Brian Patrick McKinley's Blog, page 4
December 13, 2015
Dracula’s Bucket Brigade – Vampire Verisimilitude
Have you ever thought about a Vampire having to deal with something completely mundane?
I had to laugh at this.
We have alarms at Cedarcrest Sanctum for various reasons, not the least of which is a trespasser on the property. With the safety of our residents being paramount, we monitor for several possible emergencies, but imagine my surprise when a flooding alarm went off. As someone who sleeps deep in a hole in the ground, flooding is not high on my list of favorite things. Fortunately, the flooding was traced to a pipe that had broken due to a freeze, but we had to carry equipment down into a sub-basement to pump out the water. Truthfully, I was doing a lot of the carrying.
This got me thinking about Dracula — silly, right? For the record, there’s no such guy, but imagine he and his brides waking up one stormy…
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December 5, 2015
On the first day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me…
Originally posted on Vampire Maman:
It is now time for the annual Vampire Holiday Sing-A-Long!
On the first day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me
A Raven in a Dead Tree
__
On the second day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me
Two Vials of Blood
And A Raven in a Dead Tree
__
On the third day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me
Three Bat Skulls
Two Vials of Blood
And A Raven in a Dead Tree
__
On the fourth day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me
Four Howling Wolves
Three Bat Skulls
Two Vials of Blood
And a Raven in a Dead Tree
__
On the fifth day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me
Bram Stokers Heart
Four Howling Wolves
Three Bat Skulls
Two Vials of Blood
And a Raven in a Dead Tree
__
On the sixth day of Christmas my Vampire gave to me
Six…
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November 12, 2015
A Writer Writes… Except When They Don’t
Originally posted on ThinkingSkull.com:
An interesting article was pointed my way by J.H. Moncrieff entitled “Writers, We Need to Stop Saying This.” It makes a case for the once-defining advice that “a writer writes.” That’s true in context — you aren’t a writer if you’ve never written — but it can also be a source of frustration for the writer who HAS already written. The reason is obvious:
Writer’s block is a real thing.
Sometimes it’s pressure to perform or succeed, to break in or break out, or to duplicate a previous success. Sometimes it’s intruding external life events or a complete lack of inspiration. But when you’re told a writer writes and you’re not writing, those self-worth doubts begin to creep in — a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As any career writer will tell you, there is a degree of luck involved to being discovered and becoming popular or recommended, but a body of existing…
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October 12, 2015
SPOTLIGHT: DRAWING DEAD BY AUTHOR BRIAN McKINLEY
Originally posted on lmdavid54:
The average mobster dies as they live. Faolan O’Connor, however, finds new life after he dies.
Faolan O’Connor spent his life killing for men like Legs Diamond and Lucky Luciano, and now it’s his turn to face the music. But when vampire Darcy Killian offers him immortality, Faolan enters a world of violence, wealth, and power beyond anything he’s ever imagined.
Driven by ambition and guilt, Faolan fights his way up the ranks in a battle to justify his sins with success. He’s learned the hard way that relationships are vulnerabilities and friends are just enemies in disguise, but he also knows that he can’t conquer a city alone.
Aided by an emotionally-crippled genius and a warm-hearted call girl, Faolan builds a loyal crew with which to challenge the tyrannical Killian’s rule. However, will this re-awakened humanity prove a fatal flaw or his ace in the hole? With his life…
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October 7, 2015
Reflections ~ Post the First The Wizard behind My Curtain
Great article!
Originally posted on Victoria Adams' Reading Alcove:
Over the past several weeks I have had conversations with several people who have read my little book, Who I Am Yesterday. Some of those folks reported tears, a few laughs, and a bit of wonderment. I have also engaged in a number of conversations with online friends who say something along the lines of how amazing it is that I manage to keep my sense of humor while being a caregiver 24/7. I admitted it was a process. Then I thought about it; that was only a partial answer, and not worthy of the person who asked it. Thus, this new series for my blog: Reflections.
In the classic film The Wizard of Oz Dorothy and her friends suffer through many trials and tribulations until finally they reach the palace of the fabled Wizard. With the help of Toto we discover that the wizard is nothing more than…
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September 22, 2015
About Amy – A frank discussion about internet bullying, identity politics and the Facebook dictatorship.
Originally posted on The Crow Bar:
Amy Mah (also known as Lady Amelia Mah) is well known on Facebook and also throughout the Vampyre Community (as well as in various others, including the Otherkin community, Therian community, Demonkin, and several anime and Goth groups etc) and for a variety of different reasons. As a writer needing to research various different characters and backgrounds and identities with which to enrich my story telling, I can certainly understand why.
It is no secret that in the course of my own research – both as a writer as well as a researcher for groups such a the Alternative Religions Forum (ARF) I have entered numerous similar communities – where I met Amy, among many other very interesting people. Amy is indeed virtually everywhere on Facebook.
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September 13, 2015
Vampire Verisimilitude: “Thoughts On Thralling”
Originally posted on Cedarcrest Sanctum:
I took a holiday last weekend, so let’s jump back into it, shall we?
Mr. Benson asks, “How does that whole Lugosi eyes-behind-the-cape hypnosis thing work?” I used the exact wording to your question because I love how you asked it, Charlie. This is one fact that both television and movies get wrong all the time (NBC’s “Dracula,” anyone?)
I’ll begin with the first thought that pops into my head: I DESPISE the ability. I hate it and everything about it. Surprised? It’s in no way fair to anyone that there are creatures who can look at you, speak as little as a word, and steal your mind. Full disclosure: it’s also how I wound up in this mess to begin with.
It doesn’t even seem to really make much sense. The physical manifestation of vampires include fangs, blackened eyes, and talons (why talons instead of claws? I think it’s…
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September 8, 2015
Crazy Little Thing Called Blood: Book Review of To Touch The Sun by Laura Enright
Originally posted on J. S. Collyer Science Fiction Writer:
An adventurous debut, due for release 25th Feb 2014
I was really excited when I heard about the upcoming release of this debut novel, not least because I have recently re-discovered my love of vampire fiction. It did wane for a while: I’ve never been keen on the recent re-imaginings in the Twilight and True Bloodilk, but I have discovered that fiction in the style of early Anne Rice, somehow darker and more ‘adult’ (I don’t want to be patronising, but can’t think how else to phrase it) vampire fiction is still out there.
I have mentioned the book that regenerated this interest before: Hemovore by Jordan Castillo Price. It’s going on my ‘read again’ list (no mean feat with length of my ‘to-read’ reading list) and part of the draw of this book was the way the explored the idea of vampirism itself: in this narrative, it’s a virus or disease of the blood…
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Author Interview with Laura Enright, author of vampire novel ‘To Touch The Sun’
Originally posted on J. S. Collyer Science Fiction Writer:
Laura Enright is the author of To Touch the Sun, the first novel in her vampire series set in Chicago published by Dagda Publishing and available through Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats
I was able to snag the lovely Laura Enright for an interview after she was kind enough to interview me on her own website.
Laura is the author of To Touch The Sun, a vampire novel with a twist that was released Feb 2014 by Dagda Publishing which I reviewed last year.
Read my review of TTTS, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Blood’ here.
It was great to get a chance to interview a fellow fan of vampire fiction with a twist, and Enright really has some great insights into the process of writing and publishing, as well as the fluid ideas od genre and catagorisation.
Author Interview: Laura Enright
To Touch The Sun is an…
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September 7, 2015
The Young Dictator,
Originally posted on countingducks:
I can remember Adolf Hitler or “Dolphi” as we called him, when I was “Alive” in the mortal sense; we were in the same class at school. We were about twelve I think: He was already a nutter, who used to stand on desks before lesson saying things like, “Success is the only measurement of right or wrong,” which sounds very mature for that age and sort of laughable at the same time, except most people still believe it. We moved shortly after my fourteenth birthday and I never met him again, which is something to smile about I suppose.
Anyway, we know what happened to “Dolphi” don’t we? During the First World War, when half the world went mad, and turned on itself with primal brutality, Dolphi had a great time. He found himself in a place where the enemy was easily identified, and being a good man just…
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