If you could read my mind: What a tale my vampire's would tell

Hi all! :) I know you've missed me but I have been busy on vacation, (sounds like an oxymoron huh? ;) with editing and on a cruise (where I had to pay for internet time by the minute) so my absense wasn't without it's reasons. As you may have guess this time I'll be spaking about telepathy and mind control (with a nodd to the great Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot) First off though (as always)

Shameless plug: My book The Newfoundland Vampire will be on in April 2012 (with Pat's very skilled and gracious help) and Tasha’s books (I've read both and highly recommend) are out now.

When a lot of people think of vampires a power that often comes to mind is hypnotisim, mind control or some kind of telepathy. A vampire's gaze is often used in novels and movies as a way to control a human, even if it's just long enough to take a nibble on their neck ;) I didn't bother with the gaze part and I don't mean crushing someone's will but just the ability to make people act just a little different than they may have otherwise would be an incredibly usefull tool. For my book I took it a few steps further but first a few questions. What would you do if you could read someone's mind? What behaviours would incourage or discourage in others?

I'm a poker player (very much an amatuer sadly) and I can only dream of how this would help at the table (especially since I pretty much lost steady for 4 nights on a cruise). Just the ability to see someone's card or make them fold at just the right moment could make you a fortune and eventually piss a lot of people off :-) Just imagine though the simple things like waiting in line, getting into a sold out show, getting away without a parking ticket, life sure would be easier with a little mind influencing action.

But I'm way off topic. What I saw for vampires is that they could not only influence people's action but also animals. How useful would be to quiet an annoying barking dog? Or stop a cat from spraying the furtniture? For a more extreme situation nothing would be better (or more surprising) than having a crocodile or other large animal show up to fight for you when the going got tough. Furthermore I thought that one vampire who creates another would have a special bond and could communicate telepathically over any distance and could read weak-willed or young vampires minds. Vampires though would also have the ability to shield their thoughts from anyone, it would just take time and skill to do so. (hey you can never be too careful right? :)

The temptation to control human behavior would always be present (and could also be a ton of fun at parties ;) and the ability to communicate without words to another vampire would be incredibly convienent and useful. Well I'd go on but I've got this funny feeling in my head, kind of like a sexy female voice almost whispering for me to finish putting away the dishes ;-) Until next time dear readers I am...

Another stake in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Comics

Hi all. Well I decided to take a break from more serious writing concepts and ideas to get back to my love of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. In particular the next 3 volumes of Season 8 I read, 5-7 but first these messages.

Shameless plug: My book The Newfoundland Vampire will be on in April 2012 and Tasha’s books (the second one I’ve read and highly recommend) are out now.

Ok so as you know I loved Buffy when it was on TV and I enjoyed the ending. The comics pick up where the show left off and these three finally reveal who the big baddie is this season, mysterious "Twilight".

Volume 5: Predators and Prey, this was a fun volume. A clever idea (and one that would probably happen if vampires were real) for vampires to become popular and slayers to become hated. I love the "Andrew" character, used to be evil, now works for Buffy and super Geeky. It was also fun to have Harmony back, for an evil vampire she is always good for a few laughs :)

Volume 6: Retreat, another excellent entry in the series. Buffy and the gang decide they have to use less magic (which is tough when your powered by demon energy ;) and go to hide out in Tibet with Oz (the Seth Green werewolf character). One of the best parts of this comic for me has been that Joss can bring back all the characters, Faith, Giles, Andrew, Spike, Oz, Dawn, Willow they all make appearances. So Oz has found a way to give his power to the earth and Buffy and the slayers (along with Williow and the magic users) do the same. Twilight finds them anyway and with no magic they fight a traditional war with tanks, guns and torpedoes! (you'll have to read it). Also Dawn and Xander finally get together and Buffy gets superpowered.

Volume 7: Twilight. Okay I can see what people were talking about when they said the story starts to go downhill. This has some strange stuff in it. I didn't mind the fact that Twilight was Angel, he's done some bad stuff as Angel (not Angelus) before but it's not explained how he became "invulernable" and having a whole issue focusing on Angel & Buffy having sex was odd (though stimulating of course :) Making Buffy & Angel "gods" of some sort and Adam and Eve, well it's something that never would have been shown on cable TV and is not one of Joss' best ideas. Despite that I still enjoyed this volume and was glad to see Spike come back, I'm looking forward to reading the end of Season 8.

On a technical note I have to praise all of the artwork, these volumes looked fantastic and overall I would certainly reccomend it for any Buffy fans. So until next week dear readers I am . . .

The dangers of putting too much of yourself in a story

Hi all :) Taking a little break from editing to write this. Another busy week for me at work and lots of shoveling, winter sucks :( (at least here way up north in Newfoundland) but I digress. Tonight I thought I'd speak about a writing issue/subject I've thought on a fair bit lately, namely writing what you know and in particular putting yourself in your stories.

First though a message from our sponsors (namely me and Tasha): My book The Newfoundland Vampire will be on in April 2012 (still working hard on editing) and Tasha’s books (the second one I’ve read and highly recommend) are out now.

So when I started writing my book seriously about two years ago (I actually started it way back in 2002) I decided to base the main character, Joseph, largely on myself. I know it's been done but I couldn't resist. You're supposed to write what you know and what better do I know than myself? From the time I was thirteen I imagined what it would be like to be a vampire, so naturally when I wrote a vampire book the easiest way to write the main character was to imagine how he/me would act as a vampire.

I wrote the book initially as a sort of wish fullfillment/diary of what I had done in my life and how I imagined things could have turned out differently. The biggest problem with this idea (that I discovered much later on) is that like most people I don't have a very exciting life. So when you write a vampire's story and not much happens to him for the first 13 chapters or so, well it's not the most exciting read.

I see that now but for a long time I didn't. It's a strange phenomennon that when you write something so personal it feels good (I guess a little therapeutic even) but it takes the perspective of an objective reader to make you realize this does not make an engaging story. (Thanks Pat, I know you're reading this :-)

I became very personally invested in Joseph because so much of him was me that I lost objectivity, this was a mistake I can see now. I wish I had an exciting life like Hemmingway or William Shanter (give the guy credit, he's over 80 and still acting! :) or even Oscar Wilde.
("Picture of Dorian Gray" is amazing) but I'm not like those people (well maybe Shanter a little ;) and I had to make Joseph's adventures exciting and thus gave him some adventures I wish I had (and others I'd never want anyone to experience.)

But hopefully my life will get a little more exciting (I did have a car catch on fire last month) and in the meantime Joseph and my other vampire creations can be vicarious thrills for me and hopefully bring excitinment to those who read them. Until next time dear readers, I am . . .

Who can it be now? Vampires in disguise

Natasha Larry is enjoying my posts (Thanks Tasha!) and since I also have a few fans I'll keep doing them :) Today I'd like to talk about the idea of stolen idenities and dopplegangers (and of course vampires) but first these messages ;)

Shameless plug: My book The Newfoundland Vampire will be on in April 2012 and Tasha’s books (the second one I’ve read and highly recommend) are out now. Tasha also recently said on Twitter she completed book 3 and I'm working away on book 2 of mine, so expect lots from both of us in the future.

The idea of stolen idenity is not a new one. I first saw the film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" many years ago (scared the crap out of me then, still creepy now). For my novel I decided to twist the idea and give vampires the ability to change their apperance. Since vampires can also read minds (and for mine access your whole life when they drink your blood) they can easily impersonate someone they kill and take over their life.

As humans one of the things we value most is our uniqueness as the dominant creature on earth and the fact that we are different from anyone else. The idea of having your body, your mind and your life stolen is an inherently terrifying one. For me of course this leads to great dramatic possibilites in my book.

Once the reader knows vampires exist then the main character Joseph (who is basically me) wonders who in the world is a vampire? Celebrities? Historical figures? Politicans? World leaders? His best friend?

Even more disturbing could some of the most evil murderers still be alive and look like someone else? Who is really in charge of the world? Can he ever trust his own creator? Some of these questions are addressed in my book while others are left hanging for future volumes. While many people have experienced stolen credit card numbers and idenity theft (I've experienced the former and it is a real nusicance) the concept of your whole life stolen truly horrifies. Another person/vampire who could quite literally take your place in every way is the kind of thing I think about and the kind of dilemma Joseph must consider in my novel.

Until next week dear readers, keep a hold of your idenity, you never know who might be watching you ;)

TUESDAY TIPS AND TIDBITS - Free Kindle Tuesdays in January

Every Tuesday in the month of January, we're offering a free Kindle copy of the novella, VAMPIRE IN THE OUTFIELD, by Walter Knight, author of the popular humorous military sci-fi series AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION.

SOME REVIEWS:

Amazon customer Victor Standish had this to say about VAMPIRE IN THE OUTFIELD... "This is my new favorite read. I laughed. I cried. Ah, that last when my ghoul friend, Alice, smacked me on top of my head for ignoring her while I was reading it. This book will brighten whatever day in which you read it. You will not regret reading this one. Walter has done it again, Victor Standish (I'm borrowing Roland Yeomans' computer to do this.)"

Fellow author Natasha Larry had this to say about VAMPIRE IN THE OUTFIELD... "I can say that I gobbled down this story. I'll go ahead and say this is some of the best vampire fiction I've read in awhile. Now, is it serious vampire fiction? Absolutely not, and that was the point. It was also why I loved it. I think I laughed through the entire thing. Vampire in the Outfield is about a young man who wants to play baseball more than he wants to do anything else. The only thing is...he isn't very good...hence the steroids. Then he comes across a hot piece of....you know...and she turns him into a vampire. Now he has to deal with that age old question....can vampires play baseball? Well, yes they can...still, it is a bummer...being a vampire and not being able to pose for all those publicity shots. After all, vampires have no reflections. He doesn't fly or sparkle either...and now, he has to take on the evil empire, namely, the New York Yankees. Vampire in the Outfield is a brilliant, tongue in cheek comedy about the world of vampires and baseball. It is quick and satisfying, which is a rare combination, and as such I am recommending it to anyone that has a sense of humor."

BOOK SUMMARY:

VAMPIRE IN THE OUTFIELD
by Walter Knight
Fiction, humor, vampire

New humorous paranormal novella in ebook from the author of AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION series. A young man who just wants to play baseball in the major leagues ends up going to some questionable extremes to get his wish. A humorous look at baseball, vampires, and the Evil Empire (the New York Yankees) in a future where scouts will sign just about anybody – human or otherwise – if they can hit and play ball.

Get it here

Book Review: Vampire in the Outfield by Walter Knight

Okay, so I lied in the title of this blog post as this isn't a book so much as a short story.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way I can say that I gobbled down this story. I'll go ahead and say this is some of the best vampire fiction I've read in awhile.

Now, is it serious vampire fiction? Absolutely not, and that was the point. It was also why I loved it. I think I laughed through the entire thing.

Vampire in the Outfield is about a young man who wants to play baseball more than he wants to do anything else. The only thing is...he isn't very good...hence the steroids. Then he comes across a hot piece of....you know...and she turns him into a vampire. Now he has to deal with that age old question....can vampires play baseball?

Well, yes they can...still, it is a bummer...being a vampire and not being able to pose for all those publicity shots. After all, vampires have no reflections. He doesn't fly or sparkle either...and now, he has to take on the evil empire, namely, the New York Yankees.

Vampire in the Outfield is a brilliant, tongue in cheek comedy about the world of vampires and baseball. It is quick and satisfying, which is a rare combination, and as such I am recommending it to anyone that has a sense of humor.

Walter Knight is also author of: America's Galactic Foreign Legion, a series of books licensed and produced through Penumbra Publishing.