Liz Strange

Hi Everyone-

Lots of exciting stuff going on. I have just had a short story accepted for the upcoming Unspeakable antholgy (Blood Bound Books). More information to follow.

I am also attending a few conventions this summer and fall. You can find me at the following:

Book Expo America - May 24-28th, New York City.

http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/

Polaris 24 - July 16th-18th, Toronto, Ontario.

http://www.tcon.ca/polaris/modules/tconguests/

Authors After Dark Romance Unlimited - September 16-19th, Seacus, NJ

http://aadromanceunlimited.com/

Looking forward to meeing readrs and fellow authors! Stop by and say hello!

So I wanted to write a modern vampire love story, that didn't stray too far from the traditional undead mythos (say like vamps that sparkle), but I wanted it to have my own unique flavour. A tall order? Maybe, but one I wanted to undertake not only for my own personal satisfaction, but for the readers who seemed to be searching for this type of material also.

And so My Love Eternal was born! Or was resurrected might be a better explanation. My Love Eternal was originally written about fifteen years ago (yikes, how time flies) during a few melancholy months, post break-up with my first real love. Then it promptly went in a box, and was forgotten about for many years. I did bring it out a few times, read over it with wistfullness, and even began re-working it on a number of occasions, but nothing concrete until the summer of 2008.

This new stab at bringing this story to fruition came after another bump in the road of the journey called life. After a series of amazing twists and turns, and a chance correspondence with a favourite author of mine, I came upon the website Absolute Write. There I met a fellow fantasy/horror writer, who has become my beta reader/editor extraordinaire and close friend. I was so inspired and encouraged by this community that I wrote two successive novels, and thus The Dark Kiss Trilogy was created.

So, have I succeeded in my quest to make an enjoyable, traditonal yet original vampire series? I hope so. Am I satisfied personally-absolutley! The feedback thus far has been positive and sales are happening, so I guess now only time will tell.

Happy reading!!

Hey Everyone-

The wondefully talented David McAfee has a new book full of creepy, disturbing and spine-tingling tales available just in time for Christmas.  Pick up your copy at www.thepennydreadfulcompany.com:

Why Vampires Never Die

By GUILLERMO del TORO andCHUCK HOGAN

Published: July 30, 2009

TONIGHT, you or someone you love will likely be visited by a vampire. On cable television or the big screen, or in the bookstore. Our own novel describes a modern-day epidemic that spreads across New York City.

It all started nearly 200 years ago. It was the "Year Without a Summer" of 1816, when ash from volcanic eruptions lowered temperatures around the globe, giving rise to widespread famine. A few friends gathered at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva and decided to engage in a small competition to see who could come up with the most terrifying tale. And the two great monsters of the modern age were born.

One was created by Mary Godwin, soon to become Mary Shelley, whose Dr.Frankenstein gave life to a desolate creature. The other monster was less created than fused. John William Polidori stitched together folklore, personal resentment and erotic anxieties into "The Vampyre", a story that is the basis for vampires as they are understood today.

With "The Vampyre", Polidori gave birth to the two main branches of vampiric fiction: the vampire as romantic hero, and the vampire as undead monster. This ambivalence may reflect Polidori's own, as it is widely accepted that Lord Ruthven, the titular creature, was based upon Lord Byron (literary superstar of the era) and another resident of the lakeside villa that fateful summer. Polidori tended to Byron day and night, both as his doctor and most devoted groupie. But Polidori resented him as well: Byron was dashing and brilliant, while the poor doctor had a rather drab talent and unremarkable physique.

But this was just a new twist to a very old idea. The myth, established well before the invention of the word vampire, seems to cross every culture, language and era. The Indian Baital, the Ch'ing Shih in China, and the Romanian Strigoi are but a few of its names. The creature seems to be as old as Babylonia and Sumer. Or even older.

The vampire may originate from a repressed memory we had as primates.Perhaps at some point we were out of necessity, cannibalistic. As soon as we became sedentary, agricultural tribes with social boundaries, one seminal myth might have featured our ancestors as primitive beasts who slept in the coldl oam of the earth and fed off the salty blood of the living.

Monsters, like angels, are invoked by our individual and collective needs. Today, much as during that gloomy summer in 1816, we feel the need to seek their cold embrace.

Herein lies an important clue: in contrast to timeless creatures like the dragon, the vampire does not seek to obliterate us, but instead offers a peculiar brand of blood alchemy. For as his contagion bestows its nocturnal gift, the vampire transforms our vile, mortal selves into the gold of eternal youth, and instills in us something that every social construct seeks to quash: primal lust. If youth is desire married with unending possibility, then vampire lust creates within us a delicious void, one we long to fulfill.

In other words, whereas other monsters emphasize what is mortal in us,the vampire emphasizes the eternal in us. Through the panacea of its blood it turns the lead of our toxic flesh into golden matter.

In a society that moves as fast as ours, where every week a new blockbuster must be enthroned at the box office, or where idols are fabricated by consensus every new television season, the promise of something everlasting, something truly eternal, holds a special allure. As a seductive figure, the vampire is as flexible and polyvalent as ever. Witness its slow mutation from the pansexual, decadent Anne Rice creatures to the current permutations, promising anything from chaste eternal love to wild nocturnal escapades, and there you will find the true essence of immortality:adaptability.

Vampires find their niche and mutate at an accelerated rate now  In the past one would see, for decades, the same variety of fiend, repeated in multiple storylines. Now, vampires simultaneously occur in all forms and tap into our every need: soap opera storylines, sexual liberation, noir detective fiction, etc. The myth seems to be twittering promiscuously to serve all avenues of life, from cereal boxes to romantic fiction. The fast pace oftechnology accelerates its viral dispersion in our culture.

But if Polidori remains the roots in the genealogy of our creature,the most widely known vampire was birthed by Bram Stoker in 1897.

Part of the reason for the great success of his "Dracula" is generally acknowledged to be its appearance at a time of great technological revolution.The narrative is full of new gadgets (telegraphs, typing machines), variousforms of communication (diaries, ship logs), and cutting-edge science (bloodtransfusions) ; a mash-up of ancient myth in conflict with the world of the present.

Today as well, we stand at the rich uncertain dawn of a new level of scientific innovation. The wireless technology we carry in our pockets today was the stuff of the science fiction in our youth. Our technological arrogance mirrors more and more the Wellsian dystopia of dissatisfaction, while allowing us to feel safe and connected at all times. We can call, see or hear almost anything and anyone no matter where we are. For most people then, the onlyremote place remains within. Know thyself? we do not.

Despite our obsessive harnessing of information, we are still ultimately vulnerable to our fates and our nightmares. We enthrone the deadly virus in the very same way that Dracula allowed the British public to believe in monsters: through science. Science becomes the modern man's superstition. It allows him to experience fear and awe again, and to believe in the things he cannot see.

And through awe, we once again regain spiritual humility. The current vampire pandemic serves to remind us that we have no true jurisdiction over our bodies, our climate or our very souls. Monsters will always provide the possibility of mystery in our mundane,;reality show lives, hinting at a larger spiritual world; for if there are demons in our midst, there surely must be angels lurking nearby as well. In the vampire we find Eros and Thanatos fused together in archetypal embrace, spiraling through the ages, undying.

Forever.

Guillermo del Toro, the director of Pan,s Labyrinth, and Chuck Hoganare the authors of The Strain, a novel

Hello Everyone-

There has been so much going on my head is still spinning!

First off, I have just found out that Lyrical Press is going to be publishing A Second Chance at Forever (Book 2)!  I couldn't be more excited or honoured! What a fabulous publishing house this is! Renee and Frank are wonderfually supportive and dedicated to all of their authors and staff, and are always approachable.  I have also had the extreme pleasure of being paired with Nerine Dorman (a wonderful author in her own right) for the editing phase of my journey to publication.  What a hoot this girl is!

Secondly, remember to check out my short story, The Night of Stolen Dreams, coming in November with SNM Horror Magazine. 

And last, but certainly not least, I hope you have found some time to check out my interview with Alison Nastasi of the Screamstress. 

Busy, busy, busy is the the theme right now. 

Forever in darrkness,

Liz

Hey Everyone-

I'm going to be doing some editing at Two Lips Reviews!  I'm very excited about this opportunity, as it gives me a chance to work in the writing world in a new capacity.

This is a great site and I recommend you checking it out: www.twolipsreviews.com

LPI celebrates a great summer of reading with the End of Summer Blog Event. Monday through Friday, August 24 – 28, we’ll feature author and editor profiles on the LPI Blog. Many author profiles will include giveaways, so please come visit for your chance to get to know Lyrical Press and win prizes.

We’ll round out the week with two live blogcasts:

Saturday, August 29, 6 – 9PM Central Time: Author Chat

http://lyricalpress.blogspot.com

Many, many LPI authors will be joining in the fray while Editor in Chief Emma Wayne Porter announces giveaway winners and hands out even more free goodies. Readers are invited to ask questions, hang out, and get to know the people behind all those stories.

Sunday, August 30, 6 – 9PM Central Time: Editor Chat

http://lyricalpress.blogspot.com

During this live blogcast, the LPI editorial staff gets its day in the hotseat. Readers are invited to give their opinions on what kind of stories they want to read. Authors are invited to ask questions about submission guidelines, and maybe even pitch an idea or two. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to speak directly to publishing staff, and be heard!

This blog is inspired by a movie I watched recently - Let the Right One IN.  This is hands down the best movie I have seen in years, and my favourite Vampire movie of the MANY I have seen.  So here's my list:

1. Let the Right One In

2. 30 Days of Night

3. Bram Stoker's Dracula (Gary Oldman version)

4. The Hunger

5.Near Dark (Finger lickin' good- lol)

6. Interview With The Vampire

7. The Lost Boys

8. Nosferatu

9. Underworld

10. From Dusk 'Till Dawn

Let me know what some of your favourites are.

Hi Everyone-

Plese check out my interview with David McAfee:

http://wordpress.mcafeeland.com

Thanks!

Hi Everyone:

 I am on Twitter now.  Look me up.  Username: LizStrangeVamp

I need some followers!!