Making News
Summer is here in the US. I think you can tell by the beautiful weather, or even if the sun isn't shining in your part of the States, at least the flowers are blooming. Folks are planning summer escapes, and I'm sure there are those of you picking up your kindles and paperbacks and heading off for a relaxing vacation. I know from experience those vacations always include down time, where we kick back after a hard day of play, and read ourselves into another world.
Before I shoot you the link to my new book (or rather the new edition of my old book) I want to give you the story about how this book came about. For those of you who know me, you might have guessed that I can be pretty snarky sometimes. I have my father to thank for that. He was a big fan of the Jackie Gleason Show.
 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CgNwBh8vOY&w=560&h=315] For those familiar with the show, the humor was all sarcasm and borderline abusive, but really hilarious. I loved it at the time. But that's the kind of thing our family watched and that's the humor we enjoyed. So it's little wonder that when I found myself brooding over my books not selling I thought, "What am I doing wrong?" The answer I had was to try a different genre.
Well, at the time vampires were the big craze. Twilight led the brigade for this generation, and hundreds of other authors followed. I couldn't for the life of me imagine writing a serious vampire story. But what did I have to lose? I would muster up my father's snarkiness and write a satire. Because really, if you think about it, vampires are a rather funny lot. Especially if they come from a dysfunctional family made up of an over-zealous half-blood who dies in a train wreck (okay, so he actually died from a railroad tie splinter through the heart when the train wrecked), his spunky wife who regrets ever meeting him and now that he's dead is determined to find a 'cure for the curse', a son who just wants to fall in love with a human and have a normal life, and a incompetent uncle (who never made a very good vampire in the first place), trying to find the truth behind his father's death. Throw in a buffed and defiant butler, and there's the story.
So as I begin any book, I started researching. I wanted to know about these crazy creatures. Where did they come from? What are the legends? What can they do and what can they not do?
What are the rules? Here's what I discovered.
There are no rules.
Even CNN said so.
and I found a Wikipedia chart proving it.
And since it's fantasy, you can go along with the trend, or not. That's why Twilight's vampires sparkle. Did Dracula sparkle? I think not.
So I broke some rules and made up some others. The Peadlebody's family line inter-breeds with other races (all predators to humans). Except for Benjamin's parents. But even Benjamin fell in love with an elf. Then she died. Then his next wife conned him. But I won't give you any more details about who she is. There's a chapter in the book devoted to her, and I want you to read the book, obviously.
So here is my suggestion for a fun summer read.
An Unconventional Mr. Peadlebody 2nd Edition is a humorous satire about a dysfunctional vampire family tackling a forbidden romance, a curse and a murder.
"Campy, fun, for some reason the writing and characterization remind me of The Confederacy of the Dunces...This is a fun, imaginative book. It's well written and well told. "Â - Ingram Sparks Review
"A vampire story written from a different point of view with honed in visuals that keep you chuckling. This is a titillating read that tickles and tantalizes. The most fun I've had with a book for... I can't remember when!"Â -Shelly Wilkerson, artist and reader.