I first tiptoed into the world of blogging four years ago today with a timid little post titled "Blogger Newbie." At the time I was finishing up a manuscript about a vampire who tries to fit into Southern California suburbia.
The manuscript found an agent but didn't land a publishing contract. Meanwhile, the Vampire Film Festival published an excerpt of the book, and I kept blogging and writing.
Fast forward four years: Suburban Vampire now has a lovely following, I'm still with my agent, and another one of my manuscripts will soon make the rounds to publishers (very soon, actually).
To celebrate my four-year anniversary in the blogosphere, I'm heading back to the very first vampire song I ever shared on Suburban Vampire: "Vampire" by Antsy Pants. The tune gained some fame in the closing credits of Juno in 2007. I enjoy the song because it's peppy—not your typical mood for vampire music—even though the lyrics entail a vampire who's lost his fangs.
Thanks to everyone who's joined me during the past four years! I'll keep playing in vampire suburbia until you or I become tired of the undead.
According to the blogosphere buzz, the role of Lincoln in the film adaptation of Seth Graham-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will go to Benjamin Walker, star of Broadway's now-defunct Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Just a few weeks ago I blogged about my fascination with Walker's unconventional musical in a piece titled History, Sexypants Style, so I'm curious to see what the actor will do when he fills Lincoln's shoes—and, ahem, pants.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter uses the following quirky premise: "While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years."
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson turns an earlier U.S. President into an emo rock star.
I think Walker will be quite comfortable in his new role.
I'm looking for short (three- to four-paragraph) guest posts about the romantic allure of vampires to celebrate Valentine's Day. If you have a vampire book/blog/movie/song/craft you'd like to promote by offering your two cents on vampire love, send me a note here.
Ed Loomis is a man on the streets trying to find his way through life , looking for a new opportunity to redeem himself in society. Until one evening he finds himself cornered and in a dire situation for his life. Not believing it he is killed and brought back as a vampire. This is a story of "transition" from life to the undead and its trials and tribulations. Follow Ed and his fellow clan members as they confront the challenges that come within their shadowed society. We all live... we all die... only the unfortunate transition.
Have you heard about The Radleys yet? The adult version of Matt Haig's British suburban vampire novel (yes, suburban vampires!) debuted December 28, 2010, and the teen version, which sports an entirely different cover, will be released by Walker Books in the U.S. on July 21, 2011. The novel tells the tale of a family of vampires who've been trying to hide their true nature from their kids. Here's the trailer...
I haven't yet read the book, but I'd be curious to hear if it's as good as it sounds. Here are the covers for both versions:
My guest today is bestselling novelist Lena Meydan, author of Twilight Forever Rising, published by Tor Books here in the U.S. The novel originally appeared in her native Russia and won Best Urban Fantasy for 2000-2005 by the 13th International Congress of Fantasy Writers in St. Petersburg.
Synopsis:
Darel Ericson of the Dahanavar clan is a rarity among his vampire brethren: he’s an empath, strong enough to occasionally read thought as well as emotion. For centuries, his power has given the Dahanavar a significant advantage against the machinations of the other vampire families, an advantage which makes Darel both a powerful tool and a highly visible target.
Fortunately for Darel, it is more useful for the heads of the other clans to maintain the centuries-long peace between the houses than to remove him. But the cunning and violent head of the House of Nachterret is tired of the truce, and of hiding his presence in the world. The Nachterret would like nothing more than have free reign over the helpless human cattle upon which they feed.
Darel and the human woman he loves become central to the Nachterret’s scheme to plunge the Houses into all-out war. Darel is ultimately forced to face the question: is one young woman’s life too high a price to pay for peace?
SUBURBAN VAMPIRE: Twilight Forever Rising has been referred to as “vampires meet The Sopranos.” How are your vampires like an organized crime family?
LENA MEYDAN: Vampires in my book are similar to the Sopranos because they are also united in families. Each member of the family has its own purpose of existence and conducts its political game with opponents from other families. However, some of them very much appreciate family ties and they stand up for each other. Because they lived side by side for centuries, they know who their friends and who their enemies are, since they went through a lot together. When you stand together through major historical events—good and bad—it unites. For families in my novel, such as the Cadavercitan, Vricolakos, and Dahanavar families, connections are very important.
Although, of course, there are vampires in the capital city who are thugs. They are ruthless with both strangers and with their own people, unscrupulous, and they do not consider anyone but themselves and their own interest. For example, the Nachterret family feel worthy of existing in this world and the rest of humanity are animals, according to their particular point of view. Another vampire family—the Asimans—conduct ruthless experiments on people in order to develop a vaccine against the sun.
Of course, all these vampires as criminals prefer to hide all their affairs and attract less attention.
SV: Twilight Forever Rising was originally published in Russia, where it received the Strannik (Stranger) Literary Prize at the 13th International Congress of Fantasy Writers. Are Russians as obsessed with vampire entertainment as Americans?
MEYDAN: The more I come to know Americans by communicating with them, the the idea that we are alike is affirmed. There are differences in culture, though in the nuances in education and, perhaps on the perception of the world, we are very similar. Otherwise nobody in Russia would be able to watch American movies—and these are very popular—or read American authors, and my book wouldn’t be published in the U.S. We are people of one planet with some differences in mentality. That’s why vampire themes are popular in both the U.S. and Russia. I only want to point out that the vampire boom started much later in Russia than in the U.S.—just three years ago.
SV: When did you first become interested in vampires? Were there any books or movies that sparked your interest in these creatures?
MEYDAN: I have been interested in vampires for a long time. Vampires are to me as people are, but they have a much more severe substance as predators than ordinary people who try to suppress this desire. I was also trying to fantasize about how different social groups would behave, if you gave them eternal life. From this point of view, I set some events in the past during real historical events by adding a few flashbacks in the book.
I decided to write a vampire novel back in 1999, when the vampire boom hadn’t happened in the rest of the world, and in Russia this theme wasn’t interesting. My book had a difficult and interesting fate; the work on the whole cycle took me eleven years to complete.
The first movie I watched about vampires that greatly impressed me was Interview with the Vampire (1994), based off of the Anne Rice book. I saw this movie when I was studying in school. The movie had great actors such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst, and they struck my imagination, revealing a completely new vampire aesthetic.
I became interested in this topic, and one day I came across a book on the mythology of vampirism; it was an encyclopedia that provided details on the existence of vampires in different countries and how they were depicted in myths and legends. Perhaps this was the first impulse for the decision to unite vampires through families in my book.
SV: Please tell us a little about the characters in the vampire/human love story in Twilight Forever Rising.
MEYDAN: Oh, I can talk about the characters for hours. Each family has it own representatives, and I wouldn’t dare call any one of them a secondary character. Sooner or later everyone will play an important role in the love story between the vampire Darrel and his human girlfriend, Loraine. Everyone will come to an important point in the story, and we will be able to see the capital city through their eyes. There are sublime Fairyartos and romantic necromancers, and there are cruel Nachterret—they are all key characters who open the door to my world of vampires and who open the door for Loraine to the world of vampires. The story of the first book centers around four influential vampire families who are at the brink of war. Darrel, the protagonist, is in the middle of the action, as he has strong empathy and he also has a very powerful telepathic power, abilities which his family uses to defend themselves and prevent the outbreak of war. Darrel falls in love with a young human girl, and this adds more existing problems to his list.
I tried to give the book a clear idea of what kind of unusual ability of empathy Darrel has, and why he was so fiercely hated by his enemies. His relationship with the human girl for him is so important because it gives him the opportunity for a short time to be human. But he was not left alone and wasn’t given a second to be disconnected from participating in the political intrigues of vampire families. And of course, Lorraine became a hindrance for other vampires, and she is completely exposed to influential and powerful vampires who try to manipulate Darrel.
SV: In the U.S., Tor Books has published Twilight Forever Rising as the first book in the Vampire Clan Novels. How many books will be in the series?
MEYDAN: The total number of books in this series are four. In Russia the next three books were published under the titles The Wizard of the Clan of Death, Founder, and New Gods.
SV: Do you know when the next Vampire Clan Novel will be available?
MEYDAN: Unfortunately, I do not have this information yet. I think that the continuation will depend on how American readers perceive the first book and how much they want to read a sequel. I think that depends on the publisher. But the second book has been translated from Russian and is waiting to take flight.
SV: How can readers learn more about you and your writing?
MEYDAN: I have an English website: http://www.lenameydan.com. On this site you can find information about me, interviews, and answers to readers' questions, and also see the many colorful illustrations to my Russian books.
Writer/composer Crystal Collier alerted me to a new show campaigning to make its way to Broadway: Immortal the Musical. The production involves a vampire named Count Lucas Delamark, a "recluse who occupies the town’s most prestigious estate" and "harbors a damning secret."
With wealth amassed over three centuries of “immortality,” [Lucas] circles the globe in search of isolation. Yet the hunger must be satiated lest he go mad, and so he waits for the darkness, the safety of moonlight, and draws them to him.
Surviving on the nectar of mortal blood, he battles the temptation to live, instead of merely existing beyond the shadows of human memory.
To sample a taste of Immortal the Musical's music, click on the following song titles:
Congratulations, winners! Meredith, please send your snail mail address to suburbanvamp AT gmail DOT come. Dottie, please send your email address to the same place.
If you're wondering about the Mr. Bean comment, I asked people entering the Nocturne contest which fictional character they would NOT want to get stuck with in a snowstorm (Nocturne involves a woman who gets snowbound with a vampire the author describes as "the world’s sexiest Englishman"). We had answers as varied as Hannibal Lecter, the Daybreakers vampires, the Burger King king from the commercials, and Hannah Montana. Thanks so much to everyone who entered both contests, and a huge thanks to the authors, Syrie James and Tom Olbert, for joining me.
I need to take another week off from Suburban Vampire to finish up the revisions my agent requested for my YA manuscript, Blackbirds. I just took some time off with the holidays and was hoping to get back into a Suburban Vampire routine, but I really need to buckle down and spend the next week wrapping up my edits. However...I'm leaving you with plenty to play with while I'm gone. Make sure you've explored my updated Upcoming Vampire Movies & Series List, and my Music Monday archive is now up-to-date and huge.
If you want to help me get Blackbirds into print, publishers love to see that authors have a following. Follow me here at Suburban Vampire through the Google Friend Connect option in the sidebar and/or Twitter, or join my Blackbirds sites: CatWinters.com, Twitter, and Facebook. Thanks so much for everyone's support, including all my wonderful subscribers! You guys are great.
I've received news about Fangbook, a new social network aimed toward "a variety of people who can engage in relevant debates relating to subjects like mythology, vampirism in literature, vampirism in pop culture, Sanguinarianism, and general topics like art, music and current events." The website is located at http://myfangbook.com.
This upcoming Monday, January 17, marks the debut of Syfy's version of Being Human, a series about vampire/werewolf/ghost roommates that originally started with a BBC version (which will launch its third season January 23). I'm attaching interviews with the U.S. cast, who chatted about their supernatural characters.
David at Night-Tinted Glasses sent me a link to a gorgeously filmed video for "The Vampiress Nurse," the first single from an indie Long Beach, California, band called Mezzanine. The song is beautiful, and the video—directed by Adewale Oluwasanmi—tells a gothic World War II tale through the use of haunting black-and-white cinematography. I wouldn't be surprised to find the production as a short film entry at a festival.
Blood and Bone China
A twelve part web drama series beginning March 2011. It is 1897 and a city is in turmoil. In the smoky, dirty depths of middle England, the people are terrified. The once bustling streets of Stoke are empty, the silence is only broken by the whispers of devils, demons and vampires. Poor souls are being taken, vanishing without a trace. Website: bloodandbonechina.com
Carmilla
A movie adaptation of a classic vampire novel that pre-dates Stoker's Dracula. In 19th-century Styria, Laura Sheridan meets Carmilla as the result of a coach accident and falls in love with her, much to the annoyance of her suitor, Kurt, and her sister Faith. But is Carmilla all she seems? Website: imdb.com/title/tt1351631/
My Sucky Teen Romance
A teen comedy written, directed, and acted by teenagers. On 17-year-old Kate's last weekend in town, she and her friends plan to spend it together at SpaceCON—the local science fiction convention they attend every year. At the convention Kate meets Paul, a recently turned teen vampire (who is also dressed as one). But when Kate tries to make a move on him, he accidentally bites her in the neck. Kate and her friends soon discover Paul is not the only vampire at the convention, and it is up to them to stop the vampires and find a way to turn Kate back before it is too late. Website: cheesynuggets.com
Sherwood Horror
A modern-day retelling of Robin Hood—with vampires. An ex-con returns home after a six year absence to find his town under the rule of vampires. He must join forces with his old roughneck hunting buddies to wage war against the evil sheriff and his horde of blood-sucking minions. Website: sherwoodhorrormovie.com
Author Tom Olbert is here today to discuss his novelette Unholy Alliance and the nature of evil in fiction and reality. Be sure to check out the rules for wining a free copy of Unholy Alliance at the end of his post.
Primal Evil
By Tom Olbert
The demonic creatures of fiction are just reflections of the everyday evil that permeates real life. The vampire, for instance. The dark transformation from human to vampire can symbolize a loss of innocence. Making a choice that forms a dark, defining moment. Like crossing some great divide from which there’s no coming back. For some, that choice is made for them at a very early age.
In fiction, the evil can so easily be purged from the world by something as simple as a wooden stake through the heart. Or simpler yet, the rising sun. If only it were that easy in real life. Sometimes, we romanticize vampirism, empathizing with these fictional vampires, as though trying to come to terms with our primal fears, or maybe to satisfy some dark, secret craving.
But sometimes, vampire fantasy can be like a primal scream. A darkness born of darkness, rising from the death of innocence to devour those who destroy it.
In my vampire novelette Unholy Alliance I wanted to do a story that was part revenge fantasy, part morality play, and part first love. It’s a story of abused kids on the mean streets of any American city, doing what they have to do to survive. They’ve been fighting their whole lives, exploited by adults in ways that came to seem all too natural to them. The darkness is where they live. They don’t know any other way. Some of them are human. Some are vampires. They’ve been taught to hate and hunt each other. Yet, they find they have more in common with each other than with the ones who use them. The story involves children enslaved by drugs and prostitution, some of them trafficked from country to country, suffering another kind of living death, and fed upon by another, more evil kind of demon. One that breathes. An unlikely alliance of vampire and human is what it takes to save them.
While we appease our primal fears with dark fantasies of demons hiding in the dark, a greater evil lives all around us, largely ignored. Women and children are systematically preyed upon all over the world. Why? Is this evil an aberration, or truly primal? It exists in every country. It hides behind the tenets of ancient tradition and patriarchal culture. It depends on women being kept in a servile, inferior status that renders them perpetually vulnerable. It thrives in cultures where girls are sexually mutilated at puberty, where female infanticide is common, where women and girls are not considered people, but objects of commerce sold to satisfy the lower appetites of men. Mere bodies to be fed upon, as they have often been depicted in horror fiction.
Such predation feeds on human weakness, like a degrading animal transmutation that turns men into predators that feel none of the pain they inflict on the innocent. Or, perhaps they crave it. One must ask if these real-life monsters are men turned into beasts, like the vampire or werewolf of fiction…or is the beast their true nature, and the human form merely a convenient disguise? In fiction, anyone can be turned into a life-draining demon; the potential exists in all of us. In real life, is it so for all, or only the sick, twisted few? The pervasive and timeless nature of the evil suggests the former.
Who are the real-life vampires? The predators that stalk their young human prey in hellish brothels under dim, blood-red light in rooms that stink of sweat, blood, and excrement? Are these monsters easily recognized? Not always. Like the werewolves of fiction, many lead double lives, respectable family men, husbands and fathers by day, monsters by night. They are all around us, every day. We work beside them. We may have voted a few into office. What would they see if they ever really looked into a mirror? Would they choose to see anything at all? What drives them? An insatiable bestial hunger, like that of the werewolf? Or a cold, dead indifference, like that of the vampire? Either way, they lure their victims, entrap them, then drain the life from them, little by little, destroying first their innocence, then their self-esteem, and finally life itself. Such monsters drain the life out of entire societies.
In Unholy Alliance, I fantasized victims striking back, empowered in rising from the dead as predators who hunt other predators. But the hero finds that revenge is cold and empty. It’s through love that his innocence is restored. He finds a light inside himself by reaching out to someone else for the first time, even through the darkness. He learns to fight against the darkness, in all its forms, instead of remaining its slave.
Unholy Alliance was published by Eternal Press in February 2010. It is also available at Amazon.com as paperback and Kindle.
Unholy Alliance was my first professional project, and the editors at Eternal Press were extremely supportive, patient, and helpful, both in editing and promotion advice, as they are with all their authors. For a newcomer like myself, who was not into cyberspace social networking, blogging, etc., that help was much appreciated. They took the time to walk me through the basics of setting up a blog and Facebook account and advising me on how to use them.
Also, EP authors and readers participate in continuing email loops that showcase new releases and help with promotion tips and advice, and they have pointed me to some great blogs. Eternal Press is a great outfit, and I’m glad to have found them.
I discovered Eternal Press through their listing on Ralan’s Webstravaganza, a terrific, well-managed, and up-to-date market source for authors of paranormal, science fiction and horror, fiction and poetry in all forms and lengths.
Tom Olbert has generously offered a free PDF copy of Unholy Alliance to one Suburban Vampire reader. For your chance to win, head to the comments section and tell Tom why you're excited about reading his novelette. I'll draw a random winner from the entries. Deadline: Friday, January14, 2010, 8:00 AM PST.
"Haunting characters ... A page-turner." —Fresh Fiction
"Brilliant! Couldn't put it down.
A must read for any romance fan." —Book Chick City
"The kind of book that makes you want to
turn off the phone and the television
so you can do nothing but read." —Barnes and Noble Romantic Read of the Week
My guest today is bestselling author Syrie James, well known for her novels set in the nineteenth century, including Dracula, My Love. Syrie is here to celebrate the release of her newest vampire tale, the contemporary romance Nocturne.
About Nocturne:
When Nicole Whitcomb's car runs off a Colorado mountain road during a blinding snowstorm, she is saved from death by a handsome, fascinating, and enigmatic stranger.
Snowbound with him for days in his beautiful home high in the Rockies, she finds herself powerfully attracted to him. But there are things about him that mystify her, filling her with apprehension. Who is Michael Tyler? Why does he live in such a secluded spot and guard his private life so carefully? What secret—or secrets—is he hiding?
Nicole has secrets of her own and a past she is running from—but Michael understands her better than anyone she has ever known. Soon, she is falling as deeply in love with him as he is with her— a profoundly meaningful experience that is destined to change their lives forever.
As the sexual tension between them builds, however, the clues mount up. When Nicole learns her host's terrifying secret, there is nowhere for her to run but into the blizzard raging outside, and Michael may be the only one who can save her life.
Filled with unexpected twists and surprises, Nocturne is a page-turning, haunting, and deeply romantic story of forbidden love that will grab your heart and not let go.
SYRIE JAMES: It began with my love of Jane Austen. She wrote six wonderful novels about courtship and romance, and I wondered: did Jane Austen ever fall in love herself? I read a slew of Austen biographies, and she was always portrayed as a brilliant spinster with a great imagination—but I refused to believe that! On re-reading Jane Austen's preserved letters, I noticed a two-year gap where there were no letters at all. It’s well known that her sister Cassandra burned most of Jane's letters and cut out portions of those she saved. It struck me as entirely possible that Jane had a love affair during those two years—a meaningful and passionate relationship which Cassandra conspired to keep secret.
That was the inspiration for The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen. It required an immense amount of research but was great fun to write. I’m honored to say that the book became a bestseller and was named Best First Novel of 2008 by Library Journal! I’m thrilled that readers continue to write and thank me for giving Jane a love affair. When I wrote The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, it was an equal pleasure to delve into the research and get into the mind and heart of another iconic author. And I had a fantastic time writing Dracula, My Love. Dracula is one of the most powerful vampires in history. I brought to life the passionate romance between Mina and Dracula that Stoker didn’t realize was going on in his own book.
SV: Nocturne, on the other hand, is a modern vampire tale. Were there any challenges in switching from the 1800s to a contemporary setting?
SYRIE: Writing a contemporary story was much easier. Since my other three books were period pieces written in the heroine’s POV, I had to carefully check every single word and phrase to make sure it was not only proper British-speak, but was in use in the English language at the time the memoir was supposedly written. (1816 for Jane Austen, 1852 for Charlotte Brontë, 1890 for Mina Harker.) I spent a lot of time on Dictionary.com! You would not believe how many seemingly common words were not added to the English language until the 20th century. Like “nightstand”—origin 1960! Before that, it was called “night table” or “bed table.” However, even though the use of language was easier in Nocturne, I still had to do a lot of research with regard to the location (including finding and imagining the precise spot in the Colorado mountains where it was possible to be snowed in for four days), Colorado winters, blizzards, horses, wild animals, the medical profession, medical emergencies, etc.
SV: Your Nocturne heroine, Nicole Whitcomb, finds herself snowbound with a mysterious and handsome stranger named Michael Tyler. What can you tell us about your secretive vampire character?
SYRIE: I think of Michael as the world’s sexiest Englishman. He’s smart, well-read, passionate, accomplished, romantic, and thoughtful. He’s hiding another secret, which Nicole discovers before she realizes he’s a vampire. He’s also a tortured hero, haunted by a past that was frightening and cruel. It has taken him centuries to become the man that Nicole meets and falls in love with. He’s spent that time educating and bettering himself, and deliberately staying away from people so as not to hurt anyone. He cares deeply about human life, and fights a constant battle against his dark inner desires.
SV: Michael has ties to writers such as Charles Dickens and Robert Burns. Do you feel you have a soft spot for historical gentlemen? (I ask the question as a historical fiction/period piece addict).
SYRIE: You bet I do! What’s not to love about a sexy gentleman in a cravat, who has refined manners and a delicious accent? Of course, my historical gentlemen are all very progressive; they respect and admire women, and see them as equals. That’s a requirement.
SV: Both Nocturne and Dracula, My Love delve into the world of vampires. When and how did you first become intrigued by these creatures of the night?
SYRIE: I became interested in vampires years ago, when my son Ryan asked me to co-author a screenplay featuring vampires. What drew me to the project was that he wanted to write about “good vampires,” creatures with a soul and a conscience. Before that, I had always thought of vampires as evil, murderous beings. It’s very compelling to write about characters who were good-hearted when they were human, and who remain good after they are changed—but because of the vampire blood running in their veins, they wage a constant battle every day to restrain their primal urges. That’s fascinating to me.
SV: Did you approach the creation of your vampires differently in the two novels?
SYRIE: In both novels, I tried to create a vampire who represents all that I think a vampire should be: dashing, charismatic, passionate, highly intelligent, powerful, dedicated to taking advantage of his gift of immortality to expand his mind and talents, and determined not to hurt human beings. With Dracula, I stayed close to Bram Stoker’s “rules,” which meant he had extraordinary powers and could walk in sunlight. In creating Michael, I did a combination of “old rules” and new. There’s a subtle reference in Nocturne to my vampire in Dracula, My Love; see if you can find it! Both men are madly in love with the heroine and struggle to keep her safe. Am I allowed to admit that, after spending so much time with these vampires, I ended up falling in love with both of them?
SV: Absolutely! You started your writing career as a screenwriter. What are some of your screenplays and teleplays that got produced?
SYRIE: Out of the nineteen screenplays and teleplays that I sold, five were actually produced, including the TV movie Once in a Lifetime for NBC, starring Lyndsay Wagner and Barry Bostwick (it airs regularly on the Lifetime network), several TV episodes, including two for the series Starman, and the independent film Real.
SV: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
SYRIE: Mark Twain once said: “Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” I agree! My advice to anyone with a goal or aspiration is this: no matter who you are, what you do, or what you wish for … give yourself permission to go after your dreams. Do it now. I believe that if you educate yourself, keep your goals in sight, and put in the hard work, you can achieve your dreams—no matter how impossible or unlikely they may seem to someone else!
My specific advice for aspiring writers is: read everything, attend writing classes and workshops, accept feedback and criticism, and make the time to write and rewrite; it only happens with hard work and dedication. You have to park yourself at your computer and write. The end result is so worth it!
SV: Where can readers learn more about you and your novels?
SYRIE: You can read more about me and my books at www.syriejames.com, where I invite you to sign up for my newsletter leave me a message. You can also write to me at authorsyriejames AT gmail.com, follow me on Facebook and on Twitter @Syriejames. And please check out the gorgeous new website my publisher created for Nocturne at http://www.nocturnebook.com!
SV: Thanks so much for joining me at Suburban Vampire, Syrie. Best wishes for Nocturne's success.
CONTEST RULES:
Syrie's Nocturne heroine, Nicole, lucks out by getting snowbound with "the world’s sexiest Englishman." To win a copy of Nocturne, head to the comments section of this post and tell us which fictional character you would NOT want to get stuck with in a snowstorm. I'll draw a random winner from the entries. U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY. Deadline: Friday, January 14, 8:00 AM PST. Good luck!
. The tune gained some fame in the closing credits of Juno
in 2007. I enjoy the song because it's peppy—not your typical mood for vampire music—even though the lyrics entail a vampire who's lost his fangs.
will go to Benjamin Walker, star of Broadway's now-defunct 
short feature with Benjamin Walker:
yet? The adult version of Matt Haig's British suburban vampire novel (yes, suburban vampires!) debuted December 28, 2010, and the 
, published by 
.” How are your vampires like an organized crime family? 
(1994), based off of the Anne Rice book. I saw this movie when I was studying in school. The movie had great actors such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst, and they struck my imagination, revealing a completely new vampire aesthetic. 
contest which fictional character they would NOT want to get stuck with in a snowstorm (Nocturne involves a woman who gets snowbound with a vampire the author describes as "the world’s sexiest Englishman"). We had answers as varied as Hannibal Lecter, the Daybreakers vampires, the Burger King king from the commercials, and Hannah Montana. Thanks so much to everyone who entered both contests, and a huge thanks to the authors, 
Carmilla
that pre-dates Stoker's Dracula.
and 
. 
. Syrie is here to celebrate the release of her newest vampire tale, the contemporary romance 
, 
, and 
for NBC, starring Lyndsay Wagner and Barry Bostwick (it airs regularly on the Lifetime network), several TV episodes, including two for the series Starman, and the independent film Real. 