Author Archive
Two Genre Authors for the Price of One
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Paranormal author Alexandra Ivy is a busy gal, writing up her latest book for the Guardians of Eternity series as well as being one of four authors in the latest anthology book The Real Werewives of Vampire County. As if that isn’t enough, I was up on her blog the other day, which you too can read at http://ivyguardiansofeternity.blogspot.com/ when I noticed that she has been doing quite a few book signings.
Now I know that in addition to writing as Alexandra Ivy for the paranormal world, she also does a few books now and again that fall under the historical Regency banner. She does these under the name of Deborah Raleigh, I suppose to just keep the two types of writing separate. But I must confess that I get tired just thinking of how hard this gal works.
In the last eleven years she has written forty books. That is close to four books a year, and that is to me pretty amazing. Most authors are lucky if they can write one book a year and some, like George R.R. Martin have been known to make their readers wait six or seven years between books in a series. Not that Martin’s books aren’t worth the wait. And there is the small matter of those television shows he does as well.
But I digress. I just thought it interesting that someone whose young adult vampire books are as well written, and well received; as Ivy’s are does a whole separate line of books that are pretty completely different from the world of The Guardians of Eternity.
In a recent interview she talked about how it took her ten years to find a publisher when she was starting out. I guess you could say she made up for lost time once that was done with the amount of material she is putting out these days.
Here is a little interview with her where she talks a bit about why she chooses to have her vampires in a small town country environment.
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Review
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I guess that really with all we have said here about Twlight, now that it is out I really do need to do a commentary of some sort about the film. The long shots of Bella, the sighs, the beauty shots of Edward, it was just all too beautiful for words. Now if there had only been a half-way decent story that went with it.
Honestly, it isn’t as if we didn’t know where this was going, after all if you were a fan you had already read the books. But it was wonderful to see it all there in front of you and I will fess up that it was handled with a great deal of attention to making sure that we were feeling the love.
I have to admit that I felt it somewhat cheesy to decide to split the last book into two films, it felt as if they saw it with Harry Potter and a big light bulb went off in someone’s head about how to extend this money-maker just a bit longer. I am not really sure it needed a second film.
But having said that, I will admit that the film looked damn good. I mean, it was fashion magazine gold-plated good. Every shot was so carefully thought out that you couldn’t once feel anything but drawn into the dream. Even when the dream turned into nightmare once Bella was pregnant, even when it became the worst nightmare possible when Edward had to cut the baby out of her dead body.
For a film that was promising romance and the ultimate wedding in the promos, they did a good job of handling the abrupt change of atmosphere as it became obvious what was happening to Bella once the baby began to grow. It made Rosemary’s Baby feel like a fairy tale.
So – in the end we endorse the nastiness I guess, in the name of love. But what of Jacob? And what will we do until the final film next year?
I really am going to need to hear from all our Twi-lovers out there. I know you went the day it opened – what is the verdict? Was it worth the wait?
Upcoming Vampire Books: The Real Werewives of Vampire County
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Title: The Real Werewives of Vampire County
Author: Alexandra Ivy, Angie Fox, Jess Haines and Tami Dane
Release: October 25 2011
Pages: 369
Genre: Urban Vampire
This is a great set of short stories that will give you a taste for each of these authors, who all have their own wonderful paranormal series. I love when an anthology like this comes out because it gives me a chance to check out some authors I just may not have had the time to read yet. In this case, I had heard of all of these authors, but now I know I am going to have to find the time to read all of the series that these stories touch on.
Where Darkness Lives – If you are familiar with Alexandra Ivy’s Guardians of Eternity series, you will right away recognize that this story fits in with that series. When Sophia decides to investigate her daughter’s disappearance and realizes she is being stalked, she hires the luscious Luc as a bodyguard. She might be one tough werewolf, but Luc is almost too much to resist. The attraction is hot and the action is fast! I think what really makes this story fun is the banter between the two. Will they give in or won’t they?
Murder at Mysteria Lane – This one is another slice from a bigger pie, this time the Demon Slayer series from Angie Fox. Heather McPhee is as funny as ever. This time everyone’s favorite tomboy werewolf has to act the part of a ever so posh trophy wife to investigate a murder. It doesn’t help that she is playing the role of wife to the ever so sexy vampire PI Lucien Mead. This is Stepford Wives with teeth and will have you rolling in laughter as Heather tries to discover which of these ever so perfect Eternal Life Estate werewolf trophies the real murderer is.
Werewolves in Chic Clothing – When Christine Price met Jon online he seemed like a dream come true. Soon the romance blossomed and now she and her young son have travelled across the country to meet her fiancé in his exclusive country club like neighborhood. Although Jon continues to sweep her off her feet, something just feels wrong. As her three neighbors begin to hint that Jon’s first wife died in strange circumstances, she begins to wonder just how well does she even know him? The story of Bluebird comes to her mind, and she and her neighbors decide they need to investigate further just what happened with Jon’s first wife. This is a “who-dunnit” with a twist ending that is bound to surprise you! Well worth the read.
What’s Your Is Mine – Author Jess Haines seems to be the newcomer of the pack in this book, as I have not read anything of hers, as opposed to the other stories. In this short story Tiffany Winters comes to Still Waters determined to pull out all of her charm and find her place amongst this tight clique that Cassandra rules like a queen. Of course, the pack of werewolves have their own rules about who gets to be part of the group and Tiffany hopes that her past doesn’t catch up with her. But then, it turns out she isn’t the only one with a secret.
All in all, of the group of upcoming vampire books this is a charming set of stories that will be perfect to curl up with each night before heading off to sleep. That is what I love about anthology books like The Real Werewives of Vampire County. They are a simple collection of short stories that remind us why we love the characters in the first place. They are like a little snack before heading for bed, and a tasty one at that!
