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January
In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn't the only threat.
Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.
April
Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was Merit's. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker-and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.
Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she's traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan "Lord o' the Manor" Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries' worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude- and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan's attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone's still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago's nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war-and there will be blood.
Look for the sequel FRIDAY NIGHT BITES in October!
May
From “Valley Vamp Rules for Surviving Your Senior Prom” by VAMPED heroine Gina Covello:
Rule #1: Do not get so loaded at the after prom party that you accidentally-on-purpose end up in the broom closet with the surprise hottie of the evening, say the class chess champ who’s somewhere lost his bottle-cap lenses and undergone an extreme makeover, especially if that makeover has anything to do with becoming one of the undead.
Gina Covello has a problem. Waking up a dead is just the beginning. There's very little she can't put up with for the sake of eternal youth and beauty. Blood-sucking and pointy stick phobias seem a small price to pay. But she draws the line when local vampire vixen Mellisande gets designs on her hot new boyfriend with his prophecied powers and hatches a plot to turn all of Gina’s fellow students into an undead army to be used to overthrow the vampire council.
Hey, if anyone's going to create an undead entourage, it should be Gina! Now she must unselfishly save her classmates from fashion disaster and her own fanged fate.
June
The relative peace between vampires and humans in Morganville has been shattered by the arrival of Bishop, a master vampire, who threatens to put the evil back in evil undead and celebrate in cold blood. But Bishop isn't the only threat….
Violent black clouds promise a storm of devastating proportions. As student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against the elements—both natural and unnatural—the unexpected happens: Morganville's vampires begin to vanish one by one.
Look for the 7th Morganville Vampires novel, FADE OUT, in November.
July
Introducing the bold new Bloodhound Files series—and a novel that will knock you out of this world…
Her job description is the “tracking and apprehension of mentally-fractured killers.” What this really means in FBI profiler Jace Valchek’s brave new world—one in which only one percent of the population is human—is that a woman’s work is never done. And real is getting stranger every day…
Jace has been ripped from her reality by David Cassius, the vampire head of the NSA. He knows that she’s the best there in the business, and David needs her help in solving a series of gruesome murders of vampires and werewolves. David’s world—one that also includes lycanthropes and golems—is one with little knowledge of mental illness. An insane serial killer is a threat the NSA has no experience with. But Jace does. Stranded in a reality where Bela Lugosi is a bigger box office draw than Bruce Willis and every full moon is Mardi Gras, Jace must now hunt down a fellow human before he brings the entire planet to the brink of madness. Or she may never see her own world again…
A year ago Jane nearly lost her life taking down an entire blood family of deadly rogue vampires that preyed on a helpless Appalachian town. Now, after months of recuperation, she’s back and ready to fight again. Except this time, she’s hired by those she’s trained to kill—vampires.
Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind—a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. She’s hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie’s Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who’s killing other vamps.
Amidst a bordello full of real “ladies of the night,” and a hot Cajun biker with a panther tattoo who stirs her carnal desire, Jane must stay focused and complete her assignment.
September
The long awaited return of vampire detective Jack Fleming and his compatriot in crime-solving, Charles Escott. Romantic Times says of the series, "Vampire noir blends with hardboiled detective fiction for an effective, atmospheric supernatural mystery. Jack's voice calls to mind black-and-white movies, big band music and Al Capone-like villains. Fans of period fiction and classic detectives like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe will thoroughly enjoy this somewhat twisted tribute."
This is one of the easiest introductions I've ever done! If you look up "spitfire" in the dictionary, I'm pretty sure you'll see a picture of P.N. Elrod. You might have to peel the warning label from the entry, but it will be worth it. P.N. Elrod is probably best known for her vampire noir series, The Vampire Files, which has been favorably compared to writings by Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammet. If you've ever read her work, you'll see why!
Pat Elrod tracked down vampire PI Jack Fleming from The Vampire Files at his night club, Lady Crymsyn, which is one of Chicago’s newest hot spots or at least it was in 1938. Through the magic of time travel, she found herself in Mr. Fleming’s favorite booth just before opening time.
Elrod: So, Jack, how long have you been a vampire?
Fleming: Hey, I was a perfectly normal human being for 36 years before I was bumped off, what about that?
Elrod: Uh, okay, so tell us about your human life.
Fleming: It was pretty much the same as what I’ve got now, just a different kind of drinking was involved.
Elrod: Yes, you mentioned in Cold Streets that you liked a tipple now and then.
Fleming: Don't sugarcoat it, Doll face, I was a drunk newsman. I was really good at both jobs, too.
Elrod: Doll face...!
Fleming: Don't get on your high horse, it's a compliment. I'm a man of my times.
Elrod: Clearly. Now about your life as a vampire...?
Fleming: Versus being a regular guy? Eh, it's not so different. I stay up late, but Chicago's got a lot of all-night movie shows. I miss stuff that goes on during the day like baseball. Reading about a game in the papers just isn’t the same as watching one. I miss a lot of my favorite radio shows, especially in the summer since the days are longer.
Elrod: You’re not at all active during the day?
Fleming: When the sun comes up, I’m dead to the world. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Elrod: How did you get to be a vampire?
Fleming: It’s a long story. I tell about some of it in Bloodlist.
Elrod: That would be your first book. You don’t give the whole story there?
Fleming: I give enough of it. I was pretty busy in Bloodlist. First I wake up dead on that beach, then I can’t remember how I got there or who had killed me. Then this guy hits me with his car--busy. Yanno?
Elrod: Busy. Got that.
Fleming: Good.
Elrod: So—you’ve got a new book in The Vampire Files series coming out this September?
Fleming: Sure do! Dark Road Rising. Your pal Rachel Caine liked it plenty.
Elrod: She did. I think she liked it better than my books. You sure you didn’t hypnotize her?
Fleming: I’m taking the fifth.
Elrod: Anything else on the way?
Fleming: I’ve got a story in that thing you edited, Strange Brew. That’s coming this July. Escott and I solve the case of Hecate’s Golden Eye. I have a short work coming out this month called The Devil You Know. It’s strictly on the Q.T. One of those signed, numbered, limited edition things. It’s only going to be sold on the vampwriter.com website.
Elrod: Getting fancy, are you?
Fleming: I’m only bowing to the demands of my fans.
Elrod: Uh…YOUR fans?
Fleming: That's right, my fans. Next topic?
Elrod: What about your romantic life?
Fleming: Hey, a gentleman doesn't talk about things like that!
Elrod: Sorry, but many of the lady readers are...curious about how you go about things.
Fleming: They'll have to ask my girlfriend. She's never complained.
Elrod: That would be Miss Bobbi Smythe, the chanteuse?
Fleming: She's more than that—she sings, dances, acts, and can swing a blackjack better than Capone.
Elrod: I thought he favored baseball bats.
Fleming: She can swing one of those, too. Better believe it that I stay on her good side! Don't get me wrong, she's the best, I'm lucky to have her. What she sees in me I don't know, but I hope she keeps seeing it.
Elrod: There is also your human partner in your PI business, Charles Escott. He's originally from England and is now a private detective--
Fleming: Private agent. Don't call him a gumshoe, it puts him in a mood. He doesn't do divorce cases is all.
Elrod: I understand he was with you on your first case?
Fleming: Yeah, Bloodlist, the one where I solved my own murder. He was there all right. We got off to a rocky start when he stole my home earth, but what the hell, it all worked out in the end.
Elrod: What does he think of working with a vampire?
Fleming: You'll have to ask him. Why don't you ask me what it's like working with a human? Is there some kind of vampire bias going on here? I have a condition. Would you ask him what it was like to work with a diabetic if I had diabetes?
Elrod: Yes. I would.
Fleming: Oh. Uh. Okay.
Elrod: So what is it like working with Charles Escott? I understand he's a bit quirky.
Fleming: Quirky is an understatement, lady. He drives me nuts. It's bad enough he uses fifty words when ten will do, but he has absolutely no fear—especially when he should. I'm always having to haul him out of trouble.
Elrod: Always?
Fleming: I know, I should talk. I’ll put it this way, we look out for each other, but neither of us makes it easy for the other guy. Then there's his pal, Shoe--
Elrod: That would be Shoe Coldfield who runs the largest African-American gang in what was then called Chicago's "Bronze Belt?"
Fleming: Big guy. Hates surprises. Has a right cross you don't ever wanna meet. He and Escott go way back. They used to be in a Canadian acting troupe--
Elrod: You're kidding!
Fleming: I've seen the posters. Escott's still got some of the company's theatrical gear, but don't talk to him about it. He's got bad memories from that time. I don't like to pry.
Elrod: The heck you don't! What about all that stuff in Dark Sleep?
Fleming: Okay, you got me on that, but go easy on the guy.
Elrod: I will. He's pretty hot. Lots of my friends think he's hotter than you.
Elrod: Yeah, it's the accent. I could listen to him read the phone book.
Fleming: Be careful what you wish for, lady. I've heard him, and it don't do a thing for me. Probably just as well.
Elrod: Um...okay. Now as for the other member of your gang--
Fleming: Gang?
Elrod: Gordy Weems, known as "Northside Gordy." He's got a bit of a reputation as a member of Chicago's underworld.
Fleming: Which is like saying Capone ran a little distribution business for hooch.
Elrod: You've an odd sort of friendship with Gordy, though.
Fleming: Don't make it sound like that! People will get the wrong idea! But, yeah, Gordy and I have teamed up on a case. He knows everything that goes on in Chicago, and sometimes I help him convince a mug to play nice in the sandbox. Well, I used to, anyway. Not so much these days--uh--nights.
Elrod: Oh, yeah? What do you mean?
Fleming: Nah, I'm not going into that. You'd call it a spoiler. Has to do with what you'd call my "powers."
Elrod: Tell us about those.
Fleming: Jeez, take notes, why don'tcha?
Elrod: I am.
Fleming: What is that gizmo?
Elrod: It's a digital recorder.
Fleming: I thought it was a cigarette box, only I can smell that you don't smoke.
Elrod: Sensitive sense of smell, yes, go on.
Fleming: When I bother to breathe, that is. I like that perfume by the way.
Elrod: Oh. Thank you!
Fleming: You don't have to dump in on, though.
Elrod: Hey!
Fleming: It's okay, I don't mind.
Elrod: Back to your powers, wise-ass.
Fleming: Jeez, you make me out like I'm some kinda super guy, but it's part of the package when I woke up undead that night on the beach. I got the night vision and good hearing. And I figured out how to hypnotize people—which isn't polite, by the way—but the best one is being able to disappear.
Elrod: You turn into a mist?
Fleming: No I just vanish. Like this—
Elrod: YOW! WHERE ARE YOU?
Fleming: Right here.
Elrod: YEEEEE!
Fleming: Calm down! It's no big deal.
Elrod: It sure as hell IS!
Fleming: I guess so. I've gotten used to it. Sure tires me out, though. I get hungry.
Elrod: Er...hungry?
Fleming: Yeah, and you know what THAT means.
Elrod: Is that a trick question?
Fleming: Cool your motor, honey, you're safe. I'll just stop at the Stockyards and top off my tank before I turn in for the day.
Elrod: That's a relief.
Fleming: Not for the cows, and lemme tell you it is HELL on my shoes. Usually I vanish and float in, especially when it's muddy.
Elrod: Why don't you get some galoshes?
Fleming: Galoshes?
Elrod: Yeah.
Fleming: Galoshes.
Elrod: You pull them on. They protect your shoes.
Fleming: I KNOW what they are, ya dizzy dame.
Elrod: Well, don't bite my head off!
Fleming: You should be so lucky.
Elrod: I’d rather have Escott.
Fleming: Hey—I heard that!
Elrod: We’re done here. Where’s Escott?
Fleming: He heard you were coming and hid behind the bar.
Escott: I most certainly did not. Ms. Elrod, I am Charles Escott. Please pay no attention to Mr. Fleming. I am delighted to finally make your acquaintance.
Elrod: Likewise, I’m sure. Golly, you’re taller in person.
Escott: And you’re far more charming than I was led to believe.
Elrod: Why, thank you!
Escott: I’m sure Jack has some bartending duties to occupy himself. Why don’t you and I go for a drive? It would be my very great pleasure to take you on a tour of some of the locations that have figured in The Vampire Files.
Elrod: Oh, that would be fantastic, Mr. Escott!
Escott: Please…call me Charles.
Elrod: Charles...
Fleming: Oh, jeez.
We had tornados touch down here today. All very exciting. But not nearly as exciting as having Knight Agency author Jessica Andersen here today.
Jessica Andersen:
Hey all! Jessica Andersen here, author of the Novels of the Final Prophecy. Nightkeepers, Dawnkeepers and the upcoming Skykeepers (Aug 09) are paranormal romantic thrillers about the Nightkeepers, modern-day men and women who find themselves caught up in a series of ancient prophecies surrounding the Mayan 2012 doomsday. To fight the coming apocalypse, the Nightkeepers must find their destined mates, unlock their hidden powers, and defend the barrier separating the earth and underworld.
When Lucienne contacted me about writing a blog for Vampire Week, I said “Absolutely, yes!” because although the blood sacrifices that help power the Nightkeepers’ magic aren’t vampiric in nature, the rituals are based in the beliefs of the ancient Maya, who most certainly believed in vampires.
(from www.esencia21.com)Meet Camazotz, a.k.a. Death Bat or Sudden Bloodletter in the pantheon of the Maya.
( Read more... )
Vampire Week continues! Today I'm pleased to present the awesome Nancy Haddock with her take on Gidget with Fangs. For a giveaway and a wonderful blog on story boards and visual inspiration by SOME GIRLS BITE author Chloe Neill, check out The Knight Agency blog today.
Nancy Haddock’s debut book, La Vida Vampire, launched a new series from Berkley, and made her a national bestselling author. Her second book, Last Vampire Standing is slated for release on May 5, 2009 and is garnering high marks from reviewers.
In writing paranormal romantic mystery, Nancy drew on her long experience with things-that-go-bump, and on the historic wealth of St. Augustine, Florida. She writes full-time, and is a dedicated resident-tourist who never gets tired of exploring the sights of her new hometown.
Why a Gidget with Fangs?
Nancy Haddock
In e-mailing the lovely, talented and moderately caffeinated Lucienne Diver about gracing a certain writer’s conference with her wonderfulness, she kindly invited me to be a part of her Vampire Week. Er, week plus. Let me tell you, I’m seriously honored to be in this company!
Did you catch all the terrific posts on Lucienne’s Vampire Week? See Rachel Caine’s hilarious Handy-Dandy Vampire Generator? Read Gail Carriger’s take on The Sillier Side of Vampires?
If you answered NO to any of the above, you might want to take a peek. Go on, I’ll wait.
Done? Okay, so the question posed as the title of this ditty now might change from Why a Gidget with Fangs to Why Not a Gidget with Fangs?
The main character of my series from Berkley, Cesca (rhymes with Fresca), was conceived in 2004 when I misheard a line in a peanut butter commercial. That’s right a peanut butter commercial. When writers say inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime, we mean it!
With peanut-flavored inspiration, one might project that La Vida Vampire would not be your dark, edgy, angst-filled tale. One would be right. Oh, sure Cesca has a background that’s not entirely Florida orange blossoms. For starters, she didn’t volunteer to be a vampire. But how was I to make Cesca different from the wide assortment of vampire characters I’d read and loved?
I knew Cesca had been born and raised in St. Augustine – the oldest continuously inhabited city in the US, aka the Oldest City and the Ancient City. The rub is that, except for a handful of clubs, bars and restaurants – and the 24/7 Wal-Mart – St. Augustine rolls up the sidewalks pretty darned early. Since Cesca flatly refused to work in a bar or club, she needed a different job.
After some thinking, the job solution hit me like a big DUH bomb. St. Augustine is a tourist town with a number of ghost tour companies. Cesca would give ghost tours. It’s a fun job, one that would put my people-loving vampire in contact with the public, and one that tied right into the character’s past. (Yes, Cesca did laugh at me for being so slow on the uptake.)
But wait! In the next phases of creating Cesca’s present and future, she informed me that she’s a part day-walker. This ability is what landed her in trouble with the vampire king who turned her. Since she’s up from mid-afternoon to mid-morning, she insisted that I let her learn to surf. She was, after all, athletic and something of a tomboy in her former life. No stretch for her to ride a bicycle – or a surfboard – in her new afterlife.
And thus Gidget with Fangs, with her natural shark repellent trait, came to be my character and friend in fiction, and more characters poured into her life. Maggie, Deke Saber, the Jag Queens, even the bridge club ladies. And in the new book, Last Vampire Standing, Jo-Jo the Jester, stand-up comic wannabe, enters stage left to compound Cesca’s afterlife.
So, at the root of things, what’s different about the process of creating a paranormal character from creating any fictional character? Other than defining the paranormal aspects, supernatural powers, and the world building, absolutely nothing.
Every character needs goals, motivations, and conflicts to carry a story. We give our fictional friends a past, family, mentors, allies, enemies, quirks, strengths and weaknesses in which to play out their stories. We give them wants, needs, yearnings, hopes, fears and dreams. We give them favorite music and foods, environments and pets, co-workers and neighbors. We give characters a life – or an afterlife – then pitch them into situations that challenge them to grow.
In short, whether we’re talking vampires, witches, werewolves, or human Joe and Jane next door, the writer’s job is always to suspend disbelief by giving readers characters they can relate to, root for, and hopefully care about enough to carry them into our next books, especially if we’re writing a series!
Do I love my Gidget with Fangs? Cowabunga, you bet I do! I also love the characters created by all the authors I read – be those characters normal or paranormal – and I’m always on the lookout for more new authors to love. The only thing that makes me cranky is not having enough books on my TBR pile. Fortunately, that’s not usually a problem!
