Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Winner of The Vampire Sonnets
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Vampire Sonnets Drawing
Congratulations to E.J. Stevens for winning The Vampire Sonnets drawing! Please e-mail your contact information to receive your prize. Thanks to everyone else who participated. You can purchase The Vampire Sonnets at Nelson Pearl Publishers.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Guest Blogger, David Nelson Bradsher, Author of The Vampire Sonnets
Today, I'm very excited to welcome David Nelson Bradsher the author of The Vampire Sonnets. I was privileged to meet him and hear him read some of his beautiful sonnets at A Mystical day of Bloodlust in Lexington Kentucky. Being a lover of poetry, I very much enjoyed the poems and chatting with David about Lord Byron and Shakespeare, among other things. I was intrigued by the story the sonnets presented. Vampires and poetry seem like the perfect marriage to me. I think you will find David's work as exciting and innovative as I did. David is also offering a copy of his book in a drawing. Please read on for entry details.
Denise, thank for the invitation to be your guest blogger for the week. It’s great to be here to talk a little about The Vampire Sonnets, my new verse drama from Nelson Pearl Publishers.
The Vampire Sonnets is one of those projects that more or less occurred rather than being planned. I call it a happy accident. I’d written a single sonnet, based on the image of the sun being a portal to flame, and it just made sense to couch it as a fourteen-line snapshot of a vampire, a vampire so immersed in his feeding of a serving wench that he doesn’t notice the sun rising behind him. The sonnet ended with him having to seek sanctuary in the cool earth of a forest floor, and my intent was to leave it at that.
So, what we have now is a set of 193 sequential Shakespearean sonnets that tell the story of Tristan Grey, a 19th Century Londoner who is unwittingly led into the Chelsea clan by Nina, a psychotic ancient vampiress from Russia. What begins as a vampire seeking shelter from the sun transitions into an immortal review of his second life, complete with episodes of his siring, his relations, victims, loves and needs. It’s a novel in the sense that it tells a story, but what sets it apart is the fact that the entire tale is written in rhyme and meter, with each chapter consisting of three quatrains and a couplet, and then moving immediately into the next chapter, which may be a continuation of the episode, or a change in time or setting, depending on the circumstance.
Many people are curious as to how you write such a story and stay true to the poetic form, but still achieve the freedom necessary to tell the tale in an unfettered manner. The best answer I can come up with is that it takes time, patience, and not a small dose of madness to grind the gears until it reads smooth enough to satisfy a perfectionist. Truth be told, I could have worked on this for forty years and still found things to change, but at some point you have set your fledgling free, and (with the help of my angel/devil of an editor/publisher) I finally signed off and let the presses roll.
I’d love to know from your readers, Denise, if the idea of a story told entirely in sonnets is off-putting or intriguing, and if those who haven’t had much experience with poetry would still give it a day in court? I can pretty much guarantee that if a reader takes his or her time, follows the punctuation with minimal attention to the line breaks and maximum attention to the story, there’s something there for lovers of poetry, paranormal, romance and mystery.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here, and I’d love to hear from the readers, if they have any questions or comments. To spark some interest, I’d also like to offer a free book, determined by a random drawing, to be awarded at the end of a week’s time. Thanks again for letting me be here, and I hope to hear from some of you. For those interested in purchasing the book, please visit www.nelsonpearlpublishers.com. Please also feel free to visit the Facebook group page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=47383438565.
Denise, thank for the invitation to be your guest blogger for the week. It’s great to be here to talk a little about The Vampire Sonnets, my new verse drama from Nelson Pearl Publishers.
The Vampire Sonnets is one of those projects that more or less occurred rather than being planned. I call it a happy accident. I’d written a single sonnet, based on the image of the sun being a portal to flame, and it just made sense to couch it as a fourteen-line snapshot of a vampire, a vampire so immersed in his feeding of a serving wench that he doesn’t notice the sun rising behind him. The sonnet ended with him having to seek sanctuary in the cool earth of a forest floor, and my intent was to leave it at that.
Therein, I located the happy accident, ripe for the picking. A British friend of mine, a writer of prose, read the sonnet and told me he’d like to hear the “resolution” of the immortal’s plight. Not wanting to disappoint an interested party (poets dream of such an audience), I wrote another; then four; then eight; then sixteen, etc., and before I came up for air I had a full-fledged verse drama before me.
So, what we have now is a set of 193 sequential Shakespearean sonnets that tell the story of Tristan Grey, a 19th Century Londoner who is unwittingly led into the Chelsea clan by Nina, a psychotic ancient vampiress from Russia. What begins as a vampire seeking shelter from the sun transitions into an immortal review of his second life, complete with episodes of his siring, his relations, victims, loves and needs. It’s a novel in the sense that it tells a story, but what sets it apart is the fact that the entire tale is written in rhyme and meter, with each chapter consisting of three quatrains and a couplet, and then moving immediately into the next chapter, which may be a continuation of the episode, or a change in time or setting, depending on the circumstance.
Many people are curious as to how you write such a story and stay true to the poetic form, but still achieve the freedom necessary to tell the tale in an unfettered manner. The best answer I can come up with is that it takes time, patience, and not a small dose of madness to grind the gears until it reads smooth enough to satisfy a perfectionist. Truth be told, I could have worked on this for forty years and still found things to change, but at some point you have set your fledgling free, and (with the help of my angel/devil of an editor/publisher) I finally signed off and let the presses roll.
I’d love to know from your readers, Denise, if the idea of a story told entirely in sonnets is off-putting or intriguing, and if those who haven’t had much experience with poetry would still give it a day in court? I can pretty much guarantee that if a reader takes his or her time, follows the punctuation with minimal attention to the line breaks and maximum attention to the story, there’s something there for lovers of poetry, paranormal, romance and mystery.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here, and I’d love to hear from the readers, if they have any questions or comments. To spark some interest, I’d also like to offer a free book, determined by a random drawing, to be awarded at the end of a week’s time. Thanks again for letting me be here, and I hope to hear from some of you. For those interested in purchasing the book, please visit www.nelsonpearlpublishers.com. Please also feel free to visit the Facebook group page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=47383438565.
David Nelson Bradsher graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill ('89 B.A. English). He is a metrical poet, a late-arriving disciple of verse, and he still believes in the traditional forms, its meters, and rhyme's ability to capture the reader's ear and memory with an accordance of sound and music. He makes his home in Raleigh, North Carolina.
David, thanks so much for being my guest! Readers, please leave a comment for David to enter the drawing. The drawing ends 11/19/10, 11:59 PM EST. Winner will be announced the next day.
If you'd like to learn more about the world of Immortyl Revolution, please visit http://deniseverricowriter.webs.com/bookthreefreeread.htm.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Winner of the Twilight of the Gods Launch Drawing
Congratulations to Dina, who won the Twilight of the Gods Launch Drawing! Thanks to all who have followed and entered. Keep posted for upcoming drawings.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Katrina Michaels, Guest Blog and Review
Don't forget to enter my Twilight of the Gods giveaway! Enter. Contest ends on 11/08.
Today, I welcome Katrina Michaels. She has graciously shared some highlights of her trip to Romania.
Thanks so much for having me here, Denise. Earlier this summer, I took a break from putting the finishing touches on my second book, Dead Awakening (2nd in the Preternatural Investigation Agency series), which was released in September, and traveled to Romania with my best friend. We found ourselves a great tour guide and drove around what felt like nearly the entire country (from Moldova to Transylvania). Yes, I went to Transylvania. I was interested in going since my Hungarian relatives were originally from Transylvania. It was a very unique and interesting trip and I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about it. So, without further ado, Four Things I Learned in Romania
1) Almost everything I know about the Communist oppression of Romania
I will admit that I wasn’t very interested in history in school. I only took the required history classes, so while I knew Romania was a Communist country, I did not know much about the communist occupation. One day during our tour, it was raining too hard to go to an outdoor village museum, so our guide took us to the Communism Museum instead. The museum was inside a former jail used to house political prisoners during the regime. One of the first exhibits we faced was a wall filled with photographs of people who were imprisoned for opposing communism (see picture). It included pictures of teenagers all the way up to the very elderly. From there, our guide told us the story how the communist party took over via electoral fraud in the mid 1940s. It was pretty apparent that the Romanian people did not want communism considering that over 80% voted for the other party. While the history was interesting, it was much more poignant to listen to our guide talk about living under the communist regime. He told us stories about only getting 7 gallons of gas per month to turning out all the lights in their house at night so they could listen to Radio Free Europe and actually learn what was going on in the world. Apparently, if your lights stayed on past a certain hour, your neighbors would assume you were listening to the radio station and possibly report you. He then spoke with pride about how the revolution in December of 1989 started with university student demonstrations, of which he was a part. All in all, the village museum may have been fun, but this was an experience that was humbling, worthwhile, and eerie and I’m glad we went.
2) Vlad the Impaler may not have been such a bad guy
Many people have heard stories the describe Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler, as a sadistic psychopath. During our tour of Romania, our guide told us stories that put Vlad in a different light. Vlad first became the ruler of his principality (Wallachia) at the age of 17, though it did not last long. However, he regained his rule at the age of 25. During this period, Romania was often invaded by the Turks and Wallachia did not have a large population of soldiers. According to Romanian history, Vlad impaled the bodies of the Turkish soldiers to discourage invaders by preying on their fear and superstition. Apparently, it did work for a bit and parts of Romania considered Vlad to be something of a folk hero who strived to protect his people from harsh invaders. Of course the Turks see it somewhat differently.
We also learned that Vlad did refer to himself as Dracula because his father was given the nickname Vlad Dracul (meaning Dragon) after he was initiated by the Emperor into the Order of the Dragon. Dracula means ‘son of Dracul’ or ‘son of the dragon.’ During his reign, German (Saxon) trade routes were also impacted by Vlad’s fight against the Turks and some of the nobles began printing pamphlets telling the tales of the blood-drinking tyrant called Dracula in a bid to get influential people on their side. These pamphlets became widely circulated throughout Europe describing all sorts of atrocities.
Whether it is the Romanian folk tales, the Turkish horror stories, or the German propaganda, they are all biased in one way or another. So was Vlad Tepes just trying to protect his people or was he a tyrant cruel beyond imagination? Well, there is no definitive answer, but it is obvious to me that there is more to the story of Vlad Tepes than we normally hear.
For fun, I’ve included a picture of Bran Castle, also known as Dracula’s Castle. Of course, Vlad Tepes never owned the castle nor did he ever stay there. But it was owned by his grandfather at one point.
3) Romania has a large population of storks. Who knew?
Okay, when I went to Romania, I expected to see dogs, cats, sheep, horses, and cows. Personally, I also hoped to see a couple of bats for the ambiance, but it didn’t happen. What I was not expecting on the first day was to notice a very large nest (at least a couple of feet wide) sitting on the chimney of one house and being told it was a stork’s nest (see picture). For the rest of the tour, not one day went by that I didn’t see numerous stork nests on telephone poles and houses. We even saw a flock in one field and another family of storks roosting on an old church. They were everywhere.
4) And the most important thing I learned…
Always have a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage. I cannot stress this enough. Just because your luggage has never been lost before does not mean it won’t happen. And when the folks in baggage claim tell you that your lost luggage will be delivered to you within 24 hours, don’t believe it. That way if it does happen, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. However, your luggage may take an extra day to arrive because it gets sent to Amsterdam by mistake. If you are like me and never traveled with any extra clothing in your carry-on luggage, then I hope you are traveling with a wonderful person (as I did) who will loan you a shirt for the next day since all the stores will undoubtedly be closed when you finally get out of the airport. Unfortunately, you will probably have to re-wear everything else until you can find the nearest department store.
Sorry no pictures. As I was without make-up, hair dryer, and hair products, pictures were officially banned.
And One Thing I Already Knew
Romania is a beautiful country, from the mountains to the painted monasteries to the opulent churches and castles. Despite lost luggage, lack of hair dryers, and extremely hazardous driving with one minor car accident, it was a wonderful adventure. I came away from Romania inspired and looking for ways to work the country into one of my future books. Not sure how yet, but I’m thinking maybe a flashback.
Thank you again, Denise for having me here.
For my last picture, I leave you with a glorious mountain waterfall. Enjoy!
Katrina, it's always a pleasure to have you as a guest!
Here is a review of Katrina's new book, Dead Awakening:
The Preternatural Investigation Agency is back in their second paranormal mystery. This time, rather than the focus being mainly on Tara Daston, the young vampire, Katrina Michaels spotlights her ensemble of investigators, primarily Aidan the warlock, who is dealing with baggage from his past as a CSI. The story opens with a fraternity hazing that goes terribly wrong, ending in the death of pledge, Billy Marcum. But this isn’t the only element of mayhem in the novel. A museum curator, Dr. Dennis Hylar is about to launch an exhibit featuring Egyptian artifacts and a mummy at a local museum. An insurance investigator, Mr. Fuji calls upon Aidan to discover whether a necklace and the mummy itself are under a curse. If indeed there is a curse, the exhibit will not be insured and permitted to open. I won’t give more away of Michaels’ intricate plot and spoil the ride, because it’s an enjoyable one with lots of thrills and chills. Ms. Michaels cleverly intertwines forensic science and magical rituals in a fresh and interesting way. Lest Tara’s fans be disappointed that she isn’t the main focus, rest assured that Michaels has given her plenty of room to grow as a character as the fledgling prepares for her examinations to become a full-fledged agent. It’s fun to see Tara discovering the delights of her vampiric senses (in a somewhat innocent manner) when her romance with Marco, a mortal, begins to blossom. In fact, all of the characters grow and their relationships deepen in this outing. Max, the sassy pyrokinetic, teases her co-workers but shows a genuine concern for them. I found Rick the empath’s growing pains funny at times and touching at others. The conflict between Aidan and Charlie, the werewolf is especially compelling. Tom, the leader of the PIA, continues to try to come to terms with his vampirism, with some insight from Tara’s sire, Alexander. I can’t wait to see more of these characters.
Katrina on Facebook
Katrina's books are avaiable online through Barnes and Noble
and Amazon.
Today, I welcome Katrina Michaels. She has graciously shared some highlights of her trip to Romania.
Thanks so much for having me here, Denise. Earlier this summer, I took a break from putting the finishing touches on my second book, Dead Awakening (2nd in the Preternatural Investigation Agency series), which was released in September, and traveled to Romania with my best friend. We found ourselves a great tour guide and drove around what felt like nearly the entire country (from Moldova to Transylvania). Yes, I went to Transylvania. I was interested in going since my Hungarian relatives were originally from Transylvania. It was a very unique and interesting trip and I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about it. So, without further ado, Four Things I Learned in Romania
1) Almost everything I know about the Communist oppression of Romania
I will admit that I wasn’t very interested in history in school. I only took the required history classes, so while I knew Romania was a Communist country, I did not know much about the communist occupation. One day during our tour, it was raining too hard to go to an outdoor village museum, so our guide took us to the Communism Museum instead. The museum was inside a former jail used to house political prisoners during the regime. One of the first exhibits we faced was a wall filled with photographs of people who were imprisoned for opposing communism (see picture). It included pictures of teenagers all the way up to the very elderly. From there, our guide told us the story how the communist party took over via electoral fraud in the mid 1940s. It was pretty apparent that the Romanian people did not want communism considering that over 80% voted for the other party. While the history was interesting, it was much more poignant to listen to our guide talk about living under the communist regime. He told us stories about only getting 7 gallons of gas per month to turning out all the lights in their house at night so they could listen to Radio Free Europe and actually learn what was going on in the world. Apparently, if your lights stayed on past a certain hour, your neighbors would assume you were listening to the radio station and possibly report you. He then spoke with pride about how the revolution in December of 1989 started with university student demonstrations, of which he was a part. All in all, the village museum may have been fun, but this was an experience that was humbling, worthwhile, and eerie and I’m glad we went.
2) Vlad the Impaler may not have been such a bad guy
Many people have heard stories the describe Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler, as a sadistic psychopath. During our tour of Romania, our guide told us stories that put Vlad in a different light. Vlad first became the ruler of his principality (Wallachia) at the age of 17, though it did not last long. However, he regained his rule at the age of 25. During this period, Romania was often invaded by the Turks and Wallachia did not have a large population of soldiers. According to Romanian history, Vlad impaled the bodies of the Turkish soldiers to discourage invaders by preying on their fear and superstition. Apparently, it did work for a bit and parts of Romania considered Vlad to be something of a folk hero who strived to protect his people from harsh invaders. Of course the Turks see it somewhat differently.
We also learned that Vlad did refer to himself as Dracula because his father was given the nickname Vlad Dracul (meaning Dragon) after he was initiated by the Emperor into the Order of the Dragon. Dracula means ‘son of Dracul’ or ‘son of the dragon.’ During his reign, German (Saxon) trade routes were also impacted by Vlad’s fight against the Turks and some of the nobles began printing pamphlets telling the tales of the blood-drinking tyrant called Dracula in a bid to get influential people on their side. These pamphlets became widely circulated throughout Europe describing all sorts of atrocities.
Whether it is the Romanian folk tales, the Turkish horror stories, or the German propaganda, they are all biased in one way or another. So was Vlad Tepes just trying to protect his people or was he a tyrant cruel beyond imagination? Well, there is no definitive answer, but it is obvious to me that there is more to the story of Vlad Tepes than we normally hear.
For fun, I’ve included a picture of Bran Castle, also known as Dracula’s Castle. Of course, Vlad Tepes never owned the castle nor did he ever stay there. But it was owned by his grandfather at one point.
3) Romania has a large population of storks. Who knew?
Okay, when I went to Romania, I expected to see dogs, cats, sheep, horses, and cows. Personally, I also hoped to see a couple of bats for the ambiance, but it didn’t happen. What I was not expecting on the first day was to notice a very large nest (at least a couple of feet wide) sitting on the chimney of one house and being told it was a stork’s nest (see picture). For the rest of the tour, not one day went by that I didn’t see numerous stork nests on telephone poles and houses. We even saw a flock in one field and another family of storks roosting on an old church. They were everywhere.
4) And the most important thing I learned…
Always have a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage. I cannot stress this enough. Just because your luggage has never been lost before does not mean it won’t happen. And when the folks in baggage claim tell you that your lost luggage will be delivered to you within 24 hours, don’t believe it. That way if it does happen, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. However, your luggage may take an extra day to arrive because it gets sent to Amsterdam by mistake. If you are like me and never traveled with any extra clothing in your carry-on luggage, then I hope you are traveling with a wonderful person (as I did) who will loan you a shirt for the next day since all the stores will undoubtedly be closed when you finally get out of the airport. Unfortunately, you will probably have to re-wear everything else until you can find the nearest department store.
Sorry no pictures. As I was without make-up, hair dryer, and hair products, pictures were officially banned.
And One Thing I Already Knew
Romania is a beautiful country, from the mountains to the painted monasteries to the opulent churches and castles. Despite lost luggage, lack of hair dryers, and extremely hazardous driving with one minor car accident, it was a wonderful adventure. I came away from Romania inspired and looking for ways to work the country into one of my future books. Not sure how yet, but I’m thinking maybe a flashback.
Thank you again, Denise for having me here.
For my last picture, I leave you with a glorious mountain waterfall. Enjoy!
Katrina, it's always a pleasure to have you as a guest!
Here is a review of Katrina's new book, Dead Awakening:
The Preternatural Investigation Agency is back in their second paranormal mystery. This time, rather than the focus being mainly on Tara Daston, the young vampire, Katrina Michaels spotlights her ensemble of investigators, primarily Aidan the warlock, who is dealing with baggage from his past as a CSI. The story opens with a fraternity hazing that goes terribly wrong, ending in the death of pledge, Billy Marcum. But this isn’t the only element of mayhem in the novel. A museum curator, Dr. Dennis Hylar is about to launch an exhibit featuring Egyptian artifacts and a mummy at a local museum. An insurance investigator, Mr. Fuji calls upon Aidan to discover whether a necklace and the mummy itself are under a curse. If indeed there is a curse, the exhibit will not be insured and permitted to open. I won’t give more away of Michaels’ intricate plot and spoil the ride, because it’s an enjoyable one with lots of thrills and chills. Ms. Michaels cleverly intertwines forensic science and magical rituals in a fresh and interesting way. Lest Tara’s fans be disappointed that she isn’t the main focus, rest assured that Michaels has given her plenty of room to grow as a character as the fledgling prepares for her examinations to become a full-fledged agent. It’s fun to see Tara discovering the delights of her vampiric senses (in a somewhat innocent manner) when her romance with Marco, a mortal, begins to blossom. In fact, all of the characters grow and their relationships deepen in this outing. Max, the sassy pyrokinetic, teases her co-workers but shows a genuine concern for them. I found Rick the empath’s growing pains funny at times and touching at others. The conflict between Aidan and Charlie, the werewolf is especially compelling. Tom, the leader of the PIA, continues to try to come to terms with his vampirism, with some insight from Tara’s sire, Alexander. I can’t wait to see more of these characters.
Katrina on Facebook
Katrina's books are avaiable online through Barnes and Noble
and Amazon.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Guest Blog on World Building at Paranormal Haven and fun at the World Fantasy Con
I'm over at Paranormal Haven today. I blogged on World Building. They have a giveaway for Twilight of the Gods. I'm also extending my Twilight of the Gods launch giveaway through November 8th. Launch Giveaway. I had a great time at the World Fantasy Convention. There were so many interesting panels and people. I particularly enjoyed Ellen Kushner and Catherynne Valente's readings. I had the chance to talk with Ellen a few times, and she's a terrific lady! I'm enjoying her book Swordspoint very much. The folks running the con did a superb job. I participated in a rapid fire reading with Broad Universe and shared some of My Fearful Symmetry. I've got to run now. It's National Novel Writing Month, and I've got a lot of words to get down today!
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