Eclipse Movie!

Well.... I went to the midnight showing of Eclipse last night and.... LOVED it!!!  Here's a picture I took of the poster they had outside of the theatre.  I liked the way it looked in the neon purple lights!  :)

Well, was there any question I would enjoy it?  Actually, yes there was.  New Moon wasn't my favorite, although it was a very good movie (in my Twilight minded opinion), but Eclipse is my favorite book of them all and I was extremely worried it wouldn't live up to my expectations, but it certainly did.  And, it had all of the story elements which is pretty darn important!

The best part of this movie by far for me was Jasper!  I knew it would be, because I knew his part of the story would come out more and I'd get to see more of him and his abilities.  There's a picture of Alice and Jasper and Alice (IMDb) right after he is showing her how to fight the newborns and then explaining his past to Bella, which is one of my favorite clusters of scenes within the movie.  I'd say more about it, but I don't want to ruin it, it's so awesome!!! For the record, I don't know who's record really, but anyway, my myspace cork board has said Team Jasper for quite some time!  Ha ha!!  (You can see it without friending me, but you do have to actually friend me to see much else... and yes, my myspace page really is mostly twilight and music related! Ha!  It's just for fun really.)

Anyway, I'm so glad he got his time on the big screen finally!  And, he rocked!!!  :)  I've been sort of a silent fan of his except to some close friends, kind of like a best kept secret, but now like they say, the cat or rather the vamp is out of the bag!!  He is scarred, both physically and emotionally, but reformed and he struggles and overcomes and he is a fighter and he loves and he wins!  Oh man... I talk and blog a lot about Edward or Angel... but, Jasper... Oh Jasper!!!  Wow, he really does have it all in the way of vamps.  And, you will see it if you go watch this movie!!  He really might be my very fave (shhhh.)  I don't know why I like to keep that a secret, but oh well.  Vamps out now!  LOVED him in this... sigh.

I am also pretty sure that Jackson Rathbone's career just skyrocketed as well.  He's awesome!  He also plays in the 100 Monkey's band in LA, but anyway, I digress.  See secret fan, ha ha! If my friends are reading this, they are shaking their heads laughing at me saying "Oh Shauna, we already know!"  :)  But, it was so fun, EVERY time Jasper came on screen I wanted to say "Jasper!"  :)

Okay, and that is just ONE part of this amazing movie that is just one of the many movies of the Twilight Saga, which is so very fun for us Twilight fans.  I know it's not every ones cup of tea or blood for the vamps...  But, when you are in it, it really is a blast!

There was also newcomer, well newborn, Riley:

Who I've gotta say, as bad vamps go, is pretty darn cute.  Too bad he chose the wrong side.  Tsk, tsk!  :)

The rest of the story?  Jacob was pretty Jacob-like and his tattoo kept catching my attention for some reason.  I think I actually really like it!  Even though I'm still definitely not Team Jacob (sorry!).  And, Emmett is also a cool fighter like Jasper.  But, we all know he's a big tough guy so that's to be expected.  None of these are spoil-makers, I'm not into those so I think I will stop there!  :)

You can visit Twilight the movie ~ Eclipse for more extra fun stuff.  Also, the soundtrack is quite good.  I really like the song Ours by The Bravery, among others.  Have you heard it yet?

And, a fellow Examiner who writes LOTS of Twilight stuff is the Twilight Examiner and she has been posting lots of juicy movie stuff as well.  I've been following Amanda's sight even before I not too long ago became an Examiner myself.  I highly recommend it for Twilight news and info!

I'd love to hear what others think or if and when they might see it.  I already want to go again!  How many times will you see it?

Happy Eclipse watching!
~Shauna,
Your YA Vampchix, You can also find me at READ~WRITE~REVAMP, TWITTER, and GOODREADS

Did you see it?

Report in if you've already seen the movie or plan to today.  My son went to bed at 8 last night, got up at 11, to see the midnight showing.  Because his girlfriend insisted.  :-)  So no spoilers, but let us know what you loved and didn't love about the flick.

Winner

Of Cynthia Eden's I'LL BE SLAYING YOU is...


...Dionne.

Please email vampchixmail@gmail.com with your snailmail address. Congrats!

Guest: Cynthia Eden

Please welcome Cynthia Eden to VampChix!  She's a rising star in the paranormal romance world, and her latest features sexy vamps.  Cynthia will give away a copy of I'LL BE SLAYING YOU to one lucky commenter, so show her some love in the comments!

Vampires Aren’t Dead…Not Yet, Not Ever

Hi, everyone! And thanks so much to Michele for inviting me to post at VampChix today.  I love vampires—adore them, so having the chance to talk about one of my favorite supernatural creatures is always fun for me.

Let me give you five fast reasons that tell why I enjoy vamps so much:

1.     Spike. Seriously, I think my love for vampires kicked up about 100% when I first saw Spike on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. With his bleached blond hair and bugger-off attitude, he was very unlike any vampire I’d ever seen before on TV. He was fabulous. Flawed, very broken, but still dangerous—and strong enough to steal even a slayer’s heart.

2.     Dark Shadows. Come on—did anyone see this old vampire soap opera years ago? I loved it then, and now, since Johnny Depp is scheduled to take over the role of Barnabas Collins in the remake, this flick is promising to be stellar. Johnny as a vampire? Oh, yes, I’ll see that please!

3.     George Hamilton. What? Oh, come on! Surely you’ve heard of Love At First Bite. Yes, I know, some folks think that vamp movie starring Hamilton was cheesy, but a pre-teen me thought it was awesome (okay, full confession, I still do).  This vampire risked everything for his soul-mate. Got to love a man who will risk it all for the woman he loves, while still managing to have an awesome tan while being undead.

4.     Christine Feehan’s Carpathians.  I love reading about new takes on the vampire legend, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Christine Feehan’s vampire stories. I read DARK FIRE in 2001, and since then, I’ve been addicted. The vampire legend continues to twist and evolve and I’m always eager to see where the story will go next.

5.     Vampires prove that monsters can be…sexy. No, really—vamps are almost always portrayed as being sexy in books and movies. Yes, they are creatures of the night, and, yes, they drink blood and can kill quickly—but they are hot.  Hot and dangerous and very, very lethal.  

So those are a few reasons why I like vamps. I could write lots more, but I think it would be more fun to hear about why you like vamps. Or, do you have a favorite vamp show/movie that hooked you on the undead hunks?  Tell me…I’d love to hear your stories!  

Ah, and in case you are curious, here’s the blurb for  I’LL BE SLAYING YOU:

Cynthia Eden returns to the realm of the Other, where the supernatural bounty hunters of Night Watch work hard and play harder…
Sandra “Dee” Daniels is a vampire’s worst nightmare. Sure, she couldn’t get up to five-six in the highest heels money can buy—not that she ever wears heels. But the monsters in her past and the stake in her boot are enough to keep most bloodsuckers interested in staying undead out of Baton Rouge.
But there are changes afoot on her turf. Rumors of a Born Master in town—a vampire so powerful he can make the streets run with blood. And a new face in Dee’s dive bars and alleyways—Simon Chase, a strong, sexy shadow with a haunted past of his own. Simon knows a lot about the dark side of Dee’s work. He knows even more about how to make her body spark with desire. But the hot lust shimmering between them is only the beginning. Because Simon also knows a secret that will change Dee’s life—if she can live long enough to uncover it.

***

You can read an excerpt from I’LL BE SLAYING YOU at:  http://www.cynthiaeden.com/books/ill-be-slaying-you/#excerpt

Thanks for checking out my post! Have a great day!

Cynthia Eden
www.cynthiaeden.com
Follow Cynthia on Facebook

and on Twitter!

Winners!

The winners of Cat Adams' BLOOD SONG are...

Tina Werner


heatwave16


please email vampchixmail@gmail.com with your snailmail address!

Congrats!

BtVS: Angel and The Pack

The 6th episode of the 1st season is titled ANGEL.  In which, we learn much about the mysterious stranger who has been haunting Buffy's daydreams, mainly that he's a 240 year old vampire.

I wasn't keen on why Buffy felt she had to invite Angel to spend the night after the vampires had found her house.  And why he agreed to stay.  Seriously?  The dude could have made it home fine, but I guess he wanted to spend a little time with the slayer.  Ah, to be a teenager again, and sneak the boy into your room.

"Angel?  Do you snore?"

"I don't know.  It's been a long time since I've been in a position to have someone let me know."

Sigh...

Since this band of 3 tough vampires is after Buffy and her pals, Giles decides to up her weapons training.  Though seriously, the defeated the 3 easily enough the first time they saw them.  But whateve.  During the training in the library we get our first good glimpse of Sarah Michelle Geller's stunt double wearing the awful wig.  

Then there's the first kiss!  Ohmygod!  It's going so well, and then...Angel vamps out.  Poor ugly forehead guy.  I'd run, too, if I looked like that.  He flees to his home and I forgot that the guy was living on bagged blood.  Yuck.  

Oh, sneaky Darla, making Buffy believe Angel bit her mom.  Darla, we learn, is Angelus's creator.  Her kills her.  I didn't like her fashion sense, anyway.

And finally, another kiss to make things all better.  Only, Angel has nerves of steel when we see what he had to go through to get that kiss. Buffy's cross necklace burned him.  Poor guy.  Good thing he's not like the vampires in my stories, or that holy wound would never heal!

All in all, an awesome episode.  

#7, The Pack

Another great episode, in that Zander got to be serious and show some real sexy acting chops in a few scenes.  He does alpha well.  Wish they'd have let him show it off more during the course of the show.  So Zander becomes a hyena (sort of) and plays dodgeball.  Willow haz a sad.  

The music in this episode rocked.  Find some of it here.

Best line of the night: "They ate Principal Flootie?"

You gotta love this show.  It's getting better with each episode.

YA Vamps in The Morganville Vampires

I recently started reading Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series and am really enjoying the ride...  


Here is a short bit about book one:


Goodreads Synopsis:


From the author of the popular Weather Warden series comes the debut of an exciting new series set in Morganville, Texas, where you would be well advised to avoid being out after dark. 

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.


Read a portion of Book 1 Glass Houses from Rachel Caine's website.


I'm already on book four and with each one is a new adventure and more secrets are divulged along the way...  There are crazy vampires, clueless humans, there was even a ghost (gasp!), an angelic vamp of sorts, a Gothic clad girl, an angsty boy (what would we do without one?!) who is protective of his friends, and a girl who's trying to save them all!


I'd really love to share more, but one of the main joys in the series really has been discovery around each corner... Mostly, about 4 friends who live in the Glass House; Michael, Shane, Eve and Claire.  And, I'll leave it up to you to read it and figure out which description goes with which friend!  Or, have you already read it and do you already know?  :)


It is definitely a great series to read while waiting for none other than... ECLIPSE to come out next week, YAY!!!  Speaking of, here is the clip they showed at the MTV movie awards show.  And, I've gotta say, go Jasper!  I mean, I'm all for Team Edward, but I'm just saying, Jasper is going to rock in this one, he's a fighter and they have redeemed his hair, thank goodness!  I love that vamp!!!  Oh, the clip, eh hem...  :)






~Shauna, your "ya expert"or I try!you can also find me at my blog READ~WRITE~REVAMP, twitter, & goodreads

Winner of Saberhagen's SEANCE FOR A VAMPIRE is...

...SandyG265

Please email vampchixmail@gmail.com with your snailmail address.

Congrats!

Guest: Cat Adams

Please welcome Cat Adams today!  Cat will be giving away a copy of BLOOD SONG to two lucky commenters, so please show some love in the comments, or ask a question! 

           

WINGS ‘N WOOD  OR SUNSHINE IN THE ‘HOOD?

Ever since Varney the Vampire and Dracula first stole the breath from readers, vampires entered our consciousness and have refused to pull out their fangs.  For over two centuries, their mythos has changed and expanded,with nearly every writer putting their own spin on bloodsucking fiends.

Whether you consider vampires sexy, misunderstood “life challenged” creatures, or the evil undead, vampires (depending on the book/movie): can only be killed by a wooden stake to the heart, cannot touch anything holy, can change into a bat or a wolf, dissolve into mist, have no reflection, are allergic to garlic, burst into flame at sunrise, must sleep in a coffin with earth from his/her homeland, and possess no soul.

Whew! That’s quite a list and it’s only a tiny sample of the twists to the neverending story. As authors who wanted to try to create a vampire that had never been done before, we really had our work cut out for us. Enter the Thrall. In 2006, we released Touch of Evil where vampires existed in a way never before seen. Instead of humans passing on some form of supernatural disease, our creatures are sentient parasites. They’re tiny little things at birth and exist as part of a hive mentality, like bees. Laid as eggs in the bloodstream of willing (or unwilling) humans by a queen Thrall, the eggs hatch and the hatchlings quickly swim up through your veins up to the base of your skull. There they attach to your central nervous system, take control of your body and mind and force you to drink blood to feed itself. Of course, people can’t live on blood alone and eventually the parasite will grow too large to be contained by a person’s skull—so the human’s life is a short one. It’s a death sentence to become a Thrall host. Oh, and did I mention that, as a hive mind, they’re EVIL? No warm and fuzzy, leather clad heroes in this world! They can walk in sunlight, look like everyone else, and the saliva of a queen is like a really great drug that both gets you high and gets you off. Of course, the preferred hosts are athletic, healthy and great looking. All the better to last as long as possible once the health starts to deteriorate.

Yikes! What a way to go!

Touch of Evil was released as paranormal romance but was deemed so creepy it was only a few votes shy of the short list for the Bram Stoker horror award! We had seasoned, jaded horror writers contact us to tell us we gave them nightmares! LOL! Not a ringing endorsement for a romance, but a totally new spin on vampires.

But how to follow that up? Well, in Blood Song, the first book of The Blood Singer (just released on June 8^th) we’ve returned vampires to their roots. Well . . . sort of, anyway. Vampires are again evil, but they’re mindless. When you die, you DIE. Bye-bye brain cells and personality. A fledgling vampire is ‘molded’ into a new personality by its creator or is a feral beast that hunts in dark alleys without any thought that it used to be human. It burns up in sunlight, is allergic to garlic once more and can’t touch holy items.

Except when they can. See, there’s more than one way to make a vampire in this new world, so there are some very old, and very powerful vampires who remember who they are (and were) that get in our heroine’s way. Celia Graves is unique even in her reality because a master vamp tried to bring her over . . . and failed. She kept her soul and her memories and her ability to walk in the light. But she lost some big things too. Like the ability to eat solid food. And imagine owning a spiffy convertible in sunny California when allergic to the sun! Eek!

Want to know more about Blood Song? Here’s what you can look forward to:

Bodyguard Celia Graves plies her trade in a world where vampires roam the alleys of Tinseltown and movie stars openly practice witchcraft., where streetcorner psychics have real powers and cops use memory enhancement spells on witnesses.  Though she’s an ordinary human, Celia uses street smarts and charmed weapons to protect the rich and famous from mortal and supernatural threats.

She’s landed a plum job, protecting the Prince of a small but politically vital nation while he tours Los Angeles’s least savory hot spots.  What should be a routine assignment goes badly wrong.  Attacked by a master vampire, Celia knows she is about to die. 

She’s startled to awaken on a cold metal table in a university lab.  Celia Graves has become an Abomination, neither fully mortal nor fully vampire.  Her “master” is hunting her, to destroy her or finish what his bite began.  She’s accused of murder and the cops aren’t sure whether she should be locked up or staked.  And then there’s the demon she glimpsed during the vampire attack . . . .

Struggling to cope with her new powers and trying not to terrify everyone she meets with a flash of fang, Celia reaches out for help from  her once (and future?) lover, who is a powerful mage; his warrior-priest brother; a handsome werewolf who keeps his lupine nature concealed from the world; an elderly clairvoyant, and one trustworthy cop. 

Celia Graves has three days to save the world, her sanity, and her soul.

[To download a pdf excerpt from BLOOD SONG, click here.] 

We’re VERY excited that just yesterday we learned Blood Song went to a second printing after only two weeks! Thanks for all who have bought it and know that there are more on the way if you haven’t. It’s also available as Kindle, Sony, Kobo and other eformat downloads.

The nice thing about Blood Song is that although it’s on the adult science fiction/fantasy shelves, it’s suitable for teens too! In fact, one of the premier Young Adult review sites, TeensReadToo.com, gave the book 5 stars and their coveted Gold Award! Yay!

Here are a few (of many) places that have given a review of it:

http://www.teensreadtoo.com/BloodSongAdams.html

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=24879

http://book-whisperer.blogspot.com/2010/06/review-blood-song-by-cat-adams.html

http://everybodyneedsalittleromance.com/2010/06/13/blood-song-by-cat-adams/

http://wickedlilpixie.com/2010/04/16/blood-song-cat-adams/

http://sidhevicious.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/blood-song-spotlight-review/

So tell me what you like to see in a vampire! Let’s get some chatter going. Do you like the sexy, misunderstood sort of vamp or the evil undead of legend? What should be able to kill them? How powerful do you like them to be? Hero or villain? I want to know what you think.

Of course, if you have any questions about Blood Song or any of the Thrall books, I’ll be happy to answer them as well!

Visit me online at:

http://www.catadams.net

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cathyclamp

Witchy Chicks blog: http://witchychicks.blogspot.com

Regular blog: http://catadamsauthor.blogspot.com

Vampire-Con Film Festival

Tomorrow the 2nd annual VAMPIRE-CON Film Festival kicks off at The New Beverly Cinema.

VILF Winner!

Just realized I forgot to announce the winner for the VILF contest.

Jo-Anne Kenrick

You get your choice of the first season of Buffy DVDs, or the complete Moonlight series.

Email VampChix with your address and choice.  Congrats!

Review: Seance For A Vampire

VampChix has a copy of SEANCE FOR A VAMPIRE to give away today.  Leave a comment to be entered to win!  [Winner announced on Friday.]

Did you know Sherlock Holmes and Dracula were cousins?  No?  I'm not giving anything away; it's revealed early on in this charming mystery that reeks of the paranormal and a very famous vampire, indeed.  I have to say that I have never read a Sherlock Holmes mystery so I cannot be a judge of whether or not the author has captured that character's voice and style (as well as Watson), but it worked for me.  The story is narrated in turns by Watson and Dracula.  It is methodical and meticulous with detail, as I'm sure Holmes would appreciate.  Fraudulent mediums get caught up in their own hoax as murder, kidnapping and the paranormal enter the picture.  At times, Holmes seems to fade into the background, giving Watson center stage, but I didn't mind.  It was the mystery that intrigued.  Dracula seemed a bit subdued until he revealed his amorous hungers halfway through the book, yet he remains a strange gentleman through and through.  The period detail becomes a character itself.

If you're a Holmes fan, you mustn't miss this story.  If you've never read Sherlock and his adventures, I feel sure if you love a good mystery, this one will not disappoint.  Dracula fans not big on mystery may approach the novel cautiously, but give it a go.  Saberhagen's entire Dracula series is not to be missed by any vampire fan.  I've also read the Holmes-Dracula File and found it fascinating.
This rerelease of SEANCE FOR A VAMPIRE by Titan Books (originally published in 1994) is under the series title THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and features a handful of authors and their stories starring Holmes and Watson (but I suspect Saberhagen's is the only one including Dracula).

For those interested, here is a list of all the Dracula books in Saberhagen's series:

                

Blood

We all have it.  We don't want to drink it.  But have you ever wondered about the pretty red stuff running through your veins?  Vampires have.
Below are a few facts on blood taken from an excellent book, FIVE QUARTS: A PERSONAL AND NATURAL HISTORY OF BLOOD by Bill Hayes.  If you're interested in how blood works in your body, or even how you can relate it to a vampire tale you may be writing, I highly recommend finding this book filled with facts, history, and personal stories.

— There are 5 quarts of blood in the average human body.  It gushes through approximately 60,000 miles of arteries, veins and capillaries.  It is roughly 7.5 percent of our body weight.  Every 30 pounds of us has about a quart of blood.

— Blood tastes metallic due to being iron-rich.  2/3 of the body's stores of iron can be found in the blood.

— Blood varies in flavor from person to person.  It is tainted by what we eat, and the chemicals and medications we put in our body.  So when fictional vampires wax over a particular 'vintage' or 'flavor' that is very accurate.

—venesection, the practice of opening a vein, was practiced throughout history to let out the bad blood and allow the body to produce new, fresh blood in ill patients.  Beware the vampire intent on venesection.

— the carotid artery provides a palpable, audible, and sometimes visual sign of life.  There are 7 pairs of pulse points on the body: neck, inner elbows, wrist, both sides of the groin, pit of the knees, behind the ankles, and on top of the feet.  Keep the vamps away from your knees.  (Don't say I didn't warn you.)

—Stoker wrote Dracula between two major advances in the understanding of blood: the identification in the 1880s of platelets, the circulating blood cells that aid in clotting, and the discovery of human blood groups in 1901.

—in the 16th century women would rub their faces with the blood of doves to prevent wrinkles.

—removed from the flow of the circulatory system, blood naturally separates.  If put in a test tube it settles to amber (plasma), white (white cells and platelets), and red (red cells).

— In a body at rest, a single blood cell completes a full circuit of the circulatory system in about thirty seconds.

— After the blood is drawn from the body and stored for blood donations, the platelets remain functional for only five days.  So if the blood is the life, vampires had better drink their fridge blood fast.  I'm just sayin'.  (Thanks to Tynga's correction, vamps could probably keep it in the fridge about a month.  But still, I'm thinking the fresher the better.) :-)

For more fascinating facts, read the book!

The Gates

Did you watch The Gates?  I have to admit, I wasn't expecting it to blow me away, and it didn't, but the premise was very intriguing.  Worth watching again, for sure.  I like that all the characters have secrets, which we all know will be slowly revealed.  Yet some secrets were divulged right away, like the vampiress and her husband.  But is the adopted child merely human?  And what about the vampiress's strange rash after she drank blood?  Does she love to cook, but can't eat so she gives it away to others?  And her hubby; does he run a blood-tech company of some sort?  Great questions, I'll watch to have answered.

And the pack of wolves is another mystery.  Is it the entire team?  Are they initiated into wolfdom through a bite?  What other creatures exist behind the protective Gates?

What about the witches in the herb shops?  I see a great rivalry there.

And even the mortal cop has a mysterious case in his recent past that apparently put his family through hell.  And how about that ending?  Not who you were expecting they'd find, eh?

So what about you?  Did you like the show?  Will you watch again?

Review: Insatiable by Meg Cabot

About the book:

Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her bosses are making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn't believe in them.

Not that Meena isn't familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you're going to die. (Not that you're going to believe her. No one ever does.)

But not even Meena's precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets- then makes the mistake of falling in love with- Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side. It's a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, Lucien's already dead. Maybe that's why he's the first guy Meena's ever met whom she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena's always been able to see everyone else's future, she's never been able to look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future...if she even has one.


My spoiler free review:

Usually when I sit down to review a book I get out all my supplies (notebook, sticky notes, and pen) in preparation for all the really memorable lines, favorite passages, and character descriptions. I like to keep track ahead of time so that I'm not scrambling to find things later and I confess to not having the best memory when it comes to revisiting text. I treat each review in the same manner. The downfall is that I can sometimes remain removed from the story and it is more difficult to immerse myself in the characters or plot- the world is tackled almost like a research paper.

I've never questioned my method until now. When I got Insatiable in the mail I set out with my usual routine, only to toss it all aside by about page 70. At that point, the cast had been introduced, the backstory was all laid out, Meena and Lucien had accidentally met and Alaric was on the hunt... I simply did not want to stop and take notes anymore. I was so caught up in the zany, madcap world that Meena lives in that I forgot about my review and simply read the book for pure enjoyment. My usual notes were a skeleton of initial impressions and nothing more, something I do not regret in the slightest.

Insatiable may deal with supernatural elements, but balance is achieved with a colorful cast of characters that are believable and authentic. Who hasn't worked with a blood sucking co-worker before (Shoshana)? How many of us have met the overzealous and too-friendly neighbor (Mary Lou)? And who doesn't love a good love triangle (Lucien, Meena and Alaric)?

Meena is a strong heroine, without being in your face, and will appeal to fans of Buffy. She's smart, capable and tough- but she's also compassionate and kind. Her gift of seeing death has caused personal heartaches but she hasn't given up, instead offering advice to friends and strangers alike in the hopes that they will somehow cheat fate.

Lucien is an insanely hot professor that happens to be the Prince of Darkness. He is trying to overcome the terror caused by his father, the legendary Vlad Dracul, by forbidding his people to kill when feeding, but his plan faces serious opposition by those following his half brother, Dimitri. Lucien is a connoisseur of fine wines, a man that takes his responsibility seriously and he is not to be trifled with- failure of any kind is not an option. He falls in love with Meena and wants her for eternity.

Alaric is part of the Palatine Guard, a group of vampire hunters employed by Rome, whose partner was horribly maimed and almost killed by vampires. He is obsessed with destroying all vampires and will do what it takes to win. He reveals the truth to Meena and disrupts her budding romance but his interest isn't purely platonic either- she turns his orderly world upside down and he secretly likes it, and her.

One of my favorite scenes takes place fairly early on in the book, when Lucien brings Meena to the Metropolitan Museum of Art after everyone has gone home for the evening and they are all alone. While roaming the Great Hall, Lucien opens himself up to Meena and tells her the tragic story of Vlad and his young bride, only she doesn't realize that the story is part of his heritage. To cheer him, Meena shares her love of a particular painting of Joan Of Arc.
"Isn't she beautiful?" she breathed, marveling at the painting's details.
"She is," Lucien agreed somberly.
With a turn of her head, Meena was unnerved to discover that Lucien was standing much closer than she'd realized... ...less than two feet away from her. He hadn't eve been looking at the painting when he'd agreed that it was beautiful.

Another favorite scene takes place towards the end when Alaric is leaving to rescue Meena's tiny dog, Jack Bauer, from her apartment which is being watched by very angry vampires. She gives him a kiss on the cheek for luck and...
He was gone.
Meena examined what Alaric Wulf had placed into her hand.
It was a pointed wooden stake.
She couldn't help smiling to herself.
He was just so...annoying.

This was my first Meg Cabot novel, although I had heard of her work before...Princess Diaries are required reading for anyone that has a daughter under the age of 15, at least in my house! But I will admit to being skeptical that she could put a new spin on the classic Stoker novel, a book filled with characters that I adore. I shouldn't have doubted her for a second because Meg Cabot's Insatiable has surpassed all my expectations and successfully brings Dracula to the modern age.

Highly recommend!!
*reviewed by Anna Dougherty for VampChix

New paranormal television drama — The Gates

They've been advertising it for months.  Finally THE GATES premieres Sunday night on ABC at 9central.

And where have we seen Rhona Mitra flashing her fangs previously?  Maybe she really is a vampire?

The show has been touted as a cross between Desperate Housewives and The Vampire Diaries.  Here's a nice long preview that does look intriguing.  Exsanguination, anyone?

Fan them on Facebook.

Here's a great interview with Mitra about the show.

Nestled inside a private mountain community are The Gates. The image of perpetual suburban bliss, each street is lined with perfectly manicured homes protected by the massive iron gates, but a dark and delicious secret is buried just beneath the surface of this picturesque neighborhood.

Like most families that settle inside The Gates, the Monohans are unmoored from a complicated life they abandoned in Chicago. Named the new police chief of The Gates, Nick Monohan is expecting a change of pace in this quiet suburb. Nick's wife, Sarah, and their children, Charlie and Dana, are embarking on new adventures as well. Their house is to die for, but amidst the excitement, Sarah is still burdened with the revelation that her husband may not be the man she thought he was. Charlie and Dana will also face some challenges of their own: Along with navigating the trials and tribulations of adolescence, they'll also face the daunting task of fitting into their new upscale school, where their new friends run in tight-knit packs.

There's something very different about this place, almost... haunting. Unions will be complicated by friends with unnatural influence, insatiable housewives will struggle with ravenous cravings, and teenagers will be cursed with keeping their beastly instincts in check. The Monohans are facing an uncertain fate. Nick is about to be tangled up in a mystery where he will begin to piece together the dark truth about their new home, and the supernatural elements that lurk behind the shadows of The Gates.

The Gates stars Frank Grillo as Nick Monohan, Marisol Nichols as Sarah Monohan, Rhona Mitra as Claire Radcliff, Luke Mably as Dylan Radcliff, Travis Caldwell as Charlie Monohan, Skyler Samuels as Andie Bates, Colton Haynes as Brett Crezski, Chandra West as Devon, Victoria Platt as Peg Mueller, Justin Miles as Marcus Jordan and Janina Gavankar as Leigh Turner. The Gates is produced by Fox Television Studios. The series is executive-produced by Gina Matthews and written and executive-produced by Grant Scharbo and Richard Hatem.

New Vampire Releases for June 2010

Get ready for some great vampire reads coming out this month. Books by Cat Adams, Laurell K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Angela Knight, etc. There is also an excellent anthology - Dracula's Guest edited by Michael Sims. Enjoy!

Blood Song
by Cat Adams
[pen name of C T Adams and Cathy Clamp]

Tor Books (June 8, 2010)

From the publisher:  Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a Prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.

Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an Abomination—something that should not exist—and now both human and supernatural alike want her dead. With the help of a few loyal friends—a sexy mage, a powerful werewolf, and a psychic cop—Celia does her best to stay alive. On the run from her enemies, Celia must try to discover who is behind her transformation…before it’s too late.

Bullet (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter)
Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley Hardcover (June 1, 2010)

From the publisher: The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children...

Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out.

She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.

The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can..."





Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories

Michael Sims, editor
Walker and Company (June 22, 2010)

From the publisher:

Before Twilight and True Blood, even before Buffy and Anne Rice and Bela Lugosi, vampires haunted the nineteenth century, when brilliant writers everywhere indulged their bloodthirsty imaginations, culminating in Bram Stoker's legendary 1897 novel, Dracula.

Michael Sims brings together the very best vampire stories of the Victorian era—from England, America, France, Germany, Transylvania, and even Japan—into a unique collection that highlights their cultural variety. Beginning with the supposedly true accounts that captivated Byron and Shelley, the stories range from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Oval Portrait" and Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" to Guy de Maupassant's "The Horla" and Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Good Lady Ducayne." Sims also includes a nineteenth-century travel tour of Transylvanian superstitions, and rounds out the collection with Stoker's own "Dracula's Guest"—a chapter omitted from his landmark novel.

Vampires captivated the Victorians, as Sims reveals in his insightful introduction: In 1867, Karl Marx described capitalism as "dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor"; while in 1888 a London newspaper invoked vampires in trying to explain Jack the Ripper's predations. At a time when vampires have been re-created in a modern context, Dracula's Guest will remind readers young, old, and in between of why the undead won't let go of our imagination.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Seance for a Vampire
by Fred Saberhagen
Titan Books (June 22, 2010)
[This is a reprint. Originally published in 1994]

From the publisher: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless creation returns in a new series of handsomely designed, long out-of-print detective stories. From the earliest days of Holmes’ career to his astonishing encounters with Martian invaders, the Further Adventures series encapsulates the most varied and thrilling cases of the worlds’ greatest detective.

When two suspect psychics offer Ambrose Altamont and his wife the opportunity to contact their recently deceased daughter, the wealthy British aristocrat wastes no time in hiring Sherlock Holmes to expose their hoax. He arranges for the celebrated detective and Dr. Watson to attend the family's next seance, confident in Holmes' rationalist outlook on the situation. But what starts as cruel mockery becomes deadly reality when young, beautiful Louisa Altamont appears to her parents in the flesh as one of the nosferatu--a vampire! The resulting chaos leaves one of the fraudulent spiritualists dead, Sherlock Holmes missing, and Dr. Watson alone and mystified.

With time running out, Watson has no choice but to summon the only one who might be able to help--Holmes' vampire cousin, Prince Dracula. Alternately narrated by Watson and the charismatic Dracula himself, Seance for a Vampire demonstrates that heroes are sometimes found in the most unlikely places. Saberhagen has recast Bram Stoker's paragon of evil into a noble, witty and chillingly powerful character.

[VampChix reviews this book on the 22nd, and gives away a copy!]

FVZA: The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency (Volume 1 TPB) by David Hine, Roy Allan Martinez, and Wayne Nichols
Radical Publishing (June 29, 2010)

From the publisher:  In a world where a deadly disease transforms innocent victims into Zombies, a long dormant government task force is called into action: The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. Throughout history, from the Civil War to World War II, the FVZA protected humanity from the blood-sucking and flesh-eating hordes - until a cure was discovered that sent the undead to their graves.

When a new, incurable strain of the virus ravages a small town in America, Agent Landra Pecos must call upon her lethal skills to eradicate the threat. But as Landra delves deeper into her investigation of the undead menace, she uncovers shocking secrets that will change her life forever. Based on the popular website www.FVZA.org and written by comics superstar David Hine (Civil War: X-Men, Spider-Man Noir, Arkham Asylum).

Grave New Day
by Lina Gardiner
ImaJinn Books (June 15, 2010)

From the publisher: Book three in this award-winning series. Vampire and New York City Police Black Ops Captain Jess Vandermire is faced with the hardest Decision of her life-become human again and regain her soul or remain a vampire forever and fight an ancient evil that is a threat to every human on the planet. Ensnared in a plan that might go terribly wrong, she has little choice.

As a human she can't fight the ancient enemy. Then a mysterious stranger shows up and offers to help, and she's not sure if he's really on her side. She discovers her entire existence has been leading up to the challenge ahead. A challenge that has insurmountable odds, and if she doesn't win, every human on the planet loses.

Hell's Warrior
by Jaye Roycraft
ImaJinn Books (May 1, 2010)

From the publisher: Sequel to Half Past Hell. It's been twenty years since the vampire-mortal war known to the undead as "Hell" ended, but peace has been hard for Chicago's doyen, vampire Che Kincade. Beauty and power ensure that blood, sex and money come easily, but compromises and concessions are hard for a half-breed undead warrior whose roots run centuries-deep in violence. Still, he's managed at last to make peace bearable. A secret affair with his mortal counterpart, Chicago Mayor Deborah Dayton, ensures that their weekly meetings at city hall to discuss the vampire problems in the city are accompanied by wonderfully delicious clandestine sex.

Cade's house-of-cards peace tumbles when, just hours after their usual tryst, news comes that a high-profile murder has taken place in the city. Soon Cade's very private and ordered world unravels when he's wanted first for rape, then murder. He goes on the run with no help but that given by Red, a blood whore whose bed he's in when the call comes that Chicago PD has a warrant for his arrest. The frame puts a whole new light on the assassination, and Cade tries to make sense of it as he dodges the police, mob assassins, and the vampire hunters known as the Brothers of the Sun.

Was the murder politically motivated--a way to return the city to the old days of persecution and hatred, or was it a personal attack on him? There have always been those who would dispose Cade as doyen and force him out of power. Cade suspects that even Thor, his tyro and master-in-training, is among those who would see him destroyed. When the people Cade cares about keep dying, he sheds his peace chief mien to return to that which he knows best--killing...

Night Myst (Indigo Court, Book 1)
by Yasmine Galenorn
Berkley (June 29, 2010)

From the publisher:  Eons ago, vampires tried to turn the Dark Fae in order to harness their magic, only to create a demonic enemy more powerful than they imagined. Now Myst, the Vampiric Fae Queen of the Indigo Court, has enough power to begin a long prophesied supernatural war. And Cicely Waters, a witch who can control the wind, may be the only one who can stop her-and save her beloved Fae prince from the Queen's enslavement.
[Night Myst is Bite Club's next read!]

The Passage
by Justin Cronin
Ballantine Books (June 8, 2010)

From the publisher:  “It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

Monthly vampire releases compiled by Patricia of Patricia's Vampire Notes