Welcome to Biting-Edge, a blog shared by authors and vampire experts, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein. We’ll cover urban fantasy, vampires, pop culture, and all things Joss Whedon. Unlike other fantasy blogs, we don’t insist on body cavity searches (unless you ask politely). Snarkiness is most welcome...though we won't promise not to bite back!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
You gotta just sparkle
Mario here:
What I'm reading: Women by Charles Bukowski
Love the series. Hate the series. Regardless, you can't deny the power.
I'm talking the Twilight franchise.
I know Stephenie Meyer has her detractors, among them Stephen King who publicly skewered her. However, I can't help but taste sour grapes in his famous missive. The goal of every fiction writer is to connect with their audience. Basically, King panned Meyer for delivering to her audience what they wanted craved to read. Sure, most of us get nauseated at the idea of vegetarian sparkly vampires, especially those undead centenarians who skulk around high schools in search of romance. (Maybe in another universe, Jerry Sandusky could've been the love interest in a Meyer novel.) But Meyer nailed her audience--young female romance readers--who frankly didn't give a damn about wussy pedafiliac non-bloodsuckers. Meyer had so connected with her audience that in 2008, she represented 18% of $ales in the American publishing industry and kept her publisher from going under. Aside from Harry Potter, no other YA series has come close to that success. Not The Hunger Games (as good as it was), or Percy Jackson and the Olympians (another excellent series) or the much touted The Night Circus (positioned to be the Next Big Thing). So go out there and connect with your fans and rake in the bucks.
You love zombies? You wanna earn karma points? I mean buckets of karma points. So much karma you could steal from your mother and still get VIP seating in Heaven?
I'm in San Diego getting ready for ComicCon by taking a few days off with my sis. We had a Hercule Poirot marathon and just got started on film noir but I found so much stuff for this week's blog, I thought I'd better get started.
What to do first? Maybe Harry Potter? From Buzzfeed :
20 Alcoholic Beverages Inspires by the Harry Potter Series
Just two of my favorites:
Gryffindor Shot
Ingredients: 1/2 part Cinnamon Aftershock 1/2 part Goldschläger Instructions: 'First layer the Aftershock, then layer the Goldschläger on top. It's best if you shake the Goldschläger first so you can get some gold flakes.'
Ingredients: 1 part gin 1 part vodka 2 parts cranberry juice 1 splash Grenadine Instructions: 'Combine ingredients in a snifter over ice. Dry ice optional.'
Mmmmmm...
And this nice piece that I think I got from Shelf Awareness or UK Guardian, but for some reason I didn't not the source. My apologies. In it, she thanks a fan who wrote how much the HP books meant to her. Worth searching out a magnifying glass.... oops-- found the link
Particularly liked the last line... Classy lady.
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Doggy Bookends from Buzzfeed —under the heading, it’s always nice to include your pets in household duties.
A short examination of the art of the pun, narrated by George Gopen, Professor of the Practice of Rhetoric at Duke University and principal judge for the inaugural Durham Pun Championship at The Regulator Bookshop, July 9, 2011.
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This from Deadline Universal declines to make Stephen King's Dark Tower...
Universal has passed on going forward with the project, dealing a huge blow in the plan for Ron Howard to direct Akiva Goldsman's script, with Brian Grazer, Goldsman and the author producing and Javier Bardem starring as gunslinger Roland Deschain. Now, the filmmakers will have to find a new backer of what might well be the most ambitious movie project since Bob Shaye allowed Peter Jackson to shoot three installments of The Lord of the Rings back to back.
All I have to say about this next is WOW... Hunger Games Exclusive Motion Poster. See it in all it's fiery glory here
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Today I meet with my cousin's critique group at the home of another cousin in Oceanside. Should be fun...and interesting. I'm going to offer critiques. Hope I'm invited back.
So, what are you up to? Denverites, is it still hotter than hades??? I've updated my website (thanks, Jay Salam) so all upcoming appearances to date are noted. Stop by and take a look...
PS I have to add, back from my cuz's and his critique group has some of the most talented writers I've ever had the pleasure to visit with. Every item submitted was polished and well-written and every voice unique. I have a feeling we'll be hearing from some of them very soon. They were that good. So, thanks, Cousin Al, for inviting me! And Cousin Rich for sharing his beautiful home. And the Corona Writers Group for sharing their work.
PPS Two upcoming chats that you might drop in on--
Fresh Fiction Chat with the authors of Chicks Kick Butt
July 26 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central / 6pm Mountain / 5pm Pacific
I think we ARE in Kansas...
I know many of you live in CO-- what the fuck was that storm last night?????? I've never experienced an hour of solid thunder and lightening...not the flash, crack kind but the strobe-light-and-ground-shaking-earth-moving-never-letting-up kind. I love the rain and my lawn has never looked so good but last night was downright scary.
In other news...Mario did a very good job of recapping the Fox news thing-- my biggest complaint is that if this "researcher" had read either book, there is no way she could have confused them. In any case, it's over ...at least I think it is! I must admit, though, my new title, "Corrupter of the Youth of America", was kind of cool.
So, who's going to see Harry Potter the first night? Let's post a few reviews..I'm sure I won't see it until next week sometime (I'll be in San Diego for ComicCon) so I'm curious to hear what your reactions are.
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And speaking of ComicCon, here are the details of my panel:
Thursday: 4:00-5:00 No Damsels in Distress Here— Female voices in sci-fi and fantasy create kick-ass heroines. Danger just might be these girls' middle name. But no amount of bad guys can keep these ladies from doing what's right. Whether standing up for friends and family, or just plain kicking some ass, these girls don't shy away from a fight. Damsels on the panel include Marie Lu (Legend), Kathy Reichs (Bones & Virals series), Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires series), Jeanne Stein (The Anna Strong Chronicles), Merrie deStefano (Feast: Harvest of Dreams), Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville series), Seanan McGuire (The October Daye series), and Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter novels). Moderated by Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy. Room 25ABC
Should be fun. And the rest of the week is full of visiting and eating and sneaking in to see some of the panels. No Joss Whedon stalking this year. I've given that up. And James Marsters isn't attending so that's out, too. I did hear that Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford would be hosting a sneak preview of Cowboys and Aliens but since that means standing in line for four hours, I'll pass on that one, too.
Another video--this from CJ Lyons--that I think a lot of our writer friends will appreciate:
5 Easy Steps to Format Your Ebook
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I think it's just about time for True Blood's new season to begin, isn't it? Seems the fans of TB are taking things seriously. This from Variety :
True Blood Fans Bare Buying Fangs
A long list of items will be in play this summer, as the new season of "True Blood" kicked off June 26. Six different versions of "True Blood" V-Moda headphones will hit stores, priced from $39.99 to $199.99. Both Sephora and Ultima stores will carry upmarket cosmetics line Tarte's new "True Blood"-branded cheek stain, lip liner and an eye shadow palate that comes in a specially designed box, with prices ranging from $24 to $52. And high-end handbag purveyor Hammitt will feature a new line of "True Blood" bags named after five of the show's characters. Prices for the bags, available only at select retailers, will land between $395 and $675.
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Coolest Bookcovers for 2011 (so far) from Huffington Post This is my favortie:
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And one last thing, I've posted my schedule for the release of Crossroads. I hope to see some of you at one or two of the events. In the meantime, this is something I'm doing next month as part of the RomCon experience. Mario made the poster. Ain't it grand????
Just got the word that Hexed is #32 on the NY Times Extended Bestseller list!! Finally got to see my name on that list!! It's pretty cool. Thanks to all of you for your support.
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Here's the first trailer for the American version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
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Want sneak a peak at Crossroads? RomCon has the beginning of Chapter One featured this week here
While you're there, check out the conference. This one is fun!
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To all you Buffybuds out there: Season Nine is available for preorder here
Love this Jo Chen cover!
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This is a cool trailer because it contains clips from the actors' first readings. They look SO young!!
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One of my favorite finds of the week from Flavorwire How to Drink Like Your Favorite Author
Here's a sample:
Charles Bukowski
Drink: Boilermaker. For the uninitiated, a boilermaker is a whiskey shot paired with a beer, a drink that, needless to say, packs a lot of punch. Again, Bukowski was a big drinker, so it’s a little hard to nail it down, but even if this wasn’t his absolute favorite, we think it jives with his hardcore, drop dead drunk, party boy persona.
Motto: “That’s the problem with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen.”
Let's Start With A Smile
Lots of stuff this week, but first:
Best Super Bowl commercial
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Here's the first official trailer for the film adaption of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The initial movie in a planned trilogy, starring Taylor Schilling (Dagny Taggart), Grant Bowler (Henry Rearden) and Matthew Marsden (James Taggart), is scheduled to hit theaters April 15.
A cache of unpublished works by famed writer Dashiell Hammett, often seen as the father of hardboiled detective fiction, has been found and is set to be unveiled in America.
Hammett, whose best-known work The Maltese Falcon was made into a film starring Humphrey Bogart, died in 1961. Now 15 unpublished short stories are to hit the bookshelves after being unearthed by a magazine editor, Andrew Gulli, among the literary archives of the Harry Ransom Centre at the University of Texas in Austin.
Gulli will now publish one of the stories in his crime fiction magazine, The Strand, later this month. He hopes to eventually help publish them all as a collection in a new book.
Syfy had been negotiating for Among the Spirits, a drama series project about Houdini and Doyle solving mysteries in 1920s, with the deal closing at the very time the feature announcement was coming out. "I guess there is something in the air about that whole time period and that very interesting relationship between Houdini and Doyle," said Syfy's president of original programming Mark Stern. (Both Syfy brass and the producers of Among the Spirits first heard about Voices from the Dead from reading our story.)
Mark Stern, Syfy's president of original programming, described the project as " 'a turn-of-the-century Fringe' in the vein of steampunk TV classic The Wild Wild West and Guy Ritchie's 2009 movie Sherlock Homes which put the steampunk genre back into the zeitgeist," Deadline.com noted.
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Seems paranormal plays well on the small screen. From EW’s Inside TV : Buffy Writers Sell Grimm’s Fairy Tales Pilot to NBC
NBC has picked up another pilot mixing fantasy with a crime drama: The network has greenlit Grimm, described as a “dark but fantastical cop drama about a world in which characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist.” (Gotta love mining expired copyrights in the public domain!).
The project is from Jim Kouf (Angel) and David Greenwalt (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), with executive producers Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner.
The order comes on top of Battlestar guru Ron Moore’s 17th Precinct, also at NBC, about cops working a town where people have magical powers.
I have a series of books you guys could look at.... just sayin'
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Good and Bad News from the world of my pal Charlaine Harris:
With DEAD RECKONING, the twelfth Sookie Stackhouse book, set for publication in May, author Charlaine Harris says she is almost finished with the series. "Truthfully, the next two books will probably be the last two books in the series. I still love Sookie, but I'm beginning to want to write something else, and Sookie;s kind of taken over my life. I was able to write other things for the first few years I was involved in Sookie, but then after the start of the television show she took over so much of my time because of my increased publicity obligations that it's been very hard to write other things, and I really need to do that."
Among other things happening in her busy licensing world, CBS has optioned her line of four Harper Connelly mysteries for development as a possible prime-time series. (In the meantime, IDW is developing Connelly as a graphic novel.)
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A couch I like:
French-Moroccan designer Younes Duret has created the latest sofa design called Ransa. Ransa is a unique sofa equipped with bookshelf. It has a vault that can be made as a place to put books or magazines. The sofa can accommodate two people and for the book is able to accommodate up to as many as 70 books. The bookshelf on the base gives the sofa the impression of levitating above the books.
Doesn’t mention how much it costs or if the red pumps come with. I have a feeling this is one of those "if you have to ask you can't afford it" things....
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And just because I love HP and think the movies have been pretty darn good, something from the Hollywood Reporter :
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is giving the series an award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.
LONDON – The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is to dish out an award for outstanding British contribution to cinema to the Harry Potter movie franchise.
Author J.K. Rowling and producer David Heyman will receive the honor on behalf of the long-running franchise during this year's Orange British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 13.
Awarded annually, the nod for outstanding British contribution to cinema was introduced in 1978, presented in honor of Michael Balcon.
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Okay, off now to get some work done. The sun is shining, the snow is (almost) all melted, the temps are hovering around 60, even had windows open--what a difference a week makes, huh?