Denise Verrico's Blog: Immortyl Revolution, page 20
February 15, 2011
Shanda Sharlow Interview
Please Welcome Shanda Sharlow to Immortyl Revolution!
Shanda, toward what age group is your book geared?
SS: To about ages fifteen and up. There's a few graphically violent scenes that would be disturbing to anyone younger, but the book itself was written when I was fifteen, so I think that's a pretty good point.
Into which genre would you say your work falls and why?
SS: It definitely falls into classic Fantasy. It's set in pseudo-medieval times, with castles and princesses and wars and 'magic'...although there are a few elements which take it away from traditional Fantasy, as well.
Tell us a little about your book.
SS: Well, The Psyonic is something of a Traditional Fantasy book, following the life of a young man named Hale, with the unfortunate fate to be born a 'Psyonic', a race of people who are capable of telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, and precognition. Unlike many sages and magicians in most Fantasy stories, Psyonics are feared and hated, and to be born one is a promise of banishment, death, or worse. The story follows the struggles and the troubles that Hale gets into as he pretends to be a normal person and is dragged into palace politics.
Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
SS: Oddly enough, Collis. He's just a minor character, but I really grew fond of him as I wrote him. He's normal and quiet, he's got a healthy sense of humor, and unlike most people in the world of the Pysonic, he worries more about the who than the what about a person.
What other writers would you say have influenced your work and why? What are some of your favorite books in the genre?
SS: I'd say...most of the other writers I've read growing up influenced my writing...but especially C. S. Lewis and Robert Jordan. In the genre, I find my favorites are the Wheel of Time series, the Narnia series, and the Riftwar Saga...though it's rare that I've come across a Fantasy book I actually dislike.
What is your writing process like?
SS: Generally speaking, I need a general idea, and then to ramble about it for awhile until I get a general idea of what I'm going to do. Maybe pick out a climactic moment or decision the characters have to make, and then...just start. Outlines and clouds and the like just don't work for me. I've got to be a part of the adventure as much as the reader or it gets a bit boring for me. Going out to a different place and writing there also helps, because it removes me from my home environment and the distractions associated with it as well.
Do you have any advice for young or beginning writers?
SS: Just that the best thing to do for writing is to write, and keep on writing. Don't fuss too much about planning or what you're going to do with your work when you're done or how you'll end it or how you'll deal with something in the book coming up...most of the time it'll actually just come to you when you arrive, probably in a way that makes more sense than if you'd just planned it up ahead of time.
Where are your books available?
SS: You can find my books on Amazon, primarily, specifically right here:
What is your website and/or blog where readers can learn more? Can they friend you on Facebook or other sites?
SS: My website is http://www.wix.com/yusagi2003/thepsyonicbook
Author Bio:
Shanda Sharlow began writing short stories from the time she could hold a pencil. Through the years, she's scribbled down thousands of pages of random stories and unfinished novels that were eventually abandoned or forgotten about. In 2005, she set down to finish a full fantasy novel in the form of the Psyonic, which she managed in a few months. For awhile, she shelved the book without any way to get it realistically published. After Amazon Kindle came out, she found the opportunity to release the Psyonic to the public, and is now working on another full novel. Currently, she lives in Vancouver WA with her father and brother, and edits novels for other people when she's not writing.
The Psyonic:
Hale lived his entire life in hiding, traveling through slums and nondescript villages, never staying anywhere long enough for the people there to recognize his face. Never staying long enough for anyone to ferret out his secret.
When he comes across a woman who recognizes him, he becomes the confidante of a Princess. Yet the hallsof the palace hold far more danger than that of the streets, for within its shadows lurk dark mysteries andmurderous intent. Desperate to remain hidden from those who hunt him, Hale must unravel the hidden machinations of the gathered royal families before it's too late, or it will be more than his life that he loses.
Shanda Sharlow
Shanda Sharlow began writing short stories from the time she could hold a pencil. Through the years, she's scribbled down thousands of pages of random stories and unfinished novels that were eventually abandoned or forgotten about. In 2005, she set down to finish a full fantasy novel in the form of the Psyonic, which she managed in a few months. For awhile, she shelved the book without any way to get it realistically published. After Amazon Kindle came out, she found the opportunity to release the Psyonic to the public, and is now working on another full novel. Currently, she lives in Vancouver WA with her father and brother, and edits novels for other people when she's not writing.
The Psyonic:
Hale lived his entire life in hiding, traveling through slums and nondescript villages, never staying anywhere long enough for the people there to recognize his face. Never staying long enough for anyone to ferret out his secret.
When he comes across a woman who recognizes him, he becomes the confidante of a Princess. Yet the halls of the palace hold far more danger than that of the streets, for within its shadows lurk dark mysteries and murderous intent. Desperate to remain hidden from those who hunt him, Hale must unravel the hidden machinations of the gathered royal families before it's too late, or it will be more than his life that he loses.
February 14, 2011
For Valentine's Day, a discussion of the myth of Eros and Psyche.
Being that today is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd deal with the theme of love. Forget the chubby little baby we know as Cupid. To the ancient Greeks, love was personified as a youth, Eros, the son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. He was in a sense a teenager prone to the wayward lusts of that age. His chief function was to shoot his arrows (cough) at unsuspecting mortals, inspiring the desire in them to mate and perpetuate the species.
A lot of people are curious about the butterfly cover design on my first Immortyl Revolution novel, Cara Mia. First off, let me credit Linda Houle, one of the owners of L&L Dreamspell, for her beautiful design. The butterfly (psyche in Greek) is symbolic of metamorphosis and the soul. In Immortyl culture, the human form is considered like a caterpillar not yet having achieved butterfly status. A vampire is in a sense a more evolved form of human being. Only when he or she receives the progenitor's blood, do they become fully realized. But for Mia the butterfly symbolizes the soul. In the book, her master, Ethan gives her a butterfly necklace to commemorate her transformation into an Immortyl. When he casts her out to the elements, with only the clothes on her back and this necklace around her neck, she pawns the necklace. In her mind, she has already sold her soul for immortality. Her struggle is find her way back to her humanity.
Mia and Kurt's love story evokes the myth of Eros and Psyche. Psyche, the Greek goddess of the soul is usually depicted with butterfly wings. The word psyche means both butterfly and soul.
But back to the myth, Psyche is a beautiful maiden who rouses the jealousy of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite sends her son, Eros (Cupid, Amour) to prick Psyche with one of his arrows and make her fall in love with some horrible beast. Eros, like many an adolescent, is a little weak on the follow-through of orders from a parent and easily undone by the sight of a pretty girl. When the winged young man sees the girl, he's startled by her beauty and falls on one of his own arrows, thus falling in love with her. He spirits her off to a house and only visits her in the night, when she cannot see his divinity. Eros makes her promise never to look upon him. The girl is naturally curious. While he sleeps, she lifts a lamp to look on him. Amazed by the beauty of the God, she trembles and spills a drop of hot oil on his shoulder. He awakens and flies off, saying that Love cannot live with deceit. Aprhodite, the archetypal mother-in-law, gives Psyche many tasks to perform before she is allowed to join her Eros again, even to the point of traveling into the underworld. Finally, Love and Soul are united for eternity. Love and Soul conceive a daughter, who is named, Bliss.
The myth is such a lovely story, about how winning love is hard work and sacrifice, never an easy path to tread. It's also about how love without soul is mere lust. Here's a girl who goes to hell and back for the boy she loves. You can also interpret the myth to be a struggle to realize the self, something Mia, a slave understands all too well. She even looks upon the deepest secret of her lover, who learns that it's never a good statrgy to live a lie.
I've always loved this story, because it says so much about the nature of true love. Both lovers find that deceit isn't conducive to the realtionship. They both must make sacrifices and stand up the accepted veiw of things to win the other.
So, this Valentine's Day, forget the cute little chubby kid and remeber the two lovers who fought hard to attain the bliss they deserved..
Aphrodite with the infant Eros
A lot of people are curious about the butterfly cover design on my first Immortyl Revolution novel, Cara Mia. First off, let me credit Linda Houle, one of the owners of L&L Dreamspell, for her beautiful design. The butterfly (psyche in Greek) is symbolic of metamorphosis and the soul. In Immortyl culture, the human form is considered like a caterpillar not yet having achieved butterfly status. A vampire is in a sense a more evolved form of human being. Only when he or she receives the progenitor's blood, do they become fully realized. But for Mia the butterfly symbolizes the soul. In the book, her master, Ethan gives her a butterfly necklace to commemorate her transformation into an Immortyl. When he casts her out to the elements, with only the clothes on her back and this necklace around her neck, she pawns the necklace. In her mind, she has already sold her soul for immortality. Her struggle is find her way back to her humanity.
Mia and Kurt's love story evokes the myth of Eros and Psyche. Psyche, the Greek goddess of the soul is usually depicted with butterfly wings. The word psyche means both butterfly and soul.
But back to the myth, Psyche is a beautiful maiden who rouses the jealousy of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite sends her son, Eros (Cupid, Amour) to prick Psyche with one of his arrows and make her fall in love with some horrible beast. Eros, like many an adolescent, is a little weak on the follow-through of orders from a parent and easily undone by the sight of a pretty girl. When the winged young man sees the girl, he's startled by her beauty and falls on one of his own arrows, thus falling in love with her. He spirits her off to a house and only visits her in the night, when she cannot see his divinity. Eros makes her promise never to look upon him. The girl is naturally curious. While he sleeps, she lifts a lamp to look on him. Amazed by the beauty of the God, she trembles and spills a drop of hot oil on his shoulder. He awakens and flies off, saying that Love cannot live with deceit. Aprhodite, the archetypal mother-in-law, gives Psyche many tasks to perform before she is allowed to join her Eros again, even to the point of traveling into the underworld. Finally, Love and Soul are united for eternity. Love and Soul conceive a daughter, who is named, Bliss.
The myth is such a lovely story, about how winning love is hard work and sacrifice, never an easy path to tread. It's also about how love without soul is mere lust. Here's a girl who goes to hell and back for the boy she loves. You can also interpret the myth to be a struggle to realize the self, something Mia, a slave understands all too well. She even looks upon the deepest secret of her lover, who learns that it's never a good statrgy to live a lie.
I've always loved this story, because it says so much about the nature of true love. Both lovers find that deceit isn't conducive to the realtionship. They both must make sacrifices and stand up the accepted veiw of things to win the other.
So, this Valentine's Day, forget the cute little chubby kid and remeber the two lovers who fought hard to attain the bliss they deserved..
Aphrodite with the infant Eros
February 10, 2011
Writing Humor with Pauline Baird Jones
I love stuff that makes me laugh. My fellow L&L Dreamspell author has blogged today on finding the balance between drama and humor. Please welcome Pauline Baird Jones to Immortyl Revolution!
When you visit the blog of a writer of vampire tales, one feels an impulse to discuss blood or at least how to dabble in gore, but while I often fiddle with peril in my writing, I'm not great with gore. So I thought, why not go against the grain of the blog and talk about writing humor and leave the blood and gore to the experts?
In that spirit, let's start with a (lame) joke:
A writer comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside. "What happened, honey?"
"It was terrible," she weeps. "I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn't notice the stove was on fire. It went up in second. Everything is gone. I nearly didn't make it out of the house…."
"Wait, wait. Back up a minute," The man says. "My agent called?"
Now I will attempt to be serious about adding humor to your scary prose.
Humor finds its way into a book three ways. It comes from character. It rises out of circumstances, i.e. plot. Or it comes from a mix of both.
A work of fiction can be consistently funny or an author can use humor to lighten suspense. Shakespeare used comic relief in his dramas. And he used drama for contrast in his comedies.
This is my immutable law of comedy: I can't have humor without a thread of serious. I like the contrast of light and dark. For me, that contrast makes each element more intense. Or at least, that's the plan. How much serious depends on the book. I also can't have serious without some humor and again, how much depends on the book. I have some books that are funny, with elements of suspense and some books that are seriously suspenseful, with elements of humor. Different books, different balance.
I have a friend, Jeff Strand who writes the funniest horror, I mean, its laugh out loud funny and while you're laughing you're thinking, "This is seriously sick. I can't believe I'm laughing at this!" Different strokes for different authors.
In the interests of full disclosure, I will tell you that when I wrote my first novel, I had no intention of writing a humorous book. In fact, it was my intention to write a great love story that might someday be compared to Gone with the Wind. I wanted to make readers weep and sigh.
Only a funny thing happened on the way to my great love story. I tripped over my sense of humor.
During that face plant, I found my author voice. Since then I've written nine novels, one novella and some short stories. In all but one novel, there are varying degrees of humor.
Note what a reviewer wrote about Girl Gone Nova, my gore-less science fiction romance novel:
"Amongst the densely packed and mind-bending action, there's also some welcome humor."
Notice how she used the word welcome. Humor can be a sort of rest stop in a really intense story, but humor isn't only a way to provide a respite for the reader in suspense fiction. Laughing makes us feel better, so letting readers laugh while they read your book gives them an endorphin boost.
Humor—or that endorphin boost—can build a bridge between the reader and your story. Bridges are good. Bridges help build a fan base. Of course, the reader can choose to cross it or not. You don't get to choose how readers respond to your story. Some readers will run across the bridge, some will edge across, some will shrug and turn away. Not everyone will get your humor. Someone somewhere IS going to think you're not funny. If no one thinks you're funny, that's a problem.
Humor can also help the reader bond with your characters. In real life, we make connections with others using jokes and humorous anecdotes. It is the same in fiction. And bonding can also help us build a readership.
If you're going to write humor, you are adding another risk factor to the soup that is a novel, but it is—in my humble opinion—well worth the risk. If you can make anyone laugh, then go for it. It's a lot of fun being funny.
Pauline Baird Jones has tried to be funny in eleven novels, some of the award-winning. You can find out more (than you want to know) about her at http://www.perilouspauline.com/. Oh, and there's stuff about her books, too.
When you visit the blog of a writer of vampire tales, one feels an impulse to discuss blood or at least how to dabble in gore, but while I often fiddle with peril in my writing, I'm not great with gore. So I thought, why not go against the grain of the blog and talk about writing humor and leave the blood and gore to the experts?
In that spirit, let's start with a (lame) joke:
A writer comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside. "What happened, honey?"
"It was terrible," she weeps. "I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn't notice the stove was on fire. It went up in second. Everything is gone. I nearly didn't make it out of the house…."
"Wait, wait. Back up a minute," The man says. "My agent called?"
Now I will attempt to be serious about adding humor to your scary prose.
Humor finds its way into a book three ways. It comes from character. It rises out of circumstances, i.e. plot. Or it comes from a mix of both.
A work of fiction can be consistently funny or an author can use humor to lighten suspense. Shakespeare used comic relief in his dramas. And he used drama for contrast in his comedies.
This is my immutable law of comedy: I can't have humor without a thread of serious. I like the contrast of light and dark. For me, that contrast makes each element more intense. Or at least, that's the plan. How much serious depends on the book. I also can't have serious without some humor and again, how much depends on the book. I have some books that are funny, with elements of suspense and some books that are seriously suspenseful, with elements of humor. Different books, different balance.
I have a friend, Jeff Strand who writes the funniest horror, I mean, its laugh out loud funny and while you're laughing you're thinking, "This is seriously sick. I can't believe I'm laughing at this!" Different strokes for different authors.
In the interests of full disclosure, I will tell you that when I wrote my first novel, I had no intention of writing a humorous book. In fact, it was my intention to write a great love story that might someday be compared to Gone with the Wind. I wanted to make readers weep and sigh.
Only a funny thing happened on the way to my great love story. I tripped over my sense of humor.
During that face plant, I found my author voice. Since then I've written nine novels, one novella and some short stories. In all but one novel, there are varying degrees of humor.
Note what a reviewer wrote about Girl Gone Nova, my gore-less science fiction romance novel:
"Amongst the densely packed and mind-bending action, there's also some welcome humor."
Notice how she used the word welcome. Humor can be a sort of rest stop in a really intense story, but humor isn't only a way to provide a respite for the reader in suspense fiction. Laughing makes us feel better, so letting readers laugh while they read your book gives them an endorphin boost.
Humor—or that endorphin boost—can build a bridge between the reader and your story. Bridges are good. Bridges help build a fan base. Of course, the reader can choose to cross it or not. You don't get to choose how readers respond to your story. Some readers will run across the bridge, some will edge across, some will shrug and turn away. Not everyone will get your humor. Someone somewhere IS going to think you're not funny. If no one thinks you're funny, that's a problem.
Humor can also help the reader bond with your characters. In real life, we make connections with others using jokes and humorous anecdotes. It is the same in fiction. And bonding can also help us build a readership.
If you're going to write humor, you are adding another risk factor to the soup that is a novel, but it is—in my humble opinion—well worth the risk. If you can make anyone laugh, then go for it. It's a lot of fun being funny.
Pauline Baird Jones has tried to be funny in eleven novels, some of the award-winning. You can find out more (than you want to know) about her at http://www.perilouspauline.com/. Oh, and there's stuff about her books, too.
February 9, 2011
Guest Blog on Vampire Mythology by Bitten Twice
Bitten Twice is currently on her blog tour. You can follow her at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/BittenTwice/295323473457
http://www.bitten2ice.com/
Vampire MythologyByBitten Twice
"I Want to Suck your Blood!"
Even that famous line holds some mystery. Often thought to be from Bram Stoker's Dracula, that line was actually crafted by a comedian portraying Dracula.
Vampirism is not a modern concept. Centuries have unfolded with tales of demonic beings thriving on flesh and blood. Perhaps today the vampires that live in our urban fantasies would be quite different from the vampire of yesteryear; but rest assured some supernatural being has always around to feast upon us in an unnatural way.
The ancient Greeks described beings like the Empusae, Lamia, and striges. All were said to consume the blood of young men, women, or children. Fangs, talons, and the rush of blood released like a spring dam. Let's not forget about the Devil himself, the epitome of demonic devastation. Could it be that the Devil had become synonymous with the Vampire?
The vrykolakas, the Greek version of a vampire, came into being simply after living a sacrilegious life, or after an excommunication or burial in ground that was not consecrated, or most ominously eating mutton that had been previously tasted by a werewolf (UFOdigest.com, 2009). Nothing could escape becoming vrykolakas often thought to have caused the fusion of species.
The burial of a corpse meant a pine box sealed in dirt several feet below the surface as religion held the burning of corpses in disdain. As we have learned from the forensic science used in television shows like CSI, NCIS, et al. the decomposition of a corpse may take several days and each may look quite different depending upon the environment and the body.
Alexander, a child king whose death leaves many with something to ponder upon was born to us as a vampire at the age of 33 in 323BC. History ponders upon the true nature of his death vacillating between illness, poison, or some other foul play. Had we had the benefit of forensic science we would have known back then what truly happened to him?
Timeline (as taken from hellhorror.com and amended by [])
5000BC Vampirism is found to be in the Mediterranean Basin
2000BC Tomb of the Vampire is erected in Giza, Egypt
[323BC] [Alexander the Great is born to the world as a Vampire]
31 Jesus is claimed to have healed vampires at Capernaum.
140 Reign of Longinus, Rome's Vampire Emperor.
773 Charlemagne defeats Quadilla the Vampire thus saving Rome.
1047 "Upir" makes it's first appearance as a word referring to a Russian prince as "Upir Lichy", or wicked vampire.
1096 First Crusade expels vampires from The Holy Land, Jerusalem.
1196 "Chronicles" by William of Newburgh's. It recorded several stories of vampire-like revenants in England.
1428 "Dracula" aka Vlad Dracula or aka Vlad the Impaler is born.
1477 Vlad the Impaler is assassinated.
1484 The Malleus Maleficarium (the witch hunter's bible) is written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The topic of how to hunt and destroy a vampire is discussed within it's pages.
1530 Italian scientist Ludovico Fatinelli burned at the stake for suggesting a biological cause for vampirism in his "Treatise on Vampires".
1560 Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Bathory is born.
1607 "The Ship of the Dead" brings vampires to the New World.
1610 Elizabeth Bathory is tried and convicted of killing several hundred of girls. Her sentence is life imprisonment.
1614 Elizabeth Bathory dies.
1679 A German vampire text, "De Masticatione Mortuorum", is written by Phillip Rohr.
1734 The word "vampyre" enters the English language.
1748 The first modern vampyre poem, "Der Vampir", is published.
1813 A vampire appears in Lord Byron's The Giaour.
1819 John Polidori's "The Vampyre," is the first vampire story in English is published.
1847 Bram Stoker is born.
1850 Haussman destroys Paris' Vampire Quarter then rebuilds city.
1854 Copper Creek Siege in California prompts formation of Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency.
1872 In Italy, Vincenzo Verzeni is convicted of murdering two people and drinking their blood.
1882 New York Vampire riots ensue.
1891 Steketee's Vampire Rights movement in France is started.
1897 "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is published in England.
1905 Worldwide vampire population hits the one million.
1924 Fritz Haarmann the "Vampire of Hanover" is arrested, tried and convicted of killing more than 20 people in a vampire crime spree.
1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, is released.
1932 The movie "Vampyr," directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer, is released.
1936 "Dracula's Daughter" is released.
1943 U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt unveils "The Zozobra Project".
1943 "Son of Dracula", stars Lon Chaney, Jr., as Dracula.
1950 In New Mexico an auto mechanic named Joe Valdez becomes the first successful recipient of the vampire vaccine.
1962 The Count Dracula Society is founded in the United States by Donald Reed.
1964 "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family"; television shows with vampire characters.
1965 Jeanne Youngson founds The Count Dracula Fan Club.
1967 Due to the Lazo Disaster in Siberia, the United Nations (UN) passes a resolution banning vampire blood research.
1970 Sean Manchester founds The Vampire Research Society."In Search of Dracula" by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu is published. --Stephan Kaplan founds The Vampire Research Centre.
[1972] [Blacula the movie is released]
[1973] [Ganja and Hess – movie is released]
1976 The first of The Vampire Chronicles, "Interview With the Vampire", by Anne Rice is published.
1979 Frank Langella stars in the remake of Dracula.
1980 Richard Chase, the so-called Dracula Killer of Sacramento, California, commits suicide in prison.
1985 "The Vampire Lestat" by Anne Rice is published and reaches the best seller list.
[Vampire Hunter D]
1986 President Reagan lifts ban on the vampire and zombie blood research.
[Vamp – the movie is released]
1987 "Methuselah Project" is initiated at the Santa Rosa Institute.
1988 "The Queen of the Damned" is published by Anne Rice.
1991 Vampire: The Masquerade," the vampire role-playing game is released by White Wolf.
1992 "Bram Stoker's Dracula" directed by Francis Ford Coppola opens.
"The Tale of the Body Thief" by Anne Rice is published.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie is released.
[1993] [The Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake series debuted]
1994 The film version of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" opens with Tom Cruise as theVampire Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis.
[1995] [Vampire in Brooklyn the movie is released]
1996 TV series - Kindred: The Embraced airs on TV.
1999 TV series - Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs on TV.
TV Series - Angel .
1998 Blade
Pandora by Anne Rice is published
The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice is published.
1999 Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice is published.
[2000] [Dracula 2000 the movie is released
Bloodlust]
2002 Blade II
Queen of the Damned.
[2003] [The L.A. Banks Vampire Huntress Legend begings]
[2004] [Blade Trinity the movie is released]
2008 Twilight
True Blood airs on HBO.
2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon
[2010] [Cara Mia by Denise Verrico
Twilight of the Gods by Denise Verrico
A Blood Moon #1 Macedo Ink series by Bitten Twice]
A Blood Moon
Hiding his private life in the public eye, vampire Alexander Macedo, goes to hell and back in a race against time to save the one woman he would die again for and the other he could spend an eternity with. A rogue vampire threatens the balance of power. Bred for strategy but torn between his want for love and his need for companionship, Alex battles to save all he holds dear.
Thanks for including me in your timeline and for being my guest today!
I will be visiting Bitten Twice at her website tomorrow. Please, stop by!
Bitten Twice is currently on her blog tour. You can follow her at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/BittenTwice/295323473457
http://www.bitten2ice.com/
Vampire MythologyByBitten Twice
"I Want to Suck your Blood!"
Even that famous line holds some mystery. Often thought to be from Bram Stoker's Dracula, that line was actually crafted by a comedian portraying Dracula.
Vampirism is not a modern concept. Centuries have unfolded with tales of demonic beings thriving on flesh and blood. Perhaps today the vampires that live in our urban fantasies would be quite different from the vampire of yesteryear; but rest assured some supernatural being has always around to feast upon us in an unnatural way.
The ancient Greeks described beings like the Empusae, Lamia, and striges. All were said to consume the blood of young men, women, or children. Fangs, talons, and the rush of blood released like a spring dam. Let's not forget about the Devil himself, the epitome of demonic devastation. Could it be that the Devil had become synonymous with the Vampire?
The vrykolakas, the Greek version of a vampire, came into being simply after living a sacrilegious life, or after an excommunication or burial in ground that was not consecrated, or most ominously eating mutton that had been previously tasted by a werewolf (UFOdigest.com, 2009). Nothing could escape becoming vrykolakas often thought to have caused the fusion of species.
The burial of a corpse meant a pine box sealed in dirt several feet below the surface as religion held the burning of corpses in disdain. As we have learned from the forensic science used in television shows like CSI, NCIS, et al. the decomposition of a corpse may take several days and each may look quite different depending upon the environment and the body.
Alexander, a child king whose death leaves many with something to ponder upon was born to us as a vampire at the age of 33 in 323BC. History ponders upon the true nature of his death vacillating between illness, poison, or some other foul play. Had we had the benefit of forensic science we would have known back then what truly happened to him?
Timeline (as taken from hellhorror.com and amended by [])
5000BC Vampirism is found to be in the Mediterranean Basin
2000BC Tomb of the Vampire is erected in Giza, Egypt
[323BC] [Alexander the Great is born to the world as a Vampire]
31 Jesus is claimed to have healed vampires at Capernaum.
140 Reign of Longinus, Rome's Vampire Emperor.
773 Charlemagne defeats Quadilla the Vampire thus saving Rome.
1047 "Upir" makes it's first appearance as a word referring to a Russian prince as "Upir Lichy", or wicked vampire.
1096 First Crusade expels vampires from The Holy Land, Jerusalem.
1196 "Chronicles" by William of Newburgh's. It recorded several stories of vampire-like revenants in England.
1428 "Dracula" aka Vlad Dracula or aka Vlad the Impaler is born.
1477 Vlad the Impaler is assassinated.
1484 The Malleus Maleficarium (the witch hunter's bible) is written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The topic of how to hunt and destroy a vampire is discussed within it's pages.
1530 Italian scientist Ludovico Fatinelli burned at the stake for suggesting a biological cause for vampirism in his "Treatise on Vampires".
1560 Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Bathory is born.
1607 "The Ship of the Dead" brings vampires to the New World.
1610 Elizabeth Bathory is tried and convicted of killing several hundred of girls. Her sentence is life imprisonment.
1614 Elizabeth Bathory dies.
1679 A German vampire text, "De Masticatione Mortuorum", is written by Phillip Rohr.
1734 The word "vampyre" enters the English language.
1748 The first modern vampyre poem, "Der Vampir", is published.
1813 A vampire appears in Lord Byron's The Giaour.
1819 John Polidori's "The Vampyre," is the first vampire story in English is published.
1847 Bram Stoker is born.
1850 Haussman destroys Paris' Vampire Quarter then rebuilds city.
1854 Copper Creek Siege in California prompts formation of Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency.
1872 In Italy, Vincenzo Verzeni is convicted of murdering two people and drinking their blood.
1882 New York Vampire riots ensue.
1891 Steketee's Vampire Rights movement in France is started.
1897 "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is published in England.
1905 Worldwide vampire population hits the one million.
1924 Fritz Haarmann the "Vampire of Hanover" is arrested, tried and convicted of killing more than 20 people in a vampire crime spree.
1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, is released.
1932 The movie "Vampyr," directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer, is released.
1936 "Dracula's Daughter" is released.
1943 U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt unveils "The Zozobra Project".
1943 "Son of Dracula", stars Lon Chaney, Jr., as Dracula.
1950 In New Mexico an auto mechanic named Joe Valdez becomes the first successful recipient of the vampire vaccine.
1962 The Count Dracula Society is founded in the United States by Donald Reed.
1964 "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family"; television shows with vampire characters.
1965 Jeanne Youngson founds The Count Dracula Fan Club.
1967 Due to the Lazo Disaster in Siberia, the United Nations (UN) passes a resolution banning vampire blood research.
1970 Sean Manchester founds The Vampire Research Society."In Search of Dracula" by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu is published. --Stephan Kaplan founds The Vampire Research Centre.
[1972] [Blacula the movie is released]
[1973] [Ganja and Hess – movie is released]
1976 The first of The Vampire Chronicles, "Interview With the Vampire", by Anne Rice is published.
1979 Frank Langella stars in the remake of Dracula.
1980 Richard Chase, the so-called Dracula Killer of Sacramento, California, commits suicide in prison.
1985 "The Vampire Lestat" by Anne Rice is published and reaches the best seller list.
[Vampire Hunter D]
1986 President Reagan lifts ban on the vampire and zombie blood research.
[Vamp – the movie is released]
1987 "Methuselah Project" is initiated at the Santa Rosa Institute.
1988 "The Queen of the Damned" is published by Anne Rice.
1991 Vampire: The Masquerade," the vampire role-playing game is released by White Wolf.
1992 "Bram Stoker's Dracula" directed by Francis Ford Coppola opens.
"The Tale of the Body Thief" by Anne Rice is published.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie is released.
[1993] [The Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake series debuted]
1994 The film version of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" opens with Tom Cruise as theVampire Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis.
[1995] [Vampire in Brooklyn the movie is released]
1996 TV series - Kindred: The Embraced airs on TV.
1999 TV series - Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs on TV.
TV Series - Angel .
1998 Blade
Pandora by Anne Rice is published
The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice is published.
1999 Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice is published.
[2000] [Dracula 2000 the movie is released
Bloodlust]
2002 Blade II
Queen of the Damned.
[2003] [The L.A. Banks Vampire Huntress Legend begings]
[2004] [Blade Trinity the movie is released]
2008 Twilight
True Blood airs on HBO.
2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon
[2010] [Cara Mia by Denise Verrico
Twilight of the Gods by Denise Verrico
A Blood Moon #1 Macedo Ink series by Bitten Twice]
A Blood Moon
Hiding his private life in the public eye, vampire Alexander Macedo, goes to hell and back in a race against time to save the one woman he would die again for and the other he could spend an eternity with. A rogue vampire threatens the balance of power. Bred for strategy but torn between his want for love and his need for companionship, Alex battles to save all he holds dear.
Thanks for including me in your timeline and for being my guest today!
I will be visiting Bitten Twice at her website tomorrow. Please, stop by!
February 3, 2011
Interview with Author Kiki Howell
Today, I welcome Kiki Howell!
To what age group is your work geared toward?
KH: Those over the age of 18 since it is erotic romance.
Into which genre would you say your work falls and why?
KH: While it is erotic romance, my novel Torn Asunder, falls into a few other genres as well. It is a Regency-set historical romance, a paranormal romance of witches and shapeshifters, and romantic suspense.
Tell us a little about your book.
KH: Fraught with scenes of explicit intimacy, romantic spells and mystical shapeshifting, Torn Asunder is a unique blending of the age of manners with sexual magic.
Who is your favorite character in your bookand why?
KH: I could not possible pick between the hero and the heroine. I love their strength, even when beaten, when the odds are against them and they have to act in the best interests of those they love, they are strong, do what they need to do. This is not to say they don't have their faults or make their mistakes, but in the end, I just saw their resilience. An author I love to read says that a person is defined by how close they can get to chaos without having a nuclear meltdown! I am quoting badly there, but you get the point. I like to teat my characters, and these two impressed me.
What other writers would you say have influenced your work and why? What are some of your favorite books in the genre?
KH: Mixing these genres, although it is not erotic (but it is hot), I just love Teresa Medeiros' Cabot sister series, After Midnight and The Vampire Who Loved Me. The series is so exciting! One of the few books that I can say I have read more than once.
What is your writing process like?
KH: I am a plotter. I write out plot points for each chapter with notes from research too. For Torn Asunder, I had so much fun with the Regency cant that sometimes I would put favorite expressions I had stumbled upon in chapters to be included in them. I don't have a critique group, but I do have a few wonderful authors who will read and give me comments on my work in various stages depending upon the story. I have a good friend too who I rely upon to be very honest with me about my work.
Do you have any advice for young or beginning writers?
KH: Just to be true to their own voice. Don't censor yourself as you write wondering what and editor or reader might think of it. Everyone has different opinions. This is your story to tell. It will show in the end if you stay true to your voice. I don't want that to sound like you can't take advice, advice is a good and often positive thing. Your voice though, that is different, your style, what make you, well, you if that makes sense.
Who is your publisher and where are your books available?
KH: I have three other releases with Excessica. I also have books available with Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/ and stories in various anthologies with other publishers.
What is your website and/or blog where readers can learn more? Can they friend you on Facebook or other sites?
My website is http://www.kikihowell.com/.
I am on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kikihowell and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KikiHowell
Here is some more info on Torn Asunder and Kiki:
Kiki Howell spins a wonderful tale of passion, magic, betrayal, and a love that conquers all. Enjoy." ~NY Times Bestselling Author, Hannah Howell
Blurb:
Aubrey Griffen is a witch whose true reasons for coming to London soon fall to the wayside when she catches the eye of Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. He seduces her into a whirlwind romance until the lies and threats of his mother force her to flee to Triaill Brimuir, a secret island of her ancestors off the coast of Ireland. Edmund goes after her only to be hit by Aubrey's confusion and anger when she magically transforms him into an elemental beast of her own creation.
However, it is when Edmund's lust mysteriously turns him back into a man that the couple are forced to deal with a family secret and untold of powers. Now, Edmund must learn to shift himself into the beast in order to save her in a battle of black verses white magic.
More Advanced Praise for Torn Asunder:
Kiki Howell I feel has a major hit on her hands with Torn Asunder. I was so glued to this book that I was up til 4AM reading it, and mind you, I had to be up at 7AM to see my kiddies off to school....lol. I was just so captivated by the story of Aubrey and her love Edmund. They are drawn together by an unseen force that unites this couple body and soul. You would think that would be a good book to read but lets add witches, shapeshifting, white and black magic, a despicable mother, and a malevolent father to the mix. That is the story I had the very great pleasure of reading. It seemed at every turn our fated couple had more than there fair share of obstacles to over come…In between all the chaos our couple must endure is the most breath taking love story. Think Romeo and Juliet without them both dying at the end....lol. Their hearts and minds are linked for all time by an unforeseen connection that real couples only dream of. After reading this story you truly believe in soul mates and that love conquers all. On a scale of 1-10 I give this book a 10 and encourage everyone 18 and over to get a copy of this book and fall under Aubrey and Emund's spell. It is so worth the ride. ~5 out of 5 Stars, Review by Raquel Vega-Grieder for Sinfully Tasty Reads
"Torn Asunder is what a Regency novel should be. Prior to this book, I have never had a historical romance keep my interest for more than a chapter or two. Kiki Howell has written a historical novel that sings.
In Torn Asunder, Ms. Howell carefully spices her text with appropriate language, but does not go overboard. She lets the language flavor the story, instead of overpowering it. Her love for the time period is reflected in every part of the story, from the vivid characters to the clear imagery of her settings.
I give Torn Asunder five of five hearts." ~D. Alexx Miller, Book Reviewer for Romance in the Backseat
EXCERPT:
The roses, elegant in their refinement, fell from one another with little grace as she undid the paper around them. Staggering back a few steps until her back met with the wall, she slid down to the floor letting the wrapping and flowers fall where they may. Aubrey wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection. Her chest ached more with each beat of her heart as she swallowed hard, blinked away the mistiness over her eyes, and remembered.
It had been the beginning of the season, a bit over a fortnight ago, when she first encountered Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. Although she rolled her eyes still at the title, she felt impelled to live through it all again--through the days of fantasy in which she had allowed herself to participate. Love at first sight didn't always give way to rational thinking. It did, however, make possible even the wavering delusions of believing impossible dreams could come true. She had just come to London to live with Lord and Lady Sanderly, her cousins who had paid for her travels under the guise of giving a poor relation of marriageable age a chance to find a good husband.
Whereas, the truth of the matter was, she was a relation who had shown a great aptitude for learning of the magical powers she had inherited. The good Lord and Lady, while holding the public title of Earl and Countess, were actually descendants of one of the notorious Pendle witches. They were to teach her to harness and utilize her innate talents in secret while flaunting her about from various parties and balls in the public eye.
She recalled with a weak smile the first ball Lord and Lady Sanderly had thrown to immerse her into proper society. At the time, she had consciously gripped her hands before her waist to resist fidgeting while trying hard to fix to memory all of the titles of those to whom she was being introduced. Her level of discomfort had increased, however, as an unsettled awareness of someone in the room, a haunting premonition of sorts, had made her heart race and her mouth dry. She had paid mind to ignore the successive shivers which rushed the length of her spine until they pooled as heat in her tightening stomach.
Reminded she was holding her breath only when forced to speak, her ribs had begun to ache. When a chill more pervasive that any she had ever known even in the drafty county cottage she had been raised in permeated her shoulders, she had turned in the direction of the source, and her eyes had met with a man standing just across the room looking back at her. She had immediately felt challenged to not look away from the gaze of his dark eyes. They radiated a raw energy unlike anything she had ever encountered before even among those with her own esoteric abilities.
A connection was made. Her heart beat at a frantic, uneven pace like a horse racing over shoddy roads. At the same time, a vague forewarning had made her break out in a glistening of sweat while she fought the urge to escape as well the need to move toward the man. She had given merit to her reactions based only on the fact she had captured the glance of an aristocratic gentleman with a lady in a lavish satin gown on his arm of obviously higher circumstances.
Engrossed in his fine manners, she watched as his hand removed the one holding onto him from his arm with a slight nod of his head. The lady in return had given him a slight curtsy but glorious smile before turning back to her other acquaintances which Aubrey recognized to be a duke and duchess she had recently met. His tempestuous form fit in posh attire spun on the heel of his expensive footwear to find her again with his haunted and hungry eyes. He seemed an odd mix of rugged and refined. She had felt the thrill and danger of being pursued by a beast which lurked inside of the man.
To what age group is your work geared toward?
KH: Those over the age of 18 since it is erotic romance.
Into which genre would you say your work falls and why?
KH: While it is erotic romance, my novel Torn Asunder, falls into a few other genres as well. It is a Regency-set historical romance, a paranormal romance of witches and shapeshifters, and romantic suspense.
Tell us a little about your book.
KH: Fraught with scenes of explicit intimacy, romantic spells and mystical shapeshifting, Torn Asunder is a unique blending of the age of manners with sexual magic.
Who is your favorite character in your bookand why?
KH: I could not possible pick between the hero and the heroine. I love their strength, even when beaten, when the odds are against them and they have to act in the best interests of those they love, they are strong, do what they need to do. This is not to say they don't have their faults or make their mistakes, but in the end, I just saw their resilience. An author I love to read says that a person is defined by how close they can get to chaos without having a nuclear meltdown! I am quoting badly there, but you get the point. I like to teat my characters, and these two impressed me.
What other writers would you say have influenced your work and why? What are some of your favorite books in the genre?
KH: Mixing these genres, although it is not erotic (but it is hot), I just love Teresa Medeiros' Cabot sister series, After Midnight and The Vampire Who Loved Me. The series is so exciting! One of the few books that I can say I have read more than once.
What is your writing process like?
KH: I am a plotter. I write out plot points for each chapter with notes from research too. For Torn Asunder, I had so much fun with the Regency cant that sometimes I would put favorite expressions I had stumbled upon in chapters to be included in them. I don't have a critique group, but I do have a few wonderful authors who will read and give me comments on my work in various stages depending upon the story. I have a good friend too who I rely upon to be very honest with me about my work.
Do you have any advice for young or beginning writers?
KH: Just to be true to their own voice. Don't censor yourself as you write wondering what and editor or reader might think of it. Everyone has different opinions. This is your story to tell. It will show in the end if you stay true to your voice. I don't want that to sound like you can't take advice, advice is a good and often positive thing. Your voice though, that is different, your style, what make you, well, you if that makes sense.
Who is your publisher and where are your books available?
KH: I have three other releases with Excessica. I also have books available with Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/ and stories in various anthologies with other publishers.
What is your website and/or blog where readers can learn more? Can they friend you on Facebook or other sites?
My website is http://www.kikihowell.com/.
I am on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kikihowell and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KikiHowell
Here is some more info on Torn Asunder and Kiki:
Kiki Howell spins a wonderful tale of passion, magic, betrayal, and a love that conquers all. Enjoy." ~NY Times Bestselling Author, Hannah Howell
Blurb:
Aubrey Griffen is a witch whose true reasons for coming to London soon fall to the wayside when she catches the eye of Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. He seduces her into a whirlwind romance until the lies and threats of his mother force her to flee to Triaill Brimuir, a secret island of her ancestors off the coast of Ireland. Edmund goes after her only to be hit by Aubrey's confusion and anger when she magically transforms him into an elemental beast of her own creation.
However, it is when Edmund's lust mysteriously turns him back into a man that the couple are forced to deal with a family secret and untold of powers. Now, Edmund must learn to shift himself into the beast in order to save her in a battle of black verses white magic.
More Advanced Praise for Torn Asunder:
Kiki Howell I feel has a major hit on her hands with Torn Asunder. I was so glued to this book that I was up til 4AM reading it, and mind you, I had to be up at 7AM to see my kiddies off to school....lol. I was just so captivated by the story of Aubrey and her love Edmund. They are drawn together by an unseen force that unites this couple body and soul. You would think that would be a good book to read but lets add witches, shapeshifting, white and black magic, a despicable mother, and a malevolent father to the mix. That is the story I had the very great pleasure of reading. It seemed at every turn our fated couple had more than there fair share of obstacles to over come…In between all the chaos our couple must endure is the most breath taking love story. Think Romeo and Juliet without them both dying at the end....lol. Their hearts and minds are linked for all time by an unforeseen connection that real couples only dream of. After reading this story you truly believe in soul mates and that love conquers all. On a scale of 1-10 I give this book a 10 and encourage everyone 18 and over to get a copy of this book and fall under Aubrey and Emund's spell. It is so worth the ride. ~5 out of 5 Stars, Review by Raquel Vega-Grieder for Sinfully Tasty Reads
"Torn Asunder is what a Regency novel should be. Prior to this book, I have never had a historical romance keep my interest for more than a chapter or two. Kiki Howell has written a historical novel that sings.
In Torn Asunder, Ms. Howell carefully spices her text with appropriate language, but does not go overboard. She lets the language flavor the story, instead of overpowering it. Her love for the time period is reflected in every part of the story, from the vivid characters to the clear imagery of her settings.
I give Torn Asunder five of five hearts." ~D. Alexx Miller, Book Reviewer for Romance in the Backseat
EXCERPT:
The roses, elegant in their refinement, fell from one another with little grace as she undid the paper around them. Staggering back a few steps until her back met with the wall, she slid down to the floor letting the wrapping and flowers fall where they may. Aubrey wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection. Her chest ached more with each beat of her heart as she swallowed hard, blinked away the mistiness over her eyes, and remembered.
It had been the beginning of the season, a bit over a fortnight ago, when she first encountered Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. Although she rolled her eyes still at the title, she felt impelled to live through it all again--through the days of fantasy in which she had allowed herself to participate. Love at first sight didn't always give way to rational thinking. It did, however, make possible even the wavering delusions of believing impossible dreams could come true. She had just come to London to live with Lord and Lady Sanderly, her cousins who had paid for her travels under the guise of giving a poor relation of marriageable age a chance to find a good husband.
Whereas, the truth of the matter was, she was a relation who had shown a great aptitude for learning of the magical powers she had inherited. The good Lord and Lady, while holding the public title of Earl and Countess, were actually descendants of one of the notorious Pendle witches. They were to teach her to harness and utilize her innate talents in secret while flaunting her about from various parties and balls in the public eye.
She recalled with a weak smile the first ball Lord and Lady Sanderly had thrown to immerse her into proper society. At the time, she had consciously gripped her hands before her waist to resist fidgeting while trying hard to fix to memory all of the titles of those to whom she was being introduced. Her level of discomfort had increased, however, as an unsettled awareness of someone in the room, a haunting premonition of sorts, had made her heart race and her mouth dry. She had paid mind to ignore the successive shivers which rushed the length of her spine until they pooled as heat in her tightening stomach.
Reminded she was holding her breath only when forced to speak, her ribs had begun to ache. When a chill more pervasive that any she had ever known even in the drafty county cottage she had been raised in permeated her shoulders, she had turned in the direction of the source, and her eyes had met with a man standing just across the room looking back at her. She had immediately felt challenged to not look away from the gaze of his dark eyes. They radiated a raw energy unlike anything she had ever encountered before even among those with her own esoteric abilities.
A connection was made. Her heart beat at a frantic, uneven pace like a horse racing over shoddy roads. At the same time, a vague forewarning had made her break out in a glistening of sweat while she fought the urge to escape as well the need to move toward the man. She had given merit to her reactions based only on the fact she had captured the glance of an aristocratic gentleman with a lady in a lavish satin gown on his arm of obviously higher circumstances.
Engrossed in his fine manners, she watched as his hand removed the one holding onto him from his arm with a slight nod of his head. The lady in return had given him a slight curtsy but glorious smile before turning back to her other acquaintances which Aubrey recognized to be a duke and duchess she had recently met. His tempestuous form fit in posh attire spun on the heel of his expensive footwear to find her again with his haunted and hungry eyes. He seemed an odd mix of rugged and refined. She had felt the thrill and danger of being pursued by a beast which lurked inside of the man.
February 1, 2011
I'm the guest today at Laura Bickle's Salamander's Tales
Stop by Laura's blog today! http://www.salamanderstales.blogspot.com/. She's an awesome writer that you should check out, and she will be my guest here next month.
January 30, 2011
January 23, 2011
Immortyl Revolution
Author of Cara Mia, Book One of the Immortyl Revolution the first of a new vampire series.
- Denise Verrico's profile
- 51 followers
