Vampires, Bloody Good Reading!

Hey, all my pretties. I hope you had your fill of turkey, and the shopping trips are done. For now.

Today I thought I would give my blog over to my friend, Carole Gill. She's got some great horror novels if you like Gothic with a terror-twist to it. She has a way with sending chills up your spine. Well, let her tell you about her House on Blackstone Moor series.

We love vampires. Vampire fiction is broad enough to please every reader. There is drama, terror and sometimes comedy and why not? People have diverse tastes.

I love writing about vampires but in my current series I am writing about other issues as well.

The question of good vs. evil is at the core of my fiction.

In The House on Blackstone Moor there is the issue of child abuse which is alluded to. The heroine, Rose Baines asks if one act of evil can let (worse/supernatural) evil in. I will leave my readers to make final judgement on that.

As for my heroine, evil does, indeed, enter Rose’s life. One outrage affects her destiny forevermore.

Due to reader response I did decide to turn the book into a series and I’m glad I did. The second book has just been released.

THE BLACKSTONE VAMPIRES SERIES: WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

It’s about sin, decadence and devil rites not to mention madness and obsession. It’s also about good v. evil, the eternal struggle. There’s love too but it comes at a terrible price for my heroine.

This isn’t light reading. In my fiction, the damned yearn for absolution (some of them) while others are not repentant; they wallow in sin and corruption.

The House on Blackstone Moor, Book One:

"They say my father was mad, so corrupted by evil and tainted by sin that he did what he did. I came home to find them all dead; their throats savagely cut. My sisters only five and eight were gone as well as my brother who was twelve. My mother too lay butchered in her marriage bed. The bed her children were born in..."

Young Rose Baines discovers the savage murders of her family by her mad, incestuous father.

She is plunged into a nightmare of hell and is incarcerated in two madhouses after which she is helped to obtain a position as governess at Blackstone House.

The house is located on haunted moorland. Nothing is as it seems for Blackstone House and its inhabitants have hideous secrets. There is unimaginable horror there but there is love too--love that comes at a terrible price.

The story is as haunting as it is terrifying and will remain with the reader long after its disturbing tale has been told.

The first two chapters of the sequel are included also.

http://www.amazon.com/The-House-Blackstone-Moor-ebook/dp/B00804XJBA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Unholy Testament – The Beginnings, Book 2

The day Eco first laid eyes on Rose Baines was the day she discovered (The House on Blackstone Moor) her family’s savage butchery at the hands of her mad, incestuous father.

“I saw you leave the house that day, Rose, that terrible day you discovered your family butchered. I saw you…”Eco realizing he has fallen in love with her pens a confession documenting all of his sins committed in the course of his immortal existence. The one request is that Rose reads his confession.

Rose, having become his captive, is forced to read this unholy testament of his.

From Ancient Egyptian vampire cults to Roman vampire brothels to The Dark Ages, The Crusades, The Black Death of 1348 to his meeting with child murderer and Satanist, Gilles de Rais, concluding with his wicked affair with the Blood Countess herself, Erzebat Bathory.

Eco is, if nothing else, frankly and brutally honest. The pages are filled with debauchery and vice and murder--yet, there is also love or what Eco swears is love.

The story is continued in Unholy Testament – Full Circle, to be released in early 2013.

The first two chapters and book cover of Unholy Testament – Full Circle is included in this book.

Unholy Testament – The Beginnings picks up where

The House on Blackstone Moor left off.

Please note:

Unholy Testament – Full Circle continues the story of Eco and his debauchery and sin. It will be released in early 2013.

The fourth book in the series will be out in 2013 as well.

Carole Gill's Blog: http://carolegillofficialauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/carolelynngill

Well, these sound very exciting, Carole. Of course I've read the first one and it was an exciting read. I've never read anything quite like it! I hope this gives my readers plenty of ideas for holiday gifts for those who might enjoy this (or grab for themselves!)

Thanks for being on my blog today!

Guest Post by Carole Gill: Romance & Horror

Hi, my pretties. I've got a treat for you! My good friend from across the pond, Carole Gill, author of House on Blackstone Moor has agreed to stop in and do a guest post for us.

After the post we will get to know Carole, and hear about her novels and short works as well, because I plan on having her back soon!

So, take it away, Carole!

Romance & Horror: The Ultimate Conflicts!

Do they go together? Didn't you almost die when Dracula told Mina (film version) "I would cross oceans of time for you"?

I did!

From the first moment he saw her he thought of Elizabetha. After she knows the terrible truth, she hates him for killing Lucy, but well--! The girl can't help it!

Is Dracula horror? No, you don't have to answer that.

The talented and marvelous lorelei Bell asked me to guest post on her blog and I'm delighted to do it!

This post reflects one of my own:
Can Real Horror Have Romance In it?
Sure! What are greater conflicts than danger and desire?

Paraphrasing from my favorite play Streetcar Named Desire, horror is riding on the ultimate streetcar. Sometimes it's too dangerous to get off! We can see the danger. We can feel the threat down to her fingertips. But we get off, usually before the end of the line too.

We have to! Something calls to us, something we are unable to ignore!

Desire!

So we leave the safety of our streetcar and find ourselves exposed, looking for that which called to us.

Desire!

But there could be danger?

Danger AND desire, what better mix for horror?!

Someone happened to say real horror could not have romance in it.

I didn't agree.

I did post and I inclcuded this quote from a horror fan, Rick Youmans:
"It is one of the two motivational forces behind the horror genre. Either the return of unrequited love (the other being vengeance for a wrong). Any construct of horror that denies this has no understanding of its real power in the present sense. The abstract nature of vengeance, against society et al, is the predominate foci depicted in the visual mediums, while the search for love in a cruel world is the foci of the written medium... for the most part..."
Thank you Rick!

I mentioned Dracula (Bram Stoker's film version earlier). Now, I'd like to say this: although the novel, Dracula, and the films differ on this issue, I still feel there is an undercurrent of sexuality in the novel. I think Bram Stoker is clearly writing about female sexuality in the character of Lucy and Mina.

I also feel that Dracula's action with regard to over powering Mina (novel) and forcing her to feed on him is sexual. It is sexual abuse, really, when he restrains her.

Naturally, he's not her knight in shining armor and she's not wanting to have his babies exactly. But it is sexual, albeit darkly so. Can't this be twisted 'love'?

Is sick love some sort of pathological 'love'?Yes?

Well, if that is so then it's sick love or dark romance: sick or not.

With regard to the film (my favorite by Coppola) I think it is quite clear that there is quite a bit of sexual longing and tension present. Mina and the Count want to go steady and right away! That's pretty obvious. It also makes for some great scenes!

We watch it and are fascinated but do we ever doubt for one second that we are watching a HORROR film? NO!

With regard to horror fiction in general, there is what I term 'dude horror' which is often horror written mainly by men for men. The women depicted in this sort of fiction tend to be victims. There is, in my opinion, little or no 'romance'. There may be sex but candlelight dinners and violins, no.

I wonder, though, if sexual longing and desire along with genuine love cannot be present in dark horror.

I wirte Gothic romance, but my fiction is very different from what is commonly termed Gothic romance. This is not paranormal romance. It is darkest horror with some romance in it (sometimes).

The question is can dark Gothic romantic horror be considered horror?

Life has horror in it. And supernatural horror with the worst evil imaginable might have a thread of longing that is a kind of love.

Why can't the worst demonic being have loved once, whether briefly or for a micro second?

Why narrow the field?

Why define horror with restrictions?

If paranormal romance isn't horror, can darkest Gothic romance be considered to be horror?

Many writers writing today think it can. What do you think?

About Carole

This has been an interesting journey for me. I went back to writing about ten years ago. Life had gotten in the way and I finally had the opportunity to write once again.

I joined a local workshop. Somehow I found myself selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development! It was an invaluable experience but I preferred writing fiction.

Currently, I am published in a number of horror and sci-fi anthologies. I also have many short story collections up on Amazon.

I hope you check them out, some are pretty dark.

I enjoy writing dark horror however my greatest love of all, genre-wise, is writing dark Gothic romantic fiction.

My novel, The House on Blackstone Moor is being re-released shortly. Please stay tuned for updates!

The novel is quite dark:as a matter of fact it is darkest gothic horro and romance combined. The themes are vampirism, madness, obession and devil worship. It is recommended for readers over 18.

The sequel, which is turning out even darker, is entitled Unholy Testament and will follow.

After that I will be releasing a very special novel, I have already begun to work on. If you like vampires and darkest romance, you will be delighted. And if you ador Dracula, well--!

Meanwhile, you can find me at:
website: http://carolegillofficialauthor.blogspot.com/
facebook author page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carole-Gill-Author/120405794703293?ref=ts

I also have a Dracula fan page. I mean doesn't the old man deserve it?"
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dracula/228746553886476

And Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/carolelynngill

Alright! Thank you Carole for stopping by. I do hope that everyone enjoied this as much as I did. And goes to check her links out. I've just stopped by her Dracula fan page, and found that a fun spot to root around in. I will have Carole back on a regular bases and when she's ready to release her book, we'll have a little book launch for her!

Night time Thoughts

Okay, I know what you're thinking. I don't usually post twice in one day--like they say that lightning doesn't hit the same place twice. Riiiight. But dang it I did have a wonderful day. My back feels about 50% better. I still have to watch twisting and bending. But aside from that one physical aspect, I had a free day to do what I want.

I marveled at the new floor and cabinets in the kitchen, knowing that in two weeks they should be done with it all. Plans for the colors and what we'll do with it filling my spare moments as I make a list of things we'll need.

Today, I also won an ebook from my visit yesterday at Marissa Farrar's Official Author's Page, The House On Blackstone Moor by another (new) friend, Carole Gill. I will not tell you how long it took me to figure out how to get this book downloaded. And I'm thinking I didn't even need to do the Adobe down load at all, once I went back and did a simple down load to an RTF format. Sheesh!

Anyway I thank both Carole Gill and Marissa Farrar. Marissa has added a Friday interview with authors on her blog, and she has kindly invited me to be on it in June. So, whoo-hoo!

I've also worked further into my second book, did some research on King Solomon, and a magic ring he was supposed to have that helped him command demons, which relate to some degree with the second book's details, which lead me to some other interesting things that were just as interesting as my main interest. I love Wikipedia.

Then, tonight I began penning a scene down for the third book. It's actually the climax scene, merely because it was just there, even though I am no where near this scene in the book's actual writing progress. I'm only half way done! You see, I am a "panster", Carole! I can't help it. I think it's one of those obsessive things. Outlining doesn't work for me merely because the scenes come to me and I write them, sometimes out of sequence. My only basic structure might be a plot-planning template to keep me on track, and then possibly writing short descriptions down on note cards and placing them in order of where I want them. If that's outlining I'm a monkey's aunt. But it does keep me from deviating too much and hold me on track toward where I want to go with the book. And if it changes mid stream, no big deal. I love when my characters decide they are not what I expected them to be. Like Jett of the third book turns into a prince instead of a necromancer. I'll admit the necromancer idea wasn't bad, but Jett decided he was Drakulya's son. Go figure. And Sabrina is attracted to him, where as, in the beginning I didn't want her to be. That girl is hard to figure! But then, the were-creature sort of has her dancing in circles, so I can't blame her much.

And finally, but not least, Michelle Bradford-Arkon tells me that she will be posting a review on my book, Vampire Ascending, at her blog tomorrow. I will place a link for you all to take a peek.

Tomorrow I'll be singing the phrases "Ding-dong, the witch is dead!" because the most horrible man in this century, Osama bin Ladin, was killed by American forces. Good riddance!

I see by my clock that it is getting late and I do have to get up in the morning and go to work "sigh", but I will have this day in my mind, remembering all the things I accomplished and things that happened and all the people who happened by today.