Alex Bledsoe's Blog, page 41

Gone (but not forgotten) in 60 Seconds

If one cinematic trend defines the 1970s, it's not the summer blockbuster (Star Wars, Jaws), the "New Hollywood" grit (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver) or even grindhouse exploitation. It's the car chase movie. And the undisputed king is H.B. Halicki's 1974 film, Gone in 60 Seconds.



To make an independent movie in the 70s was a sign of drive and willpower far beyond those of independent filmmakers today. Indie directors didn't want to make navel-gazing talkfests like Juno or Garden State. They s...

Heroic Fantasy Challenge contest

Thanks to the awesome folks at Rogue Blades Entertainment, I'm one of the judges for their heroic-fantasy Challenge! contest.

The contest is open to submissions from June 1 to September 1, 2010. And the challenge is to base the story around this illustration by V Shane:



The basics (from the Rogue Blades website):

"The RBE Challenge! is a competition anthology open to anyone who writes heroic action adventure of ANY genre! Using V Shane's above artwork and the title Discovery as inspiration, p...

Sailing through Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes

After my recent dire experience with The Island, Peter Benchley's 1979 pirate adventure (see my post here), I was leery of another "best-selling" author tackling the same subject. I was doubly leery when that author was the late Michael Crichton, a writer whose brilliant and innovative ideas are invariably balanced by a nonexistent sense of pacing, characterization and style.

And yet, his 2009 novel Pirate Latitudes surprised me, much as his 1976 novel, Eaters of the Dead. This new book was ...

No treasure in The Island

I started reading Peter Benchley's 1979 novel The Island sitting in a waiting room, for lack of anything better to read. And the sucker hooked me.

For those who don't know, the late author was the son of Nathaniel Benchley and the grandson of Robert Benchley, both literary figures of high reknown. He was also the author of Jaws, the novel that was the Twilight of the early Seventies.

Jaws the book is nowhere near as exciting as the classic film adapted from it: it's a potboiler, filled with c...

Want to be in Eddie LaCrosse 4?

As part of Do the Write Thing for Nashville, I'm taking part in a charity auction to help the victims of the Tennessee flooding. In addition to signed copies of my two Memphis vampire books, I'm including a Tuckerization in my fourth (so far untitled) Eddie LaCrosse novel, due out in 2012. So jump in and help the good folks of Tennessee get back on their feet!

I finally answer THE vampire author question

As an author of books about vampires, I get asked one question more than any other, at signings and conventions and neighborhood cookouts: "So, what do you think about Twilight?" It's become a litmus test of sorts.

So I thought I'd answer it here, for the record, in handy condensed form. What do I think of Twilight?

I haven't read Twilight. None of them. My wife read them, but I haven't. So I can't speak to Stephanie Meyer's skill (or alleged lack of) as a writer.

I have seen the first movi...

Literature so tough it survives force majeure

During the recent storms in Tennessee, my friend Thom had a house fire. That's the kind of rebel he is: in the midst of a flood, he burns. He's fine, no one (human or animal) was hurt, and the destruction was contained. But he sent me a photo of one very significant item that escaped with only soot damage:

Titania needs your help

My friend filmmaker Lisa Stock, who did the promotional film for my novel Blood Groove, is raising funds to complete her next project, Titania. Even $5 will help, and I can say from experience that Lisa is a serious artist who will use these funds wisely to produce a beautiful, unique film.

To see a trailer for the proposed film, find out more about the project and make a donation, go here.

To find out more about Lisa, here's an interview I did with her about making the Blood Groove film.

What I love most about vampires is...

The Madison Vampire Coven consists of...wait for it...authors based in and around Madison, WI who write about vampires. Currently we have four members, and I asked each to complete the following statement.

What I love most about vampires is...

Jordan Castillo Price, author of Hemavore :

"What I love most about vampires is their vulnerability. I think the ways in which vampires can be harmed are much more interesting than their powers. Depending on which mythologies you draw from, your vampire ch...

The winners of signed copies of Blood Groove are...

The Darth Vader cup came down off the shelf, the names were placed inside, and the Squirrel Boy did the random selecting. The winners are:

Milo H. Tomb

Angel 28140

Penny

Sara

Bookwench


Since none of you winners have e-mail contact info on your profile, please drop me a line (alex at alexbledsoe dot com) with your mailing address and to whom you'd like the book personalized.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and watch for more giveaways leading up to the July release of The Girls with Games of B...