“I am staggered at how lucky I am,” exclaims Alexandra Sokoloff, author of the newly released novel Book of Shadows. “I’m making a living writing exactly what I want to write, and getting everything I write published. That’s a delirious kind of success!” Where she sees luck, however, others might see a boundlessly creative and deserving writer dedicated to her craft.

No longer a fresh face to the scene, Sokoloff has happily transitioned from her role as frustrated screenwriter to bestselling author, producing four well-received works of fiction since 2006. “Writing novels is a slower, deeper rhythm, and I love that. Publishing is worlds different from Hollywood. You get to complete every project you start, which is so incredibly satisfying. It’s fantastic!” In addition to her novels, Sokoloff is involved in several side projects, such as her non-fiction workbook Screenwriting Tricks For Authors (and Screenwriters!), as well as numerous other upcoming ventures. “I am extremely excited about a novel I have just finished with Sarah Langan, Sarah Pinborough, and Rhodi Hawk, [entitled] Apocalypse. It’s actually four novellas that are intricately interwoven into a single book. [And] I’ve written a paranormal for Harlequin… called The Shifters. Not quite as scary as my others, but lots of sex to make up for it.”

Since leaving Hollywood to focus on her Bram Stoker award winning debut novel The Harrowing, Sokoloff has found that her particular blend of eroticism, horror, spiritualism and mystery has conjured a devoted audience. “I am very aware of my mandate to scare people,” she explains. “But it’s a nail-biting, hair-raising, psychological kind of chill that I’m going for. I think The Price is my only true horror novel, but it’s so psychological that the horror creeps up on you.”

“I’m proudly writing in a long Gothic horror tradition,” expounds Sokoloff. “I think what distinguishes my stories from a lot of obvious horror is that I always ground everything that happens in reality, which means that there could be a psychological or criminal interpretation to the supernatural occurrences that are going on.”

This subjective approach to Sokoloff’s fiction claws its way to the forefront of her recently published novel Book of Shadows. The story unfolds initially as a James Patterson-ish police procedural, following Boston detectives investigating the violent and apparently ritualistic murder of a young college student. Not surprisingly, things run askew for the authorities when bewildering evidence and the sudden emergence of a mysterious woman threaten to rupture the unassailable case against their swiftly apprehended suspect. “It’s my most realistic book. I wanted to write a [story] that would pit a very outwardly rational, logic-driven man against a very otherworldly, psychic, subconsciously driven woman, and play with the line between what is real and what is supernatural.”

“I thought I could create some great chemistry and distrust between the characters there,” she explains. “A paranormal noir, if you will.”

Another reoccurring theme in Sokoloff’s work is the decidedly pronounced focus on strong, yet considerably troubled, female characters. “I write…from a specifically feminine point of view, and that’s a very conscious effort. Women know a lot about horror.” Robin from The Harrowing, Laurel from The Unseen, and now Tanith from Book of Shadows adorn Sokoloff’s hall of heroines with dark pasts filled with secrets, hidden agendas and raw trauma. “You don’t live in this world as a woman without becoming troubled in some way. We know what it is to be raped, battered, prostituted, enslaved, disenfranchised, underpaid, demeaned, harassed; we live horror on a much more intimate basis than most men ever do.”

While a serviceable and solid police thriller, Book of Shadows falls well short of the standard set by Sokoloff’s superlative novel The Price. Slightly uneven in tone, her newest seems unable to decide exactly what kind of story it aspires to be. Garrett, the detective caught up in the middle of an is-it-real-or-not journey into the paranormal, seems to waver every other chapter despite mounting evidence that not only have they arrested the wrong killer, but that the source of the danger is unquestionably not of this world.

Despite these issues, Book of Shadows moves along at an exciting clip, dragging the reader into a wholly satisfying hallucinogenic whirlwind of criminal investigations, witchcraft, and suppressed sexual desires. Without a doubt, Sokoloff is rapidly becoming one of the more exhilarating writers working in the industry today, churning out dark and often erotic adventures that both stimulate and thrill.

“I have vast distances to go on this whole journey,” the author observes. “But the way I’m writing now, I can easily write one or two books a year. That is a lot of stories to write, a lot of worlds to explore, a lot of lives to live.”

The journey of David Wellington from aspirant published author to horror genre literary powerhouse is well documented, and the source of infinite envy for those attempting to photocopy his success. “I couldn’t get published to save my life,” Wellington explains. “A friend suggested I could put some of my work on his blog. The first day I got seventeen hits. By the time I was finishing up my first serialized novel, it was something like forty thousand hits per update. That was when the publishers came calling.”

Since 2006, Wellington has unleashed a consistent barrage of creature features, starting with his three-book zombie epic Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet, the riveting Laura Caxton centered vampire series that spans four books (soon to be five) beginning with 13 Bullets, and most recently his spin on the werewolf mythos Frostbite, with the sequel Overwinter due out in September. “I grew up reading genre novels when I was a kid. They were meant for…fans of those genres. I was one of those fans. Still am. I love horror because I like old monster movies and all the gothic trappings.”

Wellington’s greatest success thus far has undoubtedly come through the aforementioned Laura Caxton, heroine of the author’s vampire tales. Undeniably stalwart and intelligent, Caxton also bears the distinction of being one of the only lesbian leading ladies in modern horror literature. “She's based on my sister, who is in fact gay. She used to tell me these horror stories of what she went through before she came out. A lot of that went into the character.”

Wellington was determined, however, not to make Caxton’s sexual orientation a hollow gimmick. “Caxton being gay has very little to do with her character. I didn't even know she was gay until I wrote the scene near the beginning of 13 Bullets when she comes home from work and climbs into bed. I said, okay, there's somebody in the bed already waiting for her. It turned out to be another woman, which surprised me as much as anybody.”

“I’ve gotten a lot of very nice comments from individuals saying that they appreciate the fact that Caxton is gay,” Wellington continues. “But that doesn't define who she is. I fully expected some kind of backlash, but it turns out that the kinds of people who read books are also the kind of people who live in the 21st century.”

This type of deep, nuanced characterization is one of the hallmarks of Wellington’s work. From the adolescent girl soldiers in Monster Island, to an incarcerated baby killer in 23 Hours, to a conflicted lycanthrope in Frostbite, the author fills his novels with consistently well-rounded and motivated cast members. “I'm the kind of guy who, if I see somebody on the subway train wearing a bizarre hat, I need to know why he put that hat on. And because you can't just ask people, I end up making up my own story.”

“I do a fair amount of outlining beforehand, and a lot of research, but mostly it's about the characters,” Wellington explains. “The idea is usually a scene, or even just an image. Typically it will be the climax of the book, the last big scene. Then I work backwards thinking: How did those characters get into such a preposterous mess? When I reach the beginning, the moment when destiny conspired to put them in that scene or image, then I start typing.”

For Laura Caxton, destiny, in the form of Wellington’s rich imagination, will continue to push her into the fray with 32 Fangs, due out in 2011. “I'm working on it right now,” he reveals.” Readers will recall that, at the conclusion of 23 Hours, Caxton was a fugitive from justice, breaking out of prison while also avoiding the clutches of the malevolent vampire Justina Malvern. “I don't want to give anything away, but there are plenty of other people involved in the plot now, and some of them are up to some surprising things.”

In addition to his ongoing vampire marathon, the author has provided a free new online serial novel entitled Plague Zone, an original zombie adventure featuring a hero Wellington describes as “the toughest librarian in post-apocalyptic Seattle,” something the former Library Science major might know a little something about. Decidedly different from his Monster series zombies, these flesh eaters are more akin to victims of mad cow disease than anything supernatural. The story can be read in its entirety at http://brokentype.com/pz/.

Beyond the releases of Overwinter and 32 Fangs, Wellington is decidedly non-committal about his future plans (“How about a vacation?"). While a break would be well deserved after redefining the zombie, vampire and werewolf subgenres, one can only wonder what comes next for the prolific writer. “I try never to predict the future,” he muses. “That way I'm never wrong.”

Hey All,

Just dropping a note letting you know of our latest reviewer : Jess Peacock. He comes to us from his own blog, http://thecrawlspaceonline.blogspot.com, and will now be contributing here as well.

Welcome aboard, Jess. Now get to work! :)

- Dan.

“My stuff tends to skew dark,” explains novelist Cherie Priest, author of the Hugo Award nominated novel Boneshaker. “But I’m comfortable with that. I kind of bounce around between genres.” Considered a vanguard of steampunk, Priest’s Boneshaker creates a densely imaginative alternate 1880 (“I don't let the facts get in the way of a good story”) where a large section of Seattle has been walled off from the rest of the world after a massive drill, the titular Boneshaker, inadvertently unleashes an ominous gas that transforms those who inhale it into the walking dead.

More akin to the late 1960’s television series The Wild, Wild West (“It’s absolutely an early steampunk work”) than the typical Victorian-era British locales most associated with the subgenre, Boneshaker nevertheless delivers the expected trappings with crudely fabricated zeppelins, peculiar pneumatic powered weapons, and mechanized surgically grafted prosthetics. “Steampunk is a lot of fun,” Priest says. “It has these undercurrents of conservationism (it's very reduce/reuse/recycle in its philosophy), and it overlaps nicely with the do-it-yourself movement.”

“There's a great deal of neat stuff going on in the subculture right now,” Priest continues. “It's really exploding all over the country, so I'm thrilled and proud to be part of it.” This upsurge in the popularity of steampunk is undoubtedly due in some small part to the hybridization of other genres found in Boneshaker. By infusing Romero-like walking dead into the mix, Priest cracks open the door to prospective readers who wouldn’t normally be concerned with the exploits of their goggle-wearing brethren. “Steampunk,” she lightheartedly explains, “is what happens when Goths discover brown.” For horror aficionados, however, the zombies of Boneshaker may prove wanting, as they exist more for nudging characters toward their narrative destinations, and less as a tangible threat to the cast of characters. Aside from one disposable individual succumbing to zombification (due to the gas and not an attack), the undead hordes in Boneshaker seem to be nothing more than a pointless piece of window dressing feigning horror legitimacy.

This use of such a menagerie of styles can be traced back to Priest’s adolescence, where an appreciation for many of the classic genre writers may not have been encouraged by her family, but was certainly tolerated. “My first big influences were the horror and mystery writers of the nineteenth century, mostly Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle. Those were the first writers I loved. I wasn't allowed to read much fiction, but if it was old enough to qualify as ‘literature’ then sometimes I could get away with it.” These traditional brush strokes bleed through in Boneshaker, as the main villain Minnericht bears a distinct philosophical similarity to Professor Moriarty (as well as a physical one to Cobra Commander), the mysterious and brilliant arch-nemesis to Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

Packed with such a potentially interesting cast culled from classic westerns and science-fiction stories alike, Boneshaker works overtime at creating its share of memorable players, not the least of these being the aforementioned Minnericht. “First and foremost, it has to be about people,” Priest explains of her work. “I’ve read some books with outstanding world building and magic systems, but they have no soul if they don't have characters for people to relate to.” Despite this mandate, while Boneshaker succeeds in creating an exquisitely organic world, it unfortunately fails to similarly render the characters inhabiting the story. Briar, the heroine, and her son Zeke show very little growth or internal development, accompanying the reader from one glorious steampunk set piece to the next with very little emotion or heart. Furthermore, while the protagonists interact with the astonishing and often alarming world around them, they ultimately have very little impact on their environment as a whole.

This is not to say that Boneshaker entirely fails as a novel. At times, Priest’s prose succeeds as an epic work of family and loyalty, tapping into parental concerns of misshapen legacies, adolescent rebellion, and heartbreaking self-realization. Combined with the inspired world called forth in the novel, Boneshaker is at least deserving of the attention it has garnered, even if it shouldn’t be highly recommended to a darker audience.

Blockade Billy
By Stephen King

First prize: Ten lucky winners will receive a limited edition Blockade Billy poster, a copy of Blockade Billy, and a copy of Under the Dome.

Runners Up: Twenty lucky winners will receive a limited edition Blockade Billy poster and a copy of Blockade Billy.

ENTER NOW

More from Blockade Billy:

Read an excerpt
Listen to an audio clip

http://darkvalentine.net/

Dark Valentine is a literary magazine bringing you dark fiction of the highest order.

Welcome aboard Deana and welcome to the craziness that is TheNovelBlog.com! :P

We look forward to your contributions to the site (especially your upcoming interview with Charlaine Harris) and sucking away any spare time that you may have had. [insert evil grin here]

- Dan.

From www.StephenKing.com

The cover for Stephen's new short story collection, Full Dark, No Stars has been revealed by Simon & Schuster. You can download the full HD cover using the link below. You can also click on the thumbnail to the left to view a smaller version.

View High-Resolution Cover @ StephenKing.com

The story titles and plot synopses for Full Dark, No Stars are:

1922
The story opens with the confession of Wilfred James to the murder of his wife, Arlette, following their move to Hemingford, Nebraska onto land willed to Arlette by her father.

Big Driver
Mystery writer, Tess, has been supplementing her writing income for years by doing speaking engagements with no problems. But following a last-minute invitation to a book club 60 miles away, she takes a shortcut home with dire consequences.

Fair Extension
Harry Streeter, who is suffering from cancer, decides to make a deal with the devil but, as always, there is a price to pay.

A Good Marriage
Darcy Anderson learns more about her husband of over twenty years than she would have liked to know when she stumbles literally upon a box under a worktable in their garage.

Copied from ElisabethNaughton.com:

Okay, this is how the contest is going to work: Each day from now until April 26th, I’ll be posting at least two questions for you to answer. Post your answer to THE DAY’S QUESTIONS in the comment section of that day’s post. You have to answer BOTH QUESTIONS to be entered. And the really cool part? I’ll be choosing AT LEAST two winners per day as well.

Winners will get to choose their prize from the list below:

Juliana Stone - His Darkest Hunger
Donna Grant - Dangerous Highlander
Anita Clenney - $15 Borders Gift Certificate
Barbara Monajem - Sunrise in the Garden of Love & Evil
Annette McCleave - Bound By Darkness
Joan Swan - Custom 1.0L SIGG water bottle
Nina Pierce - Promo pack of goodies – book bag, t-shirt & other assorted goodies
Angie Fox - A Tale of Two Demon Slayers
Vivi Andrews - The Sexorcist
Jessa Slade - Seduced by Shadows
Helen Scott Taylor - The Phoenix Charm
Lucy Monroe - Moon Craving
Heather Davis - Never Cry Werewolf
Loucinda McGary - The Wild Irish Sea
Kari Thomas - Hold onto the Night
Larissa Ione - Choice of Demonica Book or Demonica Tote
Alix Rickloff - Dangerous as Sin
Vivi Anna - The Vampire’s Quest
Melina Morel - Smolder/Prey Sandy Nicks - Circle of Eternity
Isabel Roman - Murder and Magick
Susan Kelley - The Greater Good
Louisa Kelley - Lydia & the Draca
Jess Granger - Beyond the Rain
Erin Kellison - Arc of Shadow BoundDenise Agnew - Dark Fire
Catherine Anne Collins – A Witch’s Lament

...

Once a prize is chosen, it gets crossed off the list, so pay close attention to what gets claimed so you have your 2nd, 3rd, etc. choices mapped out.

That’s it. Super easy. I ask, you answer, YOU WIN!

(Winners will be chosen at random, must be 18 yrs old to participate, yadda yadda yadda. Winners will be contacted by email, when a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list and the winner’s name is listed next to their prize.)

Goto www.ElisabethNaughton.com to enter now!

Can you handle it? An autographed copy of KUMIHO from Peter Mark May? Think so? Okay, then riddle me this: What is the title of Peter's first book? Need a hint? Look around, you'll find the answer right here at the blog. Get your answer to us here at the blog by midnight on 04/30/2010 EST to prove it. One lucky winner will get an autographed copy of his latest novel AND the satisfaction of knowing he had to open his wallet to mail it to you!


Email your answer to: contests@thenovelblog.com

Hey all,

Carol Brown recently posted a really cool blog:
100 Novels That Let You Travel The World Without Leaving Home. I liked it and found it matched with my thinking pretty close. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Again, here's the link:

100 Novels That Let You Travel The World Without Leaving Home

Keep Reading,

- Dan.

World Horror Convention 2010 Brighton Shock UK 25-28th March 2010-04-01

This was one con I could not say no too. After waiting a year and a half since booking this event, I knew that the first World Horror Convention, coupled with the Stoker Awards to be held outside North America, I may not get (or afford) another chance to go.

The usual problems begat me early, as one of the wheels of my heavily burdened suitcase came off before I got to the station. The trip though went without hitch and I taxied to the hotel by 11:30. I chatted to Ally Bird, Martin Roberts & Helen Hopley and others for a while until I could eventually check in.

Then straight down to business when I joined the brave men and woman pitching their books in the Pitch Black tables set up in two rooms. Many new friendships formed out of queuing fear were born that day: Stuart Young, Bill Beedlove, and Alasdair Stuart to name but a few. Everyone was very kind and Sandra Kasturi and Brett Alexander Savory of ChiZine were new fast friends.

Lunch and beer followed and a blur of faces old and new that my memory cannot recall. Yet Mick Sims and Le Maynard were always a pleasure to chat with at many passing intervals as were the ever lovely Emma Davies and her sister Sarah & Joan De La Haye.

The rest of the evening up to the ChiZine launch party was spent looking around the bars and dealer rooms chatting to Bill, Joseph & Mathew drinking wine and other alcohol and nearly nodding off at a late night Ramsey Campbell reading, through warmth and tiredness I tell you and I wasn’t the only one.
Friday begins with breakfast with Helen & Martin, hellos to hundreds like David J Howe, Sam Stone and Adam Nevill and then onto a 10am meeting (with 10 others) in another hotel with one of my long term writing heroes F.Paul Wilson. I’m sure I and the others could have listened to him speak for more than the allotted hour and I managed to get a 20 year old copy of his book Black Wind signed by the great man.

I headed off to the Size Matters (Small Press) panel with Bill Beedlove moderating in his own inimitable style, with Brett, Storm Constantine, Pete Crowther Jeremy Lassen & Paul Ganley. Fish and chips in the lobby with Mart & Hels followed and took me onto the Brian Lumley reading, catching up with John Worley. Then off to the Bitten Word book lauch and then more drinks and chats.

Dinner was over at Harry Ramsden’s with a few new author friends including 2 x Stoker nominees Bev Vincent & Mike Knost, Bill, Joe, Martel Sardina and mushy peas. Bill pigeon with a nappy story and then photo evidence was the tale of the convention for me. More booze and the Dark Arts book launch with a strange American DJ, then parts of the Phantom Gaslight Music Hall comedy specials and then late night oblivion.

Saturday was breakfast at the usual table with usual crew, the Look at Me, self promotion panel with Kelly Armstrong, Heather graham, Steve Saville (nice bloke for a Spurs fan), Rio Yoeurs and Sam Stone. Then off to purchase a copy of Humpty’s Bones by the always humble and nice Simon Clark and Vinnie Chong. The tea and biscuits were welcomed by everyone present. Then cheap by lovely chicken chow mein from the cold windy pier and onto the James Herbert Q&A, with surprise special guest interviewer Neil Gaimen. Then drink in the bar to bump into the actual man himself and a handshake and a brief chat. Then off to queue up for hours it seemed, past Danie Ware and the Forbidden Planet tables to have my copy of the Rats signed. (It was the thinnest and lightest to carry, with all my books and the twenty or so free ones you got in the freebies bag at registration). I was a mere amateur as others had things book marked to sign, laminated and colour coded in some instances.
At last it was my turn and James Herbert recognised me before and asked about my books, I showed him a copy of Kumiho, which he stunned me by asking to buy a signed copy off me, I gave him a copy free and gratis, my mouth agape for hours afterwards.

A nice chat with the always pleasure to meet Sarah Walker and Paul Voyce both up and downstairs, with me trying to send them in F Paul Wilson’s direction, whom I got to chat with at last and he did remember the copy of Demon I sent him (by request he adds) 2 years ago.

There was still time to catch the last bit of the humorous Ingrid Pitt interview and then the Into the Gore zone panel with changing rooms and Maynard & Sims, Bev Vincent and Guy N Smith.
Then a quick change and meeting Brett and Sandra, who took pity on me, we headed off to the pier for even more fish and chips, strange whopping Americans and the Stoker awards. Nice to see Ray at Tarturus, Jim Herbert and Mike Knost wins things, others I wanted missed out. A walk back in the cold with Mick and Len drinks with Bev, Martin & Helen at the post-Stoker party. Then late to bed once again.

Sunday sadly arrived and after breakfast with Martel & Johnny Mains I sold five copies off Kumiho and gave away 3, which paid for a few beers. Then checking out and goodbyes and handshakes and taxi, train, bus and train back home and unpacking to do.

Things I learnt, Jim Herbert & F.Paul Wilson are gents of the old school. Peter Coleborn could not get rid of my double chins, no matter how many pictures he took. I know how many Guiness’s Ally Bird drinks during a day, Emma Davies is easy to spot in a crowd, and Joe McKinney’s cop handshake nearly crushed the bones in my right hand to powder. Barbie Wilde Stuart Young and Shaun Hamilton were a pleasure to chat to and I’ve forgotten so many people that I had the odd word with its untrue.
A big thanks to the organisers and volunteers.

Peter Mark May

For those of you who missed it, we ran a feature (our highest hit generating feature to date) on Elisabeth Naughton, author of the STOLEN SERIES (Dorchester Publishing) back in September of 2009. You can read her interview here.

In the interview I stated that she had given me a completely different outlook on the Romance genre and had successfully turned me into an Elisabeth Naughton fan. Well, it appears that we were not the only ones who were impressed by her work, as she has just been nominated as a 2010 RITA Finalist for Best First Book (STOLEN FURY) by the Romance Writers of America. This is a Top Honor amongst romance authors (the highest selling genre to date) and a recognition by the industry of her great talent, which, we here at TheNovelBlog.com already knew. :)

A heartfelt congratulations goes out to Elisabeth Naughton and her 2010 RITA Finalist for Best First Book. We’re rooting for you Elisabeth, and good luck in July!

!!! UPDATE - UPDATE - UPDATE !!!

Elisabeth is ALSO a 2010 RITA for Romantic Suspense Finalist for STOLEN FURY!

Santa Rosa, CA (January 21, 2010)- On January 1st, 2010 Damnation Books, LLC took the reins of Eternal Press, moving the previously Canadian based publisher to the United States. Both companies specialize in ebooks and also paperback editions of their fiction.

The two companies remain separate brand entities but will share staff and resources. Damnation Books is found online at www.damnationbooks.com and Eternal Press at www.eternalpress.ca however, Eternal Press will be moving to a new website address soon. Readers and writers can visit the current site and will be redirected once the change occurs.

Ally Robertson former CEO of Eternal Press stated, “I handed over the Eternal Press reins to Kim Richards Gilchrist of Damnation Books LLC. I did so with great faith that by combining her efforts and resources she will take these two companies to the forefront of the E-pub industry. My decision to step down and stay on as the Head of Production and Art departments is a result of my confidence in her to take Eternal Press to heights I couldn’t. I wish all the best for both companies and know that with team work almost anything is possible.”

Kim Richards Gilchrist, CEO of Damnation Books, LLC and now, Eternal Press followed, “We are thrilled to bring Eternal Press to America. By sharing staff and resources, we expect both publishers to grow, beginning in 2010. Ally Robertson is staying on to head the production department, where her design expertise will benefit most.

“Eternal Press will continue to bring great romance, historical, contemporary, science fiction, fantasy and erotic fiction . We plan to expand the GBLT titles and reopen to Young Adult stories. Damnation Books remains dedicated to dark fiction, bringing you great horror, thrillers, dark fantasy, science fiction, erotica and will be opening up to dark-themed gay fiction. Both companies strive to bring quality reading at affordable prices in ebook (including kindle and iphone) and paperback editions.”

More information can be obtained by contacting Marketing Manager, Sheryl Connelly, via email at eternalpresspromotions@gmail.com.