Dracula Event: Marta Acosta

"Vampires are the new vampires" according to Dr. Derek Tatum, internationally renowned vampire scholar, and that's one of my favorite quotes.  I've been around paranormal/urban fantasy long enough to hear claims that vampires are "over" (and this comes up every few years), or that werewolves are the new vampires, or zombies are the new vampires.  But there are good reasons for the continued popularity of the vampire myth: it allows writers and readers to explore themes of immortality, sex, death, sin, power... The myth is flexible enough to be used in thrillers, horror, romance, mystery, comedy, fantasy, historicals, scifi, and any combination thereof.- author Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta is the author of the Casa Dracula series, including the just released Haunted Honeymoon, which I absolutely adored, and she blogs daily over at Vampire Wire.

Contest Winners!! And some important vampire voting news

*Many thanks (again) to Jesse and the generous folks over at Orbit books. You all rock!!

And the three lucky winners are:

*Sara M. who commented that: I like to read about zombies because they can be so many things: scary, midunderstood, funny. They don't seem to get as repetitive as vampires and shapeshifters.
*Jen M. who was honest enough to say: I don't actually read zombie books very often - they are usually too bloody for me. But this sounds like it has the same attitude as Shawn of the Dead, which I loved, so I would break my usual no zombie rule in this case and read it.

*Debbie who wisely reflected that: Why read zombies? I think in part, because unlike vampires and werewolves, no matter what, they are still human. They may not think or act like it, but at least they once were. I have just read a couple of books with zombies as main characters. It is really interesting. I would love to read this book.

Please email me at vampchixreadbooks@gmail.com with all your mailing info so that I may send it along to all the right people and get those books in the mail.

And now for the important voting news. It would appear that Henry Fitzroy (Blood Ties) fans have overrun Vampire Wire's Second Annual Ultimate Hawt Vampire Poll again this year. We cannot let that happen! Too many other insanely hot vampires are in the running. For example:

Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Gary Oldman

Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries– Ian Somerhalder

Deacon Frost in Blade - Stephen Dorf

Dracula in Dracula 2000 - Gerard Butler

Eric Northman in True Blood - Alexander Skarsgard

Hannibal King in Blade Trinity – Ryan Reynolds

Lestat de Lioncourt in Queen of the Damned - Stuart Townsend

Michael Corvin in Underworld - Scott Speedman

Mitchell in Being Human - Aidan Turner

 So come on...get over to Vampire Wire and vote!

Saturday Shout Out post and Chloe Neill contest winner

Without further ado, the lucky winner of our Twice Bitten book and swag giveaway is...

Vickie, who said her favorite part about the vampire mythology is:

I like the eternal life gig and I like that Chloe's vampires eat real food as well as sipping some blood. Sleeping all day....sigh...would love that....

Congrats Vickie! Please email me with your mailing info so that I can pass it on to Chloe and get your book and swag out to you. And I quite agree that sleeping all day sounds sublime!

Thanks again to the fabulous Chloe Neill for making Bite Club part of her blog tour and having a Twice Bitten giveaway.


And in other news:

*Marta Acosta, of Vampire Wire and Casa Dracula fame, announced yesterday that her YA gothic, The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove, has been picked up by Tor books! So let's hear a round of applause for Marta *claps and cheers*

*Richelle Mead has had her Vampire Academy series optioned for the silver screen. Let's hope that the movie big-wigs actually do something with that and we get us a new and cool vampire series to watch besides Twilight. Her blog also has updates on Georgina #6, titled Succubus Revealed.

*J.R. Ward, writing as Jessica Bird, has a new book out called An Unforgettable Lady. Isn't the cover just gorgeous? If you look closely the cover says: She crossed the line between fear and desire. Ooh, I wanna know all about that!

*Rom Con is this weekend in Denver. I'm sure all those attending will have a blast! If anybody is attending and would be interested in doing a recap post for me, email me and we can set that up. I'd love to get a first hand accounting of the fun and games. Info about the event can be found here.

*Vampire Romance Books has a great post for July releases. Check it out! They also have a review up for our side read title, My Love Eternal.

Well, that's all for now. I still have a house full of guests so I haven't read much lately. I do have some great books ready and waiting for when things slow down some. Ha! Like that's going to happen:) Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday Shout Out: News and Notes from Around the Web

*One of my new daily stopping points is Vampire Genre, a comprehensive look at all things going on in the world of vampire fiction. The site is easy on the eyes and I love the revolving book widget at the top! This week Vampire Genre had a post describing Rain Lashed, a free Kyndred e-book by Lynn Viehl that is posted over at Scribd. You'll definitely want to add this blog to your list!

*Hot off the Vampire Wire press...Marta Acosta also has a new story available over at Scribd! Monster Motel is the original version of Midnight Brunch which was published in 2007 and the new/old version comes complete with an Alfred Hitchcock inspired cover. Marta has this to say about her decision to make Monster Motel available:

"... I thought fans of the series might enjoy reading Milagro's adventures among eccentric movie people. You'll find some of the same characters, and also different versions of the characters, as well as those who never made it to the final cut. It's really quite a different book."




*And since this post seems almost dedicated to free e-books I thought I'd add one more for fans of super sexy werewolves! Midnight Moon Cafe has announced that Cora Zane has a steamy new story available over at Smashwords called Under A Midnight Moon. Fair warning- this book is intended for those 18 and older. Don't say I didn't warn you.


*Rebecca over at Dirty Sexy Books has completely overhauled her site and it's looking good! The new color palette is various shades of black and gray which gives the site a grittier feel. I can't wait to see the finished product.

*Abigail from All Things Urban Fantasy has teamed up with Tynga of Tynga's Reviews to bring us the Paranormal Summer Fest which runs from June 1st to June 30th and will showcase various authors, titles and awesome giveaways each and every day. You do not want to miss this!



Bite Club Contest Reminders:


*The Halo Hunter contest ends on June 16th.


*My Dead in the Family word scramble contest ends on June 17th. All entries must be emailed to me at vampchixreadbooks@gmail.com