C.V. Hunt's Blog, page 36

Radio interview.

My lip will automatically curl into a twisted grimace at the mention of talking on the phone. I hate it. I used to be fine with phones when I was a teen. (That was back before cell phones were a disposable lifeline.) Now that I am older, and the Internet puts communication at your fingertips, I find one on one contact bothersome. I would much rather communicate in an e-mail.

I think technology in general has fed my obsessive agoraphobic condition. It is easier to purchase merchandise online and have it delivered, than to go to the store. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but as time passes, technology has almost eliminated those. Eventually we will all live in a cyber world of existence. Will it be like the Matrix? Will we all be plugged into one computer that will tell us we are happy? It will feed us, and give us comfort from the real world. It will no longer be necessary for physical property, and education and information is only a plug in away.

I'm straying from my point...which I do often.

I was contacted about an interview for my book. It is for an online radio station, and it is conducted over the phone. (cringe) I don't particularly care to hear the sound of my own voice, but it is free publicity of my book. I would prefer an online post interview. That way I can take my time to think about what I want to say. I relayed the interview information to some friends of mine. They seemed shocked that I was going to do it. Why? The same reason when I was told that I should do a public reading of my book at a store for promotion. I generally tend to stutter and stumble over my words. My mind knows what it wants my mouth to articulate, but somewhere along the way it gets jumbled. When I write, I have time to sort the words out, make them coherent, but this verbal interview...I'm a little nervous. The more nervous I get, the more verbal stumbles there will be.

So somewhere in the near future, you will get to hear my incoherent words. It should be entertaining for you. I meet a singer of a band that I really like once, and got his autograph. The first thing I thought; wow, he's a lot shorter than what I had imagined. What will be your thoughts when you hear me speak? I will try to breathe and take my time so that I don't stumble so much. I hope that I don't freeze like a deer in headlights on the questions.

If I get to talk about vampires, werewolves, zombies, and witches though, they might not be able to shut me up.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

A review of my book.

Here is a link to a review of my book Endlessly. A big thank you to Lisa for taking the time to read the book and write an honest review. http://bookhimdanno.blogspot.com/

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

The vampire/werewolf connection.

A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope, is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shape shift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely, by being bitten by another werewolf, or after being placed under a curse. This transformation is often associated with the appearance of the full moon. [image error]
The vampiric connections with werewolves.In Medieval Europe, the corpses of some people executed as werewolves were cremated rather than buried in order to prevent them from being resurrected as vampires. Before the end of the 19th century, the Greeks believed that the corpses of werewolves, if not destroyed, would return to life as vampires in the form of wolves or hyenas which prowled battlefields, drinking the blood of dying soldiers. In the same vein, in some rural areas of Germany, Poland and Northern France, it was once believed that people who died in mortal sin came back to life as blood-drinking wolves. This differs from conventional werewolfery, where the creature is a living being rather than an undead apparition. These vampiric werewolves would return to their human corpse form at daylight. They were dealt with by decapitation with a spade and exorcism by the parish priest. The head would then be thrown into a stream, where the weight of its sins were thought to weigh it down. Sometimes, the same methods used to dispose of ordinary vampires would be used.  The vampire was also linked to the werewolf in East European countries, particularly Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia. In Serbia, the werewolf and vampire are known collectively as one creature; Vulkodlak. In Hungarian and Balkan mythology, many werewolves were said to be vampiric witches who became wolves in order to suck the blood of men born under the full moon in order to preserve their health. In their human form, these werewolves were said to have pale, sunken faces, hollow eyes, swollen lips and flabby arms. The Haitian jé-rouges differ from traditional European werewolves by their habit of actively trying to spread their lycanthropic condition to others, much like vampires.Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Book Review: 99 Coffins by David Wellington

99 Coffins: A Historical Vampire Tale by David Wellington

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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REVIEWWow! In two books David Wellington has joined the ranks with my favorite authors. The back and forth of every other chapter kept me captivated. Two stories being told between the past and the present, and merging into one was spectacular. I've never been one for history, but it flowed with the story seamlessly and never tripped me up.

I kept myself from reading the synopsis off of the backs of the remaining books when I started this series, and I am glad that I did. The twist was (literarily) a jaw dropper for me. For those who know the story, I will say I was looking for him, but I got caught up in the bloody battle and forgot about him.

I am staring at Vampire Zero right now as I type and want to pick it up, but the sun is rising and I must sleep. (evil grin)

ABOUT THE BOOK
Laura Caxton vowed never to face them again. The horror of what the vampires did is too close, the wounds too fresh. But when Jameson Arkeley, broken and barely recognizable, comes to her with an unfathomable, unholy discovery, her resolve crumbles.

Arkeley leads Caxton to a tomb in Gettysburg recently excavated by a local archaeology professor. While the town, with its legendary role in the Civil War's worst battle, is no stranger to cemeteries, this one is remarkably, eerily different. In it lie 100 coffins—99 of them occupied by vampires, who, luckily, are missing their hearts. But one of the coffins is empty and smashed to pieces.

Who is the missing vampire? Does he have access to the 99 hearts that, if placed back in the bodies of their owners, could reanimate an entire bloodthirsty army? How did the vampires end up there, undisturbed and undiscovered for 150 years? The answer lies in Civil War documents that contain sinister secrets about the newly found coffins—secrets that Laura Caxton is about to uncover as she is thrown into a deadly, gruesome mission of saving an entire town from a mass invasion of the undead. . .
View all my reviews

I'm sorry, but once I find an author I like I can stop. Every review that goes up will be of this author until I have read them all.
Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

No truer words…

I've been asked by people what I will do when I make my first million. HA! (What a joke.) I tell them all the same thing; It's never the artist that gets the money, it's the descendants that collect the royalties.

I read this today and it's been itching in my brain ever since. I thought I would share it with you.

"Death disports with writers more cruelly than with the rest of humankind. The grave can hardly make more mute those who were voiceless when alive - dust to dust, muteness to muteness." - Cynthia Ozick

The trick to this passage is this - How many authors can you name off the top of your head? Ok. Now how many of them are still alive?

Writing is a fickle industry. It's all about who you know. There are only two ways to describe writers. They are either great, or no one has heard of them. The latter - It's a hobby. I know that my writing is a hobby and nothing more.

Most people tell me I'm a pessimist. I call it realism. You can't set the bar too high in life or you're going to hit your head. If you set your goals at meritocracy, then you will always met them. Once you go beyond that, you could (9 times out of 10) set yourself up for disappointment.

I know that my out look on life doesn't mesh with others. People like to think that they live in a fairytale world; where everyone is happy and they get everything they ever wanted. But I will leave you with a line that I say at least once a week to someone:

"You can crap in one hand, and wish in the other, and see which one gets full faster. Or you can just take my word for it." (I'm sure this will end up on my tombstone.)

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Question of the day.

     As I ate my lunch today at work, a co-worker sat down beside me and saw the cover of the book that I'm currently reading.
     "Don't you ever have nightmares?" She asked.
     I laughed. "Yes. I do. But they have nothing to do with monsters." I replied. "I dream of vampires, werewolves, and zombies all the time. But they are not nightmares. Usually I am trying to help them, or in some cases, they are trying to help me."
     She laughed. "If I read books like that, I would have nightmares all the time."
     "I don't have nightmares often," I told her. "but when I do it's a reoccurring one, and it's scary as hell to me. It's so simple, people laugh when I tell them. I dream that I am living in my old mobile home, and it will suddenly dawn on me that I don't live there anymore, and I'll try to leave but I can't. Either the door won't open or someone is stopping me. Then I realize that I am dreaming (look up lucid dreaming, I do it often) and then I will myself to wake up. It's whole concept of being trapped, that freaks me out, not vampires, zombies, or any other kind of monsters."

     Another side conversation of the day. The other person found it comical, but I was dead serious. Just goes to strengthen his accusation.
     "You really are weird you know." He said.
     "Yes, but it's better than the alternative." I replied.
     "And what is that?" He asked.
     "Being normal."

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Now available at Smashwords!

You guys asked for it, and now you got it. Wow, what an extremely frustrating process Smashwords was. But I did it. Now Endlessly is downloadable in every format. I just really wanted to get it into EPUB so that Apple users could read it without the Kindle format. If it makes it through the premium process, it would be distributed to the Apple ibookstore. That is a huge hurdle I've been trying to get over. That is a huge market that I didn't have access to before.

So all of you techies out there with your ereaders (I am a Kindle owner) can head over to http://www.smashwords.com/ and download Endlessly in whatever format you need for your gizmo.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Smashwords and other mountains of work.

Formatting for Smashwords is hell. I had to do a nuclear purge of my formatting and I am slowly combing back over it. I think I am about half done with it. I don't want to rush it. When I do that I end up missing something. It could be as simple as a period or comma, but it will be enough to drive me nuts. I only have one day off this week and it's today. I have a couple of places I need to go, and then I'm going to sleep a few hours and work on it tonight.

I have the last chapter of Legacy to review. I read it front to back and picked at it, rearranged some stuff, and tried to make a couple of side characters stronger. I already know of some major edits I want to make to Phantom, but I'd like to wait until Legacy gets critiqued.

I'm not sure in what order they are happening, but on the 27,28,29 there will be an interview, review and giveaway for Endlessly on another blog. I will keep you posted.

It's been busy busy around here. Between reviewing Legacy, reformatting Endlessly, drywalling our upstairs hallway, annual events at my regular job, and stops at the doctor's office (don't worry, nothing major, I've had a spinal fusion, minor annoyances that need looked at), I've had no time for anything else. I haven't officially scheduled a vacation, (annual events, super busy, no way I'm getting time off until afterward) but I sure have been looking hard at some places for some R&R.

I think I would like to do what I did with Endlessly. I went on vacation and when I got back I sent it off for the review. I think I need to take a break within the next few months, and when I get back I will send Legacy on for the next step.
Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

Book Review: 13 Bullets by David Wellington

13 Bullets by David WellingtonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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MY REVIEWI'll have to say, I wasn't real sure in the beginning. It seemed like the same old song and dance with a policeman involved. But this story grew into something great. The concept of the vampire being a complete monster was the best I've ever read. I keep reading the same thing over and over with vampires. Them being companionate toward humans. No, this is how it is supposed to be. David got this one right. There was plenty of action and the rules of the game were completely different than anything I've ever read. The half dead minions gave it a little comic relief, but I found them creepier than anything, which is good. There were areas where the carnage was described and it made my stomach turn. If I can get into a book deep enough that it invokes a physical reaction; that is a good book. I have been raving to friends (that are true horror fans) that they need to read this book.

ABOUT THE BOOKAll the official reports say they are dead-extinct since the late '80s, when a fed named Arkeley nailed the last vampire in a fight that nearly killed him. But the evidence proves otherwise.

When a state trooper named Caxton calls the FBI looking for help in the middle of the night, it is Arkeley who gets the assignment-who else? He's been expecting such a call to come eventually. Sure, it has been years since any signs of an attack, but Arkeley knows what most people don't: there is one left. In an abandoned asylum she is rotting, plotting, and biding her time in a way that only the undead can.
Caxton is out of her league on this case and more than a little afraid, but the fed made it plain that there is only one way out. But the worst thing is the feeling that the vampires want more than just her blood. They want her for a reason, one she can't guess; a reason her sphinxlike partner knows but won't say; a reason she has to find out-or die trying.
Now there are only 13 bullets between Caxton and Arkeley and the vampires. There are only 13 bullets between us, the living, and them, the damned.View all my reviews

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com

The world as I know it is crashing down around me.

Today I was going to post a review of a book that I am reading, but my computer would not cooperate. I fought with the Internet for six hours. I am sure everyone has had this exact frustrating battle. I hope to get my review up soon. And as you can tell I have added a new rating system. I found the zombies humorous.

When the Internet was finally resurrected, I had quite a few things to get done. One being a mobile phone website. Since my regular website is 100% flash, many people with iphones and such were unable to view my site. My web hosting company seen this as a challenge, and actually put a program together to correct this. The mobile sites are lacking in appealing visionary formatting, but more templates are coming. Essentially what happens, is if someone finds me on say...Google, when they click on my site, they will be redirected instantly to this sub site that contains generally the same information as my regular site. It's not as pretty but it does the job.

Then I finally decided to struggle with the email. I put another hour into creating a email just for the book so that my personal email is not getting swamped. It is easier for me to weed through the messages this way. If you need to send an email to me, the address is verloren@authorcvhunt.com

I then looked through a few sites that had informed me that my reviews were coming soon. I didn't find anything yet. One did post my info for the Goodreads giveaway, so that is a step in the right direction.

But the stunner of the night......I checked my sales. When I do this, I can tell how the book was purchased. One book was sold in a store. !!!!!!! Which store? It doesn't tell me that. But the fact that my book is sitting on the shelf of a store somewhere.....I can't even to begin to tell you how that makes me feel. I can't believe it. I never thought that it would make it beyond the Internet. Honestly, I thought a few people would buy it online, then it would get buried in all of the other fiction that is spewed out every month. I am just in shock that someone thought it would be a candidate for a shelf.

Have pleasant vampire, werewolf, and zombie dreams. www.authorcvhunt.comwww.authorcvhunt.com