Vampires, Rescue Pets, Glitter, Morose Teens, Disco-Withdrawal

Fantastic contest! Do you want a character named after you in NYT bestselling author Lois Gresh's next vampire novel, Blood & Ice? Check out her guest blog here at Vampire Wire for details.

New contest! Do you love rescuing animals AND vampires AND glitter? If so, you're like the vast majority of the population, including Kellan Lutz who's in "Twilight." You can win this poster of Kellan by leaving a comment about one of your favorite animals. The contest runs through Wednesday, March 3, and a winner whill be chosen at random.

You can also enter a contest for an autographed copy of the "Twilight" DVD by following this link about PETA's animal campaign. Hey, I have rescued dogs and they are fabulous.

What's up with teenagers and their fascination with darkness and death?, The Guardian (London) wants to know. "We've come to think of them as a romance but it's a very dark picture of romance, when someone wants to kiss and kill you... Books are a reflection of culture [and] with the financial crash happening, people are feeling darker."

The article mentions Lauren Oliver's debut novel, Before I Fall, which will be released March 2, and calls it "a pitch-perfect Groundhog Day/Lovely Bones hybrid in which 18-year-old Sam Kingston dies in a car crash, only to relive her last day again and again."

Back to movies and vampires, Dr. Derek Tatum of Mondo Vampire tells us how he'd adapt some favorite vampire series to tv and film. He includes The Savannah Vampire series by Raven Hart and says, "Vampires and the South worked for those other guys... so here is another series that has similar elements but treated differently. These books are weirdly marketed as 'Romance,' but they more closely resemble post-Anne Rice vampire fiction from the 1990's."

I think I'll highlight the books in this series tomorrow. I was going to just put a link to an excerpt, but the books look so interesting that they deserve more.

Last but not least, Jennifer Rayment has just started a new book review blog and I'm honored that she chose my first novel, Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, as the first book to review. She writes, "Wonderfully charming and decidedly original take on the Vampire genre. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't go into details, but I really thought the explanation for vapirism and how they live was very unique. ..Outrageously Snappy, witty dialogue."

Thanks, Jennifer, and best of luck with your blog, Rayment's Readings, Rants and Ramblings.

My post on e-piracy will have to wait since I haven't had my coffee yet and I'm going through withdrawal.


GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

It's a Thursday without a new "Supernatural" episode, so I'll post these to tide you over. This singer's voice hurts my brain.





And for those going through the agony of disco-withdrawal...