Brian Patrick McKinley's Blog, page 17
February 14, 2014
Kbatz: Buffy Season 3
My favorite season!
Originally posted on horroraddicts.net:
Buffy Season 3 Falters, but Turns Round Right
By Kristin Battestella
I stalled for a bit in my rewatching of Buffy the Vampire Slayer over other things, but I also have never been super enthusiastic over Season 3. After great strides in villainy and growing up in its sophomore season, round three seems somewhat uneven in its portrayal of rogue slayers, corrupt politicians, and romance run amok. Thankfully, the latter half of the season hits its stride and says goodbye to Senior Year in style.
Interview with Daven Anderson
1. Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing?
I started writing on June 13, 2009. I borrowed the four Twilight books and read them. After finishing “Breaking Dawn”, my first thought was “R-rated movie.” My second thought was “I can write something better than that.” Thus began the Vampire Syndrome saga. I had my four main characters created by the time I went to bed that night, and a rough outline. I joined a highly-regarded local critique group and honed my writing skills with them for several years, refining Vampire Syndrome every step of the way. “Vampire Syndrome”, book one of the Vampire Syndrome saga, was completed in August 2012. On December 2012, I signed a contract with PDMI Publishing LLC to publish the saga and related projects.
2. Which story did you contribute to Fresh Blood and what made you want to write that story?
I contributed “Mary Sue Wants To Die Forever”, a satire inspired by my visits to Forks, Washington during the height of Twilight mania. I have parodied Twilight within my Vampire Syndrome saga as well, but in “Mary Sue” I was able to craft a twisted little tale inspired by an adolescent fan’s pilgrimage to the “home of the Sunset saga. The real Twilight tour bus driver on my tour was loving every minute of his job, but I was envisioning how the tour would go with a driver who had a very good reason to be disgruntled with all the fan mania, and who had to deal with a morose, angsty fan.
3. What other work have you done?
“Vampire Syndrome” was released in January 2013, and I am close to completion on “Vampire Conspiracy”, book two of the saga.
4. What is it about vampires that makes you want to write about them?
People who would not normally read a book featuring a protagonist with Down Syndrome will find the premise of a vampire with special needs struggling to fit in his new world to be an intriguing concept. Some will think the premise to be a joke, but not after they read it. As the saga progresses, the conflict between the human vampires and the alien vampires escalates. Jack and his human vampire compatriots are forced to examine what qualities make them human, and what tendencies make them monsters. My characters are metaphors for our own struggles to be human, and dealing with our own inner monsters.
5. What other interests do you have and how do they influence your writing?
Classic and high-performance automobiles. My law enforcers (the Venators) would logically want fast cars for their chase patrol work, and other vampires might appreciate being able to make quick getways from normal people, if the occasion arises. My lifetime of car enthusiasm enables me to select the right cars for the right characters, an area in which many authors who are otherwise strong in details have a tendency to fail or fall short of automotive enthusiasts’ expectations.
Working for over twenty years with individuals who have special needs inspired me to create Jack Wendell, a wise, dignified vampire hero who was born with Down Syndrome. My working closely with these people enabled me to craft a realistic, non-stereotypical voice for Jack. The human vampires prize Jack’s status as the world’s fastest-running vampire, but the alien vampires appreciate Jack’s mental gifts in a way his fellow human vampires cannot.
6. Give us some links where we can find your other work (if available):
Vampire Syndrome (Book One)
Young Adult Kindle version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AMRGKZU
Adult Kindle Version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AMSLI2Y
Young Adult paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Syndrome-Daven-Anderson/dp/0615756018
Adult paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Syndrome-Daven-Anderson/dp/0615756026
Find Fresh Blood: Vampire Writers Support Group Anthology #1 on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Blood-Vampire-Writers-Support-ebook/dp/B00FYEJDPA
February 13, 2014
Fresh Blood Interview with Jay Wilburn
1. Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing?
My name is Jay Wilburn. I’ve been writing badly since I was a kid. I’ve been writing slightly better and for money for a few years now. For the last year, I’ve been writing full time and probably have a few more months before I turn to a life of crime. I left teaching after sixteen years to care for the health needs of my younger son and to make a go at being writer. Sometimes it is nice to gamble on a dream every once and a while.
2. Which story did you contribute to Fresh Blood and what made you want to write that story?
My story was “Bitter.” It is about a vampire couple that is going through a harsh and vengeful separation. Each time I approach vampires as a trope, my first concern is locating the kernel of an idea that is a new point of attack. I usually take the accepted rules and characteristics of the long history of vampire fiction and I try to find the one tortured, painful aspect of that experience that I feel has not been addressed. Then, I work out the details of how that idea would play out in a realistic way under the hyper reality of a vampire’s existence. “Bitter” does that with the notion of a couple that grows apart when they potentially have eternity to do so.
3. What other work have you done?
I’ve written the novels Loose Ends: A Zombie Novel, Time Eaters, and The Great Interruption. I have a piece in Best Horror of the Year volume 5 with editor Ellen Datlow. I have a zombie story in an upcoming anthology with Permuted Press. I’m proud of that. I am currently working on organizing a collection of five novellas from me, Max Booth III, Jessica McHugh, Adam Millard, and Derek Deremer called At the Next Exit.
4. What is it about vampires that makes you want to write about them?
I think vampires represent extremes about human nature and human history. As a trope, they allow an author to explore those aspects of human nature in an intense way.
5. What other interests do you have and how do they influence your writing?
I am taking up archery. I like to go to the beach with my family just down the road from where I live. I am a student of history. I believe in God and the Bible. I would say my study of history and the Bible informs the darker aspects and themes of my stories.
6. Give us some links where we can find your other work (if available):
http://www.amazon.com/Jay-Wilburn/e/B00BGVWV2M/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1390839113&sr=8-2-ent
February 12, 2014
Ancient Blood Audiobook is now available!
I’m proud to announce that the official audiobook of Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony is now available for purchase on Audible.com and should soon be showing up on iTunes and other platforms!
My novel is narrated with wonderful energy and style by voice actor Brian Rollins: http://www.thevoicesinmyhead.com/
Please check out his page! He was a true pleasure to work with and is an extremely talented vocalist. I’m very pleased with how the whole process turned out. For any authors out there wondering about an audio translation, ACX makes it about as simple and painless as it can be!
Get your copy today and please leave a review!
Self-Editing Techniques (Before Submitting to an Editor)
Some great tips here!
Originally posted on Thinking Skull:
Editors are expensive, but the more you edit yourself, the better you’ll become.
Knowing the grammar rules and how to apply them is part of the process; the rest is actually finding the errors in your own work.
The more mistakes that you find and correct yourself, the easier of a time your actual editors will have finding the things you’ll STILL miss.
Set it aside for a few days for a fresh look – Looking over the same pages, paragraphs and sentences over and over has a peculiar effect on the brain: you’ll start filling in words that aren’t there. Close the book, go do or work on something else, then look over it again and NOT on the same day. If you can wait a week or longer, even better.
February 11, 2014
Mourning Sun Available for Pre-order!
Check out a new vampire series getting a second life:
http://sharirichardson.blogspot.com/2014/02/pre-order-second-edition-of-mourning-sun.html
February 10, 2014
Interview with Dan Shaurette
1. Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing all of my life, but I started sharing my writing starting in elementary school with a newsletter I created called “The Shaurette Gazette”. (I kid you not.) Vampires didn’t interest me until college and that is when I wrote my first novel.
2. Which story did you contribute to Fresh Blood and what made you want to write that story?
My story was called “Black & White” and I wrote it as a side project spinoff from my current work in progress. It was a chance to explore the characters and the world more.
3. What other work have you done?
My first novel was LILITH’S LOVE, which is a modern setting vampire romance. That was 20 years ago. Since then I have written for ezines and blogs, published my short stories and poetry online, and had my stories in anthologies, like my story “Darkness” in the recent HorrorAddicts.net anthology HORRIBLE DISASTERS.
4. What is it about vampires that makes you want to write about them?
First, vampires are hot. Not just sensual but they are topical. They also defy classification. Almost any other mythological creature has an explicit set of qualities. Not so with vampires – they transcend cultures and stereotypes. They can be anything you want them to be and yet they are easily recognizable. I can write a vampire in a story and not have to list the litany of attributes that character has – you can instantly identify what they are and still embrace what might make them unique.
5. What other interests do you have and how do they influence your writing?
I’m a history buff without being an extreme stickler. I like my stories, especially the vampire tales, to have a bit of history. Such long-lived characters should have a bit of history to define them, in my humble opinion.
6. Give us some links where we can find your other work (if available):
Amazon and other online bookstores as well as my personal website, DanShaurette.com.
Focusing on the future: It involves Vampires
Originally posted on Maggie J:
As per my #WriterRecharge goal, here is my second blog post of the week. As I said before, I am still looking for a focus for my blog, and based on some info gleaned from my recent writers meeting, I think I have found it.
Since blogging is designed to entice readers to follow, blogging about writing and the writing process does not serve that purpose. This is new information for me, and I am consciously trying to train myself to not blog about my process. I need to focus more on building a readership. And my foundation is: VAMPIRES!
I’ve been connecting with groups and people on Facebook, and trying to connect with them on Twitter also. I shall report on the efficacy on both of those attempts at a later date.
As of now, because I am going to publish a vampire novel, I need to focus more on vampires, both in the print and video realm. I have limited my exposure for the past few years, to hinder the chances of influencing my character development and storyline. I think this boundary may be impeding my scope and I should limit my exposure now to ONLY vampires.
Each week, I would like to review a book or movie I have watched/read and offer my opinion and maybe compare that experience to the vampires I am currently writing about. Maybe I’m not getting as far away from the writing process as I should be, but this is a work in progress. Baby steps.
I have several vampire based books/series I have downloaded for Kindle, so I will use those for the next few weeks to review, no specified day of the week chosen yet (not Saturday, I usually take a break from social media on the weekends, but I worked all day today so… here this post is).
I do not enjoy paying for… anything really, so buying movies for more than a few dollars will probably not happen. I do not mind living on vampire-centric “free” offerings, but this is probably not going to round out my experience.
Please leave me your suggestions of vampire “essential” viewing and reading requirements in the comments. I will do my best to view/read each suggestion, but due to my aversion to paying, I cannot promise to comply. If you’d like to share your DVD collection with me, I can guarantee the return of your discs, but there is no pressure or obligation to assist me in this endeavor.
One day next week, I shall post my first review. Let’s hope it is a great one.
February 9, 2014
Review: ‘Vampire Academy’ (School Isn’t All That Sucks Here)
Originally posted on MovieCrypt.com:
When the dream sequence killing off the cast is better than everything afterward, you MIGHT have a script problem.
Exposition: Moroi are peaceful mortal vampires – never mind that they drink the blood of the living – who are protected by half-vampire guardians called Dhampirs from the red-eyed bad vampires called Strigoi. Got all that? Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) is the assumed Dhampir protector of Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry), the last of her Moroi bloodline and heir to the so-called vampire throne – we’ll get to “the queen” later. Anyway, Rose and Lissa have been living on the lam in Portland, Oregon until they get dragged back to Montana’s own St. Vladimir’s Academy – which looks a lot like left over sets from Hogwarts – where Moroi learn to use magic and Dhampirs learn to protect Moroi with their lives. Ninety minutes of mostly blood-red herrings culminates in exactly who you think stepping forward as the big bad before the movie mercifully ends.
This is why we can’t have good vampire movies.
Assuming that the Vampire Academy books must be better than what crawled up and died on the screen, imagine the kids from Clueless updating their pop culture references to play vampires in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There is simply too much going on here for a ninety-minute movie, and that’s before The Queen of All Vampires (Joely Richardson) inexplicably shows up to diss the Princess Lissa – in what world would a bunch of high school socialites NOT want to be besties with the future Queen? Vampire Academy, that’s where. Being a film for teens also means that every adult teacher is vain, clueless and/or evil; there’s nary a Headmaster Dumbledore or even a worthy Professor Snape in sight, so our heroes have no one to turn to – but the WORST problem is really just trying to be popular in school before the big dance! Shouldn’t – I don’t know – your LIVES be a little more important? Isn’t this why you ran away to begin with? If this is really the story in the first book, my sympathies.
The ranks of Overactors Anonymous could recruit much of the cast. Zoey Deutch’s protrayal of Rose feels like she’s channeling Ellen Page’s performance of Juno – poorly. Lucy Fry’s Lissa is split between moments of decent acting followed by five lines that sound like nails on the chalkboard. In defense of both actors, the written lines are pretty bad, too. The always-professional Gabriel Byrne phones it in, and if you’ve seen 95% of the movies he’s been in, you already know exactly what part his character plays. To be fair, both Cameron Monaghan and Dominic Sherwood manage to shine in their supporting roles, which only highlights how below par everyone else’s performance is. Suggestion to the screenwriters: you may not want to put down Twilight and sparkling vampires when your script already sounds like bad fan fiction itself.
The Weinstein Company should know better than this, right? There were no midnight shows or any pre-screenings held that I am aware of, just lots and lots of insipid clips on teen social websites confirming a lack of confidence in the final product – and it doesn’t look like many of those targeted were fooled into attending opening weekend. With three individual movies rolled into one featuring the same characters that just couldn’t get it together, the biggest misstep of all is showing us what could have been. In a dream sequence, our hero Rose sees her charge Lissa in danger, arriving in time to see everyone die and her best friend turned into one of the bad vampires – a total fail on all levels and game over for Rose… just before Lissa wakes up. Nothing that follows lives up to the tension, effects or action in that ONE scene. Here’s a friendly tip, folks: a reminder of how awesome your film could have been does nothing but show how bad all the rest of it actually is.
(a generous half skull recommedation out of four)
February 7, 2014
Vampire Tropes That Need To Be Staked
As a writer and avid reader of vampire fiction, I’ve seen a lot of different themes, styles, and clichés come in and out of popularity over the years. Rather than nit-pick which is which, it’s easier to call all of these things tropes, which is a more neutral term that has come to mean any sort of regularly occurring metaphor, symbol, or literary device.
With that in mind, I decided to come up with a personal list of what I think are the top 5 vampire-related tropes that have become over-used recently and need to be put to rest. You might agree, you might disagree, and you might even want to put a sharp wooden stake through my eye, but I hope this will give any vampire authors some food for thought.
To be fair, none of these tropes are beyond redemption, but I think that many of them have become so familiar that authors are beginning to include them in their stories without any good reason. Maybe they think they’re expected now. That way leads to Blandsville and the Land of Been There, Seen That.
Without further introduction, here’s my list:
5. Monsters, Monsters Everywhere!
This is the current vogue in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance that owes its popularity to authors like Laurel K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and others. The logic goes that, if vampires are real, so is every other damn mythological creature, horror archetype, folktale monster, and nursery rhyme character! So now we have an avalanche of kick-ass monster hunters who sleep with vampires, fight tooth fairies, shoot it out with Sasquatches, barter with leprechauns, and ride unicorns into battle against demon-possessed Minotaurs while arch-angels battle candy-house witches in the skies above!
I think we just need a few more monsters…
Seriously, aside from comedic value, what do all of these creatures bring? Ask yourself if your series really needs the entire monster menagerie before you throw them in because “everyone else is doing it.” I’ve gotten to the point where I find it refreshing to read a story about vampires that doesn’t feel the need to include every other type of monster, too. Build your world carefully. The best kind of fantasy always keeps a foot grounded in the real world.
4. Putting On The Game Face
This one we owe to movies like The Lost Boys and TV shows like Forever Knight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel, but because of their popularity it has begun to crop up in vampire novels as well. This is the idea that vampires alone aren’t scary enough, so they have to have a special “monster face” that they bring out for feeding or whenever they want to surprise someone into screaming and running away. C’mon, really? A risen corpse who can socialize with you before leading you off alone to drink the blood from your body isn’t scary enough? A serial killer with super-human powers isn’t enough?
Yes, transforming into Steven Tyler does make me a more efficient predator, actually.
I’m a bit of a nit-picker, I admit, so the idea that muscles re-arrange themselves in the vampires face all for the purpose of giving them a wicked Halloween look just doesn’t make any sense to me. Movies do it because their special effects guys get bored, but there’s no excuse for it in a novel. If your vampires are some form of demon, that’s great, but either keep them possessed and looking normal or make it a permanent transformation. The reason vampires are fascinating and frightening is because they are the monster with the human face.
4.a. Everybody Was Kung-fu Fighting
Just a quick addendum to that last bit is another that we owe to Joss Whedon and the Blade series. Not every damn vampire in the world is a martial arts expert! Outside of China and Japan, nobody in the f***ing world knew anything about this style of fighting until the 20th Century! Ancient vampire sword master: no problem. Ancient vampire kick-boxer? No. Just no.
3. Playing With Your Food
You see this in so damn many movies and books and it just makes me want to scream every time! A bunch of vampires get some humans together for dinner and, before you know it, there’s vampires laughing with blood smeared all over their faces, vampires tearing open jugular veins with gleeful abandon and spraying blood all over the wall, and vampires wearing entrails like Mardi Gras beads! Yes, yes, we’re supposed to recoil at how savage and capital-E Evil these vampires are, right? Instead, I find myself thinking “How pathetic!”
Do you guys smell blood? I swear I smell blood nearby …
Seriously, when’s the last time you and a bunch of friends had dinner and poured the soup down the front of your party clothes? Laughed and poured gravy all over your face? Scooped up half your mashed potatoes and threw them against the wall before shoving your face to the plate to lick up the rest? If your answer to any of these questions is a number other than never, then please remind me to never accept a dinner invitation from you. Even evil people can have table manners! When blood is your food supply, why slop it around like a three-year-old? Vampires can be cruel without being sloppy and, in my book, an elegant predator is far more interesting and frightening. Leave the mindless mauling to the werewolves, please.
2. Romeo and Juliet … Again … and Again …
How many times do readers need to read the same story before moving on? The first thought that comes to mind is Twilight, but this formula has been going far longer than She Who Must Not Be Named has been writing. Vampire Romeo and Human Juliet, Werewolf Romeo and Vampire Juliet, Werewolf Romeo and Human Juliet, Vampire Romeo and Vampire Juliet—it’s all been done. Several times.
At least the real R+J had the decency to kill them both at the end.
Now, I’m not saying get rid of romance in a vampire story, because that would be a ridiculous request (not to mention killing an entire genre), but let’s try to do something just a little new! For one thing, keep in mind that Romeo and Juliet was effective because it was a tragedy! It doesn’t work out! In every novel I read with this kind of story, however, it always works out hunky-dorey in the end. I’m a romantic, too, and I’d love to believe that love conquers all, but if you’re going to pull that story off then you damn well better earn it! Elevate your star-crossed lovers above the stereotype with strong characterization and throw in some twists! Here’s another idea: Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and many other Shakespeare plots are out there just waiting for a clever supernatural riff. Let Romeo and Juliet rest in peace for a while.
2.a. Boy, Girl, Boy
I’m going to make a few female readers mad here, but I don’t care, because it has to said. Does EVERY female heroine in EVERY paranormal series have to be loved/ lusted after by EVERY male creature she encounters? Furthermore, do we have to put up with the same damn “love triangle” over and over again? “Gee, I love Hottie McFang, but I also get super-juicy every time Rugged Wolfbane comes near me! What’s a girl to do? My life is, like, so complicated!” I realize that this is a cherished and time-worn female fantasy, but seriously! If every series with a male protagonist included the hero having a threesome with different gorgeous twin sisters in every book, the feminists in the audience would start campaigning for book burning!
Because it’s not sexist and offensive when a girl keeps a harem.
1. I’m Too Sexy To Be A Monster
Okay, here’s my least favorite trope in recent fiction: vampires who have been neutered so much for romance purposes that they hardly bear any resemblance to vampires anymore! We’ve all seen this, I’m sure: the super-rich, super sexy, super powerful vampire romance god who maybe has a problem with sunlight (but sometimes not even that) and really only needs, say, a wine glass’ worth of blood a night. Really? How convenient! He’s always a fantastic and considerate lover, just dark and mysterious enough to be attractive, but otherwise completely harmless. Blech!
Pictured: Realism
This is not a vampire. This is a male model with a blood fetish! I fully support the idea that vampires can be both heroic and villainous, but let’s try to keep some vague connection to the mythology, shall we? The vampire should be given his due and there should always be real danger present or else you’re just contributing to the slow sterilization of the vampire genre. Let’s keep our vampires deserving of the name, okay?
So, that’s the list. I hope you enjoyed it. I’d love to hear any reactions or your personal additions to the list in the comments! Stay thirsty, my friends!
