How the Vampire Boom Really Began - Copy and Pasted From NPR'S Monkey See
[As our story opens, the year is 2003.]
To: VampsPRFr: FritzRe: PR issues
PR Team,
As we talked about last week at the annual retreat, it seems like we haven't made a significant PR push in quite some time. Buffy THE TRAMP LIAR-SAYER has finally gone off the air, but we are at a cultural crossroads. Vampires need to be the "next big thing." Ideas? Thx.
To: Fritz, VampsPRFr: SteveRe: Re: PR issues
Fritzie,
I've heard that an up and coming novelist is planning a romance series (set in the Pacific Northwest, I believe) in which a girl is caught between a werewolf and a clown. I'm wondering whether, with proper outreach, she could be persuaded to replace the werewolf with a vampire. I think a battle for the heart of a young woman between a vampire and a clown could be very compelling and could help change our image with young women. Thoughts?
To: Steve, VampsPRFr: FritzRe: Re: Re: PR issues
Steve,
Do it. Please report back. Thx.
To: Fritz, VampsPRFr: SteveRe: Discussion w/SM
Fritzie,
Talks went well. Very promising. She's receptive. Interesting twist. She suggests using the vampire in place of the clown instead. Werewolf/vampire face-off. What say you?
To: SteveFr: FritzRe: Re: Discussion w/SM
Steve,
That's fine if that's what she wants. Vampire/werewolf seems like an unfair fight, as readers cannot be expected to believe a werewolf could compete with the innate sex appeal of a vampire. Clown might seem like more worthy romantic opponent, based on perception (false, in my experience) that clowns have a great sense of humor, but again, if that's what she thinks, it's certainly worth a try. Thx.
To: FritzFr: SteveRe: Small edit
Fritzie,
As you know, the manuscript we saw last week has been returned to SM with edits. I'm having difficulty selling her on your idea, even though I like it. She seems to think that having the vampire (currently named Booger, but that's not final) sparkle in the sunlight might come across as, as she put it, "over the top." She's also having some trouble shifting entirely away from some of the aesthetics she originally had planned for Booger as far as his look; we are working on it. Still negotiating re: this point.
To: SteveFr: FritzRe: Re: Small edit
In retrn 4 sparkles, will accept red lipstick orig. 4 clown. Plz change Booger. Thx.
[From my Blackberry]
To: FritzFr: SteveRe: Book performance
Fritzie,
As you know, the book is now a runaway success. There will be more. Also tentative upcoming HBO show TRUE BLOOD based on those Snookie (?) books your wife likes, and a deal with the CW (it's the "fifth network") for a show called VAMPIRE DIARIES. Sounds super sexy. All looks good.
To: SteveFr: FritzRe: VERY VERY UPSET
Now seeing ads for Vampires Suck. "Suck"? What's going on in PR? Lead of this movie appears to be takeoff of Edward/Booger character, seems to be making vampires into jokes. VAMPIRES ARE NOT IRONIC, STEVE. Parody/irony are bad for our sense of menace. Also hearing MTV plans new Teen Wolf. Where is our marketing plan? Where is our response? I expect to meet with you and the team in the conference room at 10:30. BRING NEW IDEAS. THX.
Showing posts with label twilight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twilight. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Twilight Drinking Games
This is long over-due. Below or some drinking game rules if ever you are forced to watch Twilight or just want to get drunk with a bad movie you can easily make fun of. Lists are compiled through conversation and various other sites.
Remember - never drink and drive and don't drink if you are under the age of when you can legally drink. Be safe folks :)
Remember - never drink and drive and don't drink if you are under the age of when you can legally drink. Be safe folks :)
Twilight Drinking Game: Will need a sober driver or to stay at home
Take a drink every time Bella touches her hair
Take a drink every time Edward looks constipated
Take a drink every time Bella looks constipated
Take a drink every time Edward says he is dangerous
Take a drink every time Bella bites or licks her lips
Take a drink every time Edward and Bella stare into each others eyes for more than 3 seconds
Take a drink every time Bella whines about something
Take a drink every time Bella trips - Take 2 if Edward saves her
Take a drink whenever Alice has a vision
Take a drink whenever Edward treats Bella like a child
Chug your drink when a vampire sparkles - don't stop until the sparkling does/you finish your drink
Take a drink every time Bella quotes a book/person
Take a drink every time Bella says/acts like she can't live without Edward
Take a drink every time Edward says something rude to Bella
Take a drink every time Jacob tries to get Bella's attention
Now, these are obviously just a few things you can drink to. So if you have to watch Twilight, at least be intoxicated and have fun doing so.
Click HERE for another funny drinking game for the Twilight book.
HERE is another Twilight drinking game.
Take a drink every time Bella touches her hair
Take a drink every time Edward looks constipated
Take a drink every time Bella looks constipated
Take a drink every time Edward says he is dangerous
Take a drink every time Bella bites or licks her lips
Take a drink every time Edward and Bella stare into each others eyes for more than 3 seconds
Take a drink every time Bella whines about something
Take a drink every time Bella trips - Take 2 if Edward saves her
Take a drink whenever Alice has a vision
Take a drink whenever Edward treats Bella like a child
Chug your drink when a vampire sparkles - don't stop until the sparkling does/you finish your drink
Take a drink every time Bella quotes a book/person
Take a drink every time Bella says/acts like she can't live without Edward
Take a drink every time Edward says something rude to Bella
Take a drink every time Jacob tries to get Bella's attention
Now, these are obviously just a few things you can drink to. So if you have to watch Twilight, at least be intoxicated and have fun doing so.
Click HERE for another funny drinking game for the Twilight book.
HERE is another Twilight drinking game.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Interview with Arlene Russo Author of The Real Twilight: True Stories of Modern Vampires
I had the pleasure of interviewing Arlene Russo author of The Real Twilight and the founder of Bite Me magazine. Her new book includes a look into UK's vampire underground and the real vampires that can't be found on the big silver screen.
What is The Real Twilight about?
Basically The Real Twilight is about true vampires and every aspect of their culture. This includes the many different types of vampires, including lifestylers, sanguine (blood-drinking) vampires and psi (psychic) vampires- and everything in between! The book highlights global trends in vampirism, tracing American and UK connections, the heritage of the vampire legend, as well as modern factors which have shaped the nature of the vampire community such as HIV and the impact of the internet. Readers are also given a glimpse of the reality of the vampire covens and societies that exist today, and this covert information is perhaps not so widely known. I was privileged to be given an insight into these 'secret' worlds.
What was your goal in writing Real Twilight?
My goal was to present an overview of modern vampire culture and its various historical and global influences. I wanted to highlight modern day vampires in all their forms by speaking directly to real vampires themselves. I also wanted to celebrate the rich folkloristic history of vampirism that goes back thousands of years as well as focusing on the contemporary vampire scene. I also felt it was important to pay heed to the darker facts of vampirism such as blood drinking safety and vampire crime. I have included as many vampire specialists as I could, in addition to the vampires themselves and these included the resident vampire agony aunt of Bite me magazine, academics specialising in Gothic literature, and vampire ‘fangsmiths.’
How do you feel about the current vampire craze?
It is always good to see vampires in the media- in a positive light- but I am not sure how much the Twilight craze has to do with vampires per se, or the movie stars themselves. Time will tell, when these teens grow older, and we can see how many of them still profess a fascination with vampires...
When did you first become interested in vampires?
As a child, I was fascinated by horror movies and the paranormal (the film star Christopher Lee was my main inspiration). I have to thank my mother for letting me stay up late to watch the Hammer horror double bills when I was 10. I was also a member of a school book club and the books I ordered were suitably horror film titles and such like!
Do you have any favorite vampires movies, books, or music?
Well, I am a traditionalist and it has to be Christopher Lee in any Hammer horror that featured him as Dracula. I also like other Hammer Horror without him- like Twins Of Evil. I am a twin so that's another reason to like it! I have also been enjoying True Blood.
With your time at Bite Me magazine, what have you learned about today's vampire culture?
I have learned about all the different types of vampire fans - from vampire lifestylers to real vampires, to vampire haters! I have also learned that vampire fans have always been prevalent- but every so often they come out in droves- like with the Twilight craze. I can remember for example, the previous one- following Bram Stokers Dracula in 1992. Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1999 also brought vampire fans to the fore. Every so often they need to come out of the shadows!
Is there anything you wish people would know about the vampire culture?
I hope The Real Twilight celebrates vampire culture in all its forms and thus appeals to vampire fans in all THEIR forms, from the newest to the most established vampire aficionado. It is a book as much for people who wish to peep into a new lifestyle as it is for practising vampires looking for a point of reference. Or perhaps for those whose interest in vampires has been piqued by the Twilight and True Blood phenomenon.
Big thanks to Arlene for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit! The books seems super interesting and offers a unique insight into the world of real vampires.
To purchase Arlene Russo's The Real Twilight, True Stories of Modern Vampires, click HERE.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Team Cullen vs. The Original Gangstas vs. The Hopes of Single Men
Today's guest blogger comes from my friend Brian - you semi-typical, middle 20-year-old American male. Thanks Brian for being a guest!
Note: The views and opinions of Brian do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this blog.
When I was in high school, the latest craze regarding vampire literature was the newest Anne Rice novel, an author who, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be getting enough respect for a genre that she more or less dominated for a span of many years. I read Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned. These three books served as the core of vampire mythology for a good long while. Sure, there were others, but Anne Rice had a veritably unmatched saga of vampire fiction rolling off her fingertips. Any vampire movies watched with friends always fell back to being compared to the novels’ sense of history, the beauty of these creatures was one borne out of time, the romance inherent in vampire affections, the laundry list of behaviors and various mythological truths embedded in the pages of Rice’s central three novels.
Rice’s vampires were beautiful, terrible beings. Incredibly powerful, ancient, terrifyingly gorgeous products of their original time mixed with the present (whichever time period that present happened to be). Now, is the rest of this diatribe going to be about how nothing found today really seems to measure up to the (what in my mind) is the original testament of vampiric lore? Most likely. And don’t get me wrong, I understand the fact that things change, evolve, progress. If human history has shown us anything, it’s that we move forward. But are the new models really an improvement on the original, or are they more of an impediment to the single male?
I thought this stuff burnt out when the sun started shining on all those freak-wannabe-vampire-punk-goth-rocker-stoner-make-up-wearing-juggalo kids from high school, the day after graduation. The day that whole, “Oh, shit, we can’t all work at Hot Topic,” mentality settled in and took root in the cerebellum of these daywalker posers who wished more than anything that they actually needed to feed off of blood. Welcome to Reality. These people disappeared for a while, leaving behind the romanticism of the bite, the penetrating stare that reads souls and minds alike; the vampire faded from beatific glory and into the shadows from whence it came, becoming again a creature to be feared, not adored. And then, recently, they got pretty again.
Enter Team Edward. A seventeen-year-old kid who was made into a vampire two hundred years ago is supposed to be the new heartthrob of women the world over. Forty-something-year-olds getting caught up in the craze of teen-girl-fiction, falling in love with a fictional diamond-skinned vampire, whose character flaws spawned a whole line of t-shirts? These new vampires are too pretty to be seen in sunlight (because they get all shiny), they convulse and fight massive erectile temptation whenever their soul mate walks into the room, and this Mr. Cullen happens to be the only gentleman left on the planet, it seems—minus, of course, the creepy stalking bit.
Here’s the thing I witnessed with the new vampire craze: they took the evil out of them. Over-romanticized the hell out of these once evil creatures. Good luck to any normal guy trying to measure up, now. We’ve all been irrevocably screwed by the vampire system. And the vampires know it. They’re in their coffins right now laughing at us. The newer, bolder, modernity-ridden bloodsucker leaves no room for human error, no room for improvement, either. They don’t exist, so one would think that mankind has an edge. But we don’t. Team Cullen blew us out of the water.
Vampires in the olden days had to be sexy without sex, if you catch my drift. Theirs was a beauty held in mannerisms, appearance counted, yes, but not for everything. The capacity to love was outside of the vampire’s realm of existence, or knowledge, beyond their reality. Love was a human thing. Granted, Louie did care deeply for Claudia, but when Lestat made him a vampire, he made sure to make him weak, that’s why the other vampires ‘loved’ him: he was the most human. The Anne Rice suck-heads had a measure of evil that maintained a balance in the world, as far as vampires were concerned. It wasn’t just anybody who could be made into a vampire. The majority of people weren’t even close to being candidates for vampirification, only those that had that special something. What a twenties-era gangster might call ‘moxie.’
[Side note, I hear that this show “True Blood” takes place in the South… Any self-respecting vampire would move him/herself to larger, more popular epicenter of sophisticated human culture, not the sour-mash capital or Bible-belt central. But anyway…]
We can have moxie. Hell, some of us have it in spades, but will we it be enough to take the girl’s mind off of Edward? Doubt it. Talk a good game, walk a straight line, open a door or three, pay for dinner, movie, drive, be a gentleman and kiss her on the cheek instead of moving in for a full on mouth-bath, and you still won’t measure up, not to the new vampire standard, which says this to the modern male:
When you step into the sunlight, we see your flaws, your wrinkles, your missed-a-spot-shaving patchwork jaw line, your pimples, uneven eyebrows, your receding hairline. We see your wardrobe’s mismatched color scheme, dirty shoes, untrimmed fingernails, mustard stains, and your sweat.
There are no diamonds embedded in the small cracks of your skin. You can’t promise immortality. You don’t come from money this old, you aren’t this strong, this fast, this controlled. You aren’t this mysterious, this enchanting. You aren’t us.
And never will be.
Note: The views and opinions of Brian do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this blog.
When I was in high school, the latest craze regarding vampire literature was the newest Anne Rice novel, an author who, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be getting enough respect for a genre that she more or less dominated for a span of many years. I read Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned. These three books served as the core of vampire mythology for a good long while. Sure, there were others, but Anne Rice had a veritably unmatched saga of vampire fiction rolling off her fingertips. Any vampire movies watched with friends always fell back to being compared to the novels’ sense of history, the beauty of these creatures was one borne out of time, the romance inherent in vampire affections, the laundry list of behaviors and various mythological truths embedded in the pages of Rice’s central three novels.Rice’s vampires were beautiful, terrible beings. Incredibly powerful, ancient, terrifyingly gorgeous products of their original time mixed with the present (whichever time period that present happened to be). Now, is the rest of this diatribe going to be about how nothing found today really seems to measure up to the (what in my mind) is the original testament of vampiric lore? Most likely. And don’t get me wrong, I understand the fact that things change, evolve, progress. If human history has shown us anything, it’s that we move forward. But are the new models really an improvement on the original, or are they more of an impediment to the single male?
I thought this stuff burnt out when the sun started shining on all those freak-wannabe-vampire-punk-goth-rocker-stoner-make-up-wearing-juggalo kids from high school, the day after graduation. The day that whole, “Oh, shit, we can’t all work at Hot Topic,” mentality settled in and took root in the cerebellum of these daywalker posers who wished more than anything that they actually needed to feed off of blood. Welcome to Reality. These people disappeared for a while, leaving behind the romanticism of the bite, the penetrating stare that reads souls and minds alike; the vampire faded from beatific glory and into the shadows from whence it came, becoming again a creature to be feared, not adored. And then, recently, they got pretty again.
Enter Team Edward. A seventeen-year-old kid who was made into a vampire two hundred years ago is supposed to be the new heartthrob of women the world over. Forty-something-year-olds getting caught up in the craze of teen-girl-fiction, falling in love with a fictional diamond-skinned vampire, whose character flaws spawned a whole line of t-shirts? These new vampires are too pretty to be seen in sunlight (because they get all shiny), they convulse and fight massive erectile temptation whenever their soul mate walks into the room, and this Mr. Cullen happens to be the only gentleman left on the planet, it seems—minus, of course, the creepy stalking bit.
Here’s the thing I witnessed with the new vampire craze: they took the evil out of them. Over-romanticized the hell out of these once evil creatures. Good luck to any normal guy trying to measure up, now. We’ve all been irrevocably screwed by the vampire system. And the vampires know it. They’re in their coffins right now laughing at us. The newer, bolder, modernity-ridden bloodsucker leaves no room for human error, no room for improvement, either. They don’t exist, so one would think that mankind has an edge. But we don’t. Team Cullen blew us out of the water.
Vampires in the olden days had to be sexy without sex, if you catch my drift. Theirs was a beauty held in mannerisms, appearance counted, yes, but not for everything. The capacity to love was outside of the vampire’s realm of existence, or knowledge, beyond their reality. Love was a human thing. Granted, Louie did care deeply for Claudia, but when Lestat made him a vampire, he made sure to make him weak, that’s why the other vampires ‘loved’ him: he was the most human. The Anne Rice suck-heads had a measure of evil that maintained a balance in the world, as far as vampires were concerned. It wasn’t just anybody who could be made into a vampire. The majority of people weren’t even close to being candidates for vampirification, only those that had that special something. What a twenties-era gangster might call ‘moxie.’
[Side note, I hear that this show “True Blood” takes place in the South… Any self-respecting vampire would move him/herself to larger, more popular epicenter of sophisticated human culture, not the sour-mash capital or Bible-belt central. But anyway…]
We can have moxie. Hell, some of us have it in spades, but will we it be enough to take the girl’s mind off of Edward? Doubt it. Talk a good game, walk a straight line, open a door or three, pay for dinner, movie, drive, be a gentleman and kiss her on the cheek instead of moving in for a full on mouth-bath, and you still won’t measure up, not to the new vampire standard, which says this to the modern male:
When you step into the sunlight, we see your flaws, your wrinkles, your missed-a-spot-shaving patchwork jaw line, your pimples, uneven eyebrows, your receding hairline. We see your wardrobe’s mismatched color scheme, dirty shoes, untrimmed fingernails, mustard stains, and your sweat.
There are no diamonds embedded in the small cracks of your skin. You can’t promise immortality. You don’t come from money this old, you aren’t this strong, this fast, this controlled. You aren’t this mysterious, this enchanting. You aren’t us.
And never will be.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Twihard Fans Getting Violent?
Geekologie just posted a crazy entry about a forum in which crazy Twilight fans have attacked Twilight haters - "anti's" some stories are pretty crazy.
Here is the original article.
Here is the attack-directory.
Some stories include a guy getting his face burned with acid and a 17 year old killing a 7 year old's goldfish.
Here is the original article.
Here is the attack-directory.
Some stories include a guy getting his face burned with acid and a 17 year old killing a 7 year old's goldfish.
So I finally watched the Twilight movie
Yes, I finally watched the Twilight movie (I got a Blockbuster gift card for Easter). It wasn't too bad, although there were some parts I was too embarrassed to watch. I liked the way the end credits were done. Saying positive things first, there are several things that continually turn me off:
The announcement of true love when you are in high school and when you have only met your "true love." There is no such thing as love at first sight: just lust.
I'm in my early 20's, I'm not that old. I remember high school quite well, my stance was pretty similar when I was a sophomore too.
Really, if Bella hadn't announced her complete and irrevocable love for Edward 2 days after she had met him, it probably wouldn't have been too bad.
I also watched it with my husband and brother who said it wouldn't have been too bad if Edward hadn't been such a douchebag and if the movie wasn't so emo.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Felted Bella's Womb - Um, yeah
The boy pointed me to this gem.... if that's what you want to call it:
The Geekologie documented a Twi-hard fan who felted Bella's womb
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Addressing the Twilight vs. True Blood ( and Vampire Kisses) for the Last Time...
I'm writing this because each week I am amazed to see the amount of people that are brought to this blog by searching for the following:
- similarities between twilight and true blood
- twilight vs true blood
- twilight vs sookie
- which came first twilight or sookie stackhouse
- twilight copied sookie stackhouse novels
- twilight or sookie
- sookie stackhouse vs. twilight
- twilight copied vampire kisses
Each week there is a ton of new searches, sooooo I figured I would make all the Sookie, True Blood, Twilight, and Vampire Kisses accessible in one entry (listed newest to oldest):
What Stephen King has to say about Meyer
Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Books comments on book similarities
Twilight and True Blood Spoofs
Comparing Twilight, True Blood, Sookie, and other vampire Books
Is True Blood going in the Right Direction?
True Blood Pictures and Videos
True Blood Pilot Episode Changes
Thanks and Enjoy!
Twilight Gossip
Thanks to Suburban Vampire, I found that it seems like Stephen King didn't have very nice things to say about Stephenie Meyer. USA Weekend Blog had an interview with Stephen King and here is what he had to say about Meyer:
Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."
But then King recalls that when his mom was alive, she read all the Erle Stanley Gardner books, the Perry Mason mysteries, obsessively when he was growing up. "He was a terrible writer, too, but he was very successful," King says. "Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."
I find the comments left for the article the most entertaining. Isn't it always that way though? Most of the commentors do say that they aren't hating on Meyer's storytelling, but her writing... which some of her fans have already said "sucks."
Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."
But then King recalls that when his mom was alive, she read all the Erle Stanley Gardner books, the Perry Mason mysteries, obsessively when he was growing up. "He was a terrible writer, too, but he was very successful," King says. "Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."
I find the comments left for the article the most entertaining. Isn't it always that way though? Most of the commentors do say that they aren't hating on Meyer's storytelling, but her writing... which some of her fans have already said "sucks."
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Twilight, Trueblood, and Other Similar Stories...
Charlaine Harris (author of the Sookie Stackhouse books) recently posted this blog entry:
Coincidences happen. I get emails pretty frequently that have essentially this message: “So and so’s book has motorcycle gang werewolves in it, and so did yours. You should look into this. So and so’s copying off of you!” I’m sure people sent the same email to Laurell K. Hamilton when my first books came into print.
The truth is, there are few really original ideas under the sun. There are similarities between many books in the urban fantasy genre. If you get vampires, werewolves, and heroines with a supernatural trait, and they’re all tossed together, some of the results are going to be the same.
I did some lightning plotting last week about a book I want to write. I’m fascinated by cemeteries, and I thought it would be interesting to write a book set in a cemetery. I imagined the protagonist, a girl raised by ghosts in a cemetery, and I began figuring out how she’d live, how she’d avoid being taken in by the state and put in a group home, and what she would do to pass her days in such a lifeless place.
Then I went on Amazon and clicked on Fiction, then on Cemetery, and found that Neil Gaiman has already written a book with a similar premise.
So, what do I do now? Let my lovely idea go? Buy the Gaiman book, and read it enviously? Purchase every copy on earth and burn it?
Can I salvage my own idea? I haven’t decided yet. I would have been happier if I hadn’t checked, I think.
But when when my book was completed, it would have been a rude shock when someone asked me if I hadn’t read Neil Gaiman’s book. I haven’t, and I won’t, in case I decide to go ahead with my own, though the temptation is strong. I admire his writing – who doesn’t? Gaiman (whom I’ve met twice, very briefly) is a living legend.
It’s a hard call, but luckily I’ve got plenty of time to think about it. I’ve got two short stories, a lot of editing, and another novel lined up when I finally send in GRAVE SECRET, which is close to completion. By then I’ll have made up my mind, and I’ll either write CEMETERY GIRL . . . or I won’t.
Coincidences happen. I get emails pretty frequently that have essentially this message: “So and so’s book has motorcycle gang werewolves in it, and so did yours. You should look into this. So and so’s copying off of you!” I’m sure people sent the same email to Laurell K. Hamilton when my first books came into print.
The truth is, there are few really original ideas under the sun. There are similarities between many books in the urban fantasy genre. If you get vampires, werewolves, and heroines with a supernatural trait, and they’re all tossed together, some of the results are going to be the same.
I did some lightning plotting last week about a book I want to write. I’m fascinated by cemeteries, and I thought it would be interesting to write a book set in a cemetery. I imagined the protagonist, a girl raised by ghosts in a cemetery, and I began figuring out how she’d live, how she’d avoid being taken in by the state and put in a group home, and what she would do to pass her days in such a lifeless place.
Then I went on Amazon and clicked on Fiction, then on Cemetery, and found that Neil Gaiman has already written a book with a similar premise.
So, what do I do now? Let my lovely idea go? Buy the Gaiman book, and read it enviously? Purchase every copy on earth and burn it?
Can I salvage my own idea? I haven’t decided yet. I would have been happier if I hadn’t checked, I think.
But when when my book was completed, it would have been a rude shock when someone asked me if I hadn’t read Neil Gaiman’s book. I haven’t, and I won’t, in case I decide to go ahead with my own, though the temptation is strong. I admire his writing – who doesn’t? Gaiman (whom I’ve met twice, very briefly) is a living legend.
It’s a hard call, but luckily I’ve got plenty of time to think about it. I’ve got two short stories, a lot of editing, and another novel lined up when I finally send in GRAVE SECRET, which is close to completion. By then I’ll have made up my mind, and I’ll either write CEMETERY GIRL . . . or I won’t.
Friday, January 16, 2009
For Fun.... Spoofs...
I don't watch Gossip Girl but I might have been more inclined to watch Twilight if Ed Westwick played Edward...
It is a lot harder to find True Blood Parodies (just sayin)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Twilight and True Blood or Twilight and Sookie Books
I thought I would take a little more time to blog about Twilight and Sookie because probably close to 80% of people who visit my blog through a search engine type a version of what I posted as the title of the entry, as you can see: (and this was just the top keywords, not each search. There are even hundres of more keyword searches that ask the same thing)
I had previously written a post about Twilight vs True Blood back in September, prompted by a letter written to TV guide. You can view the entry and the comments Here.
First, let me start by saying that True Blood the TV series can no way compare to the Charlaine Harris Sookie books. The books are way better and the show has quite a bit of differences. So when we do compare, lets stick with books not visual representations.
Second, everyone is free to their opinion, but you can't really make an informed descision either way about which one is better or claim that one copied the other, etc. if you haven't read both book series.
The first thing I want to compare, to clear things up, is that Harris did not copy Meyer:
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer was published in 2005
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris was published in 2001.
Harris' books are about a mid-20 year old who has the intersting ability to read minds. She lives in a small town in Luisianna where nothing much happens, until she meets her first vampire. Vampires came out into the public several years ago with the invention of a synthetic blood called "Trublood" (hint the show name). Vampires are fighting for human rights, there are churches who are against them, Sookie can read minds, and she finds some other interesting beings along the way as well. She becomes romantically linked with Bill the vamp, bad things happen, and she ends up agreeing to work for a higher up vampire (Eric, who I love) to help solve different mysteries.
Not sure if it is even worth writing about Twilight, since the people searching for the similarities and differences are probably Twilight fans. I know there are a lot of Twilight fans who have been vampire fiction fans, but there are also a lot of Twilight (or Sookie) fans who are not familiar with vampire fiction or folklore and think that the similarities between the two means one has copied the other.
Here are some common vampire characteristics:
Reading minds
Mind control
"Tricking" people into believing things
Super-human (or inhuman) strength
Super speed
Rich
Immortal
Hyper senses
Sexy and dangerous
and so on.
I have never read a modern-day vampire book that didn't have some similarity to another, which is okay because they are writing about the same subject. Each author adds in their own version of a vampire, but it's still a vampire. Many vamp books have werewolves in them too, that does not mean one copied the other. They say that there are no original stories anymore, this is one of those cases that illustrates the point. Vampire authors may change how blood is taken, vampire abilities, reactions to humans, and other characteristics but it can never be wholly unique or else it wouldn't be a vampire, it would be some other creature.
There are some similarities between Trueblood and Twilight, or Twilight and Vampire Kisses (lots of similarites between those two) but that does not mean they copied each other. They all write about a main female character who falls for a vampire. Of course there are going to be similiarities.
For those of you who are curious about something more specific, feel free to email me or comment me. Since it seems like some many people are curious, I will be starting to reread the Harris books so I can do more in depth reviews of them on my blog.
And I will say it again, Harris did not copy Meyer - look at the facts.
I had previously written a post about Twilight vs True Blood back in September, prompted by a letter written to TV guide. You can view the entry and the comments Here.First, let me start by saying that True Blood the TV series can no way compare to the Charlaine Harris Sookie books. The books are way better and the show has quite a bit of differences. So when we do compare, lets stick with books not visual representations.
Second, everyone is free to their opinion, but you can't really make an informed descision either way about which one is better or claim that one copied the other, etc. if you haven't read both book series.
The first thing I want to compare, to clear things up, is that Harris did not copy Meyer:
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer was published in 2005
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris was published in 2001.
Harris' books are about a mid-20 year old who has the intersting ability to read minds. She lives in a small town in Luisianna where nothing much happens, until she meets her first vampire. Vampires came out into the public several years ago with the invention of a synthetic blood called "Trublood" (hint the show name). Vampires are fighting for human rights, there are churches who are against them, Sookie can read minds, and she finds some other interesting beings along the way as well. She becomes romantically linked with Bill the vamp, bad things happen, and she ends up agreeing to work for a higher up vampire (Eric, who I love) to help solve different mysteries.
Not sure if it is even worth writing about Twilight, since the people searching for the similarities and differences are probably Twilight fans. I know there are a lot of Twilight fans who have been vampire fiction fans, but there are also a lot of Twilight (or Sookie) fans who are not familiar with vampire fiction or folklore and think that the similarities between the two means one has copied the other.
Here are some common vampire characteristics:
Reading minds
Mind control
"Tricking" people into believing things
Super-human (or inhuman) strength
Super speed
Rich
Immortal
Hyper senses
Sexy and dangerous
and so on.
I have never read a modern-day vampire book that didn't have some similarity to another, which is okay because they are writing about the same subject. Each author adds in their own version of a vampire, but it's still a vampire. Many vamp books have werewolves in them too, that does not mean one copied the other. They say that there are no original stories anymore, this is one of those cases that illustrates the point. Vampire authors may change how blood is taken, vampire abilities, reactions to humans, and other characteristics but it can never be wholly unique or else it wouldn't be a vampire, it would be some other creature.
There are some similarities between Trueblood and Twilight, or Twilight and Vampire Kisses (lots of similarites between those two) but that does not mean they copied each other. They all write about a main female character who falls for a vampire. Of course there are going to be similiarities.
For those of you who are curious about something more specific, feel free to email me or comment me. Since it seems like some many people are curious, I will be starting to reread the Harris books so I can do more in depth reviews of them on my blog.
And I will say it again, Harris did not copy Meyer - look at the facts.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Twilight vs. True Blood
I had to take some time tonight to write an entry about Twilight versus True Blood.
Today I noticed I had some people click on my blog from searching about the two different shows. What pushed me to action, however, was the following letter to TV Guide magazine, titled "Blood Related?" -
I was reading about HBO'S True Blood and though: This show sounds an awful lot like the Twilight books. Then when I read the Roush Review [9/1], my thoughts were confirmed. Vamps? Mind reading? Small towns? Are you kidding me? How could no one else have caught this?! - Anais Villa, Maspeth, N.Y.
Well Anais, if you would have left some contact information, I would definitely be writing you some hate mail at this moment. When I read this I became quite enraged. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. First, let us examine the books these shows were based off of:
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer was published in 2005
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris was published in 2001.
In no way did Charlaine Harris (or HBO for that matter) copy the Twilight people. If, dear Anais Villa, you did at least one simple Google search, you would have realized this. I might have excepted the argument that HBO was trying to get some of the vampire show profit, but not that True Blood is a copy of Twilight. If you have been following this blog, you know that I am a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books... and I am not too fond of the Twilight series.
I will try and play devil's advocate though, and list some differences and similarities.
Similarities:
Human girl, hunky vampires
I guess we can put Anais' "observations" of small towns and mind reading
There are some werewolves (but only later on in the Harris series, not in the show)
Differences:
Twilight is aimed at a teenage audience
Characters are "high schoolers" in Twilight
Female character is very dependent on male vampire in Twilight
In Twilight, the mind reading is done by vampires, in True Blood, Sookie is the one that does the mind reading
Sookie doesn't want to become a vampire
There is also more sex and action in True Blood because it's audience is meant for the more mature
In True Blood, vampires are out of the closet and drink synthetic blood
These are just a few I feel like listing. If you are interested, you can write TV Guide at Radnor, PA 19088 or email at letters@tvguide.com. Include your name, address, and phone number. I think I will be writing them an email, I would suggest you do the same.
Any one out there have an opinion either way?
EDIT: Just wanted to let you guys know that I have a recent update to this post. YOu can view it here.
Today I noticed I had some people click on my blog from searching about the two different shows. What pushed me to action, however, was the following letter to TV Guide magazine, titled "Blood Related?" -
I was reading about HBO'S True Blood and though: This show sounds an awful lot like the Twilight books. Then when I read the Roush Review [9/1], my thoughts were confirmed. Vamps? Mind reading? Small towns? Are you kidding me? How could no one else have caught this?! - Anais Villa, Maspeth, N.Y.
Well Anais, if you would have left some contact information, I would definitely be writing you some hate mail at this moment. When I read this I became quite enraged. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. First, let us examine the books these shows were based off of:
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer was published in 2005
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris was published in 2001.
In no way did Charlaine Harris (or HBO for that matter) copy the Twilight people. If, dear Anais Villa, you did at least one simple Google search, you would have realized this. I might have excepted the argument that HBO was trying to get some of the vampire show profit, but not that True Blood is a copy of Twilight. If you have been following this blog, you know that I am a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books... and I am not too fond of the Twilight series.
I will try and play devil's advocate though, and list some differences and similarities.
Similarities:
Human girl, hunky vampires
I guess we can put Anais' "observations" of small towns and mind reading
There are some werewolves (but only later on in the Harris series, not in the show)
Differences:
Twilight is aimed at a teenage audience
Characters are "high schoolers" in Twilight
Female character is very dependent on male vampire in Twilight
In Twilight, the mind reading is done by vampires, in True Blood, Sookie is the one that does the mind reading
Sookie doesn't want to become a vampire
There is also more sex and action in True Blood because it's audience is meant for the more mature
In True Blood, vampires are out of the closet and drink synthetic blood
These are just a few I feel like listing. If you are interested, you can write TV Guide at Radnor, PA 19088 or email at letters@tvguide.com. Include your name, address, and phone number. I think I will be writing them an email, I would suggest you do the same.
Any one out there have an opinion either way?
EDIT: Just wanted to let you guys know that I have a recent update to this post. YOu can view it here.
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