Vampire News:

Tasty Bits that you can sink your fangs into!

by Bertena Varney, MA & Stavros

Copyright 2012 Bertena Varney and Search for the Lure Publications Published by Crazy Duck Press, an imprint of the Organic Ghetto, LLC All Rights Reserved to the Artists. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. While the author has made every effort to provide accurate internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assume any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites and their content www.crazyduckpress.com www.organicghetto.net Photography and Graphic Design by Stavros Cover Models: Katalina Parrish & Jean-Paul de Jager Vampire News Network Copyright 2012 Stavros Typeset in Garamond, Wolf s Bane, Mephisto, and Catholic School Girls BB Printed in the United States of America

~Acknowledgements~
Where would we be without the help of a few good friends? Probably sitting on the sofa watching reruns on TV. But besides that, each book is not so much a lone adventure as it is a joint effort. Vampire News is no exception. Many people from across the globe have come together to help us present to you the most comprehensive list of its kind. First off, the authors of this lovely little opus, Bertena Varney & Stavros, would like to thank each other for coming together, putting aside projects, and working in harmony to craft a fabulous book. (Well, we think its fabulous. You can hold your opinion until after you read it.) Secondly, we would like to thank Tina Carreiro, author of The Power of the Moon, for assisting us to collect crucial vampire data from the catacombs of some secret undead crypt and Siver Black, from Get Fanged, for her role in unearthing the dead to bring us copious mounds of goodies. To Nicholas D. Ward for jumping in with both feet to arrange an amazing vampire photoshoot so this book would have a cover, as well as to Rudi Rossiter, who scoured the backlots and darkened movie trailers of New Mexico to locate us a news desk; and to Val Hollingsworth, who opened up her studio to let us play. A big gigantic hug goes out to Katalina Parrish and Jean-Paul de Jager for their dazzling portrayal of our Vampire News anchorman and woman. And a special thanks to Jay for all his help in taking the behind-thescenes photos, as well as to Brent Tiano for pointing us in the direction of several vampire web series, and most especially to One & Story Cockrell, who remain a constant beacon of light and creative inspiration. And of course, a gigantic Thank You to all our wonderful contributing authors, writers, bloggers, undead musicians, and freaks that helped to make this book what it is; and lastly to you...our beloved readers. Thank you for downloading our book...and sharing it with your friends!

This Book is Dedicated To All Vampire Fans Everywhere:

Whether you love the romantic, dangerous, or traditional vamps, whether you prefer a good book or to wait up late at night to catch the classics; for all those who stand in movie lines, blog, join vampire community websites, support famous and up-n-coming authors, get vamp tattoos, go to Cons, or are waiting in the wings of some dark dream...This Book is for You! A Thousand Eternal Nights!

~Introduction~
Welcome to Vampire News! What youve downloaded is a compilation of events and happenings that took place in 2011, which helped to shape what vampire history is today! This book was compiled with love, researched thoroughly, and features factoids, blips, quips, notes, essays, articles, interviews, news reports, weblinks, & radical thoughts from several authors, professors, enthusiasts, musicians, models, photographers, and fun-loving nuts working within the vampire genre today, crafting the stuff of nightmares for vampire lovers of all ages! Hot off the cyber-presses, Vampire News is aware that its list is not completely comprehensive to everything vampire-related that took place on planet Earth in the year 2011 of the Julian calendar. For security reasons we simply cant release all the photographs from all the vampire balls that took place showing all the consentual bloodletting that transpired, or even mention the events that took place within the hidden realm of the real vampire community, but well have you know that wed STAKE some guys life in Alberta, Alaska that this book is the most extensive list of its kind in the dawn of the new year. So, as 2012 continues to countdown the Mayan calendar, and our eventual return with more updates and news, the staff here, at Vampire News, hopes that you will, at least, enjoy these Tasty Bits as much as we have enjoyed collecting them for you! May your new year be filled with the vampires you crave!

~Page Bites~
Vampire News Time Line Old Photo of Z Vampire Articles: Why I Started Writing Vampire Books
by Elizabeth Loraine Compiled by the Vampire News Staff pg.10 pg.22

pg.24 pg.27 pg.30 pg.32 pg.34 pg.36 pg.38 pg.41 pg.43 pg.47 pg.50 pg.52 pg.54 pg.56 pg.58

Why I Chose to Write about Dracula

by Charles E. Butler by Katie Salidas

Vampires in Vegas Confessions of a Part-time Vampire Enthusiast

by Heather Nicholson-Gran by Stavros

Vampire Revolution! Vampire Sonnet Excerpts I Remember Vampires

by Mimi Rupp

by David Nelson Bradhser

What I Learned Writing The Annotated Carmilla

by David M. Blue

The One Blood Series

by Nicholas D. Ward by Mimi Rupp

Deconstructing Twilight The Popularity of Vampires in Fiction

by Bertena Varney

Amy Mah Quote #1 Red #1 & #3 Amy Mah Quote #2 Interviews: Goth Chick NewsExcerpts w/ Stavros

by Susan Granquist

The Vampire Examiner Amy Mah Quote #3

by Nora Chipley Barteau

pg.63 pg.64 pg.65 pg.68 pg.70 pg.71 pg.73 pg.76 pg.78 pg.80 pg.81 pg.83

Examiner.com Interview w/ Denise Verrico

by Bertena Verney

Examiner.com Interview w/ David Nelson Bradhser

by Bertena Varney

Amy Mah Quote #4 Sunrise at Sunset Interview w/ Jaz Primo

by Nora Chipley Barteau by Andy Boylan

Get Fanged Interview w/ Stavros Examiner.com Interview w/ Bitten Twice

by Bertena Varney

Red #6 News Flash!: Is Nicholas Cage a Vampire?

by the Vampire News Staff by Bertena Varney by Tina Carreiro

2011 Overview of Vampire Movies TV: Bill Compton - The Hero Redefined Webisodes - by Stavros Sucking & Moaning Their Way To Your Heart Blood & Bone China: Revamping Stoker Mad About Tim Sopranos with Fangs My Sorority Sister wants to Suck my...What? Well, STAKE THIS! Only the Unfortunate Transition Anticipating Vampire Events of 2012
by the Vampire News Staff

pg.85 pg.86 pg.86 pg.87 pg.88 pg.89 pg.90 pg.92 pg.94 pg.96

Amy Mah Quote #5 Author Bios Weblinks To Sink Your Fangs Into!

~Time Line of Vampire Events ~

2011 was a year of many prominent vampire events. This list is a comprehensive, but not complete, study of annual release dates, happenings, reviews, news, and more.

January
1st David Nelson Bradhser s The Vampire Sonnets goes on tour with Mystical Book Tours. 4th The vampire web series Blood & Bone China wins the Suburban Vampire viewer poll for Favorite Online Series. 5th Bertena Varney, theVampire Examiner, writes that the passion, love, and hate in (The Vampire Sonnets) adds to the action and mystery that makes this book perfect for any reader whether it be a Shakespearean expert, a student, or a lover of vampire stories. 12th Season one of The Dead Hour, webisode #5: Cannibal Girls, launches. 16th In her Amazon.com review of Blood Junky, Paranormal Investogator Denise F. GowenKrueger of Galesburg, Michigan, revealed that she was hooked on the 1st chapter. Stavros is an awesome story teller! The story tells of the lives of mortals and vampires over several centuries in a whole new way. I cant wait for the next book in this continuing saga 17th Being Human Season 1 premiered on SyFy in the US. 19th Cain: The Quest, Book 4 of The Royal Blood Chronicles, by Elizabeth Loraine is released. 23rd BBC Being Human Series 3 premiered on BBC Three in the UK.
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23rd In an Amazon.com review, Howard Wendell of Lusby Maryland, proclaimed that Finally, vampires are awesome again! refering to the 2010 book release, Blood Junky. 26th Lori Bowland of Living Dead Media.com called Blood Junky one of the best vampire novels ever written! 27th The Romance of Dracula by Charles E. Butler is released.

February
1st Let Me In is released on DVD and Blue Ray. 7th Karma and Melodies by Katie Salidas is released. 7th Nora Barteau said of A Blood Moon that you will be transported into a world of love, passion, sex, murder and lots more! Enjoy Bitten Twices wonderful imagination and creativity. 18th The spectacular BBC show, Being Human, airs Series 3 in the US on BBC America.

March
1st Fangs Rule by Amy Mah premieres her graphic novel that shows the life of a teenage, female vampire. It causes a big stir on the Internet! 1st The world premiere of Midnight Son, an independent vampire film, is held at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California. 13th Series 3 of the highly acclaimed BBC show, Being Human, ends on BBC Three. 20th The Becoming Human webisode series launches online via BBC. com, following Adam, a character that was introduced to the Being Human audience at the beginning of the third series. 21st The webisode serial, Suck and Moan, is accepted into LA Webfest.
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27th Suck And Moan presents at the LAWebfest with awards for Outstanding Dramedy Series and Outstanding Directing in a Dramedy Series! 29th Lover Unleashed, Book 9 of The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, by J.R. Ward is released.

April
3rd In her Amazon.com review, Sally R. suggests that if you are tired of the constant barrage of teen Twilight-esque vampire thrillers and need a break from the norm, then Amy Mahs Fangs Rule is the vampire guide for you. 6th The Hunt by Linell Jeppsen is released. 7th The Vampire Queen by Jodie Pierce is released. 11th Season 1 of the Canadian/US remake of Being Human ends on the Syfy channel. 13th The Fearless Vampire Killers release the single For You & Me on iTunes. 29th Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is released in movie theaters, earning $1,186,538 domestically and $4,500,000 Internationally.

May
1st All This and Family Too by Sarah E. Glenn is released in print. 3rd Bite Club, Book 10 of The Morganville Vampire Series, by Rachel Caine is released. 3rd Dead Reckoning, Book 11 of The Sookie Stackhouse Series, by Charlaine Harris is released. 12th A post on the House Valur Vampire Coven web page officially introduces the Vampi(y)re Judicial Council. 12th Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries ends on The CW.
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13th The Korean comic book based film, Priest, hits theaters, earning $29,136,626 domestically and $49,314,928 internationally. 17th The Fearless Vampire Killers release their 2nd music video Fetish for the Finite. 21st Webisode 7: Delete of the vampire webisode series, Transitions, streams. 31st Season 3 of True Blood is released on DVD and Blue Ray.

June
1st Pandoras Box, the third book in the Immortalis Series, by Katie Salidas is released in print. 1st Webisode 8: Anxious of the vampire webisode series, Transitions, streams. 4th Power of the Moon by Tina Carreiro is released. 6th Social vampire network, Get Fanged, lanuches. 7th Hit List, book 20 of the Anita Blake Series, by Laurell K. Hamilton is released. 10th My Babysitters a Vampire premiers on Disney Channel. 12th Slayage, the fifth conference of an academic study of Joss Whedons multiverse with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and others. Held in British Columbia. 15th My Fearful Symmetry by Denise Verrico is released. 15st Webisode 9: Define of the vampire webisode series, Transitions, streams. 17th Author Virgil Allen Moore is interviewed on Get Fanged. 18th Peter Straub wins the Bram Stoker Award for
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Superior Achievement in a Novel with A Dark Matter. Benjamin Kane Ethridge and Lisa Morton both win awards for Superior Achievement in a First Novel for their premeire works. 22nd Lure of the Vampire by Bertena Varney is released in print. 24th See Spot Kill is interviewed on Get Fanged. 26th Season 4 of True Blood airs on HBO. 28th Webisode 10: Watching of the vampire webisode series, Transitions, streams. 29th The Annotated Carmilla by David M. Blue is released.

July
3rd See Spot Kill appears on True Blood, episode 2; season 4, as an 80s punk band. 5th In his Amazon.com review, Charles E. Butler said In a sandstorm of vampire literature, Fangs Rule is an oasis in the desert. One of the most interesting and highly original takes on the vampire theme. 12th Paranormal Researcher, David Rountree & Vampire Wedding appear on GFs, The Daily Fang. 13th Webisode 11: Timing of the vampire webisode series, Transitions, streams. 13th Vampire advocate and author, Michelle Belanger, is interviewed on Get Fanged. 13th Laura Davis of the LA Examiner wrote about Denise Verricos latest Immortyl Revolution novel, My Fearful Symmetry, calling it a skillful blend of science fiction and urban fantasy, thoughtprovoking in its examination of tradition vs. progress; science vs. dogma; and fear vs. wisdom. 14th Bloodline, Book 6 of The Royal Blood
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Chronicles, by Elizabeth Loraine is released. 26th Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is released on DVD and Blue Ray. 27th The final webisode of Transitions season 1 streams with #12: A New Beginning.

August
1st Michele Drier, author of SNAP: The World Unfolds and Edited to Death, said of All This and Family Too that Sarah Glenn has written a story that will resonate with anyone whos tried to balance life, lovem and the pursuit of a good meal! 1st Femme Fatale, Book 2 of the Relations that Suck Series, by Marilyn Yu is released as Tarot Card Book Set. 1st Audrey Koogler said of Lure of the Vampire by Bertena Varney that Where most books rehash the same oldnotes she unearths overlooked melodies. 1st Scottish resident, Mrs. N. Ormerod, said Fangs Rule: A Girls Guide to Being a Vampire is fab, its set out like an a-z guide. witty yet not crude. Really funny, and easy to follow making it ideal for the bath or bus journeys. 2nd Leslie Esdaile Banks known as LA Banks and the author of The Vampire Huntress Legend Series passes away of cancer at the age of 51. 2nd Retribution, Book 20 of the Dark Hunter Series, by Sherrilyn Kenyon is released. 6th Quinn: A Watchers Story by Elizabeth Loraine is released as a novella. 12th The Fearless Vampire Killers release the single Tell Me What Youre Trying To Say on iTunes. 15th The industrial band, New Years Day, appears on Get Fanged. 16th Priest is released on DVD and Blue Ray.
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19th The Fright Night remake is released in theaters, earning $18,298,649 domestically and $18,800,000 internationally. 21st True Blood stars, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, get married. 23rd Author, Stavros, is interviewed on Get Fangeds The Daily Fang.. 23rd Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, a spin-off from the Vampire Academy Series, is released. 24th Alex Rogue of Vampires Everywhere! & Automatic Me appears on Get Fangeds The Daily Fang. 30th Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries is released on DVD and Blue Ray. 30th The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris is released.

September
1st The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn is rereleased in Britian with additional chapters. 6th Rift Walker, Book 2 of the Vampire Empire Series, by Clay and Susan Griffith is released. 6th Austrailian author, Rebeka Harrington, releases Vampires Revealed as an eBook. 7th Death Metal by Nathan Squires is released. 8th Luke Illingworth is the 4th drummer to join The Fearless Vampire Killers. The band claims that none of the others matter. 10th Blood Calling by Joshua Grover-David Patterson is released. 11th True Blood Season Finale airs on HBO. 12th In a review for Australian author, Rebeka Harrington, Rossers Relaxed Reads said that Harrington has created an interesting character that avoids nearly all of the junk thats put vampire
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fiction out of fashion over the last few years. 12th Ollie writes for Bitten by Paranormal Romance that Tina Carreiros Power of the Moon is able to keep me so glued to the pages, that it keeps me up past my bed time, and I find myself thinking about the characters and the situation they are currently dealing with during the middle of the day. 13th In a five-star Amazon customer review, J. Bootle wrote that Rebeka Harringtons Vampires Revealed is not a novel, but rather a manual for understanding vampireswritten in a very fun and readable way that draws the reader into the book. 14th As Blood Rages, Book 2 of the Macedo Ink Series, by BittenTwice is released. 15th Season 3 of The Vampire Diaries begins airing on CW. 15th Cassius: Blood Rights: Memoirs of a Vampire by Heather Anne Lambert is released. 16th Intoxicated by Books said Amy Mahs Fangs Rule is an outrageously funny piece of work. I laughed all the way through this! 177h Nora Chipley Bateau called David M. Blues book, The Annotated Carmilla, pure genius, saying it made me hungry for more. 20th Bookmonkey.com reviewed Lynda Hilburns The Vampire Shrink, saying that she has managed to create something a little more unique than your average vampire tale. It will lift your spirits like a tub of Ben & Jerrys ice cream! 21st Pictures surface online of Nicholas Cage from the 1800s with rumors that he is, in fact, a real vampire. 23rd- 25th The ScareFest Convention brings Elvira, Mistress of the Dark to Kentucky! 27th Lost in Time, Book Six of The Blue Blood Series, second to the last chapter in the saga, by Melissa de la Cruz is released.
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30th Love in Vein, Book 2 of the One Blood series, by Stavros is released. 30th Upon hearing of the release of Love in Vein, Tennessee resident, Crystal Gimesh, announces on Twiter Attn Vamp Lit Lovers Finally a writer on par with Anne Rice.

October
2nd Owner and Founder of the Vampyrian Temple UVUP, Father JP Vanir, is re-featured on Get Fanged. 8th The Fearless Vampires Killers are interviewed on Get Fangeds The Daily Fang. 11th Amy J. Ramsey of Ramseys Book Reviews announces that Reading Blood Junky is like being tossed into the pages of the story itself. 14th Andy Timmins becomes the first human being to purchase Love in Vein, book 2 of the One Blood series, online! 14th In vampire-ninja-mode, The Fearless Vampire Killers release their upcoming debut album, Batmania, on iTunes. 14 -15th Blood & Bone China premieres as an Official Selection of Marseille Webfest. 15th Get Fanged launches their Paranormal Archive. 18th SPIKE TVs Scream Awards air and vampires suck the competition dry! Let Me In wins Best Horror Movie, Chlo Grace Moretz, of Let Me In, wins Best Horror Actress, Alexander Skarsgrd of True Blood wins Best Horror Actor, Joe Manganiello, also of True Blood, wins the Breakout Performance in a Male Role Award, and True Blood wins Best Ensemble. 18th Season 2 of The Dead Hour premieres with Fright Fest. 22nd Salem Vampire Ball, hosted by The Festival of the Dead, opens to the public with real vampires.
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22nd Thicker than Water by Greg Sisco is released. 24th Season 2 of the webisode series Vampire Mob returns with six new, bloody episodes. 26th Psych airs a vampire theme homage episode titled, This Episode Sucks! 27th 31st The Bram Stoker Film Festival is held in Whitby, England. Shadows win Best Film. The Vicious Brothers for Grave Encounters win Best Director. Vamperifica wins Best Horror/Comedy and the Audience Award. 28th The original vampire convention, Anne Rices Undead Con, takes place in New Orleans. Rumors circulate that it may be the last one. 28th Would becoming a vampire really be as great as some people think it would be? Asked the L.L. Book Review about Rebeka Harringtons novel, Vampires Revealed, further stating that vampires are killers, and always will be (no sparkling). A vampire may befriend you, and take you in as a pet, but in the end, you are still just a source of food for them. 29th The Endless Night Vampire Ball takes place in New Orleans. 30th Demon Vampire by Virgil Allen Moore is released after being posted on the Demon Vampire Blog for a month.

November
1st Last Breathe, Book 11 of the Morganville Vampire, by Rachel Caine is released. 1st Webisode 2: Fame of Season 2 of The Dead Hour launches. 1st Get Fanged launches the Vampires/Vampyres Group. 7th Charlaine Harris announces that the Cemetery Girl graphic novel is going to be released in 2012. 8th Lillian: A Vampires Story, written by Elizabeth Loraine, and based on a role-playing character by Bertena Varney, is released free to the public. 11th Russell Tovey, who played George Sands in all 4 seasons of the BBC series, Being Human,
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announced that he is leaving the show in 2012. 13th Canadian resident, Jim Priestly, said of Cassius: Blood Rights, Book One My experience was completely consuming. Cassius and company had me from the very beginning. The hook was set within the first three pages and I couldnt pull it down!! The passion, the plot, the suspense. This story had it all!! 15st Webisode 3: Backseat of Season 2 of The Dead Hour launches. 18th Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, part 1 premiers in theaters, grossing over $650,000,000. 19th Episodes 9 & 10 of Suck and Moan have their world premiere at Flappers, in Burbank, CA, and becomes the first interactive webisode screening. 22nd Whit Anderson, writer of the Buffy reboot movie, is fired and the film is put on hold. 23rd Kyle Schmid, who plays Henry Fitzroy in Blood Ties announces on Facebook that he will be playing another vampire named Henry on the US/ Canadian SyFy remake of Being Human, Season 2. 25th Elzie Rose of Feasting with Vampires & the Homeless, a NOVA companion project to the Endless Night Vampire Ball providing holiday outreach to the needy, is interviewed on Get Fanged. 26th Legacy, Book 6 of The Royal Blood Chronicles, by Elizabeth Loraine is released. 26th The Fearless Vampire Killers Officially release their debut album, Batmania at the East Brunswick Club. 26th Bonnie Wheeler reviews Katrina by Elizabeth Loraine; the story of a seventeenyear-old sword yielding, independent, compassionate, and fascinating heroine who happens to be a vampire. 29st Webisode 4: Inside Man of Season 2 of The Dead Hour launches.
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30th Suck and Moan webisode 9, The Count, is released online.

December
5th In Nicholas Reardons Fangs Rule review, he cites wow, this is rude, cynical, and sarcastic, and will be loved by every teenage girl that has ever complained that life is not fair...with Amys teenage vampire life is not just unfair, it really sucks. 9th JKP, The Manicheans said of Thicker Than Water that Siscos created a world full of wit, twisted humor and captivating imagery. He left me hungry for more and convinced me vampire tales arent so old fashioned after all. 13th The Fright Night remake is released on DVD and Blue Ray. 13th Lori Bowland of Living Dead Media.com declared in her review of Love in Vien, book 2 of the One Blood series, that the One Blood series, and more directly this novel, is comparable with, and at times, surpasses the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. 13th Californian resident, Melissa Tomhave, said in her review of Cassius Blood Rights by Heather Anne Lambert that it has the ability to fill the gap left by Anne Rice. 18th Bookworm Nattie declares that Katie Salidas novel, Pandoras Box, takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride which leaves you wanting more. 22nd A Romanian newspaper reports that a Serbian historian claims that Vlad Dracul is actually Serbian and not Transylvanian. 27th Driving Mr. Dead by Molly Harper is released on Audible Audio on Amazon.com. 29th SyFy premieres a pilot called Three Inches, starring James Marsters of Buffy and Angel fame and Kyle Schmid of Blood Ties. The pilot was only released for the fans. The show had already been cancelled. 31st At a New Years Eve party in Albuquerque, New Mexico, plans are made to begin reading with actors for five key roles in the anticipated vampire webisode serial Fireflys Kiss.
thevampirenewsnetwork@gmail.com
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Send All Your Vampire News To:

Random Lee Spaztik, playing the Vampire Z of the One Blood series. Title: GRRRRRR! Photographer: Old Vampire Photo

To learn more about Stavros visit: www.bitemereallyhard.com

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~ Vampire Articles~
BEWARE! In the following section you will find bloodsucking articles from some of todays best vampire authors. Do you dare turn the page? If soyou have been warned!

Why I Started Writing Vampire Books

by Elizabeth Loraine

I have been asked many times why I started this journey so late in life, so I will try to answer that question. I had always written vampire stories in my head, but I had never written them down. I had no idea if I could really write a book or not. My only thought was that if I didnt try, I would never know. In my nave mind I thought it would be nice if I could sell a few books. See them in the front window of a bookstore and have a hobby now that I wasnt working for the first time. The budget being tight, wouldnt it be nice to make a few dollars doing this? I was really getting tired of the books that my sister and I were finding in the Young Adult aisle in the book store that we always searched and then shared. We loved Twilight, dont get me wrong and several other of the series on vampires were good too. The problem was that they were so much alike. Modern teenagers involved in some sort of love triangle, which is fine. I just longed for something different. So at the ripe old age of fifty-two I sat down at my desk with a blank sheet of paper in front of me. Not at the computer, which I rarely used by the way. This blank piece of paper could be intimidating for some, but because I had told myself it was alright to fail, I would learn from it if I did. I wasnt intimidated at all. I think my age has helped me in these ways. I have so much life experience to draw from. I was a wife, a mother. I handled problems and solved them every day. I had parents, a husband, and children that had always believed in me and supported me, and a very smart, computer savvy sister who I was sure would be able to help me. On that first blank page I wrote a simple outline. I had no idea how to go about this. I didnt go out and take classes. I didnt buy a book on how to write. I had a dictionary and that blank piece of paper. The outline said: Strong female characters in a historical setting. That was it. Am I a tactician or what!
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I decided on where my heroine would be from based on family history. I decided on royalty as my backdrop because its romantic, so interesting and there would be so much to draw from, so much history. And this was my book and I could do whatever I wanted. But this blog is more than a story about an author that happened to start on this journey at an older age than usual. Its about setting your mind on something and then getting it done. Its about having dreams and fulfilling them. If you are going to dream, dream big. Dont say why, say why not. People would have thought I was crazy if I had told them. At least that was what I thought, so I didnt tell anyone what I was doing. I bought a writing tablet and started to write. From that simple outline the Royal Blood Chronicles was born. As it turns out, I filled four of those tablets. I found that I enjoyed writing so much. Loosing myself in the story, becoming the character, hearing their voices and seeing the surroundings was thrilling. I had found what I had been searching for, this was what I was meant to do. Like Oprah said once, You know what you are doing is the right thing because it feels like breathing. Thats what I want to tell you. Find your passion. So I finished the first book, my first book. It still sounds surreal. Now I had to turn on the computer. I was so glad I had taken my mothers advice and taken typing classes. Yes on a typewriter! I transferred the hand written book onto the computer and edited it as I went along. This is when I discovered something else about myself. I couldnt spell! Anyway the process has been a long one. I was told I had to try to get an agent and a publisher. So I tried. And I tried, with no luck. I went on a site for new writers and got suggestions and reviews on my book. After months of reading amazing works of writers who were so talented and also were being rejected, I decided that this was ridiculous. I had heard about Create Space on the morning news and checked it out. I finally told my sister what I had done along with my husband and children. I knew they would tell me the truth. They liked it. My sister helped me get it formatted. She helped me to edit it, and with no budget I had to do as much as I could myself.
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Along the way we got it re-edited. My sister and I designed and redesigned the cover and layout, re-edited, and that is the product you see today. The biggest thing that happened was taking the plunge and going to e-books. Once that happened and we got the pricing right sales exploded. I found many new friends, and thanks to one of them, Bertena Varney, I got help getting the word out. Sales were up 500% between January and February and are continuing to rise. With four books out now, and a fifth written, I think I am really close to doing what I set out to do, make a living doing what I love - writing. The bonus? The readers! I love them. Are there critics, nay sayers, and others, of course; is it worth it? Absolutely. I wanted my characters to be someone that young girls could look up too. Heroines are few and far between. I hope my journey tells you that you can do anything you want if youre passionate about it and dont give up. Go for it, at any age! Like mine your life will be enriched by the experience, the people you meet, and the new friends you will make. This life is yours, grab it, live it to the max, you only get one. And finally, be your biggest fan. If you dont believe in yourself, how will others ever believe in you?

You can find out more about Elizabeth Loraine at www.royalbloodchronicles.com and you can read more about this story here: http://www. examiner.com/vampire-in-lexington/vampireauthor-elizabeth-loraine-talks-about-how-shegot-started-writing

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Why I Chose to Write about Dracula

by Charles E. Butler Since the release of my book, The Romance of Dracula, the Count on Celluloid, I have been asked many times why I chose to write about Dracula. So, here is my answer. First, I am not a literary man or a man of letters, though I used to read voraciously up until a few years ago. All genres, but the Horror genre tended to be my staple diet. The last fictional novels I read were Let the Right one in by John Avide Lindquist and Twelve by Jasper Kent - both in the same week. Of the two, my favorite was Twelve set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic War of 1812. Dracula makes a guest appearance as Myseevitch, an old vampire who lives in Transylvania. He sends out the twelve mercenaries of the title to help against the threat of Napoleon. This book is really old school and gives us vampires that we know and love and that of which we are terrified. Mr. Kent has just released the sequel, Thirteen years later, which I cant wait to read. However, with the turn in vampire favor, it is really no surprise that Let The Right One In made it to the cinema as the vampire inherent in the story holds many of the attributes of the lonely wanderers that todays movie audience are warming to. Mr. Lindquist also adds a subtext concerning bullying to his story, with the bullies receiving a fitting end - Very astute acumen for the new Hammer studios to film this remake. The Romance of Dracula is not a book written by a fan - although I am probably the Counts biggest fan! I didnt want it to be a fanzine. I didnt want to absolutely adore every movie that I watched and just give it a five-star rating. That would have been boring and predictable. Reading Twelve, with its disguised Count Dracula unconsciously made me go back to Stokers original novel - which Ive read fully three times - and skim through the highlights that worked for me. In the past Ive wanted to adapt it in comic
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book format, but my lack of discipline puts me out of my depth. When I thought about the adaptations: How many actually capture Stokers themes? Who is Renfield? Why did Stoker choose a Prince of Wallachia as the role model? All these questions went through my mind. I then read a book by a commissioned author concerning a major horror film studio and not three chapters into it Im not going to reveal the title or author - I realized that there were two or three glaring mistakes in his research. This writer hadnt even bothered to do his homework, and it was plain that he hadnt watched the movies that he was writing about. I threw it down in disgust. This made me want to write my own book. One that I wanted to read and that would give me - as a fan - hours of pleasure, because I would be able to dip in and out of it at leisure and know that the findings were honest and accurate! I watched Nosferatu on DVD and began taking notes. I wrote chapter headings to the tune of, e.g.: El Conde Dracula 1970, What happened, Mr. Lee? the final film I saw was Draculas Curse 2002 with Patrick Bergin. My appetite not satiated, I started tracking down the movies for the epilogue. The only film I didnt watch in the whole book was Zoltan - Hound of Dracula 1977. The first thing that amazed me was the fact that I watched fourteen totally different films on the same theme. All based on the same work by different creative talents. Every single film held a different fascination. If I was looking for Stokers monster, Jack Palance - for me - won hands down! If I was looking for accuracy in theme, Nosferatu gets my vote. If I was looking for the boys own adventure that Stoker envisaged, then Mr. Lees original Hammer movie is light years ahead. Then we had the really bad versions, El Conde Dracula, filmed across different countries with five writers failing to agree on the storyline! Nosferatu - the Vampyre 1979 adding the religious aspects that were missing from its 1922 counterpart and becoming lost in its own telling because of this. I dont have a favorite movie, or a favorite Count. This may sound like Im wheedling out of a tricky situation, but if the choice arose again, I would gladly rewatch these movies - AND rewrite the book! It was and is that much fun. That is the draw of Dracula. He
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is the greatest fantasy figure ever created and even though undead, he will never die as long as there are creative talents to keep him alive. I stress that my book wasnt intended for publication. A relative suggested that I illustrate the fourteen Counts as opposed to facing any copyright issues with photographs. When these drawings were completed, I liked them and only then did I try to find a publication deal. After forty eight rejections - though all urging me not to give up as many found the work, literate and very engrossing - I decided to go for self-publishing. The main thing is that I proved two or three things to myself. The Romance of Dracula - from my own viewpoint - IS the best book on The Count in the movies. It goes where I have never seen other books venture before. It shows the Count in all his glory and lists his most important film appearances up to 2010. I dont ask readers to share my views, but I had a lot of fun watching and writing and I hope that others latch onto that aspect when they read the book. I alluded to the writing of the book as my own private exorcism in one interview. Maybe that is what it was. I do know that it is one of the few creative endeavors that Ive undertaken and that Im pleased with the final result! Again, I doff my hat to Bram, the father of Dracula, and thank him for my many years of entertainment.

Charles E. Butler and his writings, drawings, and films may be found on Amazon and his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ home.php#!/theromanceofdracula

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Vampires in Vegas
by Katie Salidas If you were a vampire, where would you want to live? For me, hands down, it would be Vegas! Well, I actually do live in Vegas, but no, Im no vamp ... or am I? LoL. New York may be known as the City that Never Sleeps, but we local Las Vegans are the true nocturnal creatures. With a 24 hour lifestyle even your average Joe can be found out and about at 3 in the morning, perhaps doing their shopping for the week or maybe just hitting a bar for a drink after work. Its well known that vampires are relegated to the night. You know that whole messy, burst into flames thing whenever sunlight is present, thing? Yeah, not fun! So what better a place to be than one filled with people up at all hours, right? And lets not forget that the Strip would be considered something akin to a buffet line filled with a smorgasbord of all kinds of exotic cuisine. In the mood for Asian tonight, how about a little French, or maybe you prefer something a little south of the border? Just head on down to the strip for a bite. Ha! Its a place where a vampire can thrive as well as stay hidden. Remember, vampires are supposed to be fiction and fantasy. We humans arent supposed to know about them. What better way to hide than in plain sight, in a place where living at night is normal? In my novel I have a clan of vampires living in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Vegas. They dont hunt in their neighborhood, but they are able to live there without drawing any attention to themselves. This is where the 24 hour lifestyle really helps. As I said above, your average Joe, living in Vegas, could work the later shifts, as many locals here do. Its so common that there is no reason for nosy neighbors to question why youre never seen during the day. Im picturing the woman from Bewitched here. Anyone who has seen the classic TV show might remember her. The nosy neighbor always screaming Abner, come look at the neighbors.
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You wont find that happening in Vegas. No ones going to question a neighbor who sleeps all day and only comes out at night. In fact, I have a few people like that in my own neighborhood: bartenders, cocktail waitresses, or are they really vampires? So yeah, if vampires truly exist, theyd definitely find a comfortable home in Sin City. Theres plenty of exotic cuisine, a thriving night life, and a community that wont question why you arent around during the day.

Katie Salidas is the author of The Immortalis Series and may be found at: www.katiesalidas.com

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Confessions of a Part-time Vampire Enthusiast

by Heather Nicholson-Gran Hello, my name is Heather and Im a lover of Paranormalfiction. Sadly, there is no cure for this malady other than to feed it regularly. When Bertena contacted me to write this, I had no idea where to begin. I have a Nook and I shop for free books in the Barnes and Noble Nook store regularly. There were a large number of vampire books published and listed in 2011, yet sadly, most of the ones I found were dreadful. I am all for expressing yourself through the written word, but I also believe in spell-check, grammar check, and having others proof-read your work before publishing. Did I also mention that this is a little bit of an opinion piece? Movies now, those I can sink myer teeth into. Let me explain something first. My daughter has jumped onto the whole Twilight bandwagon with both feet. Now, she is ten and I have not allowed her to watch the movies beyond Eclipse and when I caught her reading the first book, we had a conversation about age appropriate material. Despite the opinions of others, I do not believe the pathos behind Bella and Edwards relationship is appropriate for a ten-year old to absorb. That is actually a compliment to Ms. Meyers. She wrote a really deep and emotional story. I prefer the terrifying face of vampires over the romanticizing of them at this highly impressionable age for her. That brings me to the one vampire movie I managed to catch from 2011 which is what this snippet is about, after all. Priest (2011), directed by Scott Charles Stewart and starring Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, and Maggie Q was wonderful. It was dark, scary, gritty, and a nice twist on the vampire story, as well as perfect for a monster movie. (Which I did not let my children anywhere near.) Those vampires were scary, animalistic, and hungry. Thats the kind of creature that would send me to bed with the blanket over my head and wake me up with nightmares. Now, I have not read the comic books, and by doing some reading, Ive seen people complaining that it doesnt follow the storyline of the comic books at all. Well thats fine with me, the movie was great on its own merit.
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The setting for this movie is post apocalyptic. The idea of a specialized branch of the church cultivated for their raw talent, regardless of age and social situation, is fascinating. They were trained, indoctrinated, turned into loyal weapons of God, then discarded and treated like lepers when the threat was supposedly neutralized. No one would hire them; it was bad to even speak to the proud warriors whose very existence was created to protect the people who shunned them. Add to this the intense hubris of the church when evidence of the threats return was presented in the form of the deaths of their best warriors brother and sister-in-law, along with the abduction of his niece, and you have a great plot that smacks of the real life attitudes of certain religious institutions. With my Im closing my eyes, covering my ears, and yelling la la la really loudly so I can say I didnt see it happen, the faith and fanaticism of the Priests was elegantly handled. But underneath it all they are still quite human. They mourn, they love, they hate, and it is all directed toward the end goal of protecting humanity against the Vampires in the name of God. My Favorite Quote Priestess (Maggie Q): I want you to remember our power doesnt come from the church, it comes from God. With or without the clergy, were still Priests. There are graphic scenes in this movie, but never did I sit there and think Wow, they went overboard. Vampires are murderous animals in this film, though there is intelligence here, it is not the same kind of intelligence. We see a hint of the vampires we are accustomed to, but its a rarity, not the norm. I give this film a high recommendation and Im definitely looking forward to/hoping for a sequel!

Heather Nicholson-Gran is an avid reader and writer (mostly unpublished) who was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico and was transplanted to Richmond, KY with her wonderful husband, daughter and son. She and her husband spend their spare time volunteering at their sons local Cub Scout Pack while supporting their daughter with her Girl Scout endeavors. She plays various RPGs, eats books in order to consume them, loves a very eclectic blend of music and enjoys cuddling up with a blanket to watch scary movies with her husband.

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Vampire Revolution!
by Stavros To say that 2011 was a stellar year for vampirism would be to compare the leaf of a Lilly as being a razor-sharp deadly weapon. To further say that vampires in the 21st Century have left an indelible mark in the vampire genre with such works as the Twilight Saga, Daybreak, the Fright Night remake, Priest, Let the Right One In and its USA remake, Let Me In and of course the plethora of television shows like True Blood, The Gates, Vampire Diaries, and Being Human is unquestionable. Vampires in popular culture have reached an all-time high in the new millenium. But yet, ask any vampire fan and they will be quick to voice their concern about how the Twilight Saga isnt a vampire story, its a romance. Sparkling vampires just dont cut the mustard. And for every True Blood fan out there, there still exists a hardcore vampire fan that is just bored by the incessant melodrama and pretty boy look, that again, have taken our beloved vampire culture farther from what is recognizable as being true vampires. Yeah, they may drink blood, cower from sunlight, and sport spiffy fangs, BUT have they really helped vampire culture to reach a new high, or have these latest interpretations only led us up a sharp cliff from which to fling the dead carcass of vampire culture? Im not afraid to say it. We need a Vampire Revolution! No more tweeny, sparkling abominations and uber-cute CW vampires that look more human than primal animal! No more bloody remakes that only make you wish that you could gauge your eyes out of their sockets to save you from witnessing more cinematic train wrecks! No more ripped-off, cheap, pulp literary indoctrinations jumping on the bandwagon of the most gross and popular romantic tweak, ignoring all the horror that both Anne Rice and Poppy Z Brite bled into their gorgeous, and often erotic, literature! We need to uncover ourselves from the smothering dark draping of Draculas Cape and see anew with fresh eyes! We fans of vampire culture need to rise up and proclaim with one immortal voice that we will not go quietly into that dawn like sheep led to slaughter. That we care enough about our genre and the books and films that impact our lives that we wont tolerate any more crap! That we care about what gets made and HOW vampires are portrayed in
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popular fiction. As a culture we should be supporting the authors that make us proud to wear fangs to Walmart and Circle K. We should only go to vampire movies when they get it right. And we should declare with one strong voice that Sparkling in daylight is wrong! But therein lies the rubevampires are portrayed so differently, and they appeal to such a wide audience that we can not unite under a common theme. We are a fractured culture with no real demand power or ideals. We are splintered and broken like the many portrayals of vampires over the years. So far we have taken what is given, and we either like it, love it, or hate it. But can we change that? Can we, as a culture, grow? I tend to hope that we can not only find it within ourselves to evolve and mature, but collectively within our community start defining who and what we are. Vampires have grown beyond Draculas Cape, and the world is such a huge place, with such a wide girth of historic information and theories that have yet to be tapped. The immortal vein of vampires throughout our time on this earth has rarely been suckled that deeply. We appear grounded in Transylvania. But we do not need to simply rely on the small bits of information leaked out in Bram Stokers novel anymore. There is so much more out there that we have yet to uncover. What truth is there in the blood rituals of the Mayans? What deep, dark secrets lie in the tombs of Egypt and in the ancient folklore of the Hebrews? When did vampires first sink their teeth into the orient, dripping blood on rice paddies? So, as 2012 looms through our lives providing more vampire books, movies, and webisodes I appeal to my community. I ask you to intrinsically look more deeply at our culture, go further than the mere surface, dig into the earth and get your hands dirty, get your fangs wet, and challenge every filmmaker, author, and artist out there today to produce more innovative and exciting vampire works than we have ever experienced! Will you rise to the challenge and join the vampire revolution or simply remain one of the shambling undead unable to alter whats coming?
To learn more about Stavros and his writing and art, please visit: www.bitemereallyhard.com & www.artisfactstore.com

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Vampire Sonnet Excerpts

by David Nelson Bradhser Description: The story of Tristan Grey, a 19th Century Londoner, who is seduced and turned by Lady Nina, leader of the Chelsea Clan. But things arent always what they seem through the eyes of a fledgling immortal. What sets this project apart from the countless other vampire tales in the marketplace currently is that these are written in sequential Shakespearean sonnets (200+ as revisions draw to a close). Publication date, 10/22/10. Excerpt: VII-The Creed An ancient knowledge showed in Ninas eyes. They glowed with fealty to inhuman ways that I, a darkling, had to improvise in order to attract her rarest praise. She spoke of dealing death, of raping lives; (each rape would yield the blood that we required). She said, The one who kills to feed survives, and I provide the means for those Ive sired. Misfortune trolls the night (with death) to end whomever dares to tread our measured path, so be the hunter nowno foe or friend must slip the application of your wrath. Our covens creed is, Kill! Compassions dead. When London quiverspaint Her bloody red. IX-Conscience Discarded dross, detritus on the wind, lent music to my sense of premonition.
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I was the sinners soul before it sinned, a monster at the crux of its perdition. As waste and worry swirled, I watched the sky conceal the stars within a smoky shroud and, as I searched for light, I wondered why supernal hope had fled behind a cloud. I thought, Youve lost the voice to wish upon the mystic glimmer of a lucky star. Those nights of fortune you enjoyed are gone; You are alone now. God knows what you are. My guilt was premature, but still it came. Id fall to sin, and sin would have a name.

You can buy the book at: www.nelsonpearlpublishers.com Theres not an actual website that tells about the book other than the Facebook Group. The Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/ group.php?gid=47383438565&v=info

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I Remember Vampires
by Mimi Rupp I was listening to the Lost Boys soundtrack over and over again, and thinking to myself, Im always going to love this stuff, forever! and realizing, this is probably how Twi-hards feel about the Twilight soundtrack. I was transported back to 1987, I was sixteen again, full of life, promise, and passion like none other. When I closed my eyes, I was on the Santa Carla boardwalk, strutting my stuff in acid-wash jeans and pink t-shirts with playboy bunnies on them. I was catching the eyes of the dangerous-but-cute looking band of ruffians on motorcycles and being both afraid and attracted to the tall blond leader. All these feelings can be brought back with just a couple of songs, and damn, what a rush!! But what also comes back? People mocking, laughing and taunting me for reading about vampires, reading Dracula in grade 8, and Interview with the Vampire in grade 9. When I was fifteen, I watched Fright Night and became so obsessed, I forced everyone I knew to watch it whenever we had the chance. There was no Youtube or Internet, so I borrowed and rented the VHS tape whenever I could (Top that kind of dedication, Twi-fans!!) and made everyone in my family watch it ten thousand times! I wrote terrible fan-fiction starring me and the head vampire trying his hardest to seduce and bite me (whoa, I didnt mean to tell you that!! LOL) and me having the inner strength to resist and destroy him. But truth be told, I had the HUGEST crush on Chris Sarandon. Still do, to this day. When Lost Boys came out, it struck me on many levels. The vampires acted more like Lestat, in fact, the lead vampire, David, kinda looked like Lestat. The revolutionary vampire novels Anne Rice was writing, finally showing up in pop culture!! And we did hear a lot of the same complaints I myself made against Twilight. THEY CANT BE REAL VAMPIRES! THEY... -cast a reflection -have the wrong fangs -arent repelled by garlic or holy water -Cant be Good Guys!! Vampires are Bad Guys, right??
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-Thats just bad writing, UGH! I cant read Anne Rice!! Sound familiar? Yeah, I know. I wrote a grade eleven English essay on vampires, and got a bad mark. (The subject was, anything you read about) The teacher determined I got most of my reference material from the Lost Boys. Nevermind that I had read Dracula, Carmilla, Interview and so many others. Basically, if it had fangs, I wanted it. Even if the fangs were in the wrong spot. That bad grade stung. Because it felt like it belittled my choice of subject and from then on, I never got good grades in English. That was until I repeated it in night school years later. By that time, Anne Rices novels were being studied in college, and scholars were writing their graduating thesis on them. Right now, theyre already writing thesis on Stephenie Meyers works. Ive already linked one on Facebook. So, it all started when the group, I Hate Twilight, started posting Cullen and Twilight stuff like pillows, purses, and posters, and I thought, You know, if you put Alice Coopers face on that, Id totally want it and it grew from there. When Nightmare on Elm St 2010 came out I swore Id never watch it. Sure, they remade Dracula, but those remakes were after Dracula had been determined public domain. After that, everyone was free to give their own interpretation of the Count and even then, Im sure Christopher Lee came under fire for not being Bela Lugosi. Then, Fright Night was being remade and Id had enough. Was there nothing original anymore? Was there nothing anyone wanted to claim as their own? Movies are just a cash cow, now. Nothing is chalked up to artistic merit. (Probably why my husband and I watch the more independent films. Artistry still means something) And the thought of another actor trying to be Jerry Dandridge, the Jerry Dandridge I loved for so long, was too much for me. I couldnt do it. Even if it was Colin Ferrell. Nope, no thanks. So, I swore publicly that I would watch the Twilight films before Id watch that unimaginative remake trashing my beloved characters (Dear God, what the hell are they going to do to Evil Ed?? I loved that guy, I felt like he was the male me!!). My close friend, Latosha, got me tickets to the Eclipse premiere. There would be three of us from work meeting up and going together. Up until then, I was Twilights biggest basher at the workplace, but I swallowed my pride
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and decided to put my money where my mouth was and just give the movies another chance. (Id already read the books and watched the first. Both were horrible) Id sooner sit through them than see Colin Farrell ruin one of my favorite movie vampires of all time...And I went to see all three movies in one night...It was a great bonding experience. We sat with people who gave amusing commentary throughout the first two movies, and Eclipse, I actually enjoyed! The writing was better, the directing was better and Kristen Stewart could almost act! The director stopped making them do their lines in that halting, stuttery way that I found intolerable in the first two films, and downplayed the more stalker, creepy aspects of Edwards character. The other vampires are actually evil and creepy, and my biggest complaint was the treatment of the native culture, (Thats a whole nother entry) Other than that, I had a good time! Even walking around work like zombies the next day together kinda felt sisterly and now me and my other two co-workers are pretty close! I dont mind if you dont like Twilight. All a matter of personal opinion, and this IS the land of the free, after all. But Im not going to bash it, and Im certainly not going to belittle it or make fun of anyone for liking Twilight. That turns me into one of those douchebags who harassed me years ago, and the fact that I did act like them for a whole year makes me feel more ashamed of myself than I probably ever have been. So, now whenever I see a Twilight shirt or book in the hands of a young girl, or see them swooning over Robert Pattinson, I just chuckle and smile. Because I can see myself in them. And Twilight brought my vampires back into mainstream pop culture. How can I argue with that?
Mimi Rupp is married to David Rupp, owner and operator of Infernal Dreams, a horror media website. Her day job is working as a nurse at University of Kentucky ambulatory services. She has been writing about vampires since she was a teenager, and reading about them since she was six. Her favorite hobbies are reading, playing computer games with her son, and stalking rock stars. www.infernaldreams.net
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What I Learned Writing The Annotated Carmilla

by David M. Blue First, understand that Ive been reading and re-reading Le Fanus vampire novella for over three decades. Imagine then my surprise upon going through the text looking to place footnotes (ultimately over four hundred of the things)! So many new discoveries! I learned that Laura (the narrator) doesnt seem to like men. She does have kind things to say about much older members of the masculine genderher father, General Spielsdorf, etc.but none to say about men her own age or thereabouts. At most she withholds value judgments. But she never offers a positive word. Not once. For another, tracking the descriptions of a full moon reveals a definite pattern. Carmilla seems to do or begin major events on or about the full moon. In the literary conventions of the time, this made sense. Vampires had come to be associated with the full moon, which in theory had the power to revive them. Bram Stoker broke with that tradition when he wrote Dracula. But reading carefully, one learns that Laura lasts at least twice as long as Carmillas previous victim. Why? An obvious motive lies within the textout of feelings for her friend. In the end, more questions are left unanswered about the title character and any possible accomplices than are resolved. Who was her mysterious mother, for instance? How did she come to be invited to the grand ball where General Spielsdorf s daughter fell under the vampires sway? Whose face stared out of the carriage as it sped off ? We dont know. We never can know, now. Heres something especially intriguing. At the climax of the story, General Spielsdorf brings in official commissioners who examine the vampires grave and authorize what Must Be Done. Laura says shes read the accounts. Butthe tale takes place in Austria. Austrian law strictly forbade the desecration of dead bodies under the suspicion of vampirism. Empress Maria Theresa issued an imperial edict on the subject a century or more before! So what was really going on here? Who wrote those accounts really? And what actually went on in the ruins of Karnstein Castle, far from the narrators eyes? We only know what she was told, not the facts of
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what truly transpired. Or do we know even that? I didnt realize at first that Laura is telling her tale to a specific someone. We dont know to whom. She is female and from some kind of city, or so Laura indicates. Which brings up the question of agendawas Laura herself telling the whole truth of what happened? Certainly many things go unspoken. As her dear friend stands accused of being a living dead monster, then her body is destroyed by stake and axe and fire, Laura never mentions her own emotions even once. What was she feeling? Laura refused to say. Her reasons, likewise, remain hiddenas was evidently her intent. Or at least Le Fanus. In this case, they amount to the same thing. I learned plenty of other things as well. But youll have to read the book to find out more.

D. MacDowell Blue is the author of The Annotated Carmilla, and may be found at: www.zahir13.webs.net

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The One Blood Series

by Nicholas D. Ward
The unique condition of vampirism within the One Blood series, which is comprised of the novels Blood Junky and Love in Vein, derives its source from biological and historical facts. This unique approach sets this story apart from the traditional magical, demonic, or even metaphysical portrayals of vampires that we are most accustomed to. Weaving his tale around the idea of making vampires as real as possible in our natural world, bound by our laws of physics, author Stavros employs a symbiotic approach to the undead revenant. No longer are vampires mystical beings with magical powers, they are a logical out cropping of evolution. Spawned by an ancient race of humanoid beings known as Omjadda, intent on creating an inexhaustible source of slave labor, they walk among us embracing our reality. Intertwining scientific theories, facts, and fables, along with real history, the author has managed to define a single source for all current vampire lore. The Omjadda, which are closely based on the Anunnaki and Nephilim from ancient Jewish folklore and scripture, provide an additional twist to the traditional Romanian vampire legends. As a purely nocturnal species with a rich culture, religion, and heritage that predates the arrival of human beings, these primeval creatures have infected our language and understanding of the planet toward their own ends. Mirrored in the histories from which the Omjadda were spawned, these beings were considered gods, angels, and devils. In the Book of Enoch and the Writings of Zohar, the Anunnaki were known to subsist on the sangreal fluid of virgins and enslaved primitive humans to mine gold. This provides an historical link to humanitys obsession with both the value of blood consumption and money. Where fiction separates from fact is in the world of the Omjadda. A world where the hybrid race, which would eventually be known as vampires, was born of their blood. Sentient blood. The Omjadda are beings of a prehistoric culture that imbibed their dead to retain the spiritual and earthly essence from those that had passed on. Omjadda, like the Anunnaki, live elongated lives that far outlast those of humans. So, to us, they appear immortal. When a human drinks the blood of an Omjadda a transformation occursand what we know to be a vampire is born. First, the sentient blood consumes all bodily fluids, a necessary ingredient to sustain its life in a foreign body. The human suffers heart death and strangulation as the blood parasite houses itself within the lungs. Reforming itself by creating its own nervous and circulatory system. This removes any need for the major organs of the human body to function.
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Once the organism has taken root it revives the host. From that point on that person is neither human nor Omjadda. They are something else completely - a new hybrid species living a symbiotic relationship. Blood, obviously, becomes the chief source of food for the survival of the symbiont. Host and parasite must not only form a strong physiological bond to survive, but an emotional and mental bond as well. Over time the parasite reconstructs the hosts physiology to resemble the DNA make up of an Omjadda. This takes several hundred years to do and the symbiont is never quite like the species that birthed it. Who a person was prior to imbibing Omjadda blood is still who they will be as a vampire in the One Blood universe. That is one of the pivotal dramatic points that make reading the series such a joy. Because now, as a condition of the traumatic experience, that individual is permanently infected and must either conform to the will of the parasite, or suffer an agonizingly slow death. There is no get out of vampirism free card to change you back once youve been altered. Though a persons will is retained during the transformation, creating the ability to have apposing purposes within a singular body, the parasite has its own influences that can not be denied. This means that there exists a greater potential for more exciting drama from these biological vampires. Other physical attributes of this hybrid condition are the traditional pale skin and the addition of a complex vein structure that is visible underneath the hosts epidermis. Fangs in this universe are not comprised of enamel, as in most lore, but are a camouflaging technique of the parasite. The sentient blood is attempting to form the host and itself into what it understands itself to be from its former life within the Omjadda. When the woven fang-like veins pierce flesh to reach a blood source, they unweave and snake through the victims body, absorbing the life giving blood. The veins are also able to absorb blood through the pores of the hosts skin, in effect, making it a very durable, clever, and efficient bloodsucker. The veiny parasite communicates with its host through a series of carnal blood memories tied to the life of the ancient being from which it came. The Omjadda call this parasitic vein structure, Jadaraa Soo (Jah Daa Raa Soo), and in ancient times referred to those humans who survived the transformation as Vam. In their tongue this means blood slave. The Jin, or clan, that discovered the transformative properties of their blood were the Rom Pr, pronounced RahM Pur; and when literally translated means Strong People to the East. In the Omjadda vernacular the blood slave is associated to the clan that spawned it to define ownership. Thus deriving the term Vam Pr, which means Slave to the People of the East, and forming a logical history to the creation of the German word, Vampyre. The author has undertaken great pains to not only create a unique language to help flesh out his condition of vampirism and world, hes intricately woven within it our own world languages to make an almost seamless progression in the development of human speech. Each novel
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comes with an expanding lexicon of terms to assist the reader with learning the Omjadda language and to go deeper into the realm of the stories. In the first novel of the One Blood series, Blood Junky, to help visualize the unique characteristics of the Jadaraa Soo, the Vam Pr, Dominique DePaul, gets her arm hacked off by a sword. The veins of the parasite react by reaching out of each end of the severed limb to re-attach itself, however, they are unable to do so due to gravity. Dominique then picks the fallen arm back up and the veins reconnect. Henceforth, she has a limited use of the limb. Actual healing takes nearly a month before it is whole again and the character requires additional blood consumption from her two female consorts in order to heal properly. Also in Blood Junky, it is revealed that the parasite is not immortal. The vampire Z has taken to falling asleep and suffering seizures at only 105 years old, whereas her counterpart, Lin, is over two hundred. Sleeping, it appears, is unnecessary for the symbiont until it begins its death cycle, which seems to vary greatly depending on how one bonds with their parasite and treats it throughout their second lifetime. Vampires can still eat, though they may need the help of alcohol or a colonic to cleanse the bowels as they no longer function properly. This compulsion in vampires to consume luxurious foods in nostalgic noir is better explored in Blood Junkys sequel. In book two of the One Blood series, Love in Vein, the author reveals an intricate fetish society within the secret realm of vampire covens that delight in consuming exotic foods prepared by high profile chefs. The basis for this obsession is that, as beings that were once human, the idea of food and eating would have become nostalgic. After a time, the thought of eating normal food again could become desirable to a few vampires regardless of the hazards or frivolity of it. Through this elaborate fetish, it has been revealed that the anti-oxidant qualities of Blueberries and Aai Berries are poisonous to the symbiont system. Conversely, Blue Ring Octopus, a known containment of maculotoxin, which is deadly to humans, is not deadly to vampires. This exploration of the human psyche under prolonged exposure to time and pressure from its parasite is another jewel to the stories and characters that these books are about. Other variations on traditional vampire lore in the One Blood universe include the nocturnal proclivity and ill effects of staking as a form of death. Since Omjadda were born naturally nocturnal the Jadaraa Soo is sunlight sensitive. Though the host has the ability to draw the veins into the dark cavities of its body, prolonged exposure to the sun will cause paralysis, blindness, and deafness as the veins recede deeper into the body to shield itself from the light. Eventually, as the body dries out from exposure the veins will combust. It takes longer for this to happen than the hyper-visual FX as seen in most vampire films, however sunlight remains quite lethal. The use of crosses or holy water has no effect on a vampire. Staking will not kill them. It will merely piss them off. Nobody likes being
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impaled and its rather rude when you think about it. To destroy a symbiont in this unique universe one literally has to hack it to pieces, or draw and quarter it. In this butchered and weakened state the parasite suffers an arrest and dies. In all cases, it is best to burn the remains of the vampire as fire will destroy almost anything. The complex nature of vampirism in the world of the One Blood series only adds to the exciting drama that is unveiled. Like a rich onion peeled one layer at a time, each new book takes you further and further into the heart of the story. The characters are fresh and invigorating, adding to the established lore with smart intensity. The authors writing has been often compared to that of Anne Rice in many online reviews. Though there are many original concepts within the novels, each tale remains a steadfast classic of traditional vampire culture. They, like their hybrid characters, are an amalgamation of facts and fiction steeped in science and history.

Nicholas D. Ward is a film producer, event promoter, writer, and pioneer of social media. You can learn more about Nick at: www.theroot66.com www.minethatbird.com www.artisfactstore.com

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Deconstructing Twilight
by Mimi Rupp What Bella got Right. A lot of people are bashing the Twilight series for being badly written, setting bad examples for relationships and giving unrealistic expectations for said relationships. I think a lot of the arguments are ancient and are only NOW being addressed because of the great outcry regarding sparkling vampires. Now, personally, I think sparkling vampires are a bit...Well, silly. But there ARE some things that Stephenie Meyer rang true on. Bellas relationship with Edward is Unhealthy. This is one of the biggest, aside from VAMPIRES DONT SPARKLE!! Well no its not. If youve read the books, everyone in Bellas family and circle of friends point this out to her. Bella herself knows this in the back of her mind, but shes also eighteen. When youre that age and you become this emotionally invested in another person, when theres a sudden absence, it feels like the end of the world....Youre just coming out of puberty, your hormones are still racing out there at light speed, and you havent experienced life at its fullest yet to realize a broken relationship is really, literally NOT the worst that could happen to you. To be honest, the scenes in New Moon where Bella has nightmares after Edward leaves her is certainly not far-fetched as some might think....When I was separated from my husband in early 2003, I had pretty terrible nightmares too. The loss of someone that important in your life is certainly a trauma. Just ask army wives whos husbands have been deployed, theyll tell you. The Edward/Bella relationship demonstrates an imbalance of power! He STALKS her!! Hes a VAMPIRE. Shes a MORTAL. Look at all the romantic pairings of vampire/mortal in history....Carmilla...Carmilla basically seduces Laura out of her vitality, nearly killing her, and Dracula and Mina? Please. He was the FIRST to break into a
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womans room, steal her essence/blood and stalk her through the streets of London,....It was romanticized even, in Bram Stokers Dracula. Dracula killed Minas best friend, then seduced her before trying to bring her over....Mina even knew he killed her best friend, and she STILL tried to stay with him. Such is the draw of vampires. When someone immortal with that kind of strength is up against a human being with regular strength, you cant help but have the imbalance of power. Bella completely ignores her friends when she starts dating Edward! Name me a seventeen year old who didnt do that at some point or another. Again, hormones racing at the speed of light, and throw in something forbidden and dangerous, you have the irresistible attraction. Edward is like 100! Bellas only eighteen! Thats like dating a pedophile! Angel was over 100. Buffy was sixteen. I can think of more examples of pedophile vampires....and some examples of Bella doing it right....Bella knows the score. When she keeps asking to be made into a vampire, even though shes probably never read Dracula or The Vampire Diaries, she knows in relationships like hers and Edwards, it only ends one of two ways. The vampire dead or the human turned into a vampire. Shes not naive, this one, not as naive as people would make her out to be. She even explains in Eclipse that she feels like that is where her destiny lies, in becoming like one of them rather than staying in the mortal realm. She understands what has to be done to protect Edwards family and she tries to dive in head first rather than wringing her hands and whimpering about what to do when the Volturi realize she knows what they are. She basically steps up, bares her neck and demands the Cullens help her do the right thing. My last point is the complaint is Bellas vampire baby. Now Ive read many articles on the internet on the physiology on a vampire getting a human pregnant, as certain body parts need blood flowing to function, and assuming vampires have no blood...Well, Im not going to get into it, as most Twilight fans prefer to suspend their disbelief. I will say, rather than accusing Stephenie Meyer of prolife agenda with Bellas pregnancy and childbirth scenes, Id like to put forward that shes more pro-choice...Looking at it from Bellas
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point of view. Here she is, pregnat, by her husband whos trying to convince her to abort. Going so far as booking a doctor behind her back to arrange the procedure....Bella takes control of her own body, telling everyone what she does IS her choice, and enlisting Rosalies help to protect her body integrity. Stephenie is only confirming, in MY mind, that a womans body is only her own to control, and in a strange round-about way, is kind of empowering. Yes, the pregnancy is risky, but most all pregnancies have the potential to be risky and life-threatening to mothers. It is only the womens choice to carry to term. In summary, the Twilight series will NEVER be one of my favorite vampire series....But Im hoping with this article I have given enough evidence that it should still take its place amongst the more modern and classical vampire stories. Complaints about sparkly vampires will NOT cause the author to go back and rewrite the series, everyone, Im sorry, but lets maybe move on to the next epic series, as it comes.

Mimi Rupp is married to David Rupp, owner and operator of Infernal Dreams, a horror media website. Her day job is working as a nurse at University of Kentucky ambulatory services. She has been writing about vampires since she was a teenager, and reading about them since she was six. Her favorite hobbies are reading, playing computer games with her son, and stalking rock stars. www.infernaldreams.net

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The Popularity of Vampires in Fiction

by Bertena Varney In my book, Lure of the Vampire, I have several essays in the literature section that discusses the popularity of vampires throughout our life. Lure of the Vampire is a nonfiction book that looks at the vampire thru mythology, history, literature, and more. Here are a few of the topics that are discussed in Lure as to why the vampire is so popular. Instead of looking at it historically, as it was written, we will examine how we encounter the vampire throughout our life via literature. First, lets look at childrens literature. In 1979 Bunnicula was introduced to children. Bunnicula, a beginning reader book was written by the husband and wife team, Deborah and James Howe, and told the story of a cute bunny that is also a vampire. Bunnicula is adopted into a new home where the other pets, a cat and dog, are fearful and not accepting of him. Through different adventures the cat and dog finally accept the different and new member of the family. This was a perfect story for teaching children to learn to accept differences in other children, as well as addressing the rising issue of divorce and mixed families in the late 70s and early 80s. As time has passed, other authors have found that children, as much as adults, love the vampire. Thus the creation of books like Dick and Jane and Vampires, My Sister the Vampire, and The Young Vampires series that have allowed vampires to sneak into our lives from the beginning via books. As a result, the vampire is now a friend and no longer a monster to be feared. Once these children grow into teens they begin to search for their identity. As a lot of teenagers do, they search for who they are within books. They begin looking for who they identity with and who they want to seek out as a first boyfriend. This is where the difference in literature tastes takes place. For the teenagers who were into the more cuddly and safe idea of the vampire, they may choose Twilight. These books identify to the girl-next-door that wants a prince charming, and because they are used to their new cute vampire friend this series comes naturally.
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The reader of this series is usually a little younger and not really sure about the world of the vampire, but is lured in by the romance. These readers usually will grow to enjoy the paranormal romance and erotic literature that is so popular today. The vampire then is attributed to the erotic lover and thus the reason he is so popular for this group of readers. The other alternative is the young girls who are goth girls or girls that are not mainstream. They tend be outcasts or students on the fringe of various circles of the teen scene. They are usually artistic and very much an individualist. These young girls start out in middle school with books such as Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber and graduate to the Vampire Chronicles by the Queen herself, Anne Rice. To these readers, they are looking for their identity. These vampires are beautiful, strong, rich and live forever, but they live outside of society. They dont mind being the outcast and create their own world, thus the allure to these teen readers. They can finally find a world that addresses their social needs. Now, as they grow all of these teens are faced with a tough choice: What vampire books are they going to be drawn to? The good thing is that there is a vampire out there for everyone and for everyones mood at the time that they choose to pick up a book. As an adult, the vampire in literature can also be many things. It can allow us to find our soul mates in paranormal romance and erotica books, visit the dark and romantic castles of Dracula, read about taboo love in Carmilla, or release our inner beast via the wonderfully graphic and very monstrous vampire books such as Let the Right One In or Stephen Kings Salems Lot. So, why is the vampire so popular in literature? Wellits because the vampire can transform into what we need at that time. Whether its our soul mate, our erotic lover, our protector, what we fear in the night, or our inner dark desires. The vampire allows us to accept who we are while filling a void that is missing in the readers lives. It allows us to create our own world. That is why the vampire is so popular in literature.
To read more about this and other vampire news please visit: www.bertenavarney.com

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If people dont wish to be eaten then they shouldnt taste so nice

Amy Mah, Vampire - Fangs Rule: A Girls Guide to Being a Vampire

Model: Vanessa Alexander Photographer: Loren David Higgins

Yes, you can let a guy bite you but not on the first date! He has to pay for dinner! But you can bite him on the first date at no cost, that is quite normal.
Amy Mah, Vampire - Fangs Rule: A Girls Guide to Being a Vampire

~Interviews~
A smattering of 2011 conversations with some of the best and brightestor should we saydarkest literary minds in vampirdum. After all, sunlight is too bright for this crowd!

Excerpts from 13 Questions for Blood Junky Author Stavros

by Susan Ganquist
Premiered originally at www.blackgate.com on September 8, 2011.

Goth Chick News:

What made you decide to tackle the vampire genre; one that has been visited adnauseum, especially in the past few years? Actually, it was the vampire genre that tackled me. In 1995, I was studying impressionist painting and living with my girlfriend at the time in Baltimore, MD. I was transitioning out of my life as a starving musician into my first foray as a small business owner with a clothing design company, tea house, and eventual small press. So, I wasnt prepared when the vampire came to me in a dream. I was in Washington state with my then-girlfriend, visiting her estranged father, when I had this dream of Cornelius (thats what he eventually grew to be called) hovering a few inches above my face. He didnt say anything or do anything. But I woke with a slew of ideas, thoughts, and questions at 5 a.m. and started to fervently take notes. Upon returning home, I borrowed a computer from my brother which died after a month, taking with it all first drafts and that began a 15year journey of research and development. I kept asking questions, like who was this guy, what did he want, where did he come from and why did he look the way he did. I kept receiving answers, but I also got more questions too. Each time I tried to write prose or craft story I was met with some bizarre catastrophe, like with the computer. Discs would go missing. Printed pages would go missing. It was as if God did not want me to write just research. Nothing was allowed to stick until I began drafting comic book scripts. In 98, I went to the San Diego ComiCon with a script, and made some impressive contacts. Had I been able to secure an illustrator with enough self-confidence to produce a few pages, the One Blood series would have happened before George W. Bush, Jr. and 911, instead of after. As a side note, the stories featuring Cornelius begin with book four of the Song of the Vam Pr story lineonly two more
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books away. (yay!) Tell us a little about Blood Junky and where did you get the idea to approach such a well-worn topic from such a different angle? Back in the 90s when I was researching I knew that vampires had to be biological, rather than mythical or metaphysical, or even magical. That they had to be grounded in reality. Our reality. The fact is, almost every culture that has existed on the planet has some reference and/or story of vampirism in their history, save for one Indonesian country. Thats pretty impressive when you think about it, but yet ever since Dracula hit the stands and been immortalized on the screen people have been recycling the same Scandinavian roots over and over again as if nothing else existed. And that is such a waste because the rest of the stuff that is out there is so much more interestingand disgusting. So, I didnt want to labor under Draculas Cape like everyone else. As with my earlier pursuits with music, I strove to be unique. Different. Original. I have a creative spark that pushes me toward that end. For as much as I am a joiner and a member of the collective, Im also a bit of a loner. And perhaps, just arrogant enough to believe that I can do something that nobody else has done. Blood Junky is indeed one of the most unique approaches to a vampire tale that Ive read in recent memory; spanning hundreds of years and different locations all over the world and encompassing an entirely new language. How did you go about researching the more exotic aspects of the story? Thank God for the Internet! It is SO MUCH easier now than it used to be, where I was dragging tons of books home from the library, and spending days upon days in map rooms breathing cool recycled air. I adore technology just about as much as I loathe having to use it. Comparatively, the process of arriving at an exotic aspect is really rather dull. I usually have the TV on in the background. Pop! There went that illusion. Blood Junky portrays the state of vampirism in a completely different way; as a parasite/host relationship. With the plethora
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of vampire literature, what was your inspiration for taking vampires down this entirely different path? Though I am a spiritual person, I am also a realist. The world is what the world is. What I appreciate the most from Bram Stokers Dracula was the way he chose to write his story. He wrote it as if he was just some anonymous guy who found and compiled these newspaper clippings and journal entries, who was compelled to warn us. That was intriguing to me at the time that I read it. He created reality fiction. That usually gets lost because of the dude in the cape with fangs. But what Bram did with his form was attempting to make his story real. Since I wasnt interested in laboring under Draculas Cape, but yet still influenced by Brams work, I decided to absorb his passion for making his story real. So, in my pursuits to actualize my characters a form of vampirism evolved that was biological. The vampire virus had been done. Richard Mathesons I Am Legend is sheer brilliance. I encourage everyone to ignore the movies and pick up the source and see for themselves what his story truly is. They will not be disappointed. Hollywood is notorious for changing things to suit their own ends.and yet, they still havent learned that the bullshit they sling isnt half as good as the original material the are hacking to pieces. But I digress. In our shared and common history it is clear that our species was predated, not just by primates, but perhaps by what we call Angels. The stories of the Annunaki and Nephalim became an integral part of what I was creating, because they really are an integral part of our lost and broken beginnings on planet Earth. Regardless of what you believe personally from Wiccan to Buddha; Christ and Mohamed to Zoroastrianism, Horus and Ra, or Druid mysticism each world religion here and gone hints at something or some one else that was here before us, connecting to us through an all knowing, unseen, invisible force. And they were blood-suckers, who fed from the sangreal fluid of virgins. Seriously. When you dig back far enough its there. So, I simply hypothesized their existence co-mingling with ours to provide a historical base for the creation of vampiresand my symbiont variation was formed.
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Your three main characters are women and if I hadnt met you, I might think you were one. What is your secret for writing in the voice of the opposite sex? Throughout my life all my best friends have been women. They still are. I had to work really hard in the mid 90s to have a guy as a close friend. And it didnt last. Guys are stupid pigs. The 18th century is a major point in time in Blood Junky. What is it about this era that was an appealing place to set your story? I knew that I had something different with the One Blood series. I was also afraid of it coming off too far-fetched. So, I made a conscious decision to ground certain aspects into what people already knew. That way they could find a common ground, become endeared to my characters and journey with me as I take them further and further down a road that they have never been. The first few books do feature familiar signposts as we continue to go off grid. Youre also a photographer who expresses some very haunting themes which made me wonder if your photos might have been the first inspirations for the themes in Blood Junky. Any correlation? Yes and no. Its kind of ironic that you asked that, because this current evolution of my vampire research, which ultimately came to print in Blood Junky and the upcoming Love in Vein at the end of the month, came about from a failed photo shoot. It was 2007, I was living in Albuquerque, NM and was working on my multi-award winning documentary film, Committing Poetry in Times of War. I was very frustrated. The project was dragging on due to Producer changes that would have been better left untested. But he wasnt listening to me. Regardless that the film concept was my idea and that I had enough footage for two complete films, he had me locked on a very unhealthy production path. So, I needed a release. I needed something other than the film project, so I turned to my vampire universe to produce a few ultra-cool vampire shoots with some models that I had met. We got together one day and jammed out a bunch of ideas and those ideas became the basis for the screenplay of Love in Vein and the characters of Lin, Z, and
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Sarah.

Up until this time I had been trying, for the past decade, to write a novel based on my dream and research featuring Cornelius. But I was very unsuccessful. I kept re-writing the same two chapters over and over and over and over again. It was insane, so I had set the thing down and the film happened which despite my production misgivings, is a very cool film. Just not the one I wanted to make. Anyhow, after that initial meeting with the models Life intervened and we never shot anything. Lindsey moved to Florida after Emily got into a bar fight and received a black eye, and then Zaidee (AKA Julia Ghoulia) moved to Connecticut. So, when my back-up plan to relax went bust I fortified my efforts and began using our shot list as the basic scenarios of the Love in Vein screenplay and made the photograph, Nobody Listens, to vent my production woes.

Nobody Listens by Stavros

Model: Tosh

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The Vampire Examiner: Interview with Sociologist, Bertena Varney

Owner of Reviewers Helping Authors Complete Interview featured originally at www.examiner.com.

by Nora Chipley Barteau

Tell us your latest news? I recently released my new nonfiction book- Lure of the Vampire. Its a pop culture reference book with lists, websites, essays, and interviews of real life vampires. The book is a great reference book for authors or fans who want a quick grab for a vampire related question. For example there are lists and websites dealing with history, mythology, movies, recreation, and even a section for those of us who study vampires academically. It is available for print on Amazon.com and will be available via Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords soon. When and why did you begin writing? Well other than going to graduate school a couple of times and being made to write I didnt start writing for fun until my final masters thesis. Its called Search for the Lure of the Vampire. I got to choose my own class topic so I chose vampires. I turned parts of that paper into this book. I also began writing for Examiner.com two years ago. It was the first time that any of my writing had been read by anyone else. I received the Vampire Examiner title and loved writing about all things vampire. So, I began writing for school and ended up writing for fun. As a result my book came to be. When did you first consider yourself a writer? I still dont consider myself a writer. I know how to research and organize facts but really I havent really accepted that title yet. Maybe when I sell a few more books and get a few more good reviews. I just love to share my favorite topic-vampires with everyone.
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What inspired you to write your first book? After finishing my masters paper I realized that so many of the resources that I used I could do something like that so I began researching more. When I lost my job a year and a half ago I decided dedicate 100% of my time to doing it. I love vampires- all types. Do you have a specific writing style? Well, I write academically. I use an outline and if you notice my book is kind of laid out like a text book. I am not creative so the basic 3.5 essay format is best for me. I am very old fashioned- I write notes on an index card, label the back and throw them into a pile then when I come to the sections I write the titles on a card and shuffle them around. The add all of it to my computer. How did you come up with the title? Well the masters thesis was titled, Search for the Lure of the Vampire because my thesis looked at the sociological reasons as to why we are lured to vampires. When I began writing the book I had the answer thus the Lure of the Vampire came to be. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Yes. That there is a type of vampire for everyone...you just have to let me help you find the one that is perfect for you.

Amy! Sit correctly, you are wearing a dress...feet on the floor and your knees together girl...You are trying to catch a husband, not flies!
Amy Mah, Vampire - Fangs Rule: A Girls Guide to Being a Vampire
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Excerpts from Bertena Varneys Vampire Examiner Interview with Denise Verrico
Complete Interview featured originally at www.examiner.com.

Question: Tell us how you became a writer? Answer: Interesting question. I kind of drifted into it. In high school and college I used to write humorous pieces like skits and parodies. Majoring in theater, I learned a lot about character development and text. I wrote a childrens play right after college, but didnt write another play until I was in my thirties. Thats when I found that writing was more satisfying to me than acting. It became an addiction. Question: How did you come about writing books and what made you choose vampire books? Answer: About the same time I started writing plays, I started Cara Mia. I wrote a few plays before I got serious about finishing the novel. Ive always loved vampires. My favorite show as a little kid was Dark Shadows. In the eighties and nineties I read a lot of Anne Rice. Vampires are like dark superheroes. I was always drawn to the sense of otherness about them. Their immortality, eternal youth and super powers were really cool to me as a kid. As an adult, I was attracted to the sense of being on the outside of society, living off the grid and observing the spectacle of the mortal world. Question: Are these the first books that you have written? If not what are some others Answer: Yes, Cara Mia was my first novel, Twilight of the Gods second and My Fearful Symmetry is the third. I am doing edits now on the fourth. And Ive got three other novels outside of the series in various stages of development. Question: Where did you get the idea for The Immortyl Revolution? Do you have more female or male readers? I ask
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because of the science fiction aspect of the books. Answer: The idea for the series evolved over a period of time. I kicked the first novel around for a long time before I sat down to finish it. Back when I was reading a lot of Anne Rice, I had a dream about a female vampire. Id never read a book about one at the time. My husband and I brainstormed a little. He suggested exploring the fact that my protagonist was a woman and the implications of being both female and a vampire. Vampire sexual politics--who knew? I based a lot of the Immortyl culture on ancient ones. I created a multi-layered society that enslaved three fourths of their population. Then I got interested in biotechnology and came up with the idea of a race to harness immortality. The revolution was Kurts idea entirely. The little bugger decided to take the series this way. Its funny how a character can hijack a series. Cedric MacKinnon, the hero of the third book, started out as a love interest for a character in the later novels. He soon became one of my favorites. His story begged to be told. An entire religious cult and art form were born from his creation. This is why I love speculative fiction so much. You can do things like this. I really get into building the world and the characters. The first book has played well with both male and female readers. My writing group is mostly male, and I love getting their feedback. Anne Rice has a lot of male readers. I want male readers as well as female. The science fiction in these books isnt the hard type. I like to tell a story about people and their foibles, even if those people happen to be vampires. All good stories are ultimately about an inner human conflict. Mia wants to walk again in the sun. Kurt wants to right injustice. Cedric is a boy who becomes a vampire and strives to become a man. Question: Which character do you identify the most with? Answer: I cant decide. My friends see a lot of me in Mia. Im much nicer and more of a pushover than her. Maybe shes my evil twin. Id never do the things she does. Well, some of them. Id like to think Im like Kurt, noble and selfless with a quiet dignity, but in truth Im loud, outgoing and a goofball like Philip. Cedric in the third book is a performing artist. In his story I was able to write about the joy
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of creating and expressing oneself through music and dance. He embodies my love of rock and roll and is an irreverent scapegrace at times. Ive got a soft spot for that boy. Question: What kind of research did you do for the book? Answer: I did a lot of my research when I was writing Cara Mia. I try to read up on current science articles. The books are a good excuse to go to New York once a year to take pictures, visit neighborhoods and museums. I used to live there, and I miss it a lot. Im always looking up cultural information, foreign language, names, places etc. The most research Ive done is on the third book, which is set mostly in India at the chief elders court. I did a lot of research on Indian culture, religions, costume, music, dance and mythology. Not that Im trying to replicate actual life in that rich and fascinating culture. What I set out to do is to create a vampire subculture that has assimilated elements of that culture. Luckily I have a writer friend who was around in the sixties who found me great information on tantric sex rituals. Most of the stuff I found is very scholarly and doesnt really get into what the process is like. Not the book is pornographic, but if a character is a practitioner of sexual rituals its important to know what hes doing in his profession. I dont write erotica, for me sex in a story has to serve a purpose other than titillation. In my books its either about connection between characters or politics. Question: Where do you see you going with the series? Answer: I have nine books planned, told by three different POV characters and spanning a period of twenty years. One of the POV characters isnt grown up yet. Youll meet her in book four. Thats all I can say about that one right now. The world of Immortyl Revolution is a closed one at first, but as the saga unfolds it begins to open. More scientific discoveries will come to light. More lovers will meet, and more mayhem will ensue.

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Excerpt from Bertena Varneys Vampire Examiner Interview with David Nelson Bradhser, the Modern Sonnet Writer
Complete Interview featured originally at www.examiner.com.

Q: Could you tell us about your new book, The Vampire Sonnets? A: The Vampire Sonnets are what Id call a beautiful accident. Id written a solitary sonnet about a vampire toying too long with a serving wench and in doing so doesnt see the sun coming up behind him. In order to escape the exacting price of his exposure, he has to flee into a nearby forest for cover. Based on that sonnet, a fellow writer told me hed like to hear more of the story, so one sonnet became two; two become four, and so on. What started as an isolated image become a full-fledged verse drama totaling 200 + sequential Shakespearean sonnets. Specifically, its the tale of Tristan Grey, a 19th Century Londoner who is drawn into the world of Nina, a diabolically insane vampire, who leads the Chelsea Coven. Between his sudden turn, bouts of conscience, and confrontations with his human past and immortal present, hes a portrait of conflict and internal questions. Q: I know that when I first heard of it I thought Sonnet? But after reading it I LOVE the idea. Why did you decide to make it in a sonnet form? Was there any specific themes or atmosphere that you were trying to reveal within the story by using the sonnet? A: Ive always been partial to the Shakespearean sonnet, specifically because it tells a story within itself in fourteen lines, and the final couplet is like the resounding click of a box as it closes. The form lent itself well to continuation, as the couplet is the a-ha moment that leads from the end of one to the beginning of another. The beauty of it is that each stands by itself, but is just a part of a greater whole.
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Q: I so agree with the emotion and passion of the sonnet, which is why I love your characters. In previous discussions we addressed the birth of your characters. Is there any specific one or two that you would like to tell the readers about? Maybe why you developed the character that way? Are they based off of someone in real life, etc? A: Im glad you asked that. If youll indulge me, Id like to talk about three of them because those are the ones who are based on personal relationshipsand each came into my life at a specific time during the writing of the story. Maggie Quinns character is based on Maggie Flanagan Wilkie, my friend and editor. At the time I immortalized her, I hadnt even met her. She was a reader on a site where Id publish chapters, and her encouragement and interest in the story inspired me give her a place in the pages, so to speak. The fact that her character is a prostitute has no bearing on the real Maggie, but I must admit to a certain usage of a variation of that term when Im in the mood to tease or lash out at Maggie during one of our marathon editing sessions. God bless her, she has so much patience with me when I go into frustrated artist mode. Supriya, the Italian seer, is based on my girlfriend at the time, Carol Godfrey. Supriya was the name Carol was given in her yoga training, and it resounded perfectly with the intermediary character; plus, Carols intuitive nature and metaphysical background gave me the perfect model for Supriya on a daily basis. The last is Valentina, based on my dear friend, Brandi Love, an erotic icon, who exudes sexuality at a rate and range that would kill a mere mortal from sixty yards away. I wanted the original vampire, a goddess, and Ninas sire, to be a powerful and sensual being, and Brandi carries a sense, or, rather, an aura of sexual prowess and omniscience not to be denied. I literally purloined my impressions of her mannerisms, magnetism, and confidence to create Valentina from the smoke of image and imagination. Q: Wow. Immortalizing friends in a book is the best compliment that you can give someone. I am very jealous.
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While reading the book I notice that you are very in touch with your female characters, as well as packed full of action. It is a perfect blend. I was wondering why did you choose to add romance? A: Honestly, there is a sensuality present in vampires that would diminish the readers image without the presence of romance. I mean, these are immortal beings, and the level of commitment shown in creating an eternal companion carries with it a sense of romance that eclipses even a humans capacity for it. They crave that connection, even as they destroy so many to find the few that qualify as desirable mates. I also enjoyed the taboo inference of love between a vampire and a human, two very different creatures who still manage to find the elusive connection that leads to love.

Sleeping with another girl does not always mean you are a lesbian, sometimes it just means the central heating needs fixing
Amy Mah, Vampire - Fangs Rule: A Girls Guide to Being a Vampire

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Excerpts from Sunrise at Sunset Interview with Jaz Primo

Owner of Reviewers Helping Authors Premiered originally on A Paranormal Lovers Point of View Blog, Tuesday, October 25, 2011.

by Nora Chipley Barteau

Tell us your latest news? Just this past week I was nominated for a position on the Paranormal Romance Guild Board of Directors for the 2011 - 2012 term. With a little luck, perhaps Ill be elected by the membership! When and why did you begin writing? I began writing as a child because I felt the need to express ideas and stories that were floating around in my imagination. In some respects, it was almost like keeping a journal of my imaginations developments. *chuckling* When did you first consider yourself a writer? Ever since I wrote my first short story, I have considered myself a writer. However, I didnt consider myself an author until my first novel was published in October 2010. What inspired you to write your first book? The characters of Katrina and Caleb were so realistic and compelling in my imagination that they felt like real people or personalities. I simply felt that their story had to be told. Do you have a specific writing style? Thus far, I write in third person. Most of my paranormal romance peers seem to write in first-person, which I find intriguing, actually. I also like to reveal the inner thoughts of primary characters in a scene, so I italicize the text to set it aside from actual events or dialogue. How did you come up with the title?
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Im a big fan of puns, so selecting a title that was a play on words (Sunrise at Sunset) seemed catchy and something that might resonate positively with prospective readers. Each title in the Sunset Vampire Series will have the word sunset in the title. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Well, I didnt write my novel with that intention, but in the end I would have to say that a couple of messages have risen to the surface. First, its important people understand that they can overcome tragedy or abuse in their lives if they only try hard enough and have proper support. Second, I believe that my novels challenge the traditional gender roles in literature. My novels declare: Women can successfully serve as the dominant role players in relationships in a healthy manner, as well as be the heroines who save the men they love. How much of the book is realistic? Thats a good question. I suggest that my approach to adult characters who have suffered abuse during childhood is relatively realistic. I have also tried to present the romantic relationship between Caleb and Katrina in a realistic manner, as well as the issues faced between a human and vampire who seek to maintain a relationship together. What books have most influenced your life most? Thats an excellent question, and one that I havent been asked before. *pondering an answer for a moment* I have been impacted by literature in some form or fashion throughout my life. As a teenager, I was emotionally impacted by books written by James Herriot, author of All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful. Having seen the British television series, I knew that I wanted to read the novels. Theyre set in Great Britain just prior to World War II, and they have a lot to say about the quiet, everyday heroics of an individual. While also extolling the circle of life, the stories delve into the complexities and value of relationships. The biographies of historic figures such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin compelled me to base my Masters thesis on them and other figures who took part in the American Revolution. Ive found that through biographies a person can live vicariously through the lives of others.
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Get Fanged Interview Excerpts with Stavros

by Andy Boylan
Premiered originally on the social vampire network site, Get Fanged.

Your latest book is Blood Junky, a vampire novel. Your vampires are symbiotic blood parasites. How do they differ from the genre standard undead? Well, theyre not truly immortal. They only appear immortal because they can live far longer lives than we can, sometimes for several hundred years or even a few thousand. It varies on the bond between host and parasite, as well as, the characters mental capabilities. The symbiotic relationship reconstitutes the human condition to resemble that of an Omjadda over an extended period of time. Its not all instant and ready-made, as in most traditions. Things take time. There are stages. Holy Water and Crosses will only get a vampire wet and piss him or her off if the Cross is big enough and you hit the creature over the head with it. Running Water? Not an issue or else they wouldnt be able to take showers. Could you imagine the stink if the undead never bathed? Sleeping in Coffins? Its not a mandate. If the character were so inclined to purchase or create a coffin-shaped bed then hey Im all for it, but other than that its really kind of silly, dont you think? A Stake through the Heart? My design is harder to kill. A stake through the heart will get your ears boxed and mostly youll become the next wooden pin cushion! When you really get down to it, what does a piece of wood in an undead heart really do anyway? I mean, a vampire doesnt really need a beating heart, so why would an enlarged piercing bother them? In short, all of the myths that weve come to know and love about vampires are still in use in my world, because they are the myths that they perpetuate to help shield themselves from human society, but the actuality of how and what makes them tick are grounded in reality. I formed an ancient humanoid species that predates human history
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and civilization called the Omjadda. They were naturally nocturnal, carnivores, and had an intricate social structure that launched our worlds cultures. Their blood is the source that creates a hybrid species that we would call a vampire. After conceptualizing them I found references in the writings of Zohar and Jewish folklore about the Annunaki and Nephalim that supported my fiction with intense detail. So, I drew upon these ancient sources even more to craft a realistic approach. With most vampire traditions they are supernatural or magical or mythical and otherworldlyI wanted them grounded in our world, lives, and history. To me that is the biggest difference. What inspired you to use a biological vampire model, as opposed to a supernatural one? Drama. For good drama characters have to be responsible for their actions or be inclined to deny them. I believe in Karma. When making vampires as real and plausible in the mechanics of our world, with our laws of Physics, it just made sense. Life is biological, even an undead one. There are certain mechanisms at work that produce myriad forms of life that defy our confines of logic. Take nocturnal sea creatures for example they are hellish and freaky and glow in the dark. So, going supernatural for me was a cope out. A supernatural being is not bound by Karma. He or she is not responsible for their actions and can not be blamed if they choose to ignore them. Also, with as much as people love vampires I wanted to make it so they could truly imagine themselves becoming one. I wanted a direct oneto-one identifier. That it could really happen and that, for all sense and purposes, posses all of the traits that they love about them. Yes, we can imagine being a supernatural being, but its never going to feel as real as if it was happening to somebody just like you. You have created a whole vampire society back-story and mythology that is refreshingly unique, what inspired that? God. Truly that is the best answer I can give. Because when the idea came to me in 95 from a dream, which was only a character hovering in front of my face until I jolted awake, I wanted to start writing. Then and there. But GodLifethe big foot in the sky or whatever you call it had other plans. Events transpired that kept me researching and developing the universe behind the story until the
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timing was right. The One Blood series is something that I feel called to do more than I feel that it came from me. As I asked questions as to why this character looked like this or like that, I got answers, and each of these answers only begot more questions and so forth and so on until eventually all there was, was research. I had given up hope of ever actually writing a complete book, but it kept nagging at me in the back of my soul. It kept cropping up, reminding me that it was still there and that I had a job to do. Romantic or Dangerous what best describes your vampires? Visceral. Whether my vampires are being murdering bastards, having sex, or falling in love they are visceral, because I want you to feel it. Blood Junky is the first book of the One Blood series, to be followed by Love in Vein later this year. How long do you envision the series being? There are actually four distinct story lines currently within the One Blood series. And each story line can have upwards to 4 or 5 books. Song of the Vam Pr is merely the first Story line. I have 5 books outlined for that one. And I might have to add a fifth story line if a writer I am tutoring follows through and produces her ideas into novels. Shes crafting a whole new set of characters and situations that are awesome, set within my vamp world, using my laws and mechanics. So, really the One Blood series could go on forever as long as it inspires writers to create within it. Do you have a favorite vampire book and vampire novel, and what makes them so special for you? I love Annes Interview, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen the most. She is seminal. Her work touches me and reached me at a time when I was questioning if I wanted to become a writer or not. But I enjoy Laurel K. Hamiltons Anita Blake series. And of course Bram Stokers Dracula. The way he chose to tell his story through a series of journal entries and newspaper clippings as if he were an anonymous compiler of this strange data compelled to warn us all sheer and utter genius.

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Excerpt from Bertena Varneys Vampire Examiner Interview with Bitten Twice, Author of Blood Rages
Complete Interview featured originally at www.examiner.com.

Where are you from? Im a transient and as such I have been from many places. The journey started in Georgetown, Guyana in South America and has pit stopped in several countries and numerous towns along the way. Tell us your latest news? I just came back from the Florida Writers Associations tenth annual conference which was amazing. I met so many awesome authors, agents, and publishers there. Phenomenal! When and why did you begin writing? I began writing when I was very young. I was given a journal to write in to document my day, but to be honest with you my days werent as exciting as when I used my imagination to enhance the days activities. When did you first consider yourself a writer? In 2007, when I hammered out my first book, A Blood Moon. What inspired you to write your first book? The writers strike of 2007 was in its glory and I like many others was not happy with the disappearance of my vampire shows like Moonlight and BloodTies. I felt like I could create a viable product. Something in me just sparked and in two months I had a rough manuscript that I was calling A Blood Moon. Do you have a specific writing style? I write in Limited Omniscient POV. How did you come up with the title? For the first book, that was easy. A full moon is stereotyped to bring out the worst in people while a Blood Moon is thought to bring out
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the hunter. I felt it was a great foundation to begin my series with. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? I usually write about love and conflict. In As Blood Rages, the underlying theme is built on the premise of a house of cards. If your love has a foundation like a house of cards, when circumstance presents itself as a faade that same love may not have the strength to survive due to a shaky foundation. Believe that those who love you would strive to never hurt you. Have that faith that each relationship is its own and you are the only commonality. How much of the book is realistic? Well the book is an Urban Fantasy so some of the settings are real, but all of the action and fun are surreal while some of them may be for real! Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? I think as a writer that you pull personality traits from people within your circle of influence. If I were to write something that only held my perspective or manner of reacting it may be gather quite a bit of edust. But people themselves are so much fun. Have you ever sat in a mall and just watched the people go by? Its better than television. Youve got drama, comedy, and more. What books have most influenced your life most? I would have to say the Bible is a great source of inspiration. I love the history and like any book when youre writing its open to interpretation. I love books by vampire authors; known or unknown. I think its excellent to check out whats hot and whats new. I actually grew up reading whatever I could get my hands on. Like the James Herriot books and one Kathleen Woodiwiss book Shanna that changed the way I looked at life forever. As a young headstrong girl myself, I now shaped the idea of the perfect man and what adventure looked like.

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Models: Vanessa Alexander and Kelsey Marion Photographer: Loren David Higgins

~News Flash~ Is Nicholas Cage a Vampire?

In September, an eBay seller and antique dealer named Jack Mord got the vampire rumor mill churning when he posted a Civil War picture of a gentleman who looked just like actor Nicholas Cage, claiming that the famous actor of Lord of War, Ghost Rider, Con Air, Face Off, Raising Arizona, Valley Girl, Rumble Fish, and Vampires Kiss was in facta real vampire! The following is from Mr.Mords offical eBay report: Personally, I believe its him and that he is some sort of walking undead/ vampire, et cetera, who quickens/reinvents himself once every 75 years or so, which has since been removed. 150 years from now, he might be a politician, the leader of a cult, or a talk show host. Mord set the price on the Civil War photograph at $1 million dollars, but the post was later removed. He offered people the ability to have photo experts examine the picture before any money exchanged hands, but as of this report no one has claimed ownership on the mysterious picture. This bizarre post, comparing actor Nicholas Cage to the soldier in the antique, silver-toned photograph circulated the Internet, causing a large spike in online discussions. With 2012 only just begun, this strange turn of events for the Big Daddy actor may once again reaer its strange head!

To view the controversial photos please click on this link: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2011/09/is-nicolas-cage-avampire-from-the-civil-war-era/

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~Movies~ 2011 Overview of Vampire Movies

by Bertena Varney Vampire fans had just a handful of vampire films to go see at the theaters this year: Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Priest, Fright Night, and Dylan Dog. These were a perfect range of romance, comedy, traditional horror and even a cult classic remake. 2011 brought a vampire movie for each type of vampire lover out there. Here they are as they appeared at the theaters: Dylan Dog: Dead of Night was released in April. It had just the perfect mix of comedy, horror, and mystery. Dylan is a private investigator that used to look into things that have no pulse. His best friend and business partner becomes a zombie and he meets the most unusual vampires and werewolves. I t is reminiscent of the 80s vampire comedies like My Best Friend is a Vampire and Once Bitten. It showed how much fun a vampire movie could be without being too stiff or too slapstick. In May, the vampire movie went darker and more monstrous than the previous one. Priest is definitely the more traditional vampire release of the year. It is what many of the vampire fans have been missing at the theaters. It is a great story with a lot of action. It tells the story of a priest who goes against the church when his niece is kidnapped. The old setting and the romance, blood, and story are wonderful. It was a good representation of the more horror related movies August brought about a movie with the most mix of reviews, the remake of the 80s cult film Fright Night. Loyal Fright Night fans were adamant about their hatred for this film. Originally, there had been hope that this would bring in the fans of the original movie and also introduce it to a new generation, but unfortunately this did not happen. It actually was not seen by several original fans and the new ones the production company was seeking didnt show up at the box office. Fright Night brought Colin Ferrell into his first vampire role ats Jerry Dandridge, the creepy neighbor who is killing young females
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in the town. Anton Yelchin plays Charley Brewer, the nerdy teen who realizes what is happening. He and his friends must try and save the town from the sexy blood sucking demon. But come November, the box office exploded with Twi-hards, Twimoms and poor boyfriends who were dragged to the theater to see Edward and Bellas wedding, honeymoon, and birth of their child. It brought in over $650,000,000 worldwide and was the number one movie for four weeks in a row. Its success is attributed to the mass following of not just the followers of the books or movies, but also the actors. Breaking Dawn, part 1 is the first enstallment of the final vampire book in Stephenie Meyers Twilight series. It tells the story of the wedding and honeymoon of vampire Edward and human Bella, and ends with the horrific pregnancy and impending doom of the cast that will be shown next fall in part 2 of Breaking Dawn, the movie. Reviewers have said that the movies are getting increasingly better since the first Twilight release. It is a Romeo and Juliet story that causes people to argue the positive and negative message in within the film, as well as whether Bella is a good role model for young teen girls.

To read more about this and other vampire news please visit: www.bertenavarney.com

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~Television~ Bill Compton - The Hero Redefined

by Tina Carreiro The tragic hero has been redefined throughout history, and the modern day tragic hero is much different than what was originally defined by Aristotle and Shakespeare. The medeval tragic hero, Hamlet, born of nobility and kingship, is slightly different than True Bloods modern day tragic hero, Bill Compton, portrayed by Stephen Moyer. Though the definition of a tragic hero has evolved, some of the basic characteristics are still intact to define them. A character deemed as a tragic hero will arouse much empathy, and although this character is doomed he is noble by nature, but has a tragic flaw, an imperfection, so he may connect with the audience. Its not a secret that Alan Ball has a deep love for the tragic hero. We have seen evidence of this love in his character, Lester Burnham in American Beauty, and Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under. Alan Ball once said he could see a lot of Hamlet in Nate Fisher, where a character wrestles with what is the right thing to do. Nates tragic flaw was always imagining a better world often a blessing and a curse! Alan Ball defined Nates character as this: The way that he has dealt with all this stuff that life has thrown him, I think hes a really heroic character, not in the traditional Hollywood sense, where hes the good guy who does the right thing, but that hes a hero in more of a mythic sense. Ive really enjoyed his journey, even though its been painful. A different characters painful journey now controls Alan Balls vision. Bill Compton has been defined by Ball as a tragic hero from the start, and as True Blood approaches season four, fans anticipate where Ball will take Bills character. Team Alan Ball has done a magnificent job sticking to the basic tragic hero principles. We feel much empathy for Bill and connect with his imperfections. Like another tragic hero, Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars, Bill fears losing what he most cares about. I believe this is one of Bills tragic flaws. His fear of losing Sookie feeds the vampire and motivates all his actions. Bill will do anything to protect what he loves, like Anakin did. Though, if you know the Star Wars story you know that,
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tragically, Anakin went over to the dark side. Will Bill do the same? Bill went off to fight for the South in the Civil War only to be killed and made a vampire during his journey home to his family. He still fought to hold onto humanity even as Lorena tried to smash it out of him. Ultimately, Bill fought back and was willing to end his own life rather than take anothers life. He defied Russell, the Queen, and Eric to protect Sookie even though they could all easily kill him. Bill has struggled for a long time. Hes suffered lost love and family. Its unimaginable what that would do to someone on the inside. For every good intention that Bill has played out it has been met with a painful slap from life. Now, hes found love again and in protecting it, he may destroy it. Aristotle once said that: A man doesnt become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. Unfortunately, some tragic heroes will never have that epiphany. The season three finale provided a great example of this as we saw Bills remorse over Sookies pain, but little regret for his actions that caused the pain. At this point, Bill has followed the tragic hero pattern of Good, Flaw, Recognition, and Downfall. He cannot, and will not let Sookie be harmed or abused. Bill challenges the Queen, the next threat to his love, and again its someone who can kill him, yet he doesnt care. The hero overrides the tragedy of his possible death. Alan Ball knows exactly how to play out that type of character. They have darkness coiling inside of them, and are so tightly wound that its about to rapidly uncoil. In addition, he cast the incredibly talented Stephen Moyer, who portrays the tragic hero so well. Stephen reaches inside us and demands our emotions. With that said, Ball is also a sucker for romance. He knows he has an on-screen chemistry with Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin that is unparalleled to any of the other characters. Will he pass that up? I dont think so, but hes going to make love hurt.

To learn more about Tina Carreiro and her writings, please visit her website at: www.tinacarreiro.com

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~Webisodes~
by Stavros
As if being online wasnt sucking the life out of you already, the Vampire News Staff has compiled more vampiric reasons to stay plugged in. So, are you ready to tap your cyber vein? If so, then grab your favorite munchie whatever he or shes name is dim the lights and in only a few mouse clicks you too could be swept away in the soft, hazy glow of your computer monitor!

Sucking & Moaning Their Way To Your Heart!

When the dead begin to rise and walk the earth a handful of vampires are left to protect their dwindling food stock before all the fresh, uninfected blood runs out! Rufus the Cat Films answers the long-standing debate over vampires vs. zombies with their clever and witty dramedy, Suck & Moan. Premiering in 2010 and continuing to deliver staple webisodes in its growing pantheon, this award-winning series is a laugh-out-loud visual tour de force of the inner workings of a comic book geek let loose with a camera. Everything you could have ever wondered about being a vampire during the zombie apocalypse is explored in a no-holds-barred examination of what one undead predator must do to survive against another undead predator. Suck and Moan chronicles the stress-filled situations brought on by the contamination of living dead. Addressing every day (or night) issues and the dangers of over-thinking a struggle against the brainless, this superb series reminds us that despite a vampires lightning fast reflexes, super strength and intellect, and their nagging immortality that vampires were once people too! So, if you find yourself stuck in the middle of a nightmarish undead war with nothing more than a computer mouse to defend yourself then you might want to remember that nobody, whether vampire, human, or zombie likes leftovers, and choose which side you are going to join. The Vampires? Or the Zombies? Favorite Quote: Webisode 6: The Death of Immortality: Okay, I say we take a little break, get some air, because Im not about to sit around
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discussing the ghost of the zombified vampiric dust cloud.

Website: http://www.suckandmoan.com/

Blood & Bone China: Revamping Stoker

Award-winning director, Chris Stone, delivers an elegant return to the Victorian vampires of Bram Stokers Dracula with his twelve-part webisode series, Blood & Bone China. Set in 1897, in Stones own backyard of Stoke-OnTrent, England this visually beautiful drama unfolds when a local doctor is snatched away by local vampires terrorizing the town and his younger brother, Newlyn Howell, must investigate. Accompanying Newlyn on his journey to the smoky, dirty depths of the once bustling streets of Stoke is the enigmatic Alexander Pyre and the feisty journalist, Anna Fitzgerald, played by BBC television star, Rachel Shenton, who is most known for her roles in Doctors, Holby City, Waterloo Road, and the hit UK soap, Hollyoaks. The 2011 production of Blood & Bone China was made inpart for the Stoke Your Fires Film Festival in a new media campaign to raise awareness of its upcoming feature film release. Each webisode is presented in 5 to 10 minute segments that are a delicious return to the kind of vampires that we all know and love!
Website: http://bloodandbonechina.com/index.html

Mad About Tim!

When destiny knocks on your door you just cant close the curtains and tell it to fuck off, can you? said badass monster slayer, Tim Helsing, in the outrageous British webisode comedy, I Am Tim: A Monster of a Documentary. As the name implies the series is shot documentary style, capturing the nocturnal exploits of a self-styled vampire slayer and descendent of the famed Van Helsing line. Tim, joined by his girlfriend Anna, and his sidekick Poncho De
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La Cruz defend the human race by slaying monsters. It is that simple. Normal people from normal backgrounds and upbringings flung into hero roles beating back the night with wooden crosses made from baseball bats. There is also a slayer counter associated with each webisode on the I Am Tim website, totaling Tims kills, and documentary filmmaker, Richard Timmons provides the hilarious and frightening footage that makes I Am Tim a sheer joy to watch!
Website: http://www.hisnameistim.com/

Sopranos with Fangs

When youre a hitman and a vampire, eternity can get complicated, says the tagline on one of the best vampire webisode serials out there to date. You might think the concept of New Yorkstyled Italian mobster vamps, living on the fringe of society, would be too campy to stomach, but this smart, well-written vampire comedy is surprisingly good. Both seasons of the hit web series were audience funded and feature a large cast of well-known and talented actors. The Don is played by John Colella, Criminal Minds, Girl Walks Into a Bar, and L.A. Noire, who looks as if he could have just stepped from the set of the Sopranos season finale. Reamy Hall, also of Criminal Minds and Girl Walks Into a Bar, plays Annie, the Dons patient wife. Emmy-winning actress, Marcia Wallace of The Simpsons and The Bob Newhart Show plays the Dons mother-inlaw. She is directly from hell, and Tony-winning actress, Rae Allen of The Sopranos plays Carlina, the Dons mother. Kirsten Vangsness, also of Criminal Minds, stars as the Dons sister-in-law, and the character, Laura Cookie, is played by Retta of Parks and Recreation. Chris Mulkey of Boardwalk Empire and Twin Peaks rounds out the star-studded cast in the role of a blood dealer. Producer, writer, & director, Joe Wilson, delivers a crystalline vision with Vampire Mob that is unparalleled in other webisode productions by streaming webisodes with no network, no production company, and vowing that he makes it for our audience, The VMob. Whether you are a long time viewer or just tuning in, I think
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youre going to like Joes particular band of vampires.

Website: http://vampiremob.com/

My Sorority Sister Wants to Suck MyWhat? Well, STAKE THIS!

When three of the oldest living vampires join the Southern Californian sorority, Zeta Zeta Zeta, campus life takes a comedic undead turn. Capitalizing on the campy vampire films of the 80s, our rich vampire culture, and normal college life, Stake This! creators Mina Kim, Jennifer Stackpole, and Lorena Stackpole of Cardboard Keytar Productions add their unique vampire brand to the evolving mythology of our revenant community. Respectively, the three women also play the main vampire characters, Mika Nim, Ruxandra cel Rau, and Fane, and when the show starts off theyre about to start rush week. Aiding the three vampire co-eds is a loyal werewolf named, Jerry, played by Joey Borgogna, and their sole rushee, Dea, played by Katie Oellerich. Together they tackle campus nightlife, defending themselves against a minor demon, Beezlebob (Ari Welkom), who has a thing for Ruxandra, and a rival witch, played by Abigail Marlowe, who only wants to drink the girls ancient vampire blood. Now, whats wrong with that? The characters have a long and rich history, giving this comedy a depth that grows with each new webisode. The vampires also parade around during daylight hours, because its hard to get the classes you want at night, wearing large sun hats, dark glasses, and suntan oil. Ruxandra loves cooking blood sausage and claims to have had a one-night-stand with Lestat. Mika has an aversion to running water and cute, human babies, while Fane is obsessed with finding the One, a mysterious figure that was foretold to save all vampires from the curse of their eternal afterlife.
Website: http://www.stakethis.com/#!__home

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Only the Unfortunate Transition

Ed Loomis was a war veteran who couldnt cut it in civilian life and took to a hard life on the streets. But when three thugs attack him while hes pushing his shopping cart filled with all his earthly possessions the violent attack captures the attention of a sympathetic vampire named Zachariah. The interfering vamp alters Eds life, transitioning him from the land of the living to the realm of the living deadas a vampire. Now, Ed struggles to learn the ins and outs of his new-found afterlife and those that inhabit the shadows in a secret society. Produced by Ream Enterprises, this Michigan spawned web series began in late 2010 and wrapped its first season in 2011. Filled with tense writing and low camera angles, this high concept drama is set to produce season two in 2012.
Website: http://www.transitionstheseries.com/

Random Lee Spaztik, playing the Vampire Z of the One Blood series. Title: The Feel of You Inside Photographer: Stavros

To learn more about Stavros visit: www.bitemereallyhard.com

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~Anticipated Vampire Events of 2012~

As the passing of each dusk gives way to night and night gives way to dawn, 2011 has come and gone. Heres a quick list of whats in store for all us vamp fans to sink our fangs into throughout the new year!

~Movies~
~January 20th Underworld: New Dawn. ~January 21st @ 10pm, FearNet will premiere the vampire film, Midnight Son, on their cable channel. ~May 11th Dark Shadows. ~June 22nd Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. ~September 21st Hotel Transylvania. ~November 16th Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. ~Additional Releases: The Blood Let, Blood Reign, The Bloody Indulgent, The Brides of Sodom, Byzantium, Dance with a Vampyre, Destroy, Dracula 2012, Dracula 3D, Dracula The Un-Dead, Dr. Limptooth, Harvest Nation, High Midnight, Hotel Transylvania, House of the Damned 3-D, Innocence, Midnight Son, The Mortal Instruments, Near Dark, Nightfall, Soulstice Lunas Dream, Vampire Dog, Vamps, & Vampyre Nation.

~Books~
~May Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris to be released. ~An Autumn release for the third book in the One Blood series, Blood in Vein, by Stavros.

~Television~
~January 16th SyFys US/Canadian remake of Being Human, Season 2, premieres. ~May True Blood Season 4 DVD releases. ~June True Blood Season 5 airs. ~??? The BBC series, Being Human comes to BBC America with Series 4. ~September The Vampire Diaries Season 4 airs.

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~Webisodes~
~Suck & Moan continues the Vampire vs. Zombie struggle over left overs. ~The intense vampire drama, Fireflys Kiss, premieres. ~The Dead Hour continues its delicious brand of horror with season 2. ~The monster documentary, I Am Tim, delivers more raw, hilarious British humor. ~The soroity girls continue their campus blood drive on Stake This! ~Season 2 of the dramatic vampire web series, Transitions, launches. ~Vampire Mob returns with more family related crime and blood.

~Music~
~ Beginning in January The Fearless Vampire Killers get a new van, release a new album, will post new pictures, do more shows, tour, wear more makeup, shed more tears, and feel less heartache. To learn more stop by: http:// thefearlessvampirekillers.com/
Random Lee Spaztik, playing the Vampire Z of the One Blood series. Title: GRRRRRR!

To learn more about Stavros visit: www.bitemereallyhard.com

Photographer: Stavros

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I Dont sparkleI Bite!!!

Amy Mah, Vampire - Fangs Rule: A Girls Guide to Being a Vampire

BERTENA VARNEY, MA
Bertena Varney was born in Pikeville, KY. Later she moved to Winchester, KY where she attended George Rogers Clark High School. When she graduated in 1989 she began her studies at Morehead State University. Her studies included the following: a Bachelors and Masters in Social Science and Education and a masters in Sociology and Criminology. Her concentrations were on British history, deviant subcultures, and pop culture. She used all of her extra essays, projects and independent study classes to study vampires in pop culture - thus the creation of Lure of the Vampire. She has worked in education as both a middle and high school teacher and college professor as well as a counselor and social media promoter. She currently teaches sociology at a college in western Kentucky while writing as the Vampire Examiner on Examiner.com an Internet news outlet. She is preparing to offer classes on vampires in the near future. She has one college aged son, Tre Alexander Varney, and currently lives in Bowling Green, KY with her boyfriend Samuel Hinds and her black cat, Luna. She can be found on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bertena-Varney-Author/117922531618827 Her Writing Website: www.bertenavarney.com You can follow her on Twitter @tenavarney

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STAVROS
Notorious Poet. Fool. Born in Washington DC. Stavros was a writer and editor for The Independent Underground Magazine. A performing poet, his verse has been published in several online and print publications, including Central Avenue, The Sword That Cuts Through Stone, Poets Against The War, Conceptions Southwest, The Mynd, Imagine: Creative Arts Journal, and Bartleby, where he won a specialty award for his poem, Blackbird. In 1999, he won Photo by William Price an Official Selection into the Writers on the Edge Festival for his play, The Redline. In 2001, he created the Poetry Television Project for public cable access in Albuquerque, NM. He helped to launch Unpublished Magazine and BioGamer Girl, sponsored the monthly poetry series, The Word Caf, and produced a political compilation called Poetic Democracy. In 2007, he released the award-winning documentary film, Committing Poetry in Times of War. In 2010, he released his first novel, Blood Junky, to exceptional praise and review. He soon followed it with the release of Dead Girl: A Romantic Zombie Tale of Revenge and Blood Junkys sequel, Love in Vein. He is also a photographer, graphic designer, and musician. Author & Book Blog: www.bitemereallyhard.com Cool eStore: www.artisfactstore.com On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?jd=100001504703623 https://www.facebook.com/ogbloodjunky https://www.facebook.com/ogdeadgirl https://www.facebook.com/loveinveinmovie
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~ Websites To Sink Your Fangs Into!~

A Blood Moon www.bitten2ice.com Amy Mah www.amymah.com Andrea Dead Scoyoc http://advanscoyoc.blogspot.com/ Anne Rices Undead Con www.vampirelestatfanclub.com Anne Rices Vampire Lestat Fan Club www.vampirelestatfanclub.com Artisfactstore http://artisfactstore.com/ Becoming Human http://www/bbc/co.uk/blogs/becominghuman Being Human BBC www.bbc.com Being Human SyFy www.syfy.com Bertena Varney www.bertenavarney.com Bite Me Really Hard http://bitemereallyhard.com/ Black Gate http://www.blackgate.com/ Blood & Bone China http://bloodandbonechina.com/index.html Blood Junky http://artisfactstore.com/?wpsc-product=blood-junky Bloody Good Vampires http://bloodygoodvampires.blogspot.com/ Blue Blood Series http://melissa-delacruz.com/ Brookehaven Vampires Series http://www.brookehavenvampires.com/ Cassius: Blood Rights https://www.createspace.com/3568684 Cassius Vampire Series https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cassius-VampireSeries/219402841421610

Charlaine Harris www.charlaineharris.com Children of the Night https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/

groups/254833767887088/

Chiller TV http://www.chillertv.com/ Club des Vampires International https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/

groups/113701541993702/

Corvis Nocturnum www.corvisnocturnum.com David Nelson Bradsher https://www.facebook.com/davidnelsonbradsher Denise Verrico http://deniseverricowriter.webs.com/ Demon Vampire Blog demongift.blogspot.com
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Dmentd Cinema http://www.dmentdcinema.com/ Draculas Homepage http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/ Dylan Dog http://dylandogdeadofnight.com/ Elizabeth Loraine https://www.facebook.com/eloraine Endless Vampire Ball in New Orleans www.endlessnight.com Eva, the Vampire http://www.marilynyu.com/ Fearless Vampire Killers http://thefearlessvampirekillers.com/ Fearless Vampire Killers (Facebook) www.facebook.com/ FEARnet http://www.fearnet.com/ Federal Vampire & Zombie Association http://www.fvza.org Festival of the Dead http://www.festivalofthedead.com/ Heather Anne Lambert http://cassiusvampire.com/ Horror Hound Magazine http://www.horrorhound.com/ Horror Writers Association http://www.horror.org/stokers.htm House of Vampires http://houseofvampires.wordpress.com/ I Am Tim www.hisnameistim.com Immortal Night Social Network http://adwords.immortalnight.com/
IM2Vampires.php?gclid=CMXS99PolK0CFQ5lhwodV2YG4w

wearefearlessvampirekillers

Incubus Sucubus http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.

php?&fKeywords=L.+A.+Nantz

Infernal Dreams http://infernaldreams.net/ Get Fanged: Social Network with Bite http://getfanged.com/?xg_
source=msg_mes_network

Jane Jameson http://www.mollyharper.com/ Jean-Paul de Jager www.90degreesagency.com JR Ward http://www.jrward.com/ Katalina Parrish http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2077265/ Katie Salidas http://www.katiesalidas.com/ LA Banks http://www.leslieesdailebanks.com/labanks.php LA Nantz http://www.v3in.com/ Life as a Teenage Vampire http://amymahvampire.blogspot.com/ Linell Jeppsen http://www.linelljeppsen.com/
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Living Dead Media http://www.livingdeadmedia.com/ Loren David Higgins https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_f

bid=10150125242674373&id=115074074372#!/pages/Loren-HigginsPhotography/99047917508 paperback-2

Love in Vein http://artisfactstore.com/?wpsc-product=love-in-veinLure of the Vampire: A Pop Culture Reference Book of Lists, Websites and Very Personal Essays http://www.amazon.com/Lure-Vampire-ReferenceWebsites-Personal/dp/0615501567

The Lure of the Vampire: Gender, Fiction and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy the Vampire Slayer http://www.amazon.com/Lure-Vampire-GenderFiction-Fandom/dp/1904764401

Lure of the Vampire Society http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/

ENDEMONIADA/lureofvampire.html

Michelle Belanger http://www.michellebelanger.com/ Midnight Son http://www.midnightsonmovie.com/ Monster Madhouse http://www.youtube.com/user/

MONSTERMADHOUSE/featured

Monster Librian http://www.monsterlibrarian.com/ NEAR Paranormal - http://nearparanormal.com/ New Years Day - http://www.myspace.com/newyearsday#!/newyearsday Nancy Drew Vampire Slayer http://nancydrewsleuths.blogspot.
com/2010/11/nancy-drew-vampire-slayer-part-1.html

Nathan Squires http://www.nathansquiers.com/ Nicholas Cage Vampire Photo http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/

entertainment/2011/09/is-nicolas-cage-a-vampire-from-the-civil-war-era/

Nicholas D. Ward http://www.theroot66.com/ Paranormal Encounters Network http://paraencountersnetwork.com/ Pinocchio the Vampire Slayer http://www.pinocchiovampireslayer.com/ Queen of the Vampires http://thevampirequeen.webs.com/ Rebeka Harrington http://rebekaharrington.com/ Rachel Caine http://www.rachelcaine.com/Rachel_Caine_-_Writer/Home.html Ravenna & the Resurrected http://suntigermojo.com/ Real Vampire News For the Real Vampire Community http://www.
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realvampirenews.com/

Real Vampires http://www.gerrybartlett.com/ Relations that Suck http://www.marilynyu.com/ Royal Blood Chronicles http://royalbloodchronicles.com/mormont.html Salem Vampire Ball http://www.festivalofthedead.com/ The Sinister Scribblings of Sarah E. Glenn http://saraheglenn.blogspot.
com/

Sherrilyn Kenyon http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/ Son of the Air & Darkness http://son-of-darkness.livejournal.com/ Stake This! http://www.stakethis.com/#!__home Stavros https://www.facebook.com/ogloveinvein#!/profile. php?id=100001504703623 Sunurban Vampire http://suburbanvampire.blogspot.com/2010/11/vote-forbest-vampire-movies-tv-series.html

Suck & Moan www.suckandmoan.com Suzanne Carre https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.carre#!/suzanne.

carre?sk=info

Temple of the Vampire - http://www.vampiretemple.com/ The Camarilla Fan Club www.camarillawhite-wolf.com The Daily Fang http://thedailyfang.blogspot.com/ The Dark Shadow Fan Club www.darkshadowsfestival.com The Dead Hour http://www.thedeadhour.com/aboutthedeadhour.php The Dracula Society www.thedraculasociety.org.uk The Gothic Catwalk http://www.thegothiccatwalk.co.uk/?gclid=CIvC-K_
ptqsCFWMntAodUDDTdA

The Lost, The Forgotten, The Damned http://

thelosttheforgottenthedamned.com/

The Monster Channel http://www.100ymm.com/ The Search for the Lure of the Vampire http://searchforthelure.webs.com/ The Vampire Metrou http://thevampirmetrou.com/ The Vampire Shrink Series www.paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com The Vampire Sonnets www.nelsonperalpublishers.com The Whedon Studies Association www.slayageonline.com
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Transitions www.transitionstheseries.com Transylvanian Society of Dracula www.blooferland.com/tsd.html Tina Rath: The Academic Vampire http://www.academicvampire.co.uk/ Twisted Dreams http://twisteddreamsmagazine.blogspot.
com/?zx=f53be90c9644939d

Vampires.com www.vampires.com Vampire Academy Series http://www.richellemead.com/books/

vampireacademy.htm

Vampire Empire https://www.facebook.com/vampireempire Vampire Examiner http://www.examiner.com/vampire-in-national/bertenavarney

Vampire Huntress Legends http://www.vampirehuntress.com/ Vampire Mob http://vampiremob.com/ Vamped Out http://www.babelgum.com/VampedOut Vampire Rave http://www.vampirerave.com/ Vampire Sexual Secrets http://vampiresexualsecrets.com/blog/ Vampire Wire http://vampirewire.blogspot.com/ Vampire Wear http://www.vampirewear.com/ Vampire Wedding http://www.vampire-wedding.com/ Vampires Everywhere! https://www.facebook.com/VampiresEverywhere Vampires Revealed http://rebekaharrington.com/my-books/ Vampyrian Temple UVUP http://templeuvup.org/ Vampyre Arts & Culture https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/
groups/179738482075436/

Vanessa Alexandra https://www.facebook.com/TheRealVanessaAlexandra Vlad the Gothic Magician www.gothicmagic.com Without Your Head: Horror Radio http://withoutyourhead.com/ Written in Blood http://www.katiesalidas.com/

*If you would like to get Vampire News articles delivered to your email please subscribe at: http://www.examiner.com/user-vampireprofessor-36

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