The Cowboy and the Vampire Series Cover Revamp!

Hi ya'll,

As promised, I have a special treat today. Two of the biggest benefits of being a writer and blogger are the opportunities to do cover reveals and read ARCs of soon to be released books. In preparation for the third installment of their fantastic vampire series, Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays have given me the wonderful privilege to share with you the TWO new covers for the previous books. But first a little background. Go here and here to see the orginal covers for book one and two.

The phrase “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is a lie. It’s a damn lie. People do it all the time. Art is truth.

To mark the upcoming May 2014 release of the third book in The Cowboy and the Vampire Collection, the series was treated to a gothic western makeover, with artwork commissioned exclusively for the series.

“We wanted to give readers something special and the new covers get right to the heart of the series,” said co-author Hays. “Go on and judge the books by these covers! They bring together the paranormal and the western elements perfectly, setting a dark tone with just a hint of the humor.”

“Each time you look at the images, you see something a bit different, even more of the opposites-attract romantic theme pops, and the overtones of simmering passion,” said co-author McFall.

Get caught up on the love between Tucker and Lizzie now before the release of book three.

About the authors:
Between the two of them, Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall have worked in writing jobs ranging from
cowboy-poet to energy journalist to restaurant reviewer to university press officer. After they met, their writing career took center stage when they wrote the first book in The Cowboy and the Vampire
Collection as a test for marriage. They passed. Clark and Kathleen now live in Portland, Ore.

And now for the covers!!!

So what do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment below. And to make sure you are up to date on Liz and Tucker's story click here and here to buy the books.

Vampires & babies

Hi,
It's me, Melania. Remember me? The girl that used to review books, blog about writing, and give away stuff. Yeah, it's really me still. Sort of.

This last year has turned my life upside down, side ways, and back down again. Having a baby will do that to ya. I expected things to be very different. You know, like bye-bye social life, going to the movies, happy hour after work, shopping trips, weekend getaways with hubby, and that sort of stuff. I knew my writing would change and I wouldn't have as much time like I used. But boy was I in for a surprise.

As far as social life, I didn't really have a riveting one to begin with. Don't get me wrong, I have AWESOME friends. And I still do stuff with them, it's just different now. I'll come over to a party, but instead of staying until 2 in the morning after 3 or 4 drinks, we leave at 9 after a 1/2 glass of wine.

Movies-nah. With the cost of theaters these days, I'm really not missing them. Amazon Prime, is where I get my movie fix. Although I'm going to make an effort to go see the new Thor movie and Catching Fire and Hobbit 2 on the big screen. 

Happy hour- nope. That one went away, not because I have to rush home to the baby, but more because I'm so exhausted I can't wait to come home and get baby in bed so I can join her in la-la land.

Shopping-oh no, that one hasn't changed. I now have a little shopping buddy which makes it even more delightful. Her favorite color is pink. Makes buying things easy.

Weekend getaways with hubby- we're still working on that one. Shouldn't be long. As I type this I'm home alone because my folks have taken little angel home with them for the 2nd night now in a week. Unfortunately hubby is at work, but I'm already planning with my mother when it would be okay for her to stay an entire weekend.

Which brings me to the fact I'm alone and actually blogging. *insert gasp* One of the biggest changes in my life since little angel arrived is my writing. It took a ginormous hit. And I didn't understand why or what it was until recently.

Normally when I'm writing or working on a story, I pretty much live and breath every detail the entire time. Sure when I'm at day job, I take a break and focus on that, but the rest of my free brain time I devote to the story. I dream about my characters at night and think about them first thing when I wake up.

Well, when I got pregnant last year, that changed. My focus was off. I could only write about 1000 words on a good day. When the baby arrived I didn't type a damn thing except for my birth story (which eventually turned into another blog) and an occasional poem or short baby story I could make up while trying to put her to sleep.

I tried to work on editing my vampire novel, but I just couldn't get into it. I didn't seem to have the brain capacity to even think about how I should fix the problems or make it better. Baby, baby, baby, and an random vampire were pretty much on my mind.

Then I realized what was happening. Vampires live at night. Vampires suck the life out of you. They charm you with heir magic and lure you deeper into their realm. Pretty soon it's they are all you can think about.

Hmm. Sounds suspiciously like my little angel. Keeps me up all hours of the night, breastfeeds like a fiend, charmer, and she's always on my mind. Damn.

Halloween 2013

 

2nd Sunday Savor: Here we go again

First of all, how the heck does one return to normal blogging after the awesomeness of the last two weeks? I mean, really. Featuring a NY Times best-selling author's next novel cover reveal AND ARC giveaway AND two teasers pretty much tops everything. Except maybe if I announced that I've sold my book. Unfortunately, I haven't. Yet. But it will happen someday. :)

So maybe I'll give an update about what's happening in this author's life. Well, I'm back at it again. Those strigoi keep haunting my sanity, begging for more page time. The Vampire Novelist is being revised again. I worked on it last winter and set it aside so I could write my mermaid YA fantasy (which I did & finished it & submitted it & got rejected). Living in the ancient world of Atlantis fulfilled a childhood dream of mine. Even though the story got rejected, I got great feed back from those I submitted to, saying "loved the story and the writing, unfortunately it's not what we are looking for at this time." That is the best kind of rejection right there.

This fall I started a new YA about a girl discovering she's a witch that can control the weather & the angel sent to protect her while she gains control of her powers. It's slow going and the plot needs some *cough* a lot of work, but I'm really having fun with this story.

And through all of this Traian, Patrick, and Danika (the three main characters from TVN) decided they weren't done with me just yet.Vampires- they'll suck you right back in when you least expect it. So my goal is to give them another go. So far I'm loving the new revised plot. Then submit the story again when I'm finished and we'll see what happens.

So that's what's happening here, folks. I've returned to the dark side. Muahahahaha!

2nd Blog Anniversary Givaway

2 years, folks, 2 freaking years I've been blogging about books and writing. This time last year I had about 13 followers and a little over 500 hits, but now I'm up to 36 followers and over 6200 hits. I am blown away. To show my gratitude for your loyalty and support I'm giving away some books. Most of them are even signed plus lots of swag I've picked up at RWA!

Here's what is up for grabs. Prize #1:

Magic in the Sea

Tempest Unleashed by Tracy Deebs, Just for Fins by Tera Lynn Childs, and a surprise 3rd book I will reveal when I draw the winner in two weeks. Lets just say the surprise is AWESOME and worth the wait. Reading the e-version right now & can't put it down. If you can't wait till the reveal, check out my twitter feed about what I'm reading. All three books will be signed.

Prize #2: 

Vampires and Magic

Soul Bound by Mari Mancusi, Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep, and Abandon by Meg Cabot. The first two are signed. Unfortunately Meg wasn't at RWA this year so I couldn't get her to sign her book.

The Rules:
1. Leave a comment stating which prize you would prefer and an email address where I can get a hold of you when you win and an URL of Rule #2.
2. Share- Facebook, tweet, blog, whatever. Don't be selfish, share the love. :)
3. Not required, but if you feel so inclined follow this blog. It will boost your chances of winning that much more.
4. US & Canada residents only, please!

Contest ends at midnight PST on the 25th of this month and I'll post the winner before noon on the 26th. Thank you SOOOOO MUCH and good luck!

2nd Sunday Savor: Blood & Whiskey

Normally I do book reviews on the 3rd Sunday of the month, however my birthday is this week and I'm feeling kind of generous. And since it's my birthday I can do whatever the hell I want, right? So I'm going to talk about one of my favorite vampire novels which I had the opportunity to read six months before it even came out--one of the benefits of being friends with other authors, especially those who write stuff I like to read. :)

I met Clark Hays & Kathleen McFall a year and a half ago at the Book Fair. I only had enough money to buy one book, so of course I bought the only vampire novel there, The Cowboy and the Vampire, (book 1). You can read my short review here. When they asked me if I wanted to be a beta reader for the sequel, it was all I could do not to scream, "HELL YEAH!"

So what do I think of Blood and Whiskey? I frigging LOVED it. Similar to Cowboy & Vampire, the plot and the take on vampires was simply refreshing.

Dad, Tucker, Rex (the dog), Lizzie, Elita, and Lenny are back. Between dealing with the international assembly of vampires descending upon Lone Pine, a small podunk town in BFN Wyoming, and a possible human blood farm in Oregon, Lizzie and Tucker's vampire/human relationship is put to the test. So is Lizzie's new vampire status-- beneficiary of Lazarus's estate and by default Julius's wealth. Not to mention her pending pregnancy. Tucker will do just about anything to protect his lover and the mother of his unborn child, but even his devotion is challenged.

Lenny, my favorite character of both books, is still Lenny, the crazy government conspiracy theorist, explosive specialist, and producer of some of the best one liners I've heard. The book is full of heart pounding adventure, plot twists, and colorful humor with a perfect dose of romance.

So here is the generous part: leave a comment with an email address where I can contact you and you'll be entered to win a digital copy for your Kindle of Blood & Whiskey. I'll draw a name next Sunday, the 17th. Nothing makes me happier than giving away a vampire novel on my birthday.

You can check out Clark and Kathleen's blog tour here.

Thanks for stopping by!

2nd Sunday Savors: Characters

Characters: dictionary.com definition:

char·ac·ter/ˈkariktər/

Noun:

The mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. The distinctive nature of something.

I remember the day clear as if it were this morning. I was riding the MAX home listening to Depeche Mode"s It's No Good.  I closed my eyes and was taken to a moonlight meadow in the Fagarasi Mountains were a gypsy witch and a vampire stood together. He loved her so much because she was his beloved incarnate. She felt attracted to him as well, but held back. From there stemmed my first novel, Six Roses. I went home and wrote the first draft in about 3 months. Then I rewrote it changing her age from 16 to 18. But that draft didn't feel right either so I rewrote the entire novel, now making her an adult. With each evolution, the story became better. Yet there was something missing and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

So I rewrote the story taking a new spin on things. What if the girl who wrote Six Roses, discovered this world was real when the characters she created came into her life, and caused all sorts of mischief? Thus became my second novel The Vampire Novelist. I received lots of interest for this one, but because my writing wasn't quite up to par it was rejected each time. I loved this story and the character I created, but something lacked.

Last November, I participated in NaNoWriMo and I rewrote the original story AGAIN. 4th time now. This round I changed the plot completely, but kept the main & supporting characters. I did add a new character, a handsome young Orthodox priest. That's when the worst possible thing happened.

My gypsy witch fell in love with him.

I was so shocked I almost stopped writing the damn story. This couldn't be happening. She's supposed to be with vampire. They are soul mates! I screamed. I cried. I drank lots of whiskey. I couldn't sleep. And finally I accepted the inevitable. She was going to be with priest and there was nothing I could do about it.

That was in November. In early February as I was completing Editpalooza, it hit me harder than a speed train. My characters had taken a life of their own. They had become three dimensional beings. (All in my head, of course.) Here I was trying to force two people together who weren't meant to be lovers in this incarnation of her soul and it took five rewrites (if you count the spin off novel) for me to figure this out.

 Dude, writing is HARD! FRUSTRATING! DEMANDING! Can drive a person to alcoholism. But it's also so rewarding. Best part: you're never alone. I have my characters living with me 24/7 telling me what they think or making snide remarks about my choice in fashion some days. It gets noisy at times, but we're just one big happy family. When I try to abandon or ignore them, they sing this song:

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings.

1st Sunday Snippets: 1st Bite

For the past two weeks I've been feverishly working on three different projects. #1 writing a merman high heat level romance novella, #2 editing a mermaid novella, #3 revising The Vampire Novelist. (I know! Those vamps keep sucking me back in.)

Trying to keep three different stories straight hasn't been easy. Thank heavens for:

Harney and Sons

I've made lots of changes to TVN. I will talk more about that next week. But one of them is when the hero and heroine meet. The heroine is at a goth club in Seattle celebrating her 21st birthday when he saunters in and crashes her party.

 

I wetted my lips as my mind searched for something to say. Silly me, he’s just another human playing a vampire. A tall dark handsome man with pale skin and long black hair tied in a ponytail isn’t really that original among the wannabe undead.

“Hi.” I said.

He didn’t respond or acknowledge my presence. No, he just stared with those eerie red eyes. Except they weren’t red anymore. Black pools of darkness had replaced the crimson pupils.

He held his hand out and with the same blank expression he asked, “May I have this dance?”

May I have this dance? Who the hell talks like that? I gave him a beaming smile and placed my hand in his. “Sure.”

That’s when I knew the alcohol was talking, because I never dance with strangers, especially when I’m supposed to be on a date who happened to be very late. What was I supposed to do?

The stranger led me towards the center of the dance floor. For a moment I almost expected him to put his hand on my waist and start a waltzing me around. He didn’t. Instead he pulled me to him in a tight embrace, lowered his head to my shoulder, and bit me.

Thanks for reading! 

 

2nd Sunday Savors: Research

Poenari Citadel, Romania

Due to the popularity of my Dracula's Castle post last spring I decided to add a Part 2. When I visited my motherland two years ago, I had planned on doing research for my first vampire novel. I didn't think I would be able to make to Poenari, but luck smiled on me. Sit back and travel with me through my little adventure to the castle of the fabled undead Count.

First I wanted to see what it would be like to hike to the top as my heroine did in my book. Armed with my camera and water bottle, I climbed the 1400 steps. Just as I was about to turn around because the steps seemed to never end this is what came into view.

Of course I couldn't turn around now! I practically sprinted up the remainder 100 steps leaving my poor cousin huffing and puffing to keep up.  This is what you see when you enter the citadel.

This "corridor" leads to the central tower there you can take a peek of the side of the fortress.

The view is looking east towards the south tower. As you can see above stone and red brick make up the wall. The lower section of the wall made of grey rock is the original wall. The brick lay is a result form the restoration attempt done more recently.

The south tower and possibly the place from which Dracula's first wife leaped from during the Turkish invasion. 

 Looking down from the south tower at the Arges River. It's pretty far down there. Chance of survival-pretty much non-existent.  The road next to the river leads to a large dam, hydro-electric station, and a gorgeous mountain lake.

 

 This walkway is where the north wall once stood and leads to the main square tower. Several earthquakes and centuries of neglect caused the wall to collapse down the side of the cliff the citadel is perched on.

 Looking down at the bottom of the tower. You can see  where the wooden beams crossed. A documentary I watched regarding this fortress mentioned the floor once stood there forming a perfect holding cell for prisoners. They would lower their captives down into the dark dungeon with no chances of them getting out. 

Here is Lake Vidraru which feeds the Arges River. The peaks you see beyond are the Fagaras Mountains and the homeland of my vampires. Those mountians are full of legends and myths, but I'm developing my own because I can. It's the beauty of writing fiction and fantasy.

Research is very valuable to writing. From research you gain inspiration for your work. I write in first person most of the time so it's very important for me to experience some of the things my character would. I have to see how things feel, taste, sound, and look like. Of course there are things I can't experience first hand.

When I went to Smart Chicks Tour, author Jennifer Barnes' advice (and I paraphrase): If you have a choice between trying something new or writing, do the new thing.

Excellent advice. New experiences supply you with an arsenal of interesting things to spice up your novel.

Thanks for reading. Next week 3rd Sunday Sweets. I've been reading lots of fun books lately. Hmm, which one shall I pick from....

Cowboys and Vampires.

Last month I gave out a personalized copy of The Cowboy and The Vampire for my one year blog anniversary. As a thank you, I got to download a copy of the novella Red Winter written by Clark Hays, one of the authors of TCATV. 

Due to the crazy schedule I've been entertaining these days, I didn't have a chance to sit down and read it till this afternoon. What a treat. After the week I had, this was a great way to escape for a little shoot-them-up, throw in some whiskey, a couple of crazies, and a vamp. 

It's a short read, about 12K words. What I liked about it was the voice. Clark does such a great job bringing out the western drawl spiked with his classic style of humor.

The story is about Lone Pine, Wyoming (the same place as in TCATV), but set in the 1800's. Winter is setting in when people start turning up dead and not in a pretty sort of way. The town sheriff, Early, (awesome name) has his hands full as he tries to put an end to the blood-bath and kill the SOB causing the mayhem. 

My favorite character is Joe, the crazy wolfer who says "That sumbitch won't die."

At first when I read the ending I thought it seemed a bit anticlimactic after all the built tension. But after second thought, I realized it was quite fitting and an excellent way to finish the story, because now we have the possibility for more tales to come from Lone Pine. Which, by-the-way, I'm all for. 

I ain't going to tell ya anymore cause you just gonna have to read it for yourself. Here is the link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81200

And Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Winter-ebook/dp/B005GLEU68/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1315356009&sr=1-1

As we get closer to Halloween, this would make a lovely e-read for when the nights get crispy and you need to curl by the fire with a cup of coffee and a shot of whiskey.

In other news, stay tuned to an upcoming newly developed blog schedule. 

Cheers,

Melania

1st Birthday Contest

*CONTEST OVER*

Hi Everyone!

I have been planning this contest for several months now and it has FINALLY arrived. On August 28th, 2010, I wrote my very first blog. 3 people followed me instantly. Of course, they were my friends! Then I joined Romance Writers of America. The next day I had about 20 hits and several more followers. These were my chapter mates and their support gave me a huge boast. Over the last couple of months however, I have gathered about five more followers- all of which have been complete strangers who thought I was worth following. You have no idea how honored I am.

As a thank you, I am doing this giveaway contest. Since I haven't published anything just yet, I will be giving away two of my favorite books. The authors have even been kind enough to personalize the copies for the winners.

 

The first book is The Cowboy and The Vampire by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall. This is a fantastic romantic mystery filled with humor and adventure. It is by far one of my favorite adult vampire novel. What kept me reading this fun ride was Tucker, the cowboy. I'm not much of a Western fan, but OMG I could spend a day with Tucker any time. Currently, Clark and Kathleen are working on a sequel and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

The second book is Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey. This is my favorite young adult vampire novel. I found this book at the library when I searched for Romanian Vampire novels a couple of years ago and wanted to know what had already been written. Never in a million years did I expect to read it cover to cover in one setting. Nor did I expect to fall in love with Jessica as she discovered she was a Romanian vampire princess and Lucias, a vampire prince, trying to woo her. What I liked most about it is the romantic relationship Beth created between the two characters. It was very sweet, yet the element of danger gave the romance an edge. Jessica's Rules to the Dark Side, the sequel, will be coming out this fall. I posted the cover here.

So what do you have to do? Here are the rules.

1. THIS CONTEST IS FOR US AND CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY. Sorry!
2. COMMENT:  (A)Tell me what your favorite adult or YA vampire novel is and (B)why. (C)Specify which of the two books you are interested in winning.
3. Share this post by twittering or Facebook or blogging or whatever social media you use.
4. Contest ENDS AUGUST 31ST, 2011.
5. 2 randomly chosen winners will receive a personalized and signed copy of the book they specified interest in.

There you go, pretty simple! Blog/tweet/facebook away! And a huge THANK YOU for you support.

Cheers and Good Luck,
Melania

Traveling through Twilight

Does this beach look familiar to you? Well if you've watched New Moon you'll recognize it is La Push Beach. Freaking AWESOME, eh? I was THERE.

Proof I was there!

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the recent privilege to visit the beautiful Victoria, BC. On the way back we decided to drive through Forks and swing in to La Push. We'd driven through Forks way back in Spring 2007 before the Twilight craze. My husband even treated me to Bella Italia in Port Angeles, because it was the only decent place to eat. I remember seeing the sign to La Push, put didn't go. We were there to visit Olympic National Park so I could get extra credit in my Geology of the National Parks class at Portland State University. I didn't know anything about La Push, except that the highway sign indicated it was an Indian Reservation and it completely out of our way.

*CONFESSIONS* (You have been warned)

In the fall 2008, I finally read Twilight and my old flame for vampires reignited. Smitten and Bitten! Okay, okay, I admit it. I love Twilight. Team Edward all the way. *swoon*  Ahem, yes and since I had been in the area just the year before, all my memories of the place were intact. I could close my eyes and almost feel like I was there. Stephenie Meyer captured the location perfectly. My heart longed to go back and explore the area once again.

My wish finally came to fruition last month. Unfortunately we didn't make the earlier ferry from Victoria and that meant no time to explore. I didn't even have time to snap a picture of Jacob's rental (which looks like his home in the movies complete with motorcycle in front yard) or Jacob's Java. But here's a shot of the convenient store on the Reservation and a fun bulletin board out front.

The notes are addressed to Jacob, but there is some Edward love there too. Though I stared endlessly into the lush forests lining the highway, I didn't spot any massive wolves or pale humans running at inhumanly speeds.

2007- Forks was a tiny sleepy town non-residents drove through to get from one part of Olympic National Park to the other. Those were the tourists of the area. NOW- I saw as many different license plates from all over the North American continent as I had in Victoria. These weren't people coming to visit the park. Oh I'm sure they did, since they were there, but that isn't what brought them in the first place.

While in Victoria, we saw a German family with small children on one of the tours we took. Then we spotted them & their rental RV on our ferry coming to Port Angeles. When we were driving out of La Push we saw their RV again headed to the reservation RV park. Now don't tell me the young mother isn't a Twilight fan! Why else would they travel all the way from Germany to La Push?

We drove back out of La Push and on down to Forks. What I had read online and in newspapers about the affect Twilight had on Forks was confirmed. At least 50% or more of the signs in front of shops referenced something related to Twilight.

Talk about an economic boost! The power of the written word. And it all started with a dream....

Walking on stars

Above is the reason I haven't blogged in a while. And no, I wasn't shooting a vampire flick even though I was in Hollywood surrounded by stars-literally.

Bela Lugosi, in my mind, will always be THE Dracula, though Gary Oldman did a phenomenal job portraying the blood sucking fiend.

Seeing his star on Hollywood Boulevard sparked a desire to share with you a few factoids Mr Lugosi:

• Did you know Bela Lugosi played Dracula in a Broadway show before he went on to play the role in the famous film?
• Bela Lugosi is NOT Romanian, but Hungarian. Romanians weren't to pleased by the fact a Magyar was to play the most famous Romanian of all even though Mr Vlad Tepes himself had strong ties with the Hungarian royalty. But I digress...
• Bela Lugosi's children had him buried with his cap, but it's not the original one he wore during the 1931 film Dracula.

 Thank you for reading and I will leave you with the highlight of my walk on stars.

Emma, Daniel, and Rupert. The fab three of Harry Potter! Evidence of how well-written books can have such a huge influence in pop-culture.

What are your favorite books turned movies?

Strigoi

Greetings!

I had planned to post this on Wednesday, but all week has been a whirlwind of editing and synopsis/query letter writing. Friday morning, I submitted for the very first time to a publishing industry professional in NY. My hands trembled uncontrollably as my cursor hovered over the send button. My stomach flutters now just thinking about it. What is done is done and now the waiting game commences. But while we wait, let’s talk about strigoi.

Photo courtesy of Google Images.

The word strigoi originates from the Latin word strix which means witch or demon. In Romania, strigoi are referred to as troubled spirits of the dead who prey on humans. They are a cross between a poltergeist and a vampire in that they cause all sorts of mischief to their surviving families and sustain themselves with blood (both human and animal). Some claim the strigoi can possess other’s bodies or take on animal forms like pricolicii, a creature similar to a werewolf. They are not supposed to be sexy or glamorous. As you can see from the picture above.

Now there are two kinds of strigoi. Strigoi vii and mort. Vii are living vampires and are often referred to as witches.  Mort are the dead. They are the ones which prey on human blood. Yup, you figured it out. Strigoi vii become morti when they die. Once dead, he or she has to return their grave frequently—more specifically during the day.

How does one become a strigoi? *laughs* The ways are endless and they don’t involve being bitten. To name a few:

·         Being born out of wedlock

·         Die before being baptized

·         Born with a caul or tail

·         Unnatural death

·         Unmarried people

·         A cat walks over your dead corpse

And the list goes on. Have I mentioned Romanians are highly superstitious? So what if you are bitten by a strigoi? Chances are when you die you may become one of them, unless the priest intercedes at the time of death and in your burial.

How do you ward off strigoi? Garlic. Stakes, Fire. If you ever get a chance to drive through the countryside of Romania, you will see braids of garlic and herbs hanging from front gates of people’s homes. Yes, even today there are many believers in these myths. 

How do you kill a strigoi? There are multitude of ways and it all depends on the stage in with the strigoi is in. If they are in the wrath stage floating about, one must exhume the body and pierce a stake through their heart. The gypsies suggest sticking a clove of garlic in the mouth as well. If they are a fully developed strigoi, a stake through the heart, decapitation, and burning the body would do the trick. When the grave in which the strigoi inhabits cannot be found, the best time to kill a strigoi is while they are feeding because they are completely distracted by the blood.

Here is the key for a strigoi to survive. It is believed that if the strigoi goes undetected for seven years he or she are free to leave their original grave and lead a normal life among humans. Obviously they would have to live somewhere where they are not recognized. They are no longer bound to their own grave except for Saturdays when they must find a grave to spend the day in or on a special undead holiday. When they reach this state, they become immortally beautiful.

So now you know a little more about the vampires of Romania and some of the mythology I have woven throughout my novel. Most of this information I gleaned from the internet and tales my grandmother used to tell me when I was a child. She had a great way of getting me to go to bed or eat my carrots. “If you’re not a good girl, the strigoiul will find you . . .” I also understand now why Romanians eat lots of garlic.

Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Dracula's Castle

Greetings!

In case you were wondering, I haven't turned into a vampire yet. The writing is going well. I'm at 85K as of this morning.

As promised, a post about vampires. Who is the most famous of the legends? Dracula (aka Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler). Made famous by Bram Stoker 1897 novel Dracula, Vlad Tepes has fascinated the minds around the globe and Hollywood only added to the fervor. Who can forget Bela Lugosi's hair-raising portrayal of the undead Transylvanian superstar?

With the resurgence of vampire frenzy in the last couple of years, thanks to the lovely Stephanie Meyer, Romania has once again attracted the world's attention. I can not tell you how many ghost hunting shows and other documentaries about the real Dracula on TV I've seen.

Here's a little factoid you may not have known: There are no Romanian legends that claim Vlad Tepes was a vampire. Yes he was a notorious ruler and shed blood without batting an eyelash, but Romanians don't consider him a vampire. Some think of him as a hero for defeating the Turkish armies. Oh, yeah, they believe in vampires, strigoi, just not in the Hollywood romanticized version.

When I traveled through Romania in 1998, shortly after I had read Dracula for the first time, I wanted to visit Vlad Tepes' castle. My relatives living in Transylvania took me here:

This is Bran Castle, where Dracula may have stayed during one of his conquering tours. It is a beautiful medieval castle and elicits the feeling of grandness reserved for the rulers of that time period. However this is not THE Dracula castle even though the kiosks lining the gate entrance will sell you just about anything with Dracula stamped on it. I discovered this a couple of years ago after doing some research and watching a couple of documentaries on the History Channel. Dracula lived in the province of Wallachia, south of Transylvania.
In Fall of 2009, I spent a week visiting my grandmother who happens to live 30 kilometers for the actual castle, Poenari Citadel.

Poenari was built in the 13th century and was abandoned. In the 14th century, Vlad commissioned it to be restored enslaving the rich families of the those who had crossed him in the past. They worked till their fine clothes turned to rags and either died or were executed. The citadel is located on the cliff of a small mountain along the pass through the Fagaras Mountains. To get to it you have to drive way off the beaten path then climb over 1400 steps to reach the entrance. It is has the mysterious creepy feeling to it that one would expect visiting Dracula's castle. The views from the towers and walls are spectacular. Because of it's remote location there are no tours and neither are there any tourist attractions near by- yet. Romanians love to capitalize their fame.
The castle now lies in ruins as it was abandoned after Turks attacked it while Vlad lived there. Legend says his first wife cast herself off one of the towers after seeing the fortress surrounds by the barbaric Ottoman soldiers, claiming she would rather the wild animals or the Arges river fish eat her broken flesh than be raped and killed by the Turks. Her body was never found.

This legend has inspired part of my vampire novel. What if she was the real vampire in the myth? Something to think about, eh?

Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about my heritage. Next week I'll be discussing the strigoi.

Cheers,
Melania