Thorne Coffin - An appropriate place to stay :)

On our Yeovil trip last weekend we found ourselves staying in a beautiful guest house called 'Thorne Cottage'. David found 'Thorne Cottage' via google as we wanted to stay somewhere convenient for the centre of Yeovil for Waterstones. We didn't know anything about the area, never having been there before, and as with all of these things we booked it hoping it would be okay.

When we arrived, 5.30pm, it was dark, wet and miserable and we found ourselves searching country lanes for the address. As usual the Sat Nav sent us down a lane with no through-road, we came across a barrier, but were able to open it and go through.

We didn't see Thorne Cottage immediately, even though it turned out to be the first on the left through the barrier. As we drove along this dark country lane, we came across a huge manor house called Thorne House.

Eventually we found Thorne Cottage - after ringing the owner, Kath and her husband Bill came out will a torch to direct us in - but already David and I were intriqued by the area.

Thorne Cottage is gorgeous and we were given a warm welcome by the owners. Then shown to our rooms. It turned out we had a wing to ourselves, so David and I had the double room and Frazer was in the single. Within this area we had all the conveniences you could wish for. Our own sitting room with comfy leather chairs and a chaise, tea and Coffee facilities and not one, but two bathrooms. Lovely. Added to this the unexpected bonus of having wifi and sky TV in our rooms. This place was sheer luxury!


The next morning, after a fresh full English breakfast, we went for a walk to look at Thorne House and in daylight we discovered we were in the small village of THORNE COFFIN. You could say this was somewhat appropriate. Thorne Coffin is a very quaint village, with its own parish church - St Andrews - and more spookiness than I've ever seen. I absolutely loved it!

The village of Thorne Coffin itself is made up of large cottages, all varing in size and I've been told used to be occupied by three main families that were farmers some years ago. The surrounding area was then filled by the farm workers. So far this is all I've managed to learn.

We went into the grounds of Thorne House - which is privately owned - and looked around to ask permission to properly examine the exterior of the house and the beautifully maintained lawns. Unfortunately we couldn't get permission but we did manage to take some beautiful pictures of the house nontheless. I think they'd make a fortune if they opened it up to the public, but apparantly it is owned by a corporation. I've since been searching for the history of the house but have so far drawn a blank. If any of you do have information on this stunning stately home, then please let me know.

Needless to say I will be writing a story about Thorne Cottage and Thorne House. Actually I feel a novella coming ...

Vampires AREN'T Dead Yet!

There's been a spate of articles in the press directed at killing off (pun intended) vampires in literature but I'm here to tell you that vampires aren't dead yet.

Vampire literature has been popular since the 19th Century. We have excellent literary writers in our history such as Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker and Lord Byron (to name but a few) writing stories that featured the undead.

Modern literary and terrifying vampire writers such as Simon Clark, author of Vampyrrhic and Vampyrric Rites have created vampires with a mythology of their own. These are brutal and frightening monsters that show no human emotion or feeling whatsoever. You only have to look at the writing of Tanith Lee in her novels Vivia and Sabella in order to appreciate that there is some very good and very diffrent stuff out there. And let's not forget Chelsea Quinn Yarbro who was there long before Anne Rice.

The mistake people are making right now is assuming that vampires equal teen paranormal romance, which is so far removed from 'literature' that it is a completely different genre.

When I was at university doing my MA in Creative Writing I wrote my first novel, Killing Kiss, as my dissertation. At first the head of faculty wasn't sure whether the book would be acceptible (he hadn't read it but had a prejudice against genre writing). Thanks to my tutor, literary author Janette Jenkins, who fought my corner with me, I was able to put the novel forward, because we were able to prove it was indeed 'literary fiction'.

Unfortunately though the prejudice still rears its ugly head.

In the early days when I first started mixing with other horror and fantasy writers I was repeatedly asked if my book was horror/romance. Even folks in the genre were making that equation 'vampires=romance' in their heads. It gets a little wearing when you're on the third book of a trilogy that takes in horror, fantasy, time travel, science fiction, paganism, vampires, witches and spiritualism, and there are still people making the same assumptions ... and I wonder if they have even read my work!

It is perhaps ignorant and uniformed to make judgements about a writer without first reading their work. A little like reviewing a film you haven't seen, or going off just the trailer to determine what it's all about. And so I repeat again, literary horror/fantasy is nothing like paranormal/romance. They are different genres entirely. Literary fiction is well written, intelligent, often multi-layered, and the prose will be well-formed and deliberate in its purpose, perhaps even poetic, to create specific imagery in the mind of the reader.

From what I have read, paranormal romance tends to be about boy meets girl, they fall in love and the human one usually ends up being a vampire/werewolf or whatever. Basically the plot is the same, while locations, names and characters all change. There is so much out there at the moment that I cannot keep up. And to be honest I don't want to as it doesn't appeal to me. I see other reviewers saying the same thing, that the books are all the same and don't change or add anything to the myths and legends along the way.

I have nothing against paranormal/romance - reading tastes vary, and each to his own anyway - but I don't want my books to be categorised in this genre. Especially when I've spent several years working very hard on developing my own unique writing style, and trying to do something original which appeals to me.

Going back to my original point though, Vampires have been around a long time in fiction. Just because there are some poor examples, and there is a flooding on the market of not very good vampire books, it doesn't mean that all of this fiction is therefore dross. There have been some excellent books written by Christopher Pike, whose Last Vampire Series has been hugely successful, is beautifully written and thoughtfully crafted. We can look at Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake Series (and I know that some of you may criticise a few of the later books as deteriorating into pornography - and I agree, they did) but the first five books make Ms Meyer's plots look like the scribbles of an illiterate 12 year old. There is also Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. The first book does get off to a shaky start, but then Harris took the characters, created fabulous storylines which are truly multi-layered, and she ran with it. I have to say TrueBlood is one of my favourite TV programmes of the moment. My friend Raven Dane has written a terrific vampire series called Legacy of the Dark Kind, and I can tell you, there's not a sniff of romance in it. And not forgetting of course Stephen King, whose Salem's Lot almost defined the vampire story for anyone who read it in the seventies.

I can't believe that people get taken in by the media hype - the media created Twilight mania in the first place, and blew it out of all proportion with a frenzy of obsession that's driven most teenage girls to distraction as they either love or detest the series. All to sell more books and DVDs (and T-Shirts, magazines and other merchandise ... and I wonder who owns the companies producing all these things ... would they be the same companies which produce the films, and which publish the books ... and which also publish the newspapers and magazines which hype and promote so much). Now the Media, in typical fashion, want to take it back and smash every good vampire book on this trail of destruction. This cycle of 'promote to the skies and then destroy' is a familiar one in UK media. It sometimes seems that we build people up, only to then knock them back down again in as harsh and critical manner as we can.

The media have done the same thing with Global Warming over the years, and Swine Flu, and Mad Cow Disease, and Bird Flu - just think about the panic that's been stirred, only to be followed by articles from the professionals saying it isn't true at all.

Well I'm saying categorically: Vampires are NOT dead. They won't die so far as there are good, strong, talented writers out there to keep the vampires' fangs sharp and their tastes brutal.

And if you, like me, don't care for the sugary romance stories - then fine! DON'T BUY THEM.

But please stop dissing vampires  It isn't their fault. Poor misguided creatures. But we can show the publishing industry and the media how very discerning we are, and support the good writers out there. Because - Let's be honest - we need your support before we all disappear under a deluge of romanticised, sparkly, friendly, vegetarian creatures of the night.

NOMINATE – FUTILE FLAME

It’s that time of year again folks and the BFSA and BFS are calling for nominations for this year’s awards.

I’d be really happy with a nomination for Futile Flame for Best Novel so if you’ve read the book and are a member of either or both of these societies then please consider nominating me this year. But remember, the more nominations I receive the more chance I have of being short-listed; so don’t leave it to someone else: Vote today!

If you haven’t read the book and are interested or even a little bit curious then members can email me with their details for a preview at sam@sam-stone.com

Please click on the links below for more information or to place your vote.

BSFA: (URGENT – By 16th January 2010)

BFS: (By 14th February 2010)


TELOS PUBLISHING – IT LIVES AGAIN.
Nominate It Lives Again by Axelle Carolyn.

This beautiful full colour hardback book is an analysis of all your favourite modern horror movies: covering the 2000’s. It is extremely well-written and has had nothing but rave reviews.

For further details visit:

Telos


MURKY DEPTHS – BEST SHORT FICTION/ARTWORK.

Fans of this fabulous magazine will already know and understand the completely unique quality of Murky Depths. There is no other magazine in the UK market that so uniquely covers Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy fiction and Artwork work in the form of illustrations and Graphic stories.

So, flick through last year’s editions and pick out your favourite short stories and artwork and nominate it for one or both societies.

For further details contact:

Murky Depths

Signing - Dark Delicacies in LA.

Taking advantage of the fact that I'm in LA for a short time, I'm delighted that those very nice people at the Dark Delicacies store are putting up with me for an afternoon so I can sign copies of Killing Kiss with them.

The signing is at Dark Delicacies on Saturday 14th February, starting at around 3.30pm.

The address is : 4213 W Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505, USA
Tel: +1 818-556-6660

Anyone who wants a signed copy can reserve one by simply calling the store. Go on ... you know you want to :)

I'll be there signing books and giving away free Demon Lover CD's along with some great authors from Telos Publishing. There's Steven Warren Hill signing copies of Silver Scream Vol 1, a great guide to classic horror films; Arnold T Blumberg is signing copies of his awesome guide to zombie films, Zombiemania; and David J Howe is also there signing copies of his superb book The Target Book, which details the history of all the old Doctor Who novelisations.

All of Telos' books are available from them online as well at www.telos.co.uk, so check them out.

Meantime, I can't wait to leave the snowy UK for a while and bask in the LA sunshine ... having said that, though, I bet it rains!

Book 2 - Futile Flame & Signing Waterstones

An update for those of you who have been asking when Book 2 of The Vampire Gene will be available.

It's finished.

At least in first draft form. Currently I'm editing it through, and this is the hardest and, I find, the most fun time in the process of bringing a book to fruition. Now I get to analyse the effectiveness of the plot structure, plant seeds where necessary to accomodate any new twists and turns, and to correct any silly punctuation and spelling errors I might have made during the process of writing - when sometimes words spill onto the page in such a hurry to capture mood and pace and excitement that the normal rules of typing don't apply and the most important thing is to preserve the essence of the moment.

It's possible that I may even decide I don't like aspects of it after all and scrap several chapters, rewrite or add characters along the way ... hopefully that's not an issue this time though and the book will remain broadly as drafted.

The plot has changed dramatically from the ideas I originally had in mind several months ago, and as any writer knows, sometimes it becomes impossible to stick to a rigorous plan. Sometimes a book wants to be written in a certain way, and who am I to argue?

REMEMBER

I'm at Waterstones, Trafford Centre, Manchester this Sunday from 12 noon.

Killing Kiss will be on sale and I'll be there to sign it for you also.

Hope to see you there!

What New Writers Need to Know...

Driving from Manchester yesterday in the pouring rain, I was crawling along in traffic on the M6 and my mind was wandering to the questions I've been frequently asked in the last two weeks. There are many new and aspiring writers out there. It wasn't that long ago when I was 'aspiring' myself. I'm still a newbie by the industry standards having only been around since January 2007.

Reflecting on the past year I have learnt quite a bit about the industry. Been on the receiving end of some bigotry (nothing new there) and I've made some amazing friends that have the same interests as me.

The world of a writer no longer belongs in an ivory tower. It's not just about writing that masterpiece, but you have to be prepared to follow through with promotion. Promo takes many forms. Online networking is an excellent way of establishing a presence. And all writers should have an online presence because we cannot any longer rely on book sales always occuring in shops. (Partly because the shops are fleecing the publishers and it's always the writer who ends up not getting paid - but that's another blog entirely!). So. First step - get your book in print (gosh, that makes it sound easy doesn't it). Second step - make friends on Myspace, Facebook, Bebo ... wherever you want. And before you sigh and say 'I don't have time for all that, I'm too busy writing...' then consider this - One hour a day checking them all instead of watching TV will be boosting your career (I borrowed that from Darren Turpin (Orbit Books) at the self-promotion panel at FantasyCon - but it's not plagiarism because I'm telling you he said it). It's good advice.

I spend more time online than that though, perhaps several times a day - because it isn't enough to go and make thousands of friends, you need to be nice to people too - and believe me they can tell if you're fake and are just promoting. The bottom line is - as a writer you should be interested in people - especially those who like your work. One, you get feedback from them, which I like to receive personally, even if it isn't always what you want to hear. Two, you make some interesting and diverse friends from all over the world. Three, if you're loyal to them, they will be loyal to you.

My latest online site is http://www.goodreads.com - this is fantastic because it is all about reading. People on there are looking for new books to enjoy and you get some really interesting and intelligent emails from them. I'm forging some nice friendships and enjoying receiving some great recommendations to add to my reading list too.

And for those writers who have books on shelves already you can develop a writer's profile. So people immediately begin to associate your books with you - that nice person who replies to their emails. (The marriage proposals were, however, ignored for obvious reasons :)).

More on this subject to follow ...