learned that Dark Companion, my YA gothic, won't be published until July 2012,
revised a YA plotline to incorporate a Jane Austenish subplot,
found out that microwaving oatmeal can cause an oatmeal eruption all over the microwave,
wondered if Mr. Peanut is really an alien, or dashing supernatural creature,
learned that I'd written over 1100 posts for Vampire Wire,
learned that Google ranks my blog in the 97th percentile of blogs of its kind,
written a thank you to the assistant of the CEO of Wienerschnitzel for sending a "50 Years of Der Fun" t-shirt for my firefighter brother, who is irrationally fond of their chili cheese dogs -- and now both The Husband and The Spawn want one of these shirts,
and was given a lovely gift of a dead mouse by my fearless hunting dog, Betty von Snoggles.
I decided that Betty's many thoughtful presents should be acknowledged, so I scribbled her scores (mice: four, possums: two, etc) on the wall where I mark The Spawn's height. We do thank Betty whenever she brings in a present, but I keep my bedroom door closed because otherwise she'll leave things on my pillow for me.
Here are some of the books I got from Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab.
It's an interesting batch of books, and I'm particularly want to read Nancy Haddock's Legacy.
GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY
The theme is: new videos that catch my attention and entertain me. (I mean, did you seriously expect me to find videos based on Mr. Peanut or dead mice?)
Oh, I found a new Blood Ties vid!
It's Friday...which means a Richard Armitage video. I am digging this song.
I am very cranky because I got up early and went out into the storm with my dogs and came back soaking and muddy. Now the sun is shining and the sky is crystal clear. Do you think I should actually watch weather reports? Probably.
Yesterday I posted orange-and-black book covers, which were predominantly for books by guy authors, so today I'm doing a little cover love with a white theme.
Last Breath by Rachel Caine Morganville Vampires #11
November 1, 2011
SUMMARY:
With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town-a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely?
A Bite Before Christmas by Jeaneane Frost & Lynsay Sands
October 25, 2011
SUMMARY:
In Lynsay Sands' "The Gift," Katricia Argeneau knows grey-eyed cop Teddy Brunswick is her life mate. She just needs to convince him they belong together, and being snowbound in a secluded cabin will make this a Christmas neither will forget.
It's "Home for the Holidays" in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series. Cat and Bones may long to wrap presents and set up a tree, but this Christmas, an evil vampire and long-buried family secrets will threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer.
Crossed by Ally Condie Matched #2
November 1, 2011
SUMMARY:
In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his certain death-only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander-who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart--change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
Awake at Dawn by CC Hunter Shadow Falls #2
October 11, 2011
SUMMARY:
Now that she's settled in at Shadow Falls Camp, Kylie Galen's determined to discover the extent of her supernatural abilities. But with a ghost insisting someone Kylie loves is about die, a rogue vampire on a murdering rampage, and her sixth sense telling her someone is watching her, Kylie's quest for answers is quickly put on hold.
To make matters worse, just when she's about to give her heart to Derek, a half-fairy, he starts pulling away. When Lucas, a werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past, returns, Kylie's feels more conflicted than ever. Her weekend with her mom should have been the just the break Kylie needs, but it turns out to be her breaking point. Someone from the dark side of the supernatural world has plans for Kylie--and it'll take all her resources to get back to Shadow Falls alive...
Congrats to KT Grant, who's also well-known online as book reviewer Katiebabs, for the publication of a short story in the Up Close & Evil anthology (October 31). Her story is "Macabre Delights" and she calls it "a Lesbian Horror short story about a young woman who attends a costume party on Halloween night and meets the woman of her dreams...or perhaps her nightmares." You can learn more about KT's scorching hawt fiction at her author site, the book at the publisher's site. A portion of the proceeds of this book will go to the American Cancer Society.
Katie has a great book review blog, Babbling About Books, that covers a range of fiction, including lots of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Today she's got a fun exchange with Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin characters, and a contest for Spider's Revenge, the new book in the series.
Orange and black are such autumny Halloweeny colors that I thought I'd find new and upcoming covers with that scheme. However, when I started looking, I noticed that -- other than a few women like E.J. Newman -- this color scheme is used almost exclusively for guy authors. Enjoy!
20 Years Later by E.J. Newman
November 2011
SUMMARY:
LONDON, 2012: It arrives and with that the world is changed into an unending graveyard littered with the bones, wreckage, and memories of a dead past, gone forever.
LONDON, 2032: Twenty years later, out of the ashes, a new world begins to rise, a place ruled by both loyalty and fear, and where the quest to be the first to regain lost knowledge is an ongoing battle for power. A place where laws are made and enforced by roving gangs-the Bloomsbury Boys, the Gardners, the Red Lady's Gang-who rule the streets and will do anything to protect their own.THE FOUR: Zane, Titus, Erin, Eve. Living in this new world, they discover that they have abilities never before seen. And little do they know that as they search post-apocalyptic London for Titus' kidnapped sister that they'll uncover the secret of It, and bring about a reckoning with the forces that almost destroyed all of humanity.
Aloha from Hell (Sandman Slim #3) by Richard Kadrey
October 18, 2011
SUMMARY:
All hail Sandman Slim, author Richard Kadrey's ultra-extreme anti-hero and recent escapee from Lucifer's overheated Underworld playground. Legendary author William Gibson (Neuromancer) called Kadrey's first deliciously twisted Slim adventure 'an addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece,' and in number three, Aloha from Hell, the ruthless avenger, a.k.a. Stark, finds himself trapped in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell. With God on vacation, the Devil nosing around in Paradise, and an insane serial killer doing serious damage on Earth, Stark/Slim is ready to unleash some more adrenaline-surging, edgy and violent supernatural mayhem - and even pay another visit to Hell if necessary.
"...in Your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being." - Psalm 139:16 Young Cameron Vaux's mind is slipping. Memories of his wife, killed two years earlier in a car accident, are vanishing just as his dad predicted they would. Memories he knows he has to remember. His father tells Cameron that to save his mind he must find "the book with all days in it" - the past and future record of every soul on earth. When an obscure clue leads Cameron to a small central Oregon town, he meets enigmatic Taylor Stone, a possible guide to finding the book who seems to carry secrets far deeper than anyone imagines. Local hotshot TV personality Ann Bannister thinks the legend of the book is a farce, but she has her reasons to join Cameron's search anyway. Finally, there is fanatical New Age guru Jason Judah, who will stop at nothing to find the book of days before Cameron does.
Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry
October 25, 2011
SUMMARY:
A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang - but a bite.
Jeremiah Hunt was a respected classics professor at Harvard, happily married and the father of a lovely young daughter, Elizabeth. Then his life fell apart. One moment, Elizabeth was playing in her room; the next, she was gone without a trace. Within months, Hunt's obsessive search for her cost him his job and his wife. In a last, desperate attempt to discover Elizabeth's fate, he performs an arcane ritual that robs him of his eyesight in order to "see that which is unseen." Now, with his newfound "gift," Hunt can see that which most mortals cannot: ghosts and other, more pernicious creatures of the night. An intuition he can't explain tells him that Elizabeth's fate is connected with a malevolent spirit, one of the dark beings that refuse to give up their secrets despite his every effort to extract them.
He sees them constantly, for in Boston, the dead are everywhere--riding in taxis, haunting their former apartments, and swarming the gates of Hunt's lonely, boarded-up house. He earns a meager living by using his gift to chase away wayward spirits that are tormenting the living.
With the help of his ghostly companions, Whisper and Scream, Hunt searches for clues to Elizabeth's fate...until he falls into a trap lain for him by a particularly cunning foe and winds up accused of committing a series of particularly brutal murders.
Immortal War (Vampirates #6) by Justin Somper
January 2, 2012
SUMMARY:
A bloody war is raging across the oceans, with the Pirate Federation and Nocturnals in alliance against the renegade Vampirates, led by Sidorio and Lola. Nothing will stop either one from making their presence dangerously known in battle.
Connor and Grace Tempest each have important roles to play in the war - he as a pirate warrior at the heart of the fight; she as a powerful healer working with the war-wounded. As the twins face their greatest challenges to date, old allies and foes return to play their part in the ultimate battle of Pirate versus Vampirate.
In this - the conclusion of this sequence of VAMPIRATES novels, the stakes are higher than ever. Relationships will change. An army of the dead will return to fight. There will be new threats and new alliances and characters will die before the ending which will see Grace and Connor poised to start momentous new journeys. In the words of Obsidian Darke, "So it ends, so it begins."
The Bride Wore Black Leather (Nightside #12) by Simon R. Green
January 2, 2012
SUMMARY:
In the secret heart of London, under the cover of endless darkness, the Nightside caters to anyone with any unusual itch that needs to be scratched. But enter at your own risk. The party animals who live here may be as inhuman as their appetites...
My name is John Taylor. The Nightside is my home. I didn't plan it that way. In fact, I once tried to get away. But I came back. And now it seems I'm settling down, with a full-time job (in addition to my work as a very private eye) as Walker-the new Voice of the Authorities in the Nightside-and a wedding in the offing.
I'm marrying the love of my life, Suzie Shooter, the Nightside's most fearsome bounty-hunter. But nothing comes easy here. Not life. Not death. And for certain, not happily-ever-after. Before I can say "I do," I have one more case to solve as a private eye-and my first assignment as Walker.
Both jobs would be a lot easier to accomplish if I weren't on the run, from friends and enemies alike. And if my bride-to-be weren't out to collect the bounty on my head...
Yesterday, while I was searching around, I found some videos set to songs by Florence + the Machine. I'll start with this terrific multifandom vid set to "Hardest of Hearts."
I'm waiting for the new season of the BBC's Being Human to come to the US. I love this show.
I think I've watched North and South at least four times now. And it's still incredible, full of smoldering glances and intensity in a touch.
Last night, I watched the latest episode, "Cold Cruel World," of Supernatural and I have to say that I miss the show's creator Eric Kripke at the helm. The Winchester brothers and the delightfully manly and cranky Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) are battling Leviathans and they keep saying, "Levia...whatevers." Like they wouldn't know the word, which is common enough. They don't even bother Googling them, and, heaven knows that Googling demons is the very first step in fighting them. (I'm sure the Ghostfacers could tell them this.)
Here, I'll do it for them:
Leviathan (English pronunciation: /lɨˈvaɪ.əθən/; Hebrew: לִוְיָתָן, Modern Livyatan Tiberian Liwyāṯān ; "twisted, coiled"), is a sea monster referred to in the Bible. In Demonology, Leviathan is one of the seven princes of Hell and its gatekeeper (see Hellmouth). The word has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature.
So basically, ginormous devil-fish thingy.
Sam is still fighting his visions of Lucifer, who keeps telling him, "You're actually still in hell, hallucinating that you're not." Lucifer is played by Mark Pellegrino, who is still dragging that tired metrosexual three-day beard style even though all the cool dudes are rocking the full-he-man beard. So Lucifer is playing mind games with Sam and Sam is all "I don't know what's real anymore and I have a gun!"
Clue to the show's writers: Sam was at frackin Stanford Medical School before Dean recruited him, and Lucifer was the prettiest angel before he fell. Who do you think is smarter and better at mind games? It should be Sam, baby, no contest. He should be like, "You can't be seriously trying to mind-frack me. Do you know what my MSAT score was? Look, I don't even trust your taste in beard fashions and being pretty is supposed to be your thing, so all your efforts at mind-fracking are just sad."
The episode itself couldn't decide if it was a monster-of-the-week, or a story arc. I did like the actors playing the Leviathans, who had fun with the snark and bad-assery. Even the kid was great, griping that her body was too small: "I can't even see over the counter."
Also, Sam's eyes are really, really blue. I'm sure that's important in some way.
In other news: I got a nice email from Margaret Daly to give me the Kyle Schmid fan news. Kyle played suave, wry Henry Fitzroy in Blood Ties, a terrific vampire detective show that was based on Tanya Huff's novels. Schmid has been cast in a guest role in SyFy's version of Being Human. I'll force myself to watch SyFy (stoopid name) when Schmid's on.
If you're looking for a new old show, you might try renting Blood Ties. I liked it very much and wish it had been given a longer run.
I also caught an episode of A Gifed Man, a new series on CBS. Fans of the Pride & Prejudice miniseries will be happy to see Jennifer Ehle, who played Lizzie Bennet, as a ghost. She has that same calm amused smile, which works for both Regency romance and contemporary ghosty stuff. The show seems to involve the ghost's ex-husband, a cranky doctor as he runs back and forth across the city doing everything from brain surgery to pediatric medicine
The doctor has the requisite sassy secretary who says, "Remember I used to be a nurse." And he says, "I didn't know that." And she says, "You say that every time I remind you." A doctor would never forget that his sassy secretary was once a nurse. He is probably just mind-fracking her because sassiness is very annoying.
Now, what would be nice is if this show did a cross-character episode with Supernatural and let the ghost and the cranky mind-fracking doctor go up against Lucifer and the Levia-whats, and they could invite Dr. Gregory House to join them in their anti-demon mind-frackin.
GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY
Because this is the mind-fracking edition of Vampire Wire, the theme is videos that reflect a bad attitude.
I recently spent an inordinate amount of time tarting up my blog. I'm seeing a mess o' blogs celebrating their anniversaries and so I checked when I first started here -- it was back in May 2007, so I've been at Vampire Wire for over four years, which in internet time is several decades. Before that I blogged with the Biting Edge authors for a bit. I think I may have had another book blog, too, but who knows.
I found some old graphics in my picture files and thought I'd take a trip down memory lane.
Ah, I remember when I had held the Ultimate Hawtest Vampire Contest! You can see how things have changed since then -- Henry Fitzroy of Blood Ties roared past all the other vampires, and Eric Northman was just beginning to attract attention. Damon Salvatore hadn't even appeared onscreen yet.
Then there was the time that I came up with the Naked David Boreanaz Fan Club, because author Amanda Ashby informed me that writing "Naked David Boreanaz" on a blog increased the number of visitors. That's why I love the writing community -- because we share important life lessons. Due to popular demand, I created more fan club badges, from the mega-collection to kick-ass chicks.
Somewhere I read the phrase "gratuitous video" and I came up with the notion of possibly posting a video on my blog. It took me weeks to figure out how to do it, because I'm a tech nitwit and Blogger was a balkier thing then. Now if you Google gratuitous videos of the day, Vampire Wire is the top result among over 3 million results.
I reluctantly started watching Supernatural because I'd come across gossip about the show while blogging and I quickly became a devoted fan.
Marta Acosta by Rebecca Baumann
I made lots of fabulous online pals here, including Rebecca Baumann, who had the terrific and now closed Dirty Sexy Books blog and drew her interpretation of me for a Q&A.
Rebecca isn't the only pal with marvelous graphic skills, though. Most of you know the struggle I had trying to sell my Young Adult gothic novel, which was then titled The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove. After it sat unsold, my agent told me to forget about it and move on. But I loved the story and believed that others would, too. I posted it as a free online read. Respected reviewers like Patricia Altner of Patricia's Vampire Notes, Amanda of LoveVampires,Doug Knipe of SciFi Guy, RachelfromNJ of Enchanted by Books and many more took the time to read the early manuscript and review it.
Amanda loved the story so much that she surprised me by designing lovely art, which helped attract readers to Shadow Girl. They talked about it and shared it. It soon became the most read Young Adult novel on Scribd.com, and that got attention from editors. And I sold my book. A shout-out to author Charlie Jane Anders at io9, who first reported the story, which even got picked up everywhere, including the New Yorker's book blog.
My first editor of my first book was warm and delightful, but she could never understand why I spent any time blogging or connecting with other bloggers. She told me, "Forget the blogs."
But I didn't follow her advice, and why my YA gothic, now titled Dark Companion, will be published next year by Tor Teen.
Thank you, readers and bloggers! It's been a great ride and it isn't over yet, so roll down the windows, crank up the radio, and pass the crunchy cheeze noodles.
