Aftermath

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How is everyone? Did you survive the weekend of family, food, presents and fun? Well, I didn't.

I'm sick. What follows shall be my Last Will and Testament...

Okay, perhaps that's a bit far fetched. I'm not great, but I'm not dying, either. My problem, along with many others, is that I suffer from allergies. I take my shot and attempt to stay away from smoke, perfume, candles, etc. I had been doing so well; however, it finally hit me. The last week before Christmas was so busy that I'm guessing that I was in a weakened state and an easy target.

In any event, I neglected to schedule a post before Monday morning. That is why this one is coming so late. With that in mind, and the fact that so many have yet to get back into the swing of things - I'm guessing - I'm just going to drop in to say hello and drop back out. My couch is calling my name, as is the mountain of dvd's that Santa brought me. I would much rather take this first day off of my two week vacation to catch up with all of your blogs, but I know myself, and the last thing that I want to do is be sick for the entire two weeks. Therefore, I plan to take these first couple of days easy...

So, if you have been by recently, what follows will be old news, and I'll just see you next week. If you have not been by in a while then perhaps you might like to view the vlog post that I did last week. It's short, and shows me feeling good and unsuspecting what might happen in a week's time.

I also did a guest post over at Layers of Thought for my new best friend Shellie Nunn. ;) In it, I discussed "dreams" and the 20 years that it took for my novel to see the light of day. If you know that story already, and chances are that you do, we're also doing a giveaway which has another week. I'm giving away some e-books and one autographed softcover. I hope you'll come by and check it out.

Anyway, you guys, thanks for stopping by. I'm going to go now.

If I survive, we'll talk soon.

*grins*

Christmas Vlog

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. Since it is the holiday season and all of us are either super busy, or perhaps checking off of the 'net for the remainder of the year, I thought that I would do another vlog post. It's only about three minutes long and hopefully will amuse you.



We'll talk soon.

The Dance on Fire Chronicles

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How have you been? Are the holidays treating you well? I hope so. They can be a trying time, can't they? I wish you all the very best: good health, someone to love and to be surrounded by family and good friends.

I just discovered that I had had a few more positive reviews to add to my collection while I wasn't looking. That's always...wonderful. So, while I await the edits on the sequel to my crossover vampire novel, I thought that I would share them with you, along with the synopsis for each book in what we might be calling The Dance on Fire Chronicles. I don't know about that yet; not sure I like it or not. If you've got something better, I would love to hear it. Seriously. Let's make this place as interactive as we can, huh?

"There are some elaborate reviews (on the Smashwords site), so I don't think I need to add my own. Instead, I'll just say that this is my favorite Vamplit Publishing novel. Read it! You will love the characters, especially the vampires, and the storyline is more than enjoyable." Author Wendy Howard.

The following is the synopsis for my debut, "Dance on Fire":

Each May, the Central California town of Kingsburg celebrates its Swedish heritage with the annual Swedish Festival: a weekend event where the town puts on its traditional dress, culminating with a dance around a Maypole on Friday, and a Swedish pancake breakfast and parade on Saturday. The town with a population of over 11,000 residents draws thousands more to the event. This year, two uninvited guests also converged upon the unsuspecting town.

Nathaniel is a vampire. He wandered into town, bothering no one; feeding upon stray cats and other vermin, wanting nothing more than to have a place to rest his head. Vincent is a second vampire, and the one responsible for "making" Nathaniel. He has been searching for his long lost “son” for well over two centuries. Vincent’s goal is to take Nathaniel home or kill him. Nathaniel has often wished for death, wondering why God ever allowed this punishment: to walk the earth undead and unable to be redeemed. Does God remember the little boy from Romania who watched his parents die, was raised by the murdering vampire, only to become one himself? What does God think of Nathaniel and could there yet be redemption for one outside of heaven?

Ten days before the start of the Swedish Festival the most tumultuous week in the history of Kingsburg has begun with two vampires leaving death and destruction in their wake. Kingsburg Police Detectives Mark Jackson and Michael Lopez, Barbara and the entire Lopez family find themselves drawn into something that threatens to destroy them all or leave them scarred forever.

In a marriage of the classic horror story and the Christian themes of good conquering evil and redemption, "Dance on Fire" is the account of characters being drawn into the fire and the supernatural forces around them watching as they burn.

"I didn't like this novel at first because it started out like a choppy crime novel - you know where you get a piece of the story for each character and it goes back and forth with short paragraphs. Eventually the writing became elegant, especially when the flashbacks and vampire details were included. I enjoyed that quite a bit. I thought it was a strange combination though. It took a while to get into it, but I did end up liking it in the end." Julie from Goodreads.

Now, you might wonder why I posted Julie's review. It's because I liked it. She didn't jump up and down, shouting from rooftops that she had just read the most brilliant book ever; however, she didn't hate it, either. I choose to latch on to the parts where she wrote that the writing was "elegant" and the fact that she "liked it". She gave the story a chance, which is all that one can ask. The fact that she liked it when it was over is a win in my book. I hope many more will give it a chance as well.

The following is from the forthcoming sequel, tentatively titled, "Dance on Fire: Flash Point":

Five years after the death of their only child Tiffany, Steve and Angie Rosen receive an unexpected guest to their Morro Bay, California home: their daughter. She comes with a tale of having suffered a terrible head wound in the fire that took their Kingsburg home, causing her loss of memory and migraine headaches that she must hide from daylight in order to prevent.Tiffany's reemergence is treated like Manna from God. However, her story is only half true. Tiffany is a vampire and no longer the daughter that the Rosen's missed so much. She sleeps during the day and hunts for human blood during the night, and she has come back not to be reunited with her parents. She has come back to enact a twisted revenge upon the town of Kingsburg and those who ruined the plans of her master, the notorious vampire, Vincent. And she is not alone.    


Five years after the terrible events that reshaped the Swedish Village, Kingsburg lies unsuspecting as five vampires descend upon her with a great evil in their black hearts. 


Five years after old wounds have finally healed and the old fires were thought extinguished, Police Chief Michael Lopez and Officer Mark Jackson and their families find themselves surrounded when fires blaze anew. The good vampire, Nathaniel, has pledged his service to these people, but he is no longer among them. He lives high in the Oregon mountains near the California border, seeking whether God might have a place in His kingdom yet for him. 


When Nathaniel discovers that Tiffany has returned, will he be too late to stop her? And will his desire to protect his friends destroy what God has begun in him?
    
It will all begin with a "Flash point".


Vamplit Publishing is hoping to bring this second chapter of my story to you in early 2012. When it does, you will be the first... Okay, I'll be the first, but then you guys. *grins*

We'll talk soon.

The Historian

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. How is everybody? It's a busy time, I know. On top of everything else that we always have going on, we now have the holidays fast approaching. If nothing else, I wish you all good health and safety for you and yours during this crazy-busy time.

Guesting:

Does everyone know author Red Tash? I had the pleasure of making her acquaintance during the Halloween Coffinhop this past October. Since then, I have grown to consider her a good buddy of mine. Now that I have completed reading the book above, I look forward to reading Tash's novel, This Brilliant Darkness. Before I get to today's review, however, I wanted to let you know that Red invited me over to her blog for a guest post. Noticing that my debut novel was a crossover, bridging both horror and Christan themes, Red encouraged me to discuss how the two concepts could mesh together. If you have the time, I encourage you to surf over and show her some love.

The Review:

I just completed reading Author Elizabeth Kostova's epic novel, The Historian. I realize that I am behind the trend on this, since the novel debuted in 2005; however, if you have yet to hear about this ground-breaking novel, I would like to invite you to join us as we search for Vlad the Impaler. Not the historical long-dead Vlad, mind you, but the very much alive Vlad Dracula.

Here's the description according to Amazon.com: "To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to 'My dear and unfortunate successor,' and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends?"

I may have done a lot of whining these past few weeks about the length of this novel, but I assure you that it was only because of my lack of time to read, and had absolutely nothing to do with this marvelous story.

The Historian takes its readers on an amazing journey for both the historical and real-life Vlad Dracula in the most charming and imaginative way: the letters and actions of three generations of Dracula hunters. These hunters are not armed with advanced weapons, nor are they muscle-bound or skilled in any way for this job. Instead, they are armed with little more than their wits, carefully evaluating and analyzing the clues of history, surrounded by dangers of every sort and passionate about ending Dracula's reign of terror.

Some might suggest that the novel is too long, but anything less would have been the cheater's way out, spoon-feeding the reader the necessary clues, and racing us through not only history, but country after amazing country.

What we have here is a wondrous adventure that is thrilling, suspenseful and, at times, very dark. Although she writes frequent moments of great horror, Kostova navigates these waters with a masterful touch that leaves us not with a simple horror tale, but a historical novel that delivers all of the goods; including humor, romance and heartbreak - perhaps in a way not seen before. Often, she would take her "camera" off of the impending violence or intimate moment. In the hands of a lesser artist, it might have come across as a poor job. I remember moving on to the next chapter in those instances, thinking to myself that what I had just read was done perfectly. I recall one moment very clearly. A character held a dagger directly over the heart of a new vampire that had once been his friend. He did the deed, but we never saw it happen. It wasn't because Kostova left the scene too soon. Instead, she held the moment for us as if it were a fine wine meant to be savored, while she described so much history that came together in one instant, leaving us more than satisfied.

Whether you believe the title of the book refers to the task Dracula sets up for some of his victims; the three generations of flawed but beautifully created characters that cast aside everything in their pursuit of the fabled monster; or Kostova herself who does a superb job of juggling adventure, intrigue and centuries of human history - The Historian does not disappoint.

Just remember to take your time. It's meant to be savored.

We'll talk soon.