Movie quotes: Blade and Blade Trinity

I thought it might be fun to put up some of the best, and worst, lines from our favorite vampire movies. The Blade movies have always had some of the best characters out there. Remember funny guy Ryan Reynolds as Hannibal King- so ripped and absolutely hilarious, Stephen Dorff playing the incredibly hot vampire leader, Deacon Frost, and nobody can deny that Wesley Snipes is a hardcore Blade. Here are a few of my favs, with some of the language bleeped to protect the innocent:)

Blade (1998):

Whistler: Christ! I'm too old for this! Somebody get me a goddamned wheelchair!

Blade: Some mother#$%^&@! are always trying to skate uphill.

Blade: Trinity (2004):

Hannibal: So, can we just go right ahead and sign up for one of our secret decoder rings?

Hannibal: I picked Danica up in a bar, and spent the next five years playing hide-and-go-suck as her little vampire cabana boy.

Dracula: Kill one man, you're a murderer, kill a million, a king. Kill them all, a God.

What are your favorite lines? Did you like the comedy that Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) brought to the third movie? As you can see, I didn't care overmuch for the second movie but I loved the first and third. What about you- what is your favorite Blade movie?

Guest: Eric Wilson

NY Times Bestselling author, Eric Wilson answers a few questions for us today about his Jerusalem's Undead trilogy.  You'll find Eric's books in the Christian section of your local bookstore, and he's written a couple different series.  His current adventurous release, HAUNT OF JACKALS, features the vampires we love.

Q:  The Inspirational/Christian section of a bookstore may be the last place a reader might look for a vampire story. What inspired you to combine religious elements with vampire mythology? Do you feel the paranormal meshes well with Jewish and/or Christian theology?

EW:  Vampires seek to find unnatural life through blood, while Christ told His followers to find eternal life through His blood. What could be more interesting than to contrast the two, right? I'll leave it to readers to judge whether the mesh works well, but the response so far has been great.

Q:  Concealed Ones, Collectors, Nazarene, Nistarim, Those Who Resist. Just a few terms from the story, Haunt of Jackals. Your worldbuilding is vast and intricate. What sort of research did you do before setting the story to the page? Did you visit the locations where your story is set? Did you use religious and mythological terms or create some of your own? [Thinking of which, do you have a term list somewhere? In any of the books? On your website?]

EW:  Unfortunately, I don't have a lexicon anywhere online, but, yes, the worldbuilding was vast while setting up this series. Most of it was derived from a few intriguing passages of Scripture and my travels overseas, both in Romania and Israel. I've been to nearly every place you read about. I tried to avoid religious terms because they come with their own baggage. I wanted to build my own mythology here, instead of going over old ground.

Q:  The blood is truly the life in your stories. Yet some would wonder how blood-drinking meshes with the religious overtones in your stories. Good, evil, or otherwise?

EW:  The entire Christian faith is based on the idea of life being in the Nazarene Blood (the blood of Christ shed for sins). Instead of running from the gruesome aspects of that, I wanted to explore it. Plus, I think there's some very interesting scientific ideas of memory being encoded in DNA, thus making it possible for a vampire to look into someone's memories.

Q:  Jerusalem’s Undead Trilogy, of which Haunt of Jackals is #2, is an interconnected set of novels. Do you feel the reader should start with book #1, Field of Blood and read them in order? Or can the reader understand the story if they started with #2 and then picked up the first later?

EW:  I would highly recommend reading Field of Blood first, because it sets up the characters and mythology. Some have jumped in at book two, Haunt of Jackals, and it is a faster-paced book, but I think you miss a lot this way. The rewards of getting through book one are worth it!

Q:  You’ve written other titles not in this series. Are any tied in any way to the Undead Trilogy?

EW:  My books Dark to Mortal Eyes and Expiration Date have overlapping timeframes, characters, and themes with this trilogy. My mysteries, The Best of Evil and A Shred of Truth, also have important historical elements that get overlapped in the trilogy. It's not necessary to read any of these first, but if you enjoy the Undead Trilogy, by all means go back and explore some of the other aspects in my earlier books.

Q:  Is it important to weave common themes throughout your stories? And what are those themes?

EW:  I don't believe it's important to weave common themes, though for me it's become part of the fun of this trilogy and the loosely related books. I love exploring historical mysteries, the paranormal realm, as well as the negative aspects of religion versus true understanding of the love and freedom Jesus taught.

Q:  You wrote a novelization for the movie Fireproof. What was that experience like? Did you write the book from a script? Would you like to do another novelization if asked?

EW:  I did write the novel based on the original screenplay by the Kendrick Brothers. I've actually done two others with them as well, called Facing the Giants and Flywheel. Although they are much "preachier" than any of my own original stories, I really liked the heart behind them, the care for people and characters. It's been a fun experience, despite all the horror stories you hear of such collaborations.

Q: Vampires are hot right now. You can’t turn on the TV, open a magazine, or walk past a bookstore shelf without seeing them. Do you think the fascination with vampires will remain or crash and burn? Do you have an interest in writing more vampires after your trilogy?

EW: I think, like anything, the interest will dissipate after a while then come back. Zombies are the new trend, but even those can become passe quickly. Bottom line, I don't aim to jump onto a trend, I aim to create new settings and character conflicts in whatever genre I write so that I can explore the human condition without being cliche. There will always be those who want to add teen romance to a new genre (ala Twilight), but I want to go deeper into the things that define us as humans and heroes on a daily basis--sticking by your children, doing the right thing even when no one is watching, and standing for your convictions no matter the price.

Here’s the same five quickie questions we ask every author:

Dark or Light? Dark
Historical or Modern? Modern w/ historical twists
Fav TV or Movie vamp? Kate Beckinsale, on good looks alone
Bagged or from the Neck? From the neck, thigh, or... anywhere that bleeds
Dead or Undead? Undead, or preferably, Jerusalem's Undead

Thanks for the chance to chat. The Nazarene Blood will prevail!

Thank you, Eric!  Please visit his website at: wilsonwriter.com  And Friend him on Facebook (where you can get a look at his brand new tattoo).

Want a sip?

From the makers of Mana and Health Energy Potion, the new Blood Energy Potion is described as a sweet fruit punch drink that has a similar nutritional make up as real blood with the same blood consistency but not the same blood taste and also claims to give you 4 hours of enery. Oh, and you get to drink it from your own re-sealable IV transfusion bag!  Individually these little bags will cost you $5.99 each, but you can buy a 48 pack for $191.92. Unfortunately, you can't get these yet. They won't be available until January 2010.

Vamps to suit all tastes

Capitalizing on Twilight and teen fanatics has always been popular.  The latest production is I Kissed A Vampire, an online musical that debuts at iTunes on October 13th.  The summary:  High School Musical alumni Lucas Grabeel and Drew Seeley and newcomer Adrian Slade star in this musical look at the torment of falling in love when you're in the middle of becoming a vampire. Dylan (Grabeel) is terrified when a nasty bat bite transforms him into one of the living dead. His world is turned upside down, and he has to figure out how to balance his budding romance with Sara (Slade), the girl next door, and the bloodthirsty desires his magnetic vampire mentor Trey (Seeley) is constantly urging him to give in to.

The Lost Boys 3 is rumored to be in production.  More Corey Feldman for all of us.  Didn't know you needed more Feldman, right?  ;-)  Here's the story details: When veteran vampire hunter Edgar Frog finds himself destitute and almost friendless, he thinks his life has hit bottom; but wealthy vampire-romance novelist Gwen Liebling offers him a small fortune to go on the vampire hunt of a lifetime and rescue her son Peter from the Alpha Vampire D.J. Dusk. With the help of his friends Zoe, Lars, and Blake, Edgar heads into a bloody battle to exterminate evil. Uh-huh.  


Sherrilyn Kenyon's Minions will want to see this new trailer for her book Born of Night (I know, no vamps).



Ok, here's some Kenyon vamps...

And since we're touting a whole lot of Kenyon in today's news, here's a 
link to her Dark-Hunter's page. If you love vampires, and you haven't 
read this series, you've got a whole lot of fun waiting for you.

Movie Review: Bram Stoker's Dracula

The year 1492. Prince Dracula is off fighting the Turks when his wife, believing him dead, flings herself into the river, committing suicide so that she may unite with him in the afterlife. Dracula returns home, learns of her death and renounces the Church because they pronounce her to be damned.

Flash forward to England 1897. Jonathon Harker is being sent to Castle Dracula in Transylvania to conduct business and upon his return plans to wed his fiancee, Mina. While he is away, she is to stay with her friend Lucy. Lucy is a debutante that is concerned only with the prospect of marriage proposals from her 3 suitors. Jonathon is disturbed to learn of the many unusual qualities with his new employer and his house. He encounters Dracula's brides and learns that they are all vampires, which threatens his sanity. Back in London, Mina is dealing with Lucy's strange behavior- nighttime wandering, weakness and malaise. Dr. Seward consults Van Helsing and both men try to solve the mystery of Lucy's illness. Meanwhile, Mina meets the charming Prince Vlad and feels puzzled by her attraction. When Jonathon escapes the brides, he contacts Mina and she rushes to his side, despite her growing affection for Prince Vlad. Mina and Jonathon wed in a hasty ceremony. Dracula is enraged by this and takes Lucy for his bride instead, fully turning her in a vampire. When she rises from the grave, Van Helsing convinces all involved that they must behead her. Then the battle is on as Dracula tries to lure Mina back to his side. They share blood while Mina is being kept at Dr. Seward's sanatorium, but are interrupted by Van Helsing, Seward, Harker, Morris and Holmwood before Mina is completely turned. Dracula escapes, but the men use Mina to track him. In the end, Dracula is defeated and he begs Mina to end his suffering. He just wants peace. Out of love, she drives the knife fully through his heart and they are both freed.

I love this story and this movie. The casting, adaptation, costumes- all brilliant! From the moment Dracula first sees Mina's picture to the end scene where Mina frees his soul, Coppola captures the tumultuous emotions of passion and the enduring quality of love. The score, composed by Wojciech Kilar, is haunting and alluring, and the closing theme by Annie Lennox is achingly beautiful. One of my favorites: the absinthe scene where Mina remembers her past as Elizabeta, and Dracula turns her tears to diamonds. I'm also fond of the scene where Dracula wrenches her head back and plunges his fangs into her neck. Hot!

Favorite scenes? characters? What is your favorite version of Dracula on film?

Vamp bits and bites

Here's a fun one.  The above bat-shaped pic is from a t-shirt available from Chop Shop Store.  It features silhouettes of famous vampires in the pattern.  Can you name them all?  (There is no list of correct answers that I could find at the store, but still, it's fun!)

Have a nest of nasty vampires in need of slaying?  Check out the Vampire Killing Kit offered at eBay.

Vampire poetry offered at Semaphore, featuring the poems of Samuel Peralta.

Great vampire blog, Vampires.com

So you love vampires?  Now you want to dress a bit more vampish.  Heavy Red is the place to start!

Be sure to tune in on Monday for an interview with writer Eric Wilson, whose vampire trilogy appears in the 'Religion' section of bookstores.

The Vampire As Alien

[Michele's note: I want to take a moment to introduce Margaret L. Carter who will be regularly blogging with us at VampChix once a month.  Please visit her website at: www.margaretlcarter.com!]

In my opinion THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY, by Suzy McKee Charnas, is one of the greatest vampire novels of the twentieth century. It’s one of the earliest book-length works of fiction to explore the question, “How would nature design a vampire?” (as the vampire himself rhetorically asks in the first section of the book). The inimitable Dr. Weyland, the sole survivor of his species, so old he remembers no parents or childhood, has an acerbic view of the human race, the “cattle” he preys on. Although he can’t digest animal blood and therefore must feed on people, to avoid unwelcome attention he usually refrains from killing or seriously harming his victims. He has great physical strength and endurance and extremely keen senses, but no overtly “supernatural” abilities such as transformation or mesmerism. THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY chronicles a series of events that open him unwillingly to an emotional connection with some of the short-lived creatures he prowls among. He periodically renews himself by withdrawing into a state of suspended animation, to rise decades later with his clear-eyed predator’s perspective restored.

The naturally evolved vampire, the “vampire as alien,” occasionally appeared in short stories of the classic pulp era, e.g., the vampire child of Richard Matheson’s “Dress of White Silk,” the family of “monsters” in Ray Bradbury’s “Homecoming,” the pragmatic predator in Jerome Bixby’s “Share Alike.” With the veritable explosion of vampire fiction that started in the mid-1970s, however, especially with a new emphasis on vampires as sympathetic protagonists, natural vampires proliferated at novel length.

Miriam in Whitley Strieber’s THE HUNGER, like Weyland, is the last of her species (as far as we can tell in this novel; the sequel, published years later, reveals otherwise). Unlike Weyland, she admits to being lonely, treats her human companions like pets, and tries to transform some of them into creatures like herself—with consistently disastrous results. Elaine Bergstrom in SHATTERED GLASS introduces the Austra clan, subject of several later novels. They can interbreed with human beings, and they have tremendous powers, including regeneration from severe injuries, telepathy, and the hypnotic compulsion common to many literary vampires. The nonhuman creatures in FEVRE DREAM, by George R. R. Martin, combine traits of the traditional vampire and werewolf, since they go into a frenzy of uncontrollable bloodlust for only a few days each month. They can’t reproduce with our kind, and their race is dying out because of the infrequency with which their females go into heat. Jacqueline Lichtenberg presents a race of extraterrestrial vampires in THOSE OF MY BLOOD. Stranded on Earth, they’ve interbred with humanity. One faction, the Tourists, regards human beings as simply prey, while the other group, the Residents, has a moral and emotional investment in the welfare of the people around them. These vampires can exert powerful influence over unsuspecting human minds. Octavia Butler introduces a child vampire whose family has been wiped out in FLEDGLING. Her vampires live in symbiosis with human companions who often fill the role of lovers as well as food source.

In the design of a natural vampire, many questions have to be answered, leading to practically endless intriguing variations: Can they breed with human mates? Are they solitary or pack predators? Can they consume any food besides blood? If not, does the blood have to be human, or can it come from other animals? Do they have to kill when they feed? Do they have any adverse reaction to sunlight? (Daylight didn’t destroy the classic nineteenth-century vampires such as Carmilla and Dracula, nor were all folklore vampires limited to nocturnal activity.) Are they immortal or only long-lived? What can kill them? What powers do they have? Any psychic abilities?

Many other authors besides the few mentioned here have explored these possibilities. I discuss this theme in fiction from the mid-nineteenth century to the early 1990s in my nonfiction book DIFFERENT BLOOD: THE VAMPIRE AS ALIEN, published by Amber Quill Press (www.amberquill.com). My own vampires fall into this category. Beginning with DARK CHANGELING, published by the Hard Shell Word Factory (www.hardshell.com), I’ve written numerous novels and stories in what I call the “Vanishing Breed” universe. Click on that phrase in the sidebar of my website, Carter’s Crypt (www.margaretlcarter.com), for a list of these works in internal chronological order.

Margaret

Dracula: The Un-Dead - Review

Dracula The Un-Dead
by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt
Dutton, October 13, 2009

The events in this novel take place in 1912, twenty-four years after similar events described in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

The  survivors of the attack on Count Dracula have suffered much mental anguish since their encounter with the vampire. Mina and Jonathan Harker's marriage is terribly strained. Their son Quincy Harker, born after the adventure in Transylvania and now an adult, is estranged from his stern father. He knows nothing of the encounter with Dracula, and both Jonathan and Mina feel it best to keep secret the horrors they witnessed. Jack Seward, the doctor who brought in Van Helsing when a mysterious ailment overtook  Mina's friend Lucy, still fights an evil like the one he and his companions first encountered. He sustains his sanity with heroin.

A demonic force haunts London and is insinuating itself in to the lives of the heroic survivors. Elizabeth Bathory, the famed Bloody Countess of 16th century Hungary who thought to keep her beauty by bathing in the blood of young maidens, has arrived.

Over the strenuous objection of his father young Quincy Harker wants more than anything to become an actor. In the course of this quest he meets Bram Stoker, a bitter individual who has had little success with his vampire novel. He hopes to gain more recognition by putting it on as a play. When Quincy reads the story he is dumbfounded to discover the names of his parents as well as others he knew while growing up. How Stoker came upon this information is only one of the several mysteries to be solved. Many complex layers are woven throughout this fast paced, mesmerizing tale.

Dracula scholar Dr. Elizabeth Miller has written a fascinating Afterwords which discusses the various characters and events in both novels. But be warned this essay contains many spoilers.

Although helpful it is not necessary to be familiar with Stoker's novel. Enough of that story is incorporated so that any reader can follow. This is truly a unique twist on the saga of  Dracula and considered a hero in his native Romania.

[But if you would like more info go to this POST for a list of characters in Dracula]

Note:  Author Dacre Stoker is Bram Stoker's great grandnephew. For more information about the book and the authors go to the Dracula: The Un-Dead web site.

[This review originally appeared on Patricia's Vampire Notes]  

Guest: SciFi Guy on Blood Lite

We welcome honorary VampBloke, Doug Knipe today, who is best known as SciFi Guy, and who has an incredible blog dedicated to sci/fi, UF, and paranormal reads, reviews and news.  His blog is a must-add to your blog crawl!

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF THE UN-DEAD

If you would like a change of pace from the darker side of the un-dead, I have put together a list of some of my favourite series by writers that would be right at home here at VampChix. They all share a lust for life (figuratively and literally), humorous and eclectic characters, and a penchant for pun-ishing and quirky book titles. You’ll find the cover designs for these lighter vampire romps are also outside the usual vein.

Which of these series have you tried? Which was your favourite and why? Do you have a recommendation of a vampire novel or series that reflects (well maybe not, given they’re vampires) the lighter side of un-life? Leave a comment and share.

For each series I’ve included a short snippet or blurb to convey the flavour of the series.

Marta Acosta
Funny and original, the Casa Dracula series has one of the more unusual twists on vampires.

Excerpt – “Despite her Fancy University (F.U.) degree, Milagro de los Santos isn’t having much success at life. She can barely pay the rent and all of her boyfriends are as frivolous as beach reads. Then, at a party in honor of her successful ex-boyfriend, she meets the unusually attractive, quirky Oswald Grant.
Who knew that her passionate kiss with Oswald would result in serious illness, a craving for raw meat, and an aversion to sunlight? Well, her ambitious ex knew, and after he attempts to kidnap Milagro, she must hide out with Oswald’s snobby family at their country estate to recover and learn the truth about their mysterious “genetic condition.”

Casa Dracula Series:
1. Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (2006)
2. Midnight Brunch (2007)
3. The Bride of Casa Dracula (2008)
Return to Casa Dracula (2010)

Places to visit:
Website | Vampire Wire

Michele Bardsley
Broken Heart Oklahoma is a hotbed of supernatural activity and is populated by appealing and likeable characters from ordinary walks in life, including beauticians, librarians and single moms. Only they have all become vampires

Excerpt - There's a new breed of soccer mom in town-with fangs. Does drinking blood make me a bad mother? That's the question single mom Jessica Matthews faces when she wakes from a savage attack sucking on the thigh of Patrick O'Halloran, a super-hot Irish vampire who'd generously offered his femoral artery to save her from death...only to make her one of the undead. Jessica can't rest until the beast that did this to her is caught. Meanwhile, she's having trouble committing to Patrick (in the vampire handbook, physical intimacy costs you several hundred years of being bound together) and keeping her kids in line.

Broken Heart Oklahoma Series:
I'm The Vampire, That's Why (2006)
Don't Talk Back To Your Vampire (2007)
Because Your Vampire Said So (2008)
Wait Until Your Vampire Gets Home (2008)
Over My Dead Body (2009)
Come Hell or High Water (Jan 2010)

Places to visit:
Website/Blog | Broken Heart Oklahoma Series Website

Gerry Bartlett
Glory runs a vintage clothing story and her werewolf girlfriend runs the coffee shop next door.

Excerpt - Gloriana St. Clair, full-figured vampire and entrepreneur, doesn’t understand why life has to be so complicated. First, her shop is fire bombed by a frustrated vamp hunter, then long-time lover Jeremy Blade abandons her to hunt the hunter. She’s determined to get her business and her love life back on track, but she becomes the target of Energy Vampires. The EVs want to— excuse me?--suck out her stored power to make Vampire Viagra.

Glory St. Claire Series:
1. Real Vampires Have Curves (2007)
2. Real Vampires Live Large (2007)
3. Real Vampires Get Lucky (2008)
4. Real Vampires Don't Diet (2009)
5. Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs (2010)

Places to visit:
Website

Tate Hallaway
Tate recently announced that her Garnet Lacey series is ending which is sad as I would have loved to read the additional books she had planned.

Excerpt - Garnet Lacey vowed never to do magic again. Not after that scene with the Vatican assassins in Minneapolis where she called on the Goddess Lilith, who left a swath of destruction so huge Garnet had to leave town. Eight months later, and several hundred miles away, she’s now the manager of Mercury Crossing, Madison, Wisconsin’s premier occult bookstore and herb emporium where the employees are prime examples of witches without a clue.

Garnet Lacey Series:
Tall, Dark and Dead (2006)
Dead Sexy (2007)
Romancing the Dead (2008)
Dead If I Do (2009)
Honeymoon of the Dead (May 2010)

Places to visit:
Website | Blog

Katie MacAlister
The Aisling Grey series follows the exploits of Aisling, her pet demon Jim, and Drake, a handsome dragon in human form. The Silver Dragons and Light Dragons series explore different wyverns.

Excerpt - All Aisling Grey had to do was deliver a centuries old, gold dragon statue to her uncle's client in Paris, but instead she finds the woman murdered and a strange, sexy man lingering nearby. Drake Vireo claims to be with Interpol, but before Aisling can verify this, he, along with the statue, disappears. Now the French police's prime suspect in the case, Aisling must figure out who really killed the woman and exactly where Drake disappeared to with her artifact. Aisling's efforts to clear her name become even more complicated once she learns she is a Guardian (as in guarding the portals to hell), and dishy Drake is a real-life dragon (otherwise known as wyvern).

Aisling Grey, Guardian
1. You Slay Me (2004)
2. Fire Me Up (2005)
3. Light My Fire (2006)
4. Holy Smokes (2007)

Silver Dragons
1. Playing with Fire (2008)
2. Up in Smoke (2008)
3. Me and My Shadow (2009)

Light Dragons
Love in the Time of Dragons (2010)

Places to visit:
Website | Blog

Erin McCarthy
Apparently the series is now complete but still well worth tracking down. I love stories set in Vegas and these are not your typical vamps.

Excerpt - He's a bloodsucking freak of nature. But, unlike other politicians, Ethan Carrick is actually a nice guy. Not to mention a very hot, wealthy, casino-owning vampire. It's an election year for vampires, which means he'll first have to escape his opponent's hit men. Then he'll have to find a suitable First Lady, preferably here in Vegas.

Vegas Vampires Series:
High Stakes (2006)
Bit the Jackpot (2006)
Bled Dry (2007)
Sucker Bet (2008)

Places to visit:
Website

Kimberley Raye
Excerpt - Being dead can kill a social life! For Lil Marchette, the owner of Manhattan's premier dating service for vampires (and a dazzling denizen of the dark herself), death is all in a night's work.

Dead End Dating Series:
1. Dead-End Dating (2006)
2. Dead and Dateless (2007)
3. Your Coffin or Mine? (2007)
4. Just One Bite (2008)
5. Sucker for Love (2009)
6. Here Comes the Vampire (2010)

Places to visit:
Website

Michelle Rowen
Another series that just recently completed.

Excerpt - Dear Mom, I might be a wee bit late for Cousin Missy’s wedding. It’s been a tough week. Turns out, my blind date from hell was literally from hell. Guy bit me. Next thing I know, I’m being chased all over the city by vampire hunters. And did I mention that I got fired, too? Bright side-I met a man. Thierry de Bennicoeur. How great is that name? Anyway, he’s sexy, six-hundred years old, and a tad suicidal, but no one’s perfect, right? And we have a deal-he’s gonna show me the ropes of the vampire world, and I’m supposed to help him end his existence. Or maybe I’ll just try to convince him life is worth living – no small challenge with the mostly immortal, let me tell you. I’ll admit it’s a complicated relationship. But with any luck, I just might have a date for that wedding after all… Hugs and Kisses,Sarah.

Immortality Bites Series:
1. Bitten & Smitten (2006)
2. Fanged & Fabulous (2007)
3. Lady & the Vamp (2008)
4. Stakes & Stilettos (2009)
5. Tall, Dark & Fangsome (2009)

Places to visit:
Website | Blog

Lynsay Sands
This long running series is another with an interesting twist on the vampire origins story.

Excerpt - Lissianna has been spending her centuries pining for Mr. Right, not just a quick snack, and this sexy guy she finds in her bed looks like he might be a candidate. But there’s another, more pressing issue: her tendency to faint at the sign of blood… an especially annoying quirk for a vampire. Her mother thinks she has the perfect solution, and serves up the therapist on a silver platter (or at least a wrought iron bed). Of course it doesn’t hurt that this psychologist has a delicious looking neck.

Argeneau Family Series:
1. A Quick Bite (2005)
2. Love Bites (2004)
3. Single White Vampire (2003)
4. Tall Dark and Hungry (2004)
5. A Bite to Remember (2006)
6. Bite Me If You Can (2007)
7. The Accidental Vampire (2008)
8. Vampires Are Forever (2008)
9. Vampire, Interrupted (2008)
10. The Rogue Hunter (2008)
11. The Immortal Hunter (2009)
12. The Renegade Hunter (2009)

Places to visit:
Website

Other writers with a humorous bent on vampires include MaryJanice Davidson, Dakota Cassidy, and Molly Harper.

Walking on Water

Another look into a tidbit from vampire mythology had me surfing the net to discover why it is vampires cannot cross running water.

Tradition states running water is pure and cannot hold, or washes away, all magic.

Now there are certain special situations.  A vampire may not be able to cross water on his own, but he can be carried over or might change shape and fly or jump over.  Dracula was carried across the sea while nestled safely in his coffin on a bed of dirt.

"It is said, too, that he can only pass running water at the slack or the flood of tide."  - Professor Van Helsing in Mina Harker's Journal, Chapter XVIII of Dracula by Bram Stoker
"The Count, even if he takes the form of a bat, cannot cross the running water of his own volition, and so he cannot leave the ship." -  Professor Van Helsing in Jonathan Harker's Journal, Chapter XXV of Dracula by Bram Stoker

One myth claims burying a vampire on an island prevents him from crossing the water to shore.  Also origins point to the myth possibly being about witches instead of vampires and was either borrowed or folded into the vampire myth somehow.

That's about all I found.  Anyone seen the myth used in books or movies other than Dracula?

Join us if you dare...

We all share a common vein here at VampChix- we love our vampires! So, we're starting a monthly vampire romance book club and our first featured book is: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2

The rules are simple:

First rule of Bite Club, tell everyone about Bite Club.

Second rule of Bite Club, don't bleed on the carpet!


Here's how it works:
Each month we will feature a new vampire romance title, beginning with an author spotlight. Everyone gets a few weeks to read the book and then we meet to discuss our favorite characters, plot lines, settings, hot scenes, world building etc. etc. The blog will be open all month long for those who want to chat books, but spoilers will not be permitted until discussion day unless clearly marked. If you have a scene that jumps out and really grabs you by the neck, let's talk about it, but for those who choose to remain in the dark, spoilers can be skipped. When our club meets we can discuss any aspect of the book that appeals to us, and who knows? Maybe the author will drop in to talk too!


Where to find us: vampchixreadbooks.blogspot.com
First bite: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance
First chat: October 30th

Guest Editor: Trisha Telep

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF VAMPIRE ROMANCE 2 hits bookstore shelves September 22nd!  If you love vampire romance this anthology is a great way to check out a number of authors who write vampire stories, and a few authors who are new to the realm of fangy boyz and swooning chix.  I had the opportunity to ask the editor of this anthology, Trisha Telep a few questions...

Q:  How did the idea for the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance come to mind?

TT:  I started a job as the romance book buyer at Murder One bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London in January 2006 (the shop closed at the end of January this year after 21 years of selling crime, mystery & romance.  Myself and a co-worker bought the business and are now running the stone online at www.murderone.co.uk until we get enough money to reopen a shop).  January 2006 was a Feehan/Kenyon year and the popularity of vampires was getting major with a clear-sighted UK publisher called Piatkus buying in UK rights for a bunch of US vampire romance (from Kenyon, Feehan, etc.).  So vampires were everywhere.  My boss at the time, the owner of Murder One, crime writer Maxim Jakubowski saw that the vampire romance genre was exploding and had a word with publishers Constable & Robinson in the UK who he worked with doing mammoth books of crime fiction.  I think when he mentioned it to them, they listened but it hadn't got big enough to get really excited yet.  So Maxim put the bug in their ear but they didn't really bite.  Fast-forward a year later, and Constable & Robinson comes back to Maxim, really excited about the idea now and wanting to do a vampire romance anthology.  Maxim does tons of crime anthologies each year, as well as writing a column for newspapers and online sites, and writing his own novels, so he was a little busy.  He kindly pointed the publishers my way, and as the romance book buyer with, by now, a great knowledge of the vampire genre and its players, it was a perfect fit and the publishers contracted me to create their first vampire romance anthology: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.

Q:  Do you work for a publisher?

TT:  Yup.  See above.

Q:  As the editor are you responsible for recruiting all the authors in each anthology?

TT:  I'm responsible for recruiting all the authors and getting in all the stories in the book.  It's a fun process, sometimes really nerve racking!  It's great when a book starts to take shape when you've got a few authors and you start to see how the whole book is going to go (like, The MBO Vampire Romance 2 [subtitled Love Bites in the UK] became a lot more urban fantasy oriented when authors like Caitlin Kittredge and Stacia Kane did in-store events at Murder One, and writers like Camille Bacon-Smith and Devon Monk said "yes" to participating in the anthology).  I know that nobody probably reads book intros but, as it's the only place that I actually get to write something, I really use the intro to figure out what exactly the book has become.  It can start as pretty sprawling, but by the end of the day, the book gets a real sense of self and I can realize a whole, complete vision for it.

Q:  Do you put together the anthology idea and then present it to the publisher, or does an idea get bought and then the authors are recruited?

TT:  Well, the first vampire anthology was suggested to me by the publishers, but then they were interested in any other ideas I might have, although they don't go with everything.

Q:  With the popularity of vampires at the moment do you foresee The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance XX eventually?

TT:  Vampires are still incredibly popular right now so I think I may be really pleasantly surprised and there may be many, many more vampire romance anthologies to come!

Q:  What other anthology collections have you put together?

TT:  My first vampire anthology for young adults, The Eternal Kiss, was published by Running Press in the States at the end of July this year.  It features some amazing authors.  Often I just get really lucky but lots of great writers hang out together and so one friend tells another friend, and another tells another.  Some of the writers, as well, came from my previous Mammoth anthologies, like Lilith Saintcrow (she writes YA as Lili St. Crow), Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Holder and Maria V. Snyder.  And Rachel Caine.  So, there is a lot of cross-pollination, I find.  I've edited a total of 3 Mammoth romance anthologies which have been already published: The MBO Vampire Romance, The MBO Paranormal Romance, The MBO Vampire Romance 2.  Then there's another one coming out at the end of the year: The MBO Time Travel Romance: a bit of a departure from vampires and werewolves but even in time travel we never get too far from the paranormal (I mean, What the heck is time travel if not supernatural?)

Q:  Any 'creatures' you'd love to organize an anthology for?

TT:  Zombie boyfriends.  Supposedly Sarah Rees Brennan (YA author of The Demon's Lexicon) can't stop writing stories about zombie boyfriends, and she's very nice and I like her so I'd like to do a book devoted to them!

Q:  Are all the stories in the antho romance (re: HEA) or are some more Urban Fantasy?

TT:  I encourage HEAs because these Mammoth anthologies are "romance" anthologies but the whole genre of vampire/paranormal romance has entwined with that of urban fantasy that it's hard to see where one ends and the other begins.  It's like a hybrid animal—some kind of fantasy romance monster.

Q:  Are any of the stories tied in to an existing world the author may be writing?

TT: Lots of them are, yeah.  We're just now thinking of a way that we can let everyone know which stories are related to which series and where they fit into writer's timelines etc.

Q:  What anthologies will we see edited by you in the future? (2010)

TT:  The MBO Irish Romance (out St. Patrick's Day—of course), The MBO Special Ops Romance, The MBO Regency Romance, and many others in the works, including a MBO Paranormal Romance 2!

Thanks, Trisha, for giving us the scoop on the MBOs!


Trisha's Bio:  Trisha Telep was the romance & fantasy book buyer at Murder One, the UK's

only crime/mystery & romance bookstore. She's recently re-launched this classic bookstore online after its sad closure at the end of January this year: www.murderone.co.uk. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she completed the Master of Publishing program at Simon Fraser University before moving to London in 2004. She lives in Hackney, East London, with her boyfriend,filmmaker Christopher Joseph.

Table of Contents for THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF VAMPIRE ROMANCE 2:

• Jordan Summers PARIS AFTER DARK

• Deborah Cooke COVEN OF MERCY

• Karen MacInerney CIRQUE DE LA NUIT

• Caitlin Kittredge PERDITION

• Dina James DELIVER US FROM EVIL

• Camille Bacon Smith BLOOD AND THYME

• Rosemary Laurey INTO THE MISTS FOREVER

• Patti O’Shea BLOOD FEUD

• Angie Fox LOVE BITES

• Caitlin Kiernan FLOTSAM

• Jamie Leigh Hansen THE MURDER KING'S WOMAN

• Carole Nelson Douglas BUTTERFLY KISS

• Diane Whiteside CRIMSON KISSES

• Jaye Wells VAMPSPLOITATION

• Stacia Kane TRUST ME

• Jennifer Ashley THE SCOTSMAN AND THE VAMP

• Justine Musk I NEED MORE YOU

• Jennifer St. Giles POINT OF NO RETURN

• Dawn Cook (aka Kim Harrison) WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE

• Nancy Holder BLOOD GOTHIC

• Larissa Ione ETERNITY EMBRACED

• Jeanne Stein THE GHOST OF LEADVILLE

• Tiffany Trent THE VAMPIRE, THE WITCH, AND THE YENKO

• Ann Aguirre CIRCLE UNBROKEN

• Devon Monk SKEIN OF SUNLIGHT

Everyone please stop back in to VampChix tomorrow for a special announcement about a new venture here at the blog.  (Hint: It involves the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2!)

Vampire U

In Transylmania, a motley group of college students embark on the wildest, sexiest, most outrageous semester abroad ever at Razvan University. Located deep in the heart of the “cursed land” of Transylvania in a centuries-old castle, Razvan isn’t your typical institution of higher learning – and the black leather-clad professors, three-foot-tall dean, instruction in crucifix-wielding, and topless vampiresses lurking in dark corners are just the start. It seems Castle Razvan was overtaken by a band of vampires led by the feared Vampire King Radu in the dark ages who’s come back to reclaim it.

A bubbling cauldron of wacky horror spoof, vampire action-adventure, and naughty college comedy, Transylmania culminates in a hilarious climax that just might leave our bumbling heroes not Euro-trashed, but Euro-slashed. Transylmania will be sure to slay audiences with its biting wit and bring a welcome levity to the air of heavy drama typically found in the midst of awards season.

TRANSYLMANIA opens in limited release on DECEMBER 4th.

Guest Author: Maggie Shayne

It's my pleasure to present an interview with Maggie Shayne today!  Author of more than 40 novels, she's been writing about vamps since the early 90s, and though she's added romantic suspense, women's fiction, cowboys and a few witches to her repertoire, she's still writing about sexy vampires in love.  [For Maggie's complete bio click here.]

Her long-running vampire series Wings In The Night features 15 novels and a handful of anthologies.  Her latest in the series is LOVER'S BITE.  I managed to chase down this super-talented and uber-busy author for a few questions...

Q: You have a long-running vampire series Wings in the Night that you began in 1993 with Twilight Phantasies.  Was this originally a planned trilogy?  Or did you always have plans to write in this vein (pun intended) since the beginning? 

MS: Loved the pun!  No, the truth is, I had only intended to do one book.  I was unpublished, and trying several different kinds of books, but vampires were my first love.  Twilight Phantasies began as a short story intended to sell to a magazine.  But I so fell into the story that it rapidly grew.  In the end, it was a large book with a huge subplot involving the hero's best friend, Roland.  The editor who read it sensed my distress when she told me I would have to cut a lot of those scenes, and suggested I start thinking about giving Roland a book of his own.  I was, of course thrilled.

Another little known tidbit about the Wings series is that Rhiannon, heroine of book 2, was originally that book's villain.  I'd paired Roland with a wimpy little thing, and Rhiannon was going to be Roland's possessive, jealous, deadly ex.  But my editors, (Melissa Senate and Leslie Wainger) both felt Rhiannon was stealing the show entirely, and asked how I could not be aware that she was the true heroine.  And that is how Rhiannon took over the series.  She's been the queen of Wings in the Night ever since.

Q: Do you keep a bible or thorough notes on your series?   

MS: No.  I wish I had when I started.  But I didn't think it would be a series.  And then by the time I knew it was going to be not only a series, but probably the longest continuous series in the romance genre, it was just too big a job for me to undertake without help.  I'd have to take months off from writing in order to put all the trivia from each of the Wings in the Night books into a bible.  Oh, I wish I had that kind of time.  No, I don't.  I like being steadily employed.  But it is getting very unwieldy.  I need an assistant who knows the books as well as I do, that's what I need.  (Hear that, Universe?)

Q: Why vampires?  What, about vampires, appeals to you and made you want to create a world for them? 

MS:  I like vampires because no one else is doing them

Oh, wait.  That used to be my answer.  LOL.  Honestly, though, there was no one doing vampire romance but Lori Herter when I wrote TWILIGHT PHANTASIES.  And I do not hesitate to say her work inspired me, as did that of Anne Rice, whom I was reading voraciously around that time.  But I've loved vampires since I was a little girl watching old movies on TV.  I always wanted to rewrite the ending of Dracula, the Wolfman, and other classic horror flicks.  I thought the wrong guy got the girl.  

I think there's something about a love that's eternal that appeals to hopeless romantics like me.  If someone could love, not only for one lifetime, but forever, what a love that would have to be!  I also think there's something inherently sexy about neck nibbling.  But maybe that's just me.

Q: Explain the attributes of your vampires.  What parts are taken from myth and legend?  What parts did you make up?

MS:  Oh, great question!  I spent a lot of time before book 1, sitting down and thinking about that very question. I had a lot of fun in that book making my vampires have no reaction to the crucifix or cross symbol.  I decided that since my vampires were in no way evil or anti-god, they shouldn't be burned or repelled by a religious symbol.  I decided the wooden stake would kill them, but only because they tend to bleed like hemophiliacs.  I kept the aversion to the sunlight.  I never addressed garlic.  And I kept the bit about them having no reflection, though I never thought about how I would explain that if ever called upon to do so.

My vampires will heal from any wound they receive during the regenerative day sleep, but only if they can stay alive long enough.  They grow stronger with age, but also more vulnerable, in that, every sense is heightened with every year they live.  Pain.  Pleasure.  Everything.  

They all began as humans with the rare Belladonna Antigen.  Only humans with that antigen can become vampires.  Humans with the antigen tend to weaken and die young if not transformed.  And they too, tend to bleed very easily.  Vampires sense these humans, known to them as The Chosen, and they watch over and protect them.  They're compelled to do so.  

Those are the basics of my vampire world.  I really don't like vampire fiction that veers too far from the old traditional vampires from my childhood.  A little twist to the tradition here and there, a little enhancement, is fine.  But I really do like the old school stuff.  It's hard to improve on Bram Stoker, after all.

Q: Is it a requirement for a reader to start at the beginning of your series, or can they pick up a book in the Wings in the Night series and get in on the world right away? 

MS:  You really can begin the series anywhere and not end up confused or lost. Each story is self-contained and complete in and of itself, and my editors make me re-explain all the rules in every book for new readers to the series.  

By the way, to clarify ongoing confusion, ALL my vampire books are part of the Wings in the Night series.  I did not end one series and begin another.  We did stop using "Twilight" in the titles when other authors borrowed the word, and we feared it would become too confusing.  But all the books, including the four most recent (Demon's Kiss, Lover's Bite, Angel's Pain, and Bloodline) are part of Wings in the Night.

Q: You also write witches, and romantic suspense and even Texas cowboys.  It’s quite a range.  Do you enjoy writing any one genre over the other?  Or does your brain just insist you mix things up and write all genres?  Do you ever have trouble switching from vampires to say...cowboys? 

MS:  I love my Witch books.  I love anything paranormal.  And I adore writing suspense novels, which is what I'm doing at the moment.  I have three in a row coming out next summer.  The suspense is a lot harder for me to write than the paranormal, and because it's more challenging, I think I end up working harder and doing better work.  (Friends say it's not better, just  different voice.  But I think it's stronger writing.)  

The cowboys were suggested by my editor, long ago, when the vamps were really starting to catch fire for me.  She didn't want me to get pigeonholed, and she knew paranormal was a tiny market back then, while cowboys were huge.  She encouraged me to just try one western.  So I did, and I had so much fun, I wound up with an entire family to write about.  So my western series were born.  

Q:  You also write an advice column that readers can write to at your website.  What’s the story behind that?   

MS: My advice column, Shayne on You, was just a fun thing to do.  I was tossing the idea around with my daughter Jessica, who was a journalist at the daily "Evening Sun" newspaper in Norwich NY, and she thought I ought to pitch it to her editor.  So I did, and he loved the idea.  There's a link to the column from my site, and another one for anyone who needs advice to send in.  I base my advice mostly on wisdom gleaned from the Law of Attraction, and Jerry and Esther Hicks.

Q: When can readers expect your next vampire release?  And are you working on any vampire stories at the moment?  Any sneak peeks? 

MS:  I'll give you both the answer that will piss off your visitors, and the one that should delight them.  First, the bad news.  There won't be a new vampire book from me in 2010.  That's because I have three romantic suspense novels coming out in a row, in July, August and September of that year.  They continue with a character, Dawn, who was left dangling at the end of an earlier suspense trilogy and the readers have been waiting a long time for her story.  This new series will be known as the Secrets of Shadow Falls trilogy, and the books are KILLING ME SOFTLY, KILL ME AGAIN, & KISS ME, KILL ME.

Now the good news for those vampire fans.  As soon as I finish the book I'm working on (the third one listed above) I will be working on the next two vampire novels, due out in 2011, and I hope, hope, hope those books will be the twins' stories.  These are the stories my readers have been asking for most, and so they're the stories I intend to tell.  Sneak peek?  Well, nothing's written yet, so no. But I do know the twins both have special, unique powers, powers unlike any vampire I've ever written, because of their unique heritage.  One has the power to heal. The other, to destroy.

Here’s the same five questions we ask all our guests: 

Dark or Light?  

DARK

Historical or Modern? 

Historical characters in a modern setting.

Fav vamp movie or TV show?

BUFFY (I'm a Buffy-Spike, not a Buffy-Angel sort of fan.)

Bagged or from the Neck?  

From the neck when possible, bagged when not.

Dead or Undead? 

Undead.

Thanks, Maggie, for the interview!  

Please visit Maggie at various places online:

Website: www.maggieshayne.com

MySpace: www.myspace.com/maggieshayne

Group blog: www.storybroads.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/maggieshayne

Twitter: twitter.com/maggieshayne

Shayne's Shenannigans (Maggies solo blog where she is currently documenting writing a novel in 40 days!): maggieshayne.blogspot.com

Let The Right One In

After watching The Vampire Diaries, and being extremely pleased that they employed a few of the most common vampire myths, such as needing permission to cross the threshold, I wondered what that particular myth was all about.

It's one of my favs.  The evil vampire lurking outside your home cannot enter unless you give him permission.  All the power is in your hands.  Unless...he hypnotizes you with his eerie gaze.  I've used it in my own stories, allowing that vampires can enter any public place, but need permission to enter a privately-owned home.

So I searched the Internet and didn't come up with much.  Basically, vampires can't cross the threshold because, well, it's the 'rule'.  But a little deeper digging dig came up with a few more details.

Threshold is a medieval word.  Wooden blocks were set down in the doorway and before the floor to keep the 'thresh' or strewn straw on the floors from getting out.

The house is a temple or sanctuary and thus the people living there represent its power.  They have the option of retaining the power of the household by refusing a vampire entry, or opening it to evil by inviting the vamp in.  It's also a symbol of the soul, so if you say yes, you are basically opening your soul to the evil that wishes entry.

Also in medieval times, crosses of tar or pitch were painted on windows and doors to prevent vampires from entering.  Belief was that the vampire who came knocking in the middle of the night would get stuck on the tar and when daylight arrived then he would be rendered powerless.

Another myth, (and this one seems like a LOT of work) is that to prevent a dead body from becoming vampire and returning to the home, it must be removed from the home in a manner which would prevent return.  So the corpse would be carried out feet first (it's eyes often covered so it could not see the way back in).  Or it could be carried through a window.  Or a hole would be opened in a wall to push the corpse through then mortared back up so it could not then discover where it had been brought out.  And the one that would require the most work was taking the body out underneath the threshold (which would require some heavy lifting and heck, major construction, if you ask me.)  Thus, the vampire could never cross over the threshold because he'd gone out under.

Any other reasons behind the myth you've heard of?  Or are you like me and just happy with the reason that it's a 'rule'.


I've seen the device used in most movies and many books, but what's the most unusual or original means of employing the 'crossing the threshold' myth you've seen or read about?

Michele

Bite: Topless Vampires in Vegas

OK, what will they think of next? Seriously.



Just to prove how popular vampires are Vegas had to go and get their own sexy live show, BITE.



BITE features rock and roll and topless beauties-all with a vampire theme.

BITE uses Classic Rock music to tell the gothic story of lost love, temptation and redemption. The Lord Vampire commands his coven of Erotic Rock Angels to hunt down audience members to find his Queen of the night.

BITE is an adult experience that is erotic, sensual, thrashing and of course, sexual. The coven can only show their assets and teeth to those of you who are 18 years old or older.


You can catch BITE every night, except Thursdays, at 10:30 PM at the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Hm, if I were going to be in Vegas I would definitely check it out.