of the anthology Strange Brew runs through July 7. "There are 9 stories in this anthology by a very talented group of authors in Urban Fantasy. I’d love to hear which author’s story you’re most excited to read. The authors are: Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Karen Chance, P. N. Elrod, Charlaine Harris, Faith Hunter, Caitlin Kittredge and Jenna Maclaine." (Darque Reviews)


GRATUITOUS VIDEO OF THE DAY

Here's a Gerard Butler tribute from Catiadaniela, who hopes to someday clone the sexy Scot. Regular Vampire Wire readers know that I admire cloning and have been trying to clone my dead dog in my garage/laboratory with common kitchen appliances and test tubes. If I succeed in my scientific endeavors, I shall share my knowledge with Catiadaniela. Stockholm, Sweden (and the Nobel Prize), here we come!