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 theywanted 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?
Then check out this KickStarter project from ace cinematographer, Alexandre Phillippe. The man who gave us documentaries such as The People Vs. George Lucas and now asks the driving question: Why do we love zombies? in his new project Doc of the Dead.
What I'm reading: Women by Charles BukowskiLove 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
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?
Then check out this KickStarter project from ace cinematographer, Alexandre Phillippe. The man who gave us documentaries such as The People Vs. George Lucas and now asks the driving question: Why do we love zombies? in his new project Doc of the Dead.
Labels: Charles Bukowski, free marijuana, Harry Potter, Stephen King
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 7:15 PM 5 comments
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
A Little Pimping Music Please...
New Month, New August Releases (including one from yours truly)
Here are some new books due out this month from our pals in the League of Reluctant Adults:
Seawitch by Kat Richardson
Amazon Book Description: Harper Blaine was your average small-time PI until she died—for two minutes. Now Harper is a Greywalker, treading the thin line between the living world and the paranormal realm. And she’s discovering that her new abilities are landing her all sorts of “strange” cases.
A quarter century ago, the Seawitch cruised away from her dock and disappeared with everyone on board. Now, the boat has mysteriously returned to her old berth in Seattle and the insurance company has hired Harper to find out what happened.
But Harper is not the only one investigating. Seattle Police Detective Rey Solis is a good cop, albeit one who isn’t comfortable with the creepy cases that always seem to end up in Harper’s lap. As they explore the abandoned vessel, Harper and Solis discover a cabin containing symbols drawn in human blood, revealing the ghost ship’s grave history.
Blood Bath and Beyond by Michelle Rowen
Amazon Link : Sarah Dearly is adjusting to life as a fledgling vampire, satisfying her cravings at vampire-friendly blood banks. But when her fiance Thierry takes a job with the Ring—the secret council in charge of keeping vampires in line—Sarah’s about to get more than a taste of danger…
All Seeing Eye by Rob Thurman
Amazon Book Description: Picking up a small, pink shoe from the grass forever changed young Jackson Lee’s life. Not only did its presence mean that his sister Tessa was dead—murdered and stuffed in the deep, black water of a narrow well—but the shoe itself told him so. Tessa’s death triggers an even more horrific family massacre that, combined with this new talent he neither wants nor can handle, throws Jack’s life into a tailspin. The years quickly take him from state homes to the streets to grifting in a seedy carnival, until he finally becomes the cynical All Seeing Eye, psychic-for-hire. At last, Jackson has left his troubled past behind and found a semblance of peace.
That is, until the government blackmails him. After Jackson is forced to help the military contain the aftermath of a bizarre experiment gone violently wrong, everything he knows about himself will change just as suddenly as it did with his little sister’s shoe.
A Wolf at the Door by Kari Stewart
Amazon Book Description: Jesse James Dawson was once an ordinary man until he discovered that demons were real, and fighting them meant putting his own soul on the line. His new case is a beauty: Gretchen Keene, a Hollywood starlet who's become an unwitting catalyst in an all-out demon war. It's not her soul Jesse needs to protect, but the two-hundred-and-seventy-six others she's carting around--all the souls sold to spend just one night with the blonde bombshell. That's a lot of baggage, although it might explain her meteoric rise to fame. And it's all up for grabs by the demon world.
All Jesse has to do is keep her safe until New Years. Sounds easy. But darkness is casting a nasty shadow in the California sun--a new unseen enemy is closing in and leaving Jesse to wonder, how do you fight something you can't see coming?
Haunted by Jeanne C. Stein (now where have you heard that name before?)
Amazon Link:
Now for convenience, I have included an Amazon link for each book, but your local indies and/or brick and mortar stores should also have copies available.
Stephen King was on Craig Ferguson the other day-- Here's the interview!!
Followed by the very last appearance by the Rock Bottom Remainders
I was thrilled to get a review of Crossroads from Charles de Lint in the Sept/Oct Edition of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine. de Lint is the award winning author of 36 fantasy novels and 35 books of short fiction. He liked Crossroads, ending the review with this:
The prose has a nice cadence, the dialogue rings true, and the characters feel like people rather than constructs on paper. Some of the elements of the plot were expected but there were enough surprises that I was kept guessing about many of the various mysteries right up to the end. When I get a little time I’ll definitely be looking into some of the earlier entries into this series.
Wow! Talk about praise from the master. The full review will be up on this website after Sept. 1
One last item of BSP - RT Book Review Magazine gave Haunted 4 1/2 stars! From the review:
...Haunted offers true edge-of-your-seat drama, as friendships are tested and the specter of past deeds threatens to bring danger and death. Buckle up, because megatalented Stein is heading into severely hazardous (and unputdownable) territory!
Music to a writer's ear...
Here are some new books due out this month from our pals in the League of Reluctant Adults:
Seawitch by Kat Richardson
But Harper is not the only one investigating. Seattle Police Detective Rey Solis is a good cop, albeit one who isn’t comfortable with the creepy cases that always seem to end up in Harper’s lap. As they explore the abandoned vessel, Harper and Solis discover a cabin containing symbols drawn in human blood, revealing the ghost ship’s grave history.
Blood Bath and Beyond by Michelle Rowen
All Seeing Eye by Rob Thurman
Amazon Book Description: Picking up a small, pink shoe from the grass forever changed young Jackson Lee’s life. Not only did its presence mean that his sister Tessa was dead—murdered and stuffed in the deep, black water of a narrow well—but the shoe itself told him so. Tessa’s death triggers an even more horrific family massacre that, combined with this new talent he neither wants nor can handle, throws Jack’s life into a tailspin. The years quickly take him from state homes to the streets to grifting in a seedy carnival, until he finally becomes the cynical All Seeing Eye, psychic-for-hire. At last, Jackson has left his troubled past behind and found a semblance of peace.
That is, until the government blackmails him. After Jackson is forced to help the military contain the aftermath of a bizarre experiment gone violently wrong, everything he knows about himself will change just as suddenly as it did with his little sister’s shoe.
A Wolf at the Door by Kari Stewart
All Jesse has to do is keep her safe until New Years. Sounds easy. But darkness is casting a nasty shadow in the California sun--a new unseen enemy is closing in and leaving Jesse to wonder, how do you fight something you can't see coming?
Haunted by Jeanne C. Stein (now where have you heard that name before?)
Amazon Link:
Anna Strong—kick-ass bounty
hunter and vampire—has made some enemies in her time. But it’s not just her old
foes she should be worried about…
Anna’s shape-shifting friend,
Culebra, finally opens up to her about his life before owning Beso de la Muerte,
a bar catering to supernatural clientele. As if summoned by the conversation,
Culebra’s past stumbles into his bar in the form of an old buddy cashing in on
a favor.
Soon Anna, Culebra and her ex,
DEA agent Max, find themselves deep in Mexico,
dealing with drug cartel infighting,
old vendettas, and missing girls. Mexico may just
prove to be Anna’s best match
yet…
# # # #
Stephen King was on Craig Ferguson the other day-- Here's the interview!!
Followed by the very last appearance by the Rock Bottom Remainders
# # # #
Odds and ends-- the first picture of Mars from the Curiosity Lander. How cool is this?
There are more here - So where is John Carter?
# # # #
I was thrilled to get a review of Crossroads from Charles de Lint in the Sept/Oct Edition of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine. de Lint is the award winning author of 36 fantasy novels and 35 books of short fiction. He liked Crossroads, ending the review with this:
The prose has a nice cadence, the dialogue rings true, and the characters feel like people rather than constructs on paper. Some of the elements of the plot were expected but there were enough surprises that I was kept guessing about many of the various mysteries right up to the end. When I get a little time I’ll definitely be looking into some of the earlier entries into this series.
Wow! Talk about praise from the master. The full review will be up on this website after Sept. 1
One last item of BSP - RT Book Review Magazine gave Haunted 4 1/2 stars! From the review:
...Haunted offers true edge-of-your-seat drama, as friendships are tested and the specter of past deeds threatens to bring danger and death. Buckle up, because megatalented Stein is heading into severely hazardous (and unputdownable) territory!
Music to a writer's ear...
Labels: Fantasy and SciFi Mag, Haunted, Kari Stewart, Kat Richardson, Michelle Rowen, Rob Thurman, Rock Bottom Remainders, Stephen King
¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:34 PM 2 comments
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
New Treatments for Old (and New) Stuff
I am not a fan, but since I know a lot of you are, here's the trailer:
From EW’s Shelf Life Sept 14 on Border's demise:
This photo by Reddit user Jessers25 is just heartbreaking. While the subject matter is inherently sad, the thoughtful composition is what elicits an even stronger emotional response. The first thing that comes to mind with this photograph is the “rule of thirds”; note the way the structural components of the store cut the image into separate, contrasting color blocks: the gunmetal of the industrial carpet, the shadowy off-white of the ceiling, and the glare of corporate red. Note the curious placement of the wood panels—the asymmetry throws the viewer off-balance, leaving her unprepared and therefore devastated by the quiet irony of the Thomas Jefferson quote. Only after moments of reflection do you realize that “World History” are sneakily the cruelest words of all:
I am not a fan, but since I know a lot of you are, here's the trailer:
# # # #
From EW’s Shelf Life Sept 14 on Border's demise:
This photo by Reddit user Jessers25 is just heartbreaking. While the subject matter is inherently sad, the thoughtful composition is what elicits an even stronger emotional response. The first thing that comes to mind with this photograph is the “rule of thirds”; note the way the structural components of the store cut the image into separate, contrasting color blocks: the gunmetal of the industrial carpet, the shadowy off-white of the ceiling, and the glare of corporate red. Note the curious placement of the wood panels—the asymmetry throws the viewer off-balance, leaving her unprepared and therefore devastated by the quiet irony of the Thomas Jefferson quote. Only after moments of reflection do you realize that “World History” are sneakily the cruelest words of all:
I cannot live without books....
# # # #
For Stephen King fans--from io9
At an awards ceremony at George Mason University last Friday, Stephen King regaled audiences with a chapter from Doctor Sleep, his upcoming novel about a grown-up Danny Torrance from The Shining.
At an awards ceremony at George Mason University last Friday, Stephen King regaled audiences with a chapter from Doctor Sleep, his upcoming novel about a grown-up Danny Torrance from The Shining.
# # # #
I've been housebound this week ( a medical problem that was taken care of) and believe it or not, it's been great! I started serious work on a new project, read three books from author's who asked me to blurb, did a guest post, even did a couple of projects around the house I've been putting off.
Sometimes not being able to go to the gym, shop, run errands, or do housework frees you to let your creative juices flow. I know I have to get back to a regular schedule soon (in one more week) but I'm going to enjoy every moment of my house arrest.
Got a friend with a new book out this week, too. Cherie Priest's steam-punk Ganymede.
From her website: ... I do very much hope you’ll take a chance on this, my fourth Clockwork Century novel,* set in my alternate history universe with a drawn-out American Civil War complicated by a peculiar form of zombie uprising!
Cherie is a terrific writer and this is at the top of my TBR pile.
Sometimes not being able to go to the gym, shop, run errands, or do housework frees you to let your creative juices flow. I know I have to get back to a regular schedule soon (in one more week) but I'm going to enjoy every moment of my house arrest.
Got a friend with a new book out this week, too. Cherie Priest's steam-punk Ganymede.
From her website: ... I do very much hope you’ll take a chance on this, my fourth Clockwork Century novel,* set in my alternate history universe with a drawn-out American Civil War complicated by a peculiar form of zombie uprising!
Cherie is a terrific writer and this is at the top of my TBR pile.
# # # #
I keep thinking of the blog post I did this week for Mina Kahn . She's doing a series of posts about inspiration. It got me wondering...what (or who) inspires you? As a writer? As a person? As an artist? Is inspiration an external or internal thing? I don't know exactly when my post goes up, but when it does, I'll share what I said. For the time being, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Labels: Cherie Priest, Ganymede, Mina Kahn, One For the Money Movie, Stephanie Plum, Stephen King
¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 10:56 AM 4 comments
Monday, August 22, 2011
The secret formula
Mario here:
It's the dream of every novelist. Your debut novel scores a fat advance. And a movie deal. Your publisher pulls out all the stops to market the panties off your book. Buzz for your novel sizzles everywhere.
I'd like to tell you, dream on pal. But it does happen.
In fact, despite the cold shoulder most writers get from publishers, their editors are always on the prowl for The Next Big Thing. Winner to get scads of fame and dump trucks of cash.
You can do it. All you need is this simple formula: young love + fantasy = drama.
After Harry Potter ran its course, New York was out in the hustings, beating the brush for their anointed one. Out of the blue, they discovered Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon suburban housewife whose tale of chaste human and undead lovers was inspired by a dream. So this unlikely source begat the biggest vampire craze ever.
We're aware of the Twilight backlash, and so you're probably familiar with this bit of snark from the Master of the Macabre, Stephen King:
"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."
I'm not going to critique or defend Meyer's books but I will point out that King, for all his smarts, missed the point of the Twilight fables.
(Sidebar: I never read any of the Twilight books, they're not for me. And I seldom read horror, either. Or much fantasy. I lean toward hard-boiled mysteries where sketchy people do dastardly deeds. Vampires? A zombie plaque? Yawn. But a crack head breaking into my house and gutting me for pocket change--that I can relate to.
I'm often complimented on my luck to have written vampire novels during the Twilight meme. About the only thing Twilight has done for my career is remind me how low I exist on the publishing totem pole. All but the smallest dogs can pee on me.)
So the point is, Twilight books are the few I've heard discussed at length at parties, in cafés or bars. Only by women, for sure. Note the key word: women. Sixty percent of fiction readers are women. A lot of critics dismiss Twilight as an adolescent read for naive teenage girls. Yet I've heard worldly, experienced, even skanky-type females gush over Meyer's stories. Not all women, but enough (along with the teenagers and tweens) to have made the Twilight franchise a behemoth that kept the publishing industry from sinking like a dying tuna. During the darkest days of the recent publishing implosion, Meyer's books represented 18 percent of the entire publishing market. So while horror, science-fiction, traditional mystery, and literary fiction lost readers (or more correctly, buyers), novels about love--romance-->finding a boyfriend<--continued to sell big time.
Which brings us to The Next Big Thing, The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. The story premise? Young love and fantasy--in this case, magic. (Where have we seen that formula before?) Which garnered six hundred large as an advance from Doubleday. Summit Entertainment bought the world rights and is shopping for a television deal. Morgenstern's path to success hasn't been a gilded ride--she's had her share of setbacks and stumbles--but the Gods of Fortune smiled on her. We'll see if the hype pans out. It doesn't hurt that considering her audience, Morgenstern's publicity photo looks like this:
As opposed to the picture of this scribe-to-a-vampire:
There you have it, the secret formula for literary success. Young love plus fantasy. You have no excuse not to be a filthy-rich author.
Mario here:
It's the dream of every novelist. Your debut novel scores a fat advance. And a movie deal. Your publisher pulls out all the stops to market the panties off your book. Buzz for your novel sizzles everywhere.
I'd like to tell you, dream on pal. But it does happen.
In fact, despite the cold shoulder most writers get from publishers, their editors are always on the prowl for The Next Big Thing. Winner to get scads of fame and dump trucks of cash.
You can do it. All you need is this simple formula: young love + fantasy = drama.
After Harry Potter ran its course, New York was out in the hustings, beating the brush for their anointed one. Out of the blue, they discovered Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon suburban housewife whose tale of chaste human and undead lovers was inspired by a dream. So this unlikely source begat the biggest vampire craze ever.
We're aware of the Twilight backlash, and so you're probably familiar with this bit of snark from the Master of the Macabre, Stephen King:
"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."
I'm not going to critique or defend Meyer's books but I will point out that King, for all his smarts, missed the point of the Twilight fables.
(Sidebar: I never read any of the Twilight books, they're not for me. And I seldom read horror, either. Or much fantasy. I lean toward hard-boiled mysteries where sketchy people do dastardly deeds. Vampires? A zombie plaque? Yawn. But a crack head breaking into my house and gutting me for pocket change--that I can relate to.
I'm often complimented on my luck to have written vampire novels during the Twilight meme. About the only thing Twilight has done for my career is remind me how low I exist on the publishing totem pole. All but the smallest dogs can pee on me.)
So the point is, Twilight books are the few I've heard discussed at length at parties, in cafés or bars. Only by women, for sure. Note the key word: women. Sixty percent of fiction readers are women. A lot of critics dismiss Twilight as an adolescent read for naive teenage girls. Yet I've heard worldly, experienced, even skanky-type females gush over Meyer's stories. Not all women, but enough (along with the teenagers and tweens) to have made the Twilight franchise a behemoth that kept the publishing industry from sinking like a dying tuna. During the darkest days of the recent publishing implosion, Meyer's books represented 18 percent of the entire publishing market. So while horror, science-fiction, traditional mystery, and literary fiction lost readers (or more correctly, buyers), novels about love--romance-->finding a boyfriend<--continued to sell big time.
Which brings us to The Next Big Thing, The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. The story premise? Young love and fantasy--in this case, magic. (Where have we seen that formula before?) Which garnered six hundred large as an advance from Doubleday. Summit Entertainment bought the world rights and is shopping for a television deal. Morgenstern's path to success hasn't been a gilded ride--she's had her share of setbacks and stumbles--but the Gods of Fortune smiled on her. We'll see if the hype pans out. It doesn't hurt that considering her audience, Morgenstern's publicity photo looks like this:
As opposed to the picture of this scribe-to-a-vampire:
There you have it, the secret formula for literary success. Young love plus fantasy. You have no excuse not to be a filthy-rich author.
Labels: discount furniture, Erin Morgenstern, paranormal orgies, Stephen King, undead sex, Vampires
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 4:55 PM 10 comments
