Brian Patrick McKinley's Blog, page 8

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

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Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,800 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 47 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

First Draft of The Matriarch III is Complete! #amwriting

xuemertie:

Congratulations are in order!

Originally posted on ThinkingSkull.com:

58,800 words written in 48 days completes the first draft of this third book (out of a planned four-book series). Now it���s time for a well-earned step away, letting the words settle on the page for a bit before trading ���good enough for now��� up to ���as near to perfect as any mere mortal can hope to be.���

Like the first two novels, I have strived to infuse as many human elements as possible into this vampire story. There are plenty of individual elements, but to infuse life into the adventure, the risks and the rewards, you must also show love, hate, fear, surprise, betrayal, jealousy, and all the rest. Plot is what happens to our characters; story is how it affects them.

Coming soon: the official title, the actual cover, chapter teasers, and the publication date! As always, there is plenty more information and other goodies at Cedarcrest Sanctum.

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Have yourself a fang-y little Christmas . . . a free read giftie just for you

Originally posted on lucybluecastle:

Heya Kittens! I hope you���re all having a magnificent holiday season and that it only gets better. And while I haven���t been around the blogness much lately, I have been thinking of you, and I wanted to write you something festive and sexy to read if you find a free moment. A vampire glamour puss plays fairy godmother to the geek girl videogame designer she saved as a baby and finds her own Christmas miracle, and a geek girl discovers vamps are real ��� and that she has a thing for pirates. Trust me; it all makes sense in the end.

Note #1: If you���re a long-time reader of the blogness (or one of the half a dozen or so darlings who purchased Tender Bites, my short story collection), you���ll recognize elements of this story.

Note #2: The illustration is a publicity still of the gorgeous Emma Stone as Sally���

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SEDITIOUS by Emily Guido (Shameless Plug)

Seditious is the perfect title for the 4th book in The Light-Bearer Series. This book captures jealously, deceit, and restoration of love flawlessly.

Life at the Castle Charmeine is blissful until reality of the ruling the Elder Council of the Blood-Hunters causes dissent. An unexpected depth to both Tabbruis and Dmitri’s personalities humanizes both men.

This novel shows a side to Tabbruis and Charmeine’s��relationship which will throw any reader of The Light-Bearer Series off kilter.��Seditious is the continuation of their romantic and turbulent love story and mission on Earth to battle Lucifer’s minions!

Lord Cromwell is a lethal Blood-Hunter who has escaped the Elder Council Prison. He sends his beautiful agent to cause destruction to those who live at the Castle Charmeine.

Bathsheba is a deadly, sexy, and vicious siren who threatens Charmeine and Baby Hunter.��Not just with her present actions, but, with the past she shares with Tabbruis and Dmitri.��However, the family works together to unravel Bathsheba’s deadly secrets.

Just when you think they are in the clear, a more heinous and ominous villain waits in the wings to tear apart our ill-fated lovers, Charmeine and Tabbruis.

Seditious is a heart wrenching and exciting story of passion, betrayal, and redemption you will not want to miss!

��

Excerpt from SEDITIOUS the Fourth Novel in The Light-Bearer Series

 

Charmeine knew this beautiful woman was a very powerful Blood-Hunter. She felt Baby Hunter kicking and fought to control her anxiety.

���Ah, yes, very good gentlemen. We have her now.��� The mysterious woman told the men in a thick, French accent. She gazed with wide spellbinding eyes at Charmeine. She looked like a cat ready to pounce on her prey.

The man who held Charmeine pushed her to go out the terrace doors.

She knew this was a kidnapping and worried for Baby Hunter. Charmeine struggled to gain some kind of fighting advantage.

The Light-Bearers practiced their self-defense skills with her daughter, Sandra, and worked on how to get out these hand-binding holds. After Charmeine���s encounters with Pascal, she never wanted to feel helpless again.

With speed and accuracy, Charmeine used her power to fly up backwards over the head of the Blood-Hunter. She broke out of his grip. Immediately, she leveled him with a powerful and fierce bolt of white electricity which stunned him into a stupor.

Percival took this opportunity to sweep the legs of the man who held him. He stunned his assailant, and made him fall down in pain with a green charge which ran through his body.

���Use your light for Athena!��� Charmeine yelled to Percival.

Percival threw a green lightning bolt at the man who held Athena.

Within a second, the Blood-Hunter was on the ground. A green current cursed through him.

�����Halt!��� the Blood-Hunter woman demanded.

Charmeine looked up and a hand gun was aimed at her belly.

The woman widened her indigo eyes with her fangs exposed. She threatened, ���You really never know where a bullet will go? Do you?��� she laughed.

Her maniacal giggles curdled Charmeine���s blood. She could tell the Blood-Hunter woman was telling the truth.

���Yes, the bullet could just land somewhere very unhealthy for your unborn spawn.��� She circled Charmeine like a shark swimming around its prey. ���Not that hurting spawn of this Light-Bearer scum would matter,��� she quipped in a matter-of-fact way.

Charmeine began to feel waves of nausea and fought the urge to be sick.

���The offspring is just a by-product.��� With a sinister laugh the woman scoffed, ���Yes, a by-product which should be tossed aside and thrown away like the trash it is . . . as soon as we cut it out of you!���

She began to laugh with a vicious tone and stuck the gun in Charmeine���s belly ready to pull the trigger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Questions for Author Emily Guido

 

On a similar note (pun intended), what music (genre, artist, etc.) most inspires your writing?

I like to listen to classical or easy listening music with headphones on. I hate being interrupted while I write, so sometimes, I stay up all night and write.

 

Which of your own stories is your favorite?

I don���t know if I have a favorite story since it���s a series. However, I would love to have dinner with Dmitri. He is the oldest and wisest of all the Blood-Hunters. But he still is totally gorgeous with long black hair and deep blue hypnotic eyes. He has a sense of humor like you wouldn���t believe. I don���t think Dmitri would like anything else but blood for dinner, but I would chomp on my steak while listening to his interesting stories about his past on Earth and look into his dreamy blue eyes. Totally got a thing for Dmitri, sorry, he is my fav!

��

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Keep writing and know social media to promote your book but also just say to yourself each day this mantra���

It only takes one���

One person to read your book

One person to tell another person about your book

One person to buy your book

And so on���

 

Tell me about your current work-in-progress and what your plans are for it.

SEDITIOUS is my fourth novel in The Light-Bearer Series and is coming out shortly, published by PDMI Publishing. YEAH! In a month it will be out on pre-sell on Amazon. SEDITIOUS is the perpetuation of Tabbruis and Charmeine���s love affair. They are enjoying life until the reality of ruling the Elder Council and Temple Guards come crashing down on them. Then a sexy, mysterious and gorgeous woman appears at the Castle Charmeine ready to take what she wants by orders of her Master, Lord Cromwell. Twists and turns, ups and downs are in in this novel of passion and redemption.

 

What is your ultimate goal as a writer? (To write for pleasure? To be a best-selling author? Something else?)

I write strictly for pleasure. Oh yes, I dream of having my books read around the world. However, if I did this for money or to be famous, I would have never gotten this far. My goal is to enjoy and pass on this wonderful story of The Light-Bearer Series! I have spent a lot of money making these books come to life and promoting them. I also network. I have spent hours promoting these books. It is a labor of love, and if I make anything, I just put it back into the books and promotion.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Author Emily Guido Bio

 

Emily Guido is Paranormal Romance Author. She was inspired to start writing The Light-Bearer Series because one day she got an idea of two star-crossed lovers which needed to have their story told.

The Light-Bearer Series is Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, with Vampires, Angels, History, Action and Adventure. The novels Charmeine, Mactus, Accendo, Seditious, Ransom and Conundrum are the continuation of the wonderful adventures of the inhabitants of The Castle Charmeine!

Emily is currently works for a Fortune 500 Company and has a Master of Business Administration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

��

Emily���s Stalker Links

 

Emily Guido ��� Email guido.emily@gmail.com

Emily Guido – Author WEBSITE

Emily Guido – Author FACEBOOK Page

Emily Guido ��� Author TWITTER

��

Buy links ��� Amazon

��

CHARMEINE the First Novel in The Light-Bearer Series on Amazon

MACTUS the Second Novel in The Light-Bearer Series on Amazon

ACCENDO the Third Novel in The Light-Bearer Series on Amazon

SEDITIOUS the Fourth Novel in The Light-Bearer Series

 

Coming Soon

��

RANSOM the Fifth Novel in The Light-Bearer Series

CONUNDRUM the Sixth Novel in The Light-Bearer Series

 

Much Ado About Vampires: Writing The Matriarch III

xuemertie:

Always good stuff from Kevin:

Originally posted on ThinkingSkull.com:

Whether you love or hate the Bard���or vampires.

When I expanded my stand-alone vampire novel into a book series, it required me to re-envision the first novel as ���part one��� to create a story progression (don���t you hate when a great story falls apart at the end?) I tried to think of The Matriarch as a trilogy, but it was going to take four books to get to the ending I wanted and wrap everything up with a bow.

This means each self-contained novel ��� intended to be enjoyable unto itself ��� had to seed the entire arc to show the main character progression, especially in her capabilities and the challenges she would have to overcome. Those knowing the story line of my current work in progress, the untitled third, have dubbed it ���Shakespearean��� in reference to characters withholding critical information that escalates the situation. The Matriarch: Guardians did this���

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Two Years Later: Glad They Didn’t Take Me

xuemertie:

I’m waiting to be able to write a post like this!

Originally posted on Daven Anderson's Blog:

Back in 2012, a book called ���Vampire Syndrome��� made the rounds of New York publishing houses.�� I decided to look back on one of the publisher���s rejections and analyze it from my present perspective, two years later.

Based on the paranormal titles released by that publisher in 2013 and 2014, I can now see there is no way in hell that ���Vampire Syndrome��� would have ever had a chance to be published by this company. Most amusing and ironic in retrospect how someone claimed this company wanted ���ground-breaking��� new paranormal titles. Virtually all the paranormal titles they���ve released in the last couple of years rival Harlequin for hewing closely to ���company formula.��� A litany of titles I would not be interested in even reading, for free. Much less writing in that ���style.���

���Sour Grapes?��� Hardly. I let out a big sigh of relief that I���m not signed to this company���

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Research – The Devil of Details

xuemertie:

Always do your research!

Originally posted on Vampire Syndrome Blog:

Research is one of the most unheralded tasks a proper author must do. It can take several hours of research to get a single sentence to be correct.

In Chapter One of “Vampire Invasion” (book three of the Vampire Syndrome Saga), Lilith’s inner monologue says:

“I stride over to my 1930 Cadillac V-16 roadster, kneel down to unlock the battery compartment door, and then remove the charger cables.”

This sentence alone took me several hours of research. I was already well aware (from my personal experience at car shows and museums) that the battery in a 1930’s Cadillac V-16 is NOT under the car’s hood, as the giant sixteen-cylinder engine occupies virtually all of the underhood area. So any author who would write “I open the hood and remove the charger cables” would commit a major detail error, right off the *bat*. ;-)

1930 Cadillac V-16 Underhood View

Since I…

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VAMPIRES IN LITERATURE AND FILM

I spent Halloween talking to people about vampires. I had a great time, and I hope I was informative and entertaining. Below are the notes I used, which I thought might make an interesting blog post.

 

THE VAMPYRE (1819)

- DR. JOHN POLIDORI

WRITTEN DURING “YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER” ALONG WITH “FRANKENSTEIN.”
FIRST VAMPIRE STORY IN ENGLISH.
IMMENSELY POPULAR UPON PUBLICATION, THOUGH INITIALLY ATTRIBUTED TO LORD BYRON.
LORD RUTHVEN (PRONOUNCED “RIVEN”) IS THE ORIGINAL ARISTORCRATIC, SEDUCTIVE VAMPIRE.
RUTHVEN HAS NO PROBLEM PASSING AS HUMAN, NO ISSUES WITH SUNLIGHT, AND NONE OF THE “TRADITIONAL” WEAKNESSES OR POWERS.
ADAPTED FOR THEATER NUMEROUS TIMES.

 

I’m too sexy for a cape, too sexy for a cape…

VARNEY THE VAMPIRE,

OR THE FEAST OF BLOOD (1847)

- MALCOLM JAMES RYMER

RYMER ALSO CO-AUTHOR OF “THE STRING OF PEARLS” WHICH INTRODUCED SWEENY TODD.
ORIGINATOR OF SEVERAL POPULAR TROPES: VARNEY HAS FANGS, ENTERS THROUGH WINDOW TO ASSAULT SLEEPING VICTIMS, HAS HYPNOTIC POWERS, AND SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH.
NO AVERSION TO SUNLIGHT, CROSSES, OR GARLIC. ABLE TO TRANSFORM OTHERS INTO VAMPIRES. BECOMES “HUMAN” BETWEEN FEEDINGS AND CAN EAT AND DRINK.
VARNEY IS THE FIRST SYMPATHETIC VAMPIRE WHO LOATHES HIS CONDITION, LEAVES AN ACCOUNT OF HIS ORIGINS, AND COMMITS SUICIDE VIA VOLCANO!
CURSED FOR BETRAYAL AND MURDER, SPONTANEOUSLY TRANSFORMED. “KILLED” MANY TIMES AND REVIVED BY VARIOUS METHODS INCLUDING ELECTRICITY.

 

CARMILLA (1871)

- SHERIDAN LE FANU

FIRST MAJOR FEMALE VAMPIRE IN FICTION, ALSO FIRST LESBIAN VAMPIRE.
EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL ON BRAM STOKER.
FIRST NOVEL TO FEATURE VAMPIRE SHAPE-SHIFTING (INTO A CAT), ABILITY TO BECOME INSUBSTANTIAL. CARMILLA ALSO SLEEPS IN A COFFIN AND IS DESTROYED BY STAKING AND BEHEADING.
DESPITE BEING NOCTURNAL BY PREFERENCE, SUNLIGHT DOES NO DAMAGE TO CARMILLA.

 

DRACULA (1889)

- BRAM STOKER

THE MOST FAMOUS AND INFLUENTIAL VAMPIRE OF ALL TIME. CHARACTER HAS APPEARED IN OVER 170 FILMS, MORE THAN ANY OTHER CHARACTER.
FIRST POPULARIZED THE TERM “NOSFERATU” BASED ON AN ERROR-FILLED TRAVEL BOOK CALLED “TRANSYLVANIAN SUPERSTITIONS.”
INTRODUCED MANY TROPES: VAMPIRE SHAPE-SHIFTING INTO WOLVES, DOGS, MIST, AND BATS, AVERSION TO GARLIC, REPELLED BY CROSSES, NO REFELCTION OR SHADOW, ABILITY TO COMMAND ANIMALS, THE TRANSFORMATION OF OTHER VAMPIRES BY FEEDING THEM BLOOD, CONTROLLING VICTIMS VIA BLOOD.
NOT BASED ON VLAD THE IMPALER.
FIRST VAMPIRE TO CRUMBLE TO DUST UPON DEATH. STABBED IN HEART WITH KNIFE, NOT WOODEN STAKE. GROWS YOUNGER AFTER FEEDING.
NOT A HUGE HIT WHEN FIRST PUBLISHED.

NOSFERATU (1922)

- DIR: F.W. MURNAU

UNLICENSED ADAPTATION OF “DRACULA”, SUED BY WIDOW STOKER AND ORDERED DESTROYED. FIRST “CULT CLASSIC”.
NOT THE FIRST VAMPIRE FILM OR EVEN ADAPTATION OF “DRACULA.” THERE WERE 20 SILENT VAMPIRE FILMS BEFORE IT! “VAMPIRE OF THE COAST” WAS FIRST IN 1909.
FIRST “ARTSY” VAMPIRE FILM. ORIGINATED THE IDEA OF VAMPIRES DYING IN SUNLIGHT.

 

DRACULA (1931)

- DIR: TODD BROWNING/KARL FREUND

BASED ON DEAN/BALDERSTEN STAGE PLAY, NOT NOVEL.
CREATED POPLUAR IMAGE OF THE VAMPIRE AND DRACULA.
FIRST “ROMANTIC” SCREEN VAMPIRE.

 

DRACULA’S DAUGHTER (1936)

- DIR: LAMBERT HILLYER

FIRST TRULY MEMORABLE FEMALE VAMPIRE IN FILM, NOT SUBORDINATE TO A MALE VAMPIRE.
DESPISES HER CONDITION AND SEEKS TO BE CURED.
STRONG LESBIAN IMPLICATIONS IN FEEDING HABITS.

RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1944)

- DIR: LEW LANDERS

FIRST SCREEN PAIRING OF VAMPIRE/WEREWOLF, WITH WEREWOLF ACTING AS SERVANT TO VAMPIRE.
VAMPIRE DESTROYED BY SUNLIGHT.

 

I AM LEGEND (1954)

- RICHARD MATHESON

FIRST REAL ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN VAMPIRES ARE VICTIMS OF VIRUS. FIRST POST-APOCALYPSE VAMPIRE STORY.
VAMPIRES RESEMBLE REVENANTS FROM FOLKLORE RATHER THAN MODERN “HOLLYWOOD” VAMPIRES.
PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS RAISED. TITLE REFERS TO PROTAGONIST REALIZING THAT HE HAS BECOME THE MONSTER.
“LAST MAN ON EARTH” STARRING VINCENT PRICE IS MOST ACCURATE ADAPTATION.

DRACULA/HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)

- DIR: TERRANCE FISHER

CHRISTOPHER LEE HAS PLAYED DRACULA 9 TIMES ON SCREEN, MORE THAN ANY OTHER ACTOR.
FIRST SCREEN VAMPIRE TO SHOW FANGS. FIRST VAMPIRE TO BURST INTO FLAMES IN SUNLIGHT ON FILM.

 

DARK SHADOWS (1966-1971)

- DAN CURTIS

BARNABAS COLLINS STARTED AS ANTAGONIST, BUT QUICKLY BECAME MAIN PROTAGONIST OF SERIES.
EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL IN RENEWING INTEREST IN VAMPIRES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE.

 

It’s almost like being there, isn’t it?

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1973)

- DIR: DAN CURTIS

DRACULA PORTRAYED AS TRAGIC FIGURE.
FIRST TIME DRACULA IS LINKED TO VLAD THE IMPALER ON FILM.
ALSO FEATURES REINCARNATION LOVE STORY.

 

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1976)

- ANNE RICE

VAMPIRE TELLS HIS OWN STORY, SERVES AS PROTAGONIST. VAMPIRES ARE FULLY-REALIZED CHARACTERS WHO CAN LOVE, MOURN, AND RETAIN THEIR HUMAN PERSONALITIES.
REJECTION OF RELIGION AS FORCE AGAINST VAMPIRES, THOUGH SUNLIGHT KILLS.
VAMPIRES BECOME BEAUTIFUL AGAIN. BEGINS EXPLOSION OF VAMPIRE LITERATURE/FILM.
FILM ADAPTATION IN 1994.

 

I just love this meme.

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE (1990)

- MARK REIN-HAGEN

VAMPIRES ARE GIVEN A SOCIETY WITH RULES AND VARIOUS CLANS WHO ALL EXHIBIT DIFFERENT POWERS AND QUALITIES.
INSPIRES ROLEPLAYING CLUBS, NOVELS, AND TV SERIES.

 

NOW…

THE VAMPIRE HAS BECOME ONE OF OUR MOST POTENT AND ADAPTABLE SYMBOL.
VAMPIRES ARE OUTSIDERS, ARISTOCRATS, MONSTERS, SUPERHEROS, VICTIMS, ALIENS, IDEALIZED PEOPLE, OR ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE.
THE VAMPIRE HASN’T REALLY GONE “OUT OF STYLE” SINCE THE 1960s, BUT HAS CHANGED FORM MANY TIMES.

I had a great time giving my presentation and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

Review: ‘Dracula Untold’ (vampires that choose)

xuemertie:

I found this movie to be a bit of a bore, but your mileage may vary.

Originally posted on MovieCrypt.com:

If Dracula became a monster for a noble cause, could his dark power be used in the name of the light?

Raised by the Turks as a royal hostage, Vlad Tepes (Luke Evans) returns to his homeland years afterward to rule. With a wife and child of his own, the peace of his kingdom is threatened when the Turks demand not only their regular tribute of coin but also a thousand children to fight in the Sultan’s army…including Vlad’s own son. With no standing army, Vlad makes a Devil’s deal with a cursed monster (Charles Dance), but can the prince defeat his enemies with borrowed power without falling victim to the curse himself?

Attemtps to make Dracula a monster at the box office the last two decades have gloriously failed, so why not restore his nobility as a man of hope instead of making him yet another monster obsessed with…

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Gender-bending Dracula film on Kickstarter!

The new film from writer producer Chris Denmead is DRACULA. Not like any version of the character we have seen before. Chris takes the character and the rest of the cast from the book by Bram Stoker and changes the sex.

Chris was finished wrapping up his book The Undead are a Joke a murder mystery involving the death of video game developers. The main character in the story, a game developer happens to also be a Vampire. His female character got him thinking of Dracula and he realized he had never seen the character done as a Woman before.

“Dracula has so many different versions and there have been films called Countess Dracula but that character by Hammer had nothing to do with Bram Stoker’s version,” says Chris. I like strong female characters and thought wouldn’t it be cool if Dracula was told as a woman instead of a man as he always is.”

With the help of MA photographer Andrew Shanley, Chris made a short film Dracula’s Guest in Sterling MA. He cast Rachel Wiese as his female Dracula or Vlada Dracul. Allie Marshal from Rhode Island as Renfield and from Denmark, Sara Lind Mortensen for the makeup work.

He then went to work on a feature length script and asked Ave Maria’s Skip Shea to direct it and Actress Mel Heflin as Janis Harker aka the Jonathan Harker character. MA artist Aaron White was brought on board for story boards and poster art, and Deanna Marie Collins to work with him on a comic book prequel to his main film.

On October 9, 2014 Chris launched a kick starter to get his movie made. He is currently trying to raise 12,000 and expects if he raises it to start production in the winter of 2015.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1408666346/dracula-0

Dacre Stoker great Grand nephew of Bram Stoker the creator of Dracula gave his blessing to the project:

“In Dracula the Un-Dead Ian and I created a horrifying villain by turning the historical character Lady Bathory into a Vampire, so I am no stranger to female Vamps, and I firmly believe that variation and adaptation of the original keeps the genre alive.”

- Dacre C. Stoker, great grand nephew of Bram Stoker, Author of Dracula.

 

  About Chris Denmead

Chris Denmead has been a radio show host at WCUW 91.3 fm in Worcester MA since Oct 2007. He has produced over 350 shows on the Dr.Chris Radio of Horror program. He is the author of the book Give Me Something Good to Eat and recently finished work on The V wars vol 3 short story More Human than Human. He is currently working on Book 2 of The Undead are a Joke his vampire e-book series and The New England Horror filmmakers. A documentary on people who made their indie films in the 7 states of New England. DRACULA is his first feature length movie.