Blog Talk Radio: Jeff Trek interviews Daven Anderson, author of “Vampire Syndrome”

Join me on Blog Talk Radio next Saturday, November 29th, 2014 at 5:30PM Eastern Time for my interview, hosted by Jeff Trek.

“Can a vampire with Down Syndrome survive? “Vampire Syndrome”, the novel that truly goes where no paranormal story has gone before. Join us as we welcome Author Daven Anderson and his world of extraterrestrial vampires to the program.”

Author Daven Anderson discusses his “Vampire Syndrome” Saga with Jeff Trek on Blog Talk Radio

Book Promotion that Makes an Impression—Don’t Advertise When You Can PADvertise

Attack of the Agent Query panty liner…
Another brilliant, laugh-out-loud post from Kristen Lamb!

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Since most of us are neck-deep in work and NaNoWriMo, I thought it was time to talk about something OTHER than writing. How are you going to MARKET that NaNo novel by December 3rd, 2014?

Only amateurs need “revisions” *rolls eyes*.

We all know what we are writing is PURE GOLD begging to be unleashed  available for purchase in time to pay off all the money we’ll spend on Christmas gifts. That and being a NYTBSA by the end of January of 2015 is a great start, right?

Any of you who regularly follow my blog know that I am totally out of my mind a bit eccentric. Saturday, Hubby took pity on me and let us go out to eat (a rare treat around here). As I closed the door to the stall, I noticed all the advertising on the back of the bathroom door. This cluttered wall of…

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Seven Tropes of Science Fiction

The Walking (on the studio lot) Dead: Matters of story convenience usually trump reality. 😉

Research – The Devil of Details

Research is one of the most unheralded tasks a proper author must do. It can take several hours of research to get a single sentence to be correct.

In Chapter One of “Vampire Invasion” (book three of the Vampire Syndrome Saga), Lilith’s inner monologue says:

“I stride over to my 1930 Cadillac V-16 roadster, kneel down to unlock the battery compartment door, and then remove the charger cables.”

This sentence alone took me several hours of research. I was already well aware (from my personal experience at car shows and museums) that the battery in a 1930’s Cadillac V-16 is NOT under the car’s hood, as the giant sixteen-cylinder engine occupies virtually all of the underhood area. So any author who would write “I open the hood and remove the charger cables” would commit a major detail error, right off the *bat*. 😉

1930 Cadillac V-16 Underhood View

Since I am not Clive Cussler and do not have his classic auto collection at my disposal, I downloaded and read the 1930 Cadillac Service Manual. Even an oil change would be costly for this million-dollar ride, as the giant engine holds five gallons of motor oil. 3:)

So now that Lilith is removing the battery charger cables in the proper manner, it is fair to ask why. The human Vampires have been aware for centuries that the beings from planet Sek’Met have “black lightning” guns. When the mothership lands on the Human Vampires’ compound, Lilith (and others) instantly realize that the “black lightning” gun is an EMPD (electro-magnetic pulse discharge) weapon (a concept the Vampires didn’t fully grasp several centuries ago).

Such weapons will disable cars with electronic ignitions or computers, so any car from the 1970’s to date will be vulnerable. Hence, my characters are fleeing/attempting to flee the scene in older cars. An astute reader who read “Vampire Syndrome” (book one) might ask why Lilith didn’t try to flee in her 1967 Corvette, or for Damien, his 1960 Plymouth. My answer: Those cars are retrofitted with electronic ignitions (a common upgrade for 1950’s and 60’s cars). When you are in the process of fleeing your compound due to an alien invasion, you would not have the time to convert the cars back to their original mechanical points-and-condenser ignition systems.

And if you think this car research is exhausting, try reconciling your vampire backstory with thousands of years of worldwide folklore, and have your story make sense in both folkloric and scientific terms… 😈

PS: Note that the TV Series “Jericho” showed characters driving older vehicles after a large electro-magnetic pulse discharge cuts off their “restored” power.

VAMPIRES IN LITERATURE AND FILM

A thorough guide to the essentials of the Vampire!

The Ravings of a Sick Mind

I spent Halloween talking to people about vampires. I had a great time, and I hope I was informative and entertaining. Below are the notes I used, which I thought might make an interesting blog post.

THE VAMPYRE (1819)

– DR. JOHN POLIDORI

• WRITTEN DURING “YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER” ALONG WITH “FRANKENSTEIN.”
• FIRST VAMPIRE STORY IN ENGLISH.
• IMMENSELY POPULAR UPON PUBLICATION, THOUGH INITIALLY ATTRIBUTED TO LORD BYRON.
• LORD RUTHVEN (PRONOUNCED “RIVEN”) IS THE ORIGINAL ARISTORCRATIC, SEDUCTIVE VAMPIRE.
• RUTHVEN HAS NO PROBLEM PASSING AS HUMAN, NO ISSUES WITH SUNLIGHT, AND NONE OF THE “TRADITIONAL” WEAKNESSES OR POWERS.
• ADAPTED FOR THEATER NUMEROUS TIMES.

I’m too sexy for a cape, too sexy for a cape…

VARNEY THE VAMPIRE,

OR THE FEAST OF BLOOD (1847)

– MALCOLM JAMES RYMER

• RYMER ALSO CO-AUTHOR OF “THE STRING OF PEARLS” WHICH INTRODUCED SWEENY TODD.
• ORIGINATOR OF SEVERAL POPULAR TROPES: VARNEY HAS FANGS, ENTERS THROUGH WINDOW TO ASSAULT…

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The Three “Acts” of a Writer’s Journey—From Newbie to Master

The “master” is the apprentice who didn’t quit. 🙂

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Pirate Code=Writing Rules. Clearer now? 🙂

The mark of a great storyteller is they make our job look easy. The story flows, pulls us in, and appears seamless. Many of us decided to become writers because we grew up loving books. Because good storytellers are masters of what they do, we can easily fall into a misguided notion that “writing is easy.” Granted there are a rare few exceptions, but most of us will go through three acts (stages) in this career if we stick it through.

Act One—The Neophyte

This is when we are brand new. We’ve never read a craft book and the words flow. We never run out of words to put on a page because we are like a kid banging away on a piano having fun and making up “music.” We aren’t held back or hindered by any structure or rules and we have amazing…

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