David Lee Summers's Blog, page 25

Fan Expo Denver

This coming weekend, June 30 through July 2, I’ll be a panelist and a vendor at Fan Expo Denver, being held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. FAN EXPO Denver is the ultimate go-to event for sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event in Denver that attracts hundreds of thousands of people. Every year, FAN EXPO Denver offers exciting family-friendly attractions, events, and world-renowned Celebrities! This year’s celebrity guests include Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Danny ...

Magical Mischief in Flagstaff

Over the last three years, I’ve had the pleasure of spending time in Flagstaff where my youngest daughter studies geology at Northern Arizona University. In the high country, not far from the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff feels like a magical place. Percival Lowell established his observatory on Mars Hill and observed the planets. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto during his time in Flagstaff. The Museum of Northern Arizona celebrates the indigenous cultures of the region. The Grand Canyon, the Petrifie...

The Holmes-Dracula File

Back in April, I discussed Fred Saberhagen’s fine novel The Dracula Tape, which was a retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula from the count’s point of view. Then, about a month ago, I pitched the idea of a short story to one of my publishers that would include some nods to the Arthur Conan Doyle short story “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire.” I plan to start working on this short story soon and hope I’ll have some more news about it in the coming months. Meanwhile, I decided to move on to Saberha...

Against the Day – Final Part

“Rue du Depart” is the fifth, final, and shortest part of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Against the Day. I’m not sure whether it makes sense to worry about spoilers in a novel that’s over 1000 pages long with numerous plot threads and that’s also less concerned about plot than ways of seeing the world. Still, the final section does bring a certain resolution to the stories of Dally Rideout, the Traverse Brothers, Yashmeen Halfcourt, and the aerialist adventurers, the Chums of Chance.

One part of ...

Hunting Vampires

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the Vampyre Library Book Club sponsored by Boutique du Vampyre in New Orleans. One book the club selected was Baltimore, or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. The novel came from an idea for a comic book series by Mike Mignola. However, at the time he had the idea, he was working on several other projects and didn’t have time to fully develop the idea into its own comic, so he worked with Christopher Golden to turn it into...

The Magic of Owls

I grew up in urban Southern California and only really encountered wildlife while on camping trips with my family. The only owls I can remember seeing were those caged in zoos. The first time I really had to think about living around owls was when I was in my 20s. Soon after getting married, my wife and I moved to the small mining town of Madrid, New Mexico. We were warned not to let our cats go outside at night. There was a real danger that owls would get them. Despite the warning, I don’t reca...

Visiting Rite World

BookBub is a book discovery service that was created to help readers find new books and authors through curated lists of discounted titles. Lachesis Publishing used BookBub to promote some of my novels and I signed up to receive their daily mailings some time ago. Since I’ve been working on my new vampire novel, Ordeal of the Scarlet Order, I’ve had my eye out for vampire novels and authors I haven’t read before to see their approach to the genre. In particular, I like to pay attention to what t...

Against the Day – Part 4

At around 367 pages, Part 4 of Against the Day is the novel’s longest section. This part, which is the length of many novels, shares its title with the novel itself. The title is taken from 2 Peter 3:7 in the Bible. In the King James Version, that verse reads “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Even though this is the longest section, I found it easier to follow the no...

Vampire-Human Relations

In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marita Crandle, owner of Boutique du Vampyre in New Orleans, and Steven Foley put together the Vampyre Library Book Club. Each month, Steven would select a book, members would read it, and at the end of the month, Steven would interview the author and readers would have a chance to ask questions. I was honored that my novel Vampires of the Scarlet Order was one of the book club’s selections alongside such works as Dead Until Dark by Charlaine ...

A Quest for Good Coffee

In 1977, I sat spellbound in the theater watching Star Wars. Afterwards, I read and reread the Marvel comics adaptations of the movies until they fell apart. I was spellbound with the adventure, following Luke Skywalker on a quest to the stars to fight the Galactic Empire and rescue Princess Leia. It wouldn’t be long before I would be drawn to similar types of adventures in the pages of fantasy novels. Eventually, friends introduced me to the world of role-playing games and I was delighted that ...