Let the Howling begin!

It's that time of year again. Ghosties and ghoulies and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night... and another Howloween Blog Hop! And authors that love to talk about them and give out prizes! No, not candy. Well, eye candy, maybe, but that's another story. At the end of my blog, I'll tell you what I'm offering and how you can win.












Halloween is a magical type of the year, when the line between the so-called normal world and that of the paranormal and supernatural tends to blur... unless, of course, you're one of those people who live in that other world 365 and 24/7.

I find the creatures of the night to be fascinating. Vampires and werewolves and ghosts... oh my. But let's not forget aliens and merpeople, and shifters of all sorts, and the little people and the big people, gargoyles, and so much more. Books and films, there is a veritable cornucopia out there, something to satisfy everyone's taste.

My first supernatural love is the vampire. When I was about twelve, I read Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I was hooked. I didn't even really understand the sexual tension, or the corresponding feelings it sent through me, a tingling at the base of my neck, but it was there and it was real. I watched the movie starring Bela Lugosi, and fell in love with this charming, handsome, charismatic man with the deep, rich voice.

Back at that time, there was a unique soap opera that didn't just focus on who was sleeping with who, as most of them did (and do), but dealt with supernatural goings on in the small town of Collinsport, Maine. And then I fell in love with the main character, another charming and charismatic man, Barnabas Collins, portrayed by Jonathan Frid.  Oh how I loved Barnabas! I clipped photos and articles from the magazines and taped them to my walls. And every night, I kissed him good night.

It only seemed natural that when I went to write my first original novel that there would be a vampire in it. I set the book in St. Louis (where I live), in an imaginary museum and house of horror owned by two brothers. One is engaged to a young woman who specializes in Tarot readings... and vampire lore. When the new investor, Derek Deville, arrives from Europe, she is immediately entranced by him. When people start to die, though, she has to wonder what is going on, and does this mysterious man have anything to do with it? Dark Love is that book, and it was published by Silver Publishing in January of 2011, under the name of Reinette.

There are other sexy vampires, of course. I love the old Hammer films, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (although I despise the Frank Langella version of Dracula). If you like a little humor with your vamps, try The Fearless Vampire Killers (made before we realized what a pervert Roman Polanski is). Another one of my favorite Dracula films not surprisingly features my favorite actor, Gary Oldman. I know, what a surprise, right? But he is the epitome of sexiness, with that long red hair, and those gorgeous eyes. Takes the sting out of being bitten, if you know what I  mean!

On TV, there are two vampires that merit mention from me, and they are both sexy as hell.  First, Mick St. John from the too short series Moonlight. He was so incredibly hot, sweet and romantic... just thinking about it makes me want to pop my DVD in and watch him! Good thing there's Hawaii 5-0, so that I can keep watching Alex O'Loughlin!

The next beautiful vamp is Damon Salvatore of Vampire Diaries, played by the gorgeous Ian Somerhalder. He's the best thing in the show, literally. If he weren't in it, I'd never watch, to be honest. I love him so much, he's also my FB avatar.  If you want to watch the hottest video ever, watch this - Damon dancing with Vicki. But feel free to ignore Vicki and concentrate on Damon, particular when he's dancing solo on the stair rail.

My next novel came as a surprise to me. I was supposed to be writing something else, but a voice in my head clamored for attention. All I knew was that he was a gay werewolf, no more. But he was insistent, and I thought okay, I'll be nice and jot down his info for now and get back to him. So I let him speak and wrote it down in longhand - and that became the first chapter of To The Max, featuring my beloved werewolf, Max Montague. Since that time, there's been a sequel, For Love of Max, and I'm working on the third book in the series.

Werewolves. There is something about them that I love. They've come a long way from the hairy man portrayed by Lon Chaney, Jr. Or even Oliver Reed's portrayal of the demented unfortunate in The Curse of the Werewolf. Although when he wasn't howling at the moon, he was rather hot.





Well, I've run off at the mouth long enough. You have blogs to visit, prizes to win. Not like I won't be back tomorrow, right?

Oh, the contest? You're right! I did mention prizes, that's the point of this, isn't it? I'm offering four prizes from my blog. Three winners will receive their choice of anything from my backlist, while one winner will get a $10 Amazon gc. What do you have to do? It's simple. Comment with something pertaining to Halloween, be it a memory, favorite creature, or sexiest beast of your dreams. Make sure you include your email address, otherwise you will not be entered in the contest. You have until midnight on Halloween to enter.

Let the commenting begin!