Friday, October 26, 2012

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!

37 comments:

  1. I used to love Dark Shadows. that lead to my love of vampires.
    Happy Halloween
    Debby236 at gmail dot com

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  2. Any blog that features Barnabas Collins is a cool blog to me! :D Halloween was always fun to me, though I tended to cycle through the same costumes (ghost or vampire) every year. Hey, at least I got candy!

    kimberlyFDF@yahoo.com

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  3. Love vampires,use to be afraid at Halloween when younger.
    cvsimpkins@msn.com

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  4. I always liked the traditional witches and ghosts, except for Caspar. One year my brother was a little Caspar and so was every other little kid his size, and I lost him for a few houses. I ran around screaming his name until I found the group that had him. I gave the embarrassed Mom back her kid and took my brother. Fun times. :)

    palaistea(at)gmail[dot]com

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  5. This will be showing my age, but I loved the Michael Nouri series, Cliffhanger as a kid. He played a sexy vampire. I must admit I like vampires a teeny little bit better than werewolves. *g*

    Thanks for the blog hop. Happy Halloween.

    Lasha
    mslasha@gmail.com

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  6. Wow, all this time we have been friends on FB and I had never realised that was who was in your avatar - and I watch the show! - I blame the crappy laptop.

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  7. I always went for literary characters, but I wasn't into paranormal until recent years. I found the Vampire Diaries to be very vapid, but yeah, the bad boy character of Damon is soooo hot. He definitely made the show when I watched a few episodes. You know my email. :P

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  8. I'm a big fan of anything paranormal. I love stories that make me shiver. :)

    christi_kat25(at)yahoo[dot]com

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  9. I love wolves, so I think a werewolf would be my man of choice. :)
    lori
    loriwarwick220@yahoo.com

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  10. Oh, I'd have to say vampires. Love me a hot, sexy, bad boy vamp. LOL.

    ~M

    nomoretears00@hotmail.com

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  11. I love both it depends on the story I'm reading.

    mfierydrgn@aol.com

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  12. Fallen angels work for me! Shifters are kinda cool, too...

    vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com

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  13. I don't do horror but I LOVE PNR/UF/Dark Fantasy. I really enjoy with an author takes existing mythology and reworks it into something original ;)

    Kassandra
    sionedkla@gmail.com

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  14. I, like you, LOVE Vampire movies/stories. Anything I can get my hands on, rally. Especially if the story has to do with a couple of hot, sexy men! Keep 'em coming!

    taina1959@yahoo.com

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  15. My family was really religious so the one time I trick or treated I had to give anyone that gave me candy a candy bag with a bible verse attached. Eek! Thanks so much for participating in the Halloween Blog Hop!
    OceanAkers @ aol.com

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  16. hello, fellow St. Louisian! Happy Halloween! I remember watching Dark Shadows at the baby sitter's house. I think it started my vampire addiction. I think the Halloween seen in "Meet Me in St. Louis" is pretty scary, considering the kind of film it is. Big spooky brick houses, streetlamps blocked by trees--that is a true St. Louis Halloween. Thanks for participating in the blog hop!

    brendurbanist AT gmail DOT com

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  17. I like all kinds of paranormal & fantasy creatures, so hard to choose. I like all kinds of shapeshifters.
    Thanks for participating in the Hop!

    strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com

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  18. Favorite creature is shifter! I love the ones in True Blood, Alcide is just yummy!

    smurfettev AT gmail DOT com

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  19. Barnabas Collins is my all-time favorite. Watched that show religiously and this was in the days before even the vcr so I had to hurry home to catch it. Did not see the recent remake as I am afraid from what I heard they butchered it.

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  20. My favorite creature is definitely vampires! So sexy~ Halloween is my favorite holiday I love dressing up and seeing everyone else's costumes! It's super fun~ thank you for the hop!

    MostlyMisha[at]gmail[dot]com

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  21. I just love the paranormal genre so this time of year is usually a highlight. Please count me in...thank you, chellebee66(at)gmail(dot)com

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  22. Shifters are my creature of choice. Of course, I love them year round not just at Halloween. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Jyl22075 at gmail dot com

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  23. It's always a toss up between shifters and vampires. If I had to make a choice, I'd have to go with shifters. They are so versatile.
    andy@amburns.com

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  24. I love vampires ever since I watched Interview with A Vampire, now I read and watch anything to do with vampires. I do love Gary Oldman too he is such a fabulous actor and very easy on the eyes. I agree Moonlight should have continued on forever :).

    vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com

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  25. I love vampires and zombies for Halloween!
    tragedy6996(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  26. I love shifters and can read about them all of the time. I've never really celebrated Halloween but I do enjoy the candy and the kids all dressed up.
    sstrode at scrtc dot com

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  27. I love shifters and vamps!
    Yvette
    yratpatrol@aol.com

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  28. I love vamps so True Blood and Twilight are pretty big in my life!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    reviewsbyabby at gmail dot com

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  29. My favorite Halloween costume was Queen of the Damned. Thanks for the giveaways.

    Raziya.harriat@gmail.com

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  30. I have always loved vampires. Thanks for joining the hop.
    magic5905 at embarqmail dot com

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  31. I love the old monster movies. I get to watch them with my kids. They love them too.
    mel
    bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

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  32. Vampires have always been my favorite paranormal creature, they were my first exposure to paranormal worlds so they will probably always be special to me.
    June
    manning_J2004 at yahoo dot com

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  33. I love the really old halloween/scary movies because it isn't about special effects and gore its the story and it is what they don't show you that makes it creepy. I love pretty much anything paranormal... I like that there are no limits, and anything can happen! Thanks for the stop on the blog hop!
    Maycee Majors
    majorsqueenbee@yahoo.com

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  34. Werewolves are my favorite paranormal now. But growing up they scared the crap out of me. Back then they make movies with good monsters. It wasn't til I was an adult and read my fisrt werewolf/shifter book that I fell hopelessly in love with the werewolves.

    Chris
    ceagles48218@yahoo.com

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  35. I love the costumes and decorations. My dad used to go all out for Halloween. He made his own electronic, animated decorations, and each member of the family has their own handmade tombstone with the humorous ways we "died". Yep, I have quite a few good Halloween memories...

    tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  36. Happy Halloween!! Thank you so much for the awesome hop and giveaway! :) I love Halloween. Its my favorite holiday. I love the creepiness, the costumes, the candy, watching scary movies, etc. And the haunted houses are awesome! :D
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

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  37. If it's not too late please count me in! >o<

    Judi
    arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com

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