Most Stylish Vampire Ever: David Bowie

I was never much of a rock concert goer, but I saw David Bowie in concert when he was touring in support of his Let's Dance album. It was a great show and I can't even remember who the opening acts were.

My mother LOVED David Bowie. She got cable TV around the time that MTV started and the video featuring David Bowie and Mick Jagger singing "Dancing in the Streets" was one of her favorite videos. Bowie looks incredibly young, elegant, and sexy in it and it's bouncy and fun.

Bowie didn't do a lot of acting but when he appeared in a movie--whether Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence or Labyrinth or Zoolander--he made an impact. And in Tony Scott's stylish vampire movie The Hunger, he and Catherine Deneuve were probably the sexiest vampires ever.

Bowie celebrated his 69th birthday on the 8th and died yesterday. RIP David.

A Vampire a Day: Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambley

When I moved to the Pacific Northwest last year and was paying my movers $20 a box, I culled my book collection ruthlessly. I have a Kindle and I like the convenience of an eReader but there are some books that I just want in my actual library. Those Who Hunt the Night made the cut, along with its sequel, Traveling with the Dead.  The book was published in 1988 and now appears to be out of print in paperback, although you can find used copies in hardback. The books have been reissued in a digital omnibus collection, which is convenient.
James Asher, the hero of the novels, was once a spy for Queen Victoria. In the first book, he's approached by a Spanish vampire named Don Simon who wants his help finding out who's killing London's vampires. And let's just say, Don Simon does NOT take "no" for an answer.
I am a huge fan of Hambley's "Benjamin January" mysteries (that's how I first came to the writer) and I was delighted by the James Asher books. Hambley is not a spring chicken and last year was tough for her, but she's still writing and I am so glad for that.

One Night Only--new fiction for Nikki Finke's Hollywood Dementia

I have a new story up at Nikki Finke's Hollywood Dementia. Illustration by the talented Thomas Warming.

Cover reveal: The Unknown Road

I've been writing a series of novelette-sized modernized fairy tales, and grabbing covers from various sources. The fabulous Ravven was running a Christmas deal on her pre-designed covers and I snagged that great Hunter's Kiss (Snow White) cover from her for a fraction of what her covers normally cost. (And believe me, when I can afford it, I'm going back to her for my series covers because she does gorgeous work.)
As does my friend Joy Sillesen of Indie Author Services, who created this great cover for my retelling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," which was always one of my favorite fairy tales. I love the color palette on this cover.
The novelette will be out later this summer, but I just had to show off the cover now.

A Vampire a Day: The Shiny Narrow Grin by Jane Gaskell

Jane Gaskell wrote her first novel, Strange Evil, when she was 14.  Nobody had ever seen anything like it. (You can still find copies around. Here it is on Amazon with illustrations by Boris Vallejo.) China Mieville has called the book the first example of "new weird," a genre he now owns. Gaskell worked as a journalist for a while, and continued to write fiction until 1990. According to Wikipedia, she is now a professional astrologer.

The Shiny Narrow Grin is Gaskell's vampire novel and it is soooooo 60s pubished in 1964). I have a friend, born in the 70s, who is fascinated by everything Swinging Sixties, and this is one of her favorite books. The Shiny Narrow Grin .  the book is almost impossible to find. But strangely, it's up at Wattpad. (Read it here.)

A Vampire a Day: Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin

I first encountered George R. R. Martin as a fan of the original Beauty and the Beast, which he created. I found out he'd written a couple of novels and went in search of them. I really liked Armageddon Rag, but I REALLY liked Fevre Dream, his vampire novel. It's an obscure one that ended up on the B&N Reads list of "the Ten Best Vampire Novels No One Has Read"  (I've read one other book on the list, Suzy McKee C Charnas' Vampire Taspestry but haven't read the other eight which means I have the chance to discover eight (EIGHT!!!!) great new books.

Fevre Dream is a gothic novel with a capital G. Wikipedia, which has an entry on the book (of course they do--it's not a "thing" unless it's got a Wikipedia article) that likens the book's style to a mashup of Bram Stoker and Mark Twain. Martin worked out a complex backdrop for his vampires (the "red thirst" they experience, the Pale King who leads them) and it mostly takes place on an elegant and elaborate steam boat (the Fevre Dream of the title.)

This is a lush and decadent and nuanced novel and (in my opinion) leaves Anne Rice in the dust.

A Vampire a Day: Salem's Lot by Stephen King

I'm pretty sure this was the first book I read by Stephen King. I never read Carrie, but I picked up Salem's Lot at the Westover Hills Public Library in Richmond and was completely hooked. I am an unabashed fan of King, and think he's a master at crafting character. (I believe he is the Charles Dickens of our generation. He is superb at characters. And even on his worst days--Desperation, Rose Madder, I'm looking at you--he's better than most people.)

I loved the way he played with the tropes of the vampire myth in this book, especially the way he did the "stake through the heart" thing. I liked the pairing of the kid and the writer who has come back to his home town. (SPOILER ALERT) He has written about killing the love interest in the book and he's absolutely right about the way that unsettled the reader. Because if he killed her off, what might he do next???

I also really liked the first television adaptation of this. David Soul, Lance Kerwin, James Mason and a scary, Nosferatu-type vampire. The scene where a vampire Geoffrey Lewis floats outside the young hero's window was damn scary. (Geoffrey Lewiswas one of my favorite character actors. I saw him in a spoken word performance years ago and he just killed it.) James Mason was perfect.  (And another example of the "all the villains are Brits" idea.)

Salem's Lot was written when King was only 28.