Par-tay!
I see Michelle has gotten a big start on the morning! (Hey, Michelle!)
Unlike many of the incredible, prolific authors who are a part of outoftheblogosphere, I have only two paranormal books to offer as end-of-the-day prizes (I'll get into giveaway specifics in a second.). But do not be sad for me, for I have more coming out beginning in February, 2007. That's when my Vampire Babylon series hits the shelves, and the first book, NIGHT RISING, will be followed by two more soon after that: MIDNIGHT REIGN and BREAK OF DAWN. I don't have release dates yet for those last two, but I'll be keeping readers up to date on my Vampire Babylon site (www.vampirebabylon.com) and regular site (www.crystal-green.com).
Clearly, Vampire Babylon is a "vampire novel," and it's in the same action/adventure Bombshell vein as THE HUNTRESS (my first vamp story). However, this time out, this tale was so big that I needed to tell it in three books. That's why the fantasy imprint Ace Trade is publishing it. And VB differs from THE HUNTRESS in tone: it's being called a "mystery/noir/fantasy" and I love that "noir" description most of all. Here's the back cover blurb:
Welcome to Hollywood—after dark…
Stuntwoman Dawn Madison is a girl with a lot of attitude—and a lot of issues, mostly about living up to the legacy of her mother, a world famous movie star/sex symbol, whose untimely death left Dawn to be raised by her dad Frank, nobody’s notion of single-father-of-the-year. Now that she’s all grown up, she and Frank aren’t on the best of terms, to say the least.
Still, he is her dad, and when he vanishes while investigating the bizarre sighting—caught on film—of a supposedly long-dead child star, she comes home to Tinseltown to join the search for him. Working with his colleagues—a psychic short in stature but big in dreams of stardom, a beautiful Latina techno-geek, and the P. I. firm’s never-seen boss—she discovers an erotic and bloody underground society made up of creatures she thought existed only on the screen.
They are devious. They are deadly. And some of them are dangerously attractive…
I'm going to come back to this party later to see if Michelle found the booze, and I'll be checking in with any comments. You can post basic comments, questions, OR you can tell me your favorite scary movie (I just guest blogged at The Midnight Hour, and that was the subject!). At the end of the day, I'll be choosing two random winners from any of my posts today. One prize is going to be a signed copy of THE HUNTRESS. The other prize will be a signed copy of TWICE BITTEN, which is a trade reprint of THE HUNTRESS.
See you later!
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33 comments:
Hi Crystal,
I can't wait to read your Vampire Babylon series. NIGHT RISING is definitely my cup of tea 'cause I love books that take place in Hollywood. Ya'know all these paranormal books have the BEST covers.
My favorite scary movie is SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. What's yours?
Michelle hasn't found the booze and now I'm moving on to my root beer. Any booze go well in root beer? lol!
I love vamp stories and I am bookmarking your page to remind me as it gets closer to release date. Looks totally awesome. My mom will kill me though when she finds out I have found another series to read. We are already mega backlogged on our reading.:-)
I do not like scary movies, but love vampire paranormal books.
Why did you stsrt writing vampire books instead of staying with romance books?
That's a great back cover blurb!
Tam, I remember watching DARK SHADOWS. I loved it and I had a serious crush on Barnabas Collins.
Your Vampire Babylon series sounds great.
Wow--you guys are ON it! Great to see you all.
little lamb, I would say that my original vampire influence was NOSFERATU. When I was very young, I saw an image of that particular vampire on IN SEARCH OF... (Remember, with Leonard Nemoy???). Those claws and teeth scared the tar out of me. From that moment on, I was couldn't sleep unless I had covers around my neck. This continues, even now. I also love BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (both the book and movie) and early Anne Rice books.
Thanks, meljprincess! And, OMG, yes, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is an incredible movie. That scene in which the killer is putting on his "costume"? What an image. I'd say my number one freak out movie is PSYCHO, followed closely by DON'T LOOK NOW. It's all in the imagery....
tam, I've never seen DARK SHADOWS (though my age doesn't excuse me from missing it, LOL). I'd say I really thought about writing vampires after seeing THE LOST BOYS. I loved the contemporary vampire hunter take, and I thought it was pretty clever. And the energy and romance in that movie? Awesome.
kathy, thank you so much! I'll be updating that VB site pretty soon, adding the first couple of NIGHT RISING chapters....
kareng, I appreciate your kind words, too. Oh, boy, THE EXORCIST. Nightmare time. That movie just feels so real.
estella, I've always had a "dark side." But I also have a light side, LOL. My reading and viewing tastes are all over the place, so my writing reflects that. Since I was young, I've been writing scary short stories (including the requisite Jack the Ripper tale), but it wasn't until Bombshell sent out a call for a "vampire hunter" book that an idea took a hold of me. I absolutely had to write THE HUNTRESS. It was one of those stories that wouldn't let go of me until it was out of my system. I had so much fun writing it that I decided to follow up with Vampire Babylon. I'm still writing romance though. :)
bonnie, glad you like that back cover blurb! I'm very happy with it--especially with the child actor part. I took inspriration from that urban legend on the THREE MEN AND A BABY set, with the "dead boy" in the background.
alissa, right on! Thanks! And CARRIE really is awesome. When the hand comes out of the ground...eeek. I jump every single darn time.
Thank you, sharon! PSYCHO is one of my faves. Killer men in wigs always freak me out thanks to this movie.
pearl, another thank you, LOL. Doesn't THE SHINING have incredible atmosphere? Talk about creepy isolation. That hotel is a character in itself.
Appreciate the comment, joelle! Wow, I haven't read THE PIT... since high school. Time to get my Poe out. He's amazing. Definitely an inspiration.
All of you, thank you so much. I'll be back later, and good luck in the drawings!!!
Hi Crystal! The Huntress sounds really good! How did you feel when you found out it was going to be published? What is the first thing you did after you got the call?
I don't watch too many scary movies but I like to read scary books! lol I agree with Mel, Silence of the Lambs was very scary.
The books sound great.
Speaking of scary movies...I just watched The Grudge (the first one)...it was really creepy...not that scary, but creepy.
What is your favorite part of being a writer?
Crystal
I love the sounds of Vampire Babylon, cool idea
"It rubs the lotion on it's skin..." lol! I do a mean Jamie Gumm imitation.
I love PSYCHO. My Mom told me after she watched it she wouldn't shower with the door closed. Hee.
When they filmed PSYCHO 4 I was in Orlando and had the chance to meet Anthony Perkins. But, I left as usual on some jaunt with some guy. lol!
Oooh, fave scary movie. Honestly, I started watching them so young that I don't get scared often. I love the gory ones though. Most recently a scary movie I LOVED (cool concept) was Hostel. One of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments.
Great blurb!
Your new series looks good. My favorite scary movie is Carrie.
Thank you again, everyone, for all the encouraging comments! :) I'm sorry if I've skipped anyway, but I'm catching up. Now, for answers....
ellie, thanks, and I haven't seen GASLIGHT. There's a movie to put in my Netflix queue! Good suggestion.
And I appreciate that, crystalg! (Hey, are you my pen name twin come to life, just like that girl in the mirror on HEROES?)
carol, thanks! Although THE HUNTRESS was my first vamp book, I'd been published before in romance (Special Edition, then Blaze). Way, long ago, when I got the call, I was one of those this-has-got-to-be-a-joke people. I didn't hop up and down after I listened to the message from my agent at the time. I just kinda sat there and thought about all the reasons it couldn't be real. Then, when I got my monster revision letter, everything became so VERY real, LOL. Things haven't been the same since....
jennifer y, thank you, too, and that's a good distinction: scary versus creepy. I happen to like both. :) My favorite part of being a writer is receiving fan mail from people who enjoy what I've written. That sounds old hat but, really, when I read something positive from a fan, it's enough to light up my day. That's not overstating things, either. And then there's the wonderful, loose schedule. I don't have to drive to work, but I do have to be hard on myself as far as making sure I'm putting in my hours.
liz, I appreciate that--and as far as the idea for Vampire Babylon goes, there's a lot more than what the back cover blurb reveals. Besides being a vampire fantasy, there's a big mystery to solve in NIGHT RISING. I've found that I really enjoy writing mysteries (I have one--not paranormal though--on shelves now. It's a Bombshell called BAITED.).
mel, LOL, about the Anthony Perkins story! Hey, when you quoted SILENCE, I got the heebie jeebies. Brr-aaah!
dannyfiredragon, I love INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE and BS'sDRACULA for their moods. Talk about atmosphere! BTW, I recently chatted about DRACULA on my blog (about a month ago?) because I hadn't watched it in a while. I forgot how awesome it is, and I swear I saw about ten things I'd never seen before. That movie has such visual depth.
lisa p., thanks re: the blurb! I also reviewed HOSTEL on my blog a few months ago (Yes, I'm a movie freak and I frequently yap about movies on my blog.). It's funny, because it's hard to say I "liked" the movie, but I do admire its message. It was highly effective and the premise is GREAT. In fact, the premise in itself is completely horrific and that works for me. I just saw WOLF CREEK and I felt much the same way about this flick, although HOSTEL has that unbeatable stomach-churning twist.
Hope you guys are having as much fun as I am! I could talk movies and vamps all day. :)
And maureen! We were posting at the same time, I think. Thanks. :) And there's another vote for CARRIE!
I don't really watch scary movies. I like movies like The Addams Family, Beetlejuice and Death Becomes Her. But they are more funny than scary.
My favorite scary movie is the original movie, The Haunting, with Claire Bloom. It still creeps me out when the lights are out.
Looking forward to your new series.
I like the movies Minna mentioned too.
I was thinking of more scary movies after my post and I am a fan of the original Halloween and Carrie as well. I think many of the horror films today are gory...which is not my thing. The creepy movies are the ones that get to me the most rather than the ones with a gore-factor. For example, The Grudge and The Ring.
Hi Crystal!
The Vampire Babylon series sounds great! I love that cover for Night Rising!
My favorite scary movies are The Shining and Halloween (but only the first one). As far as newer movies, The Ring scared me.
Gorgeous cover, Chris! The book sounds great, too!
Shannon
Back again! You guys are awesome.
minna, I like funny/goth-y movies, too. BEETLEJUICE has a great creepy house vibe, as do the other two movies. I guess that's why I really liked TALES FROM THE CRYPT: dark humor laced with serious ucky stuff, LOL.
flip, thanks! And, OMG, THE HAUNTING. How about that part where the room goes dark and the one woman wants the other to hold her hand...then the lights come back on and the lady says thank goodness she was able to hold hands and the other woman is like, "Er...you weren't holding *my* hand." Ahhhhh!!! Creepy crawlies up my spine!
jennifer, you're right about scary movie content. One thing I love in my fright flicks is the element of DREAD. *That's* what makes something scary to me, gory or not. If they've got me peeking out of my fingers at the screen (and, believe me, this does not happen a lot), the movie works for me. JAWS had me doing that a lot. So did ALIENS.
heatherrr, I can't wait for you to read this, too! Thanks. ;)
bamabelle, thank you! I love the cover, too. That Michael Meyers mask really gets to me: the blank dispassionate stare. Ugh!
billie, you're talking about IT. And you've hit upon another fear of mine: clowns. That clown in particular was horrific, coming in close second to only the POLTERGEIST clown doll under the boy's bed.
Okay, these are totally freaking me out.
Shannon!!! How's it going? And thank you. So happy to see you here. :)
Oh, and I just remembered a movie that freaked me out as a kid...Child's Play!!! I think it was because we had a doll that looked just like Chuckie (the My Buddy Doll). No one in my family wanted to sleep in the same room as the doll. LOL
The Ring freaked me out, and that was only a couple years ago. I still am sometimes convinced in the middle of the night if I open my eyes, that little girl will be standing right next to my bed.
*shivers*
Hey! I love your book cover =)
Man I love that cover very good. sounds Like a very good book.
Series sounds great. Every Halloween I watch the entire Alien series.
jennifer, Chucky is a little freak, LOL. He is scary.
Michelle, when I first saw THE RING, I was scared to death to see the girl's face. I wish movie hadn't shown it, actually, because what I was imagining was far worse, but I was frightened!
tehya--thank you!
jocelyn, thanks for the book cover comment. I love the moodiness of it, with the gray and red, the palm trees, and the heroine--she's spot on!
kimw, cool, thanks! And there's another vote for CARRIE. :)
Yes--here's another cover compliment from pamk. Sweet! Thank you. ;)
cathy, thanks. You're right--the ALIEN series is perfect for Halloween time. The first film, especially, is a masterwork of setting and atmosphere, IMHO.
The Vampire Babylon series sounds awesome and I am definitely putting that on my list of must have's. February suddenly seems too far off. So whats one or some of your favorite vampire/paranormal authors that you read? Laurell K. Hamilton? Anne Rice?
As for my favorite scarey movies. Well I like Cujo, The Halloween Series and Silence of the Lambs.
kathleen, LOL, and thank you. :) Masks with big teeth scare me, too. (I know--weird.)
ladyvampire2u (great name!), thank you for putting VB on your must list. Cool! I'm a big Laurell K. Hamilton and Anne Rice fan. (Trivial fact: my Ace editor has worked with Laurell.) I love how Laurell pushes the envelope as far as characterizing her heroine goes. Sometimes I want to smack Anita upside the head because she's so stubborn, but I admire her skills.
Oooh. This looks really interesting. I'll definitely have to pick it up when it comes out. I'm a long-time vampire fan and I'm always looking for new twists. :)
As for scary movies... you know, I've never really found "horror" movies scary. I watch them because, with the exception of the splatterpunk movies, I'm interested in "darker" paranormal stories than what you normally find. (Which is part of why I love anime. They often, IMO, have better stories than what comes out of the US.)
nonny, thank you! Hey, do you happen to read old Poppy Z. Brite? I *love* her dark stories. Very poetic and even sad. :(
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