Hot Halloween Heroes Blog Hop!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I like it better than Christmas. What other holiday allows you to dress up like your favorite character (or like a table and a lamp—yes, we had a trick-or-treater at our house a couple of years ago dressed as a table and a lamp. She was way cool.) and solicit everyone for candy? It's got to be a dentist's favorite holiday.

But there's more to love about Halloween than just the costumes, the carved pumpkins, and the treats, especially if you're a paranormal lover like I am, whether a reader or a writer. Vampires have come a long way since the days of Dracula pulling his cape around his face and whisking a damsel in distress into his coffin for a little one-on-one time that usually ended with two red dots on her neck. Nowadays, there are vampires like Wrath, Vishous, Vlad, and even my hot blood-sucking tamales from my award-winning All the King's Men Series, who make Dracula look like a pansy. These are alpha vampires with muscle, moxy, and attitudes bigger than Texas. They're also vampires with human-like problems to overcome. And we love a sexy vampire with problems, don't we? I know I do.

Today (October 29) is my birthday, and I want to celebrate it with my vampires while browsing through the other bloggers involved in this blog hop. The vampires I'm inviting as special guests to my birthday party are the hero and heroine of my new book, Return of the Assassin, book five in the AKM Series, which just released today. Malek and Gina have waited a long time for their story to be told, and I'm excited about adding their heart-wrenching love story to the mix alongside, Micah & Samantha, Severin & Arion, and Io & Miriam. Malek & Gina are two vampires who must overcome tragic, painful pasts if they are to find happiness, and I'm thrilled to have been able to tell their story in Return of the Assassin. I love me a good vampire story, don't you?

As part of the blog hop, I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift card, as well as all five e-books in my AKM Series to one lucky winner:

1. Rise of the Fallen
2. Heart of the Warrior
3. Micah's Calling
4. Rebel Obsession
5. Return of the Assassin

Make sure you enter your email in the comments and answer the question: What do you like most about Halloween? 

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Need a #Laugh? The Urban Dictionary Chimes in on Halloween

For kicks and giggles, I visited the Urban Dictionary ( The Urban Dictionary Website )to dig up some fun definitions related to Halloween. If you've never visited the Urban Dictionary, you should. I often find some hilarious definitions for everyday words there. It's definitely a place where you can get a good laugh (might I suggest you look up crack head/crackhead for one or two clever definitions submitted by readers).

Disclaimer: The following do not necessarily reflect my opinions or beliefs, and some of what follows includes language of an adult nature. I pulled these definition straight from the Urban Dictionary website, so they could contain misspelled words and bad punctuation. although I tried to fix where possible to improve readability.


Halloween  Definitions According to the Urban Dictionary

Vampire:

1. High-school or college-age girl who is high-achieving, clean cut, athletic and good looking by day, and a disturbed, recreational drug or alcohol user by night. Just like the horror-movie monster, a modern vampire looks like a human, but they're blood sucking demons. You don't know about their deadly habits until it's too late. Just like the bite of count Dracula, a vampire will try to suck you into her world of darkness with a kiss or blowjob.
2. Blond, blue eyes, tall, beautiful, gorgeous, handsome, & someone you want to have babies with so you can produce some vampire babies.
3. For the love of God, vampires are FICTIONAL! If I see one more fucking "goth" retard on the internet claim to be a REAL VAMPYRE OMG OMG OMG I might explode.

Witch:

1. Anyone whom we burn that weighs the same as a duck. (Also made of wood).
2. A moody white girl.
3. Your 3rd grade teacher.
4. A woman who is dressed up in a pointed hat, has a long nose, has a wart, and who is made of wood. They are often burned, and can turn people into newts (but they might get better).
5. Someone who rips their dick off and uses it as a wand. [Donya - Say what?]

Zombies: 

1. A "safe" and offbeat excuse for guys to horde guns, ammunition, tactical gear and other survival supplies without being tagged as being a member of a militia or other extremist group (although your wife and neighbors may think you are a little crazy).
2. Humans that at one point were turned to zombies by being bit by another zombie and eventually dying. Extreme stupidity surrounds these creatures as they mindlessly bash on the barracades of surviving humans. They can be said to not be able to "climb stairs," as my friend says...but others may say otherwise while their face is being ripped off completely after the zombie leapt up the stairs. Shotguns are most affective at close range with these beings, the only way to stop the damn thing from moving would be to shoot its brain or completely sever the head...this does not mean cut its head off because it will in fact still be "alive." So the best way I would have to say to survive a zombie attack would be to kill yourself because...you're screwed anyway...you think you can survive? No you can't. You're fucked.  

Halloween: 

1. Celebration where little kids dress up and get candy; teens dress up, get drunk, and go get candy; and adults dress up, get drunk, and give out candy. Funny how things all work out.
2. The day that makes the other 364 worth living.
3. The one day of the year you can beg strangers for food and not get told to fuck off. As long as you're dressed up like a ghost/the devil/transvestite.
4. It's when you dress up in either cheap, store-bought costumes or elaborate, self-made ones, watch Rocky Horror Picture Show, get your friends to do the Time Warp, and go on a severe candy binge. Until someone spoils your fun by reminding you that it's April.
5. An annual excuse for girls to dress like sluts and get away with it.
6. The only day of the year when it's acceptable for guys to dress up as girls in school.
7. John Carpenter's best movie.

And THAT is Halloween according to the Urban Dictionary. LOL.

So, I Like To Write About #Vampires - 31 Days of #Halloween Continue

Since I was uber busy moving into my new home office this weekend, I got behind on my blog posts, so I'll try to make up for that in the next couple of days. So, onward we go with the 31 Days of Halloween. And remember, I'll post a quiz at the end of this week based on the week's posts, and one lucky person will win a prize.

Drake Mefestta - Proclaimed Real Life Vampire
Chicago, IL

As my 31 Days of Halloween continue, I thought I would talk about vampires today. Fitting since the series I'm working on is about vampires. A few years ago, the buzz was that vampires in fiction were out. "Oh, vampire stories are phasing out. No one wants to read about vampires anymore." I haven't noticed this trend. Fans seem to love my vampires, and the vampire buzz is as strong, if not stronger, than ever. For instance, love it or hate it, Twilight is still popular, and J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series doesn't show signs of letting up, especially with the much-anticipated story of Blaylock and Qhuinn coming out. And then of course, there's True Blood. Countless authors continue to write fabulous stories related to vampires and their realm. And who's that fellow in the pic? Drake Mefestta, who lives in Chicago, claims to be a real life vampire. So, no, I don't think the vampire rage is dying just yet. I think readers want different takes on the vampire concept, but vampire stories are still popular.

My All the King's Men series focuses on a team of vampire warriors-turned-enforcers, but my vampire world isn't the run-of-the-mill world as depicted in tradition or in other books. My vampires can be born as mixed-bloods who inherit special powers as their genetic makeup misfires. Some gifts are more benevolent than others, and while some of my vampires, such as Traceon, have to remain on constant vigil to ensure their powers don't consume and alter them into mutants, others live in relative harmony with their extra special powers.

Some of my vampires can endure daylight, but others can't, based on whether they are full-bloods or mixed, and each comes with his or her own inner demons and quirks. In Rise of the Fallen (book one of the series), Micah's demons revolved around the loss of his first mate. He externalized that loss and became a reclusive yet powerful vigilante...a danger to himself and others until he found Samantha (well, she found him).

As for some of the other characters:

• Malek, who has known Micah the longest and could pass as his brother for all their physical similarities, also suffers from the loss of his first mate, who was human. Unlike Micah, though, Malek internalized his loss, becoming a sterile, whitewashed version of himself rather than face the reality of his mate's death. I'm writing his story now, and as he finally faces Carmen's death, he explodes into near-psychosis from the emotional upheaval and inner struggle not to defile Carmen's memory as he fights his desire to mate another who has unwittingly stolen his soul.
• Severin's inner demons involve hiding his genetic ties to the vampires' natural enemy, the drecks, as well as the tragic way he was conceived.
• Arion? Well, Arion has lived a lie his entire life so he could maintain peace within his family. But when he meets Severin, all bets are off as his true self demands to be heard.
• Traceon or Trace...well, I can't begin to detail all his demons. That male has stolen the series and has become THE character EVERYONE wants to know more about. He has a good heart, but he is damaged, damaged, and damaged some more. So much has happened to Trace throughout his life, and I allow his story to unfold a little in each book as the series progresses...because if I try to reveal all of his issues just in his book, it will be too much and won't work.

At any rate, here is some vampire trivia for you to chew over, and if you're a paranormal author like me, you might garner a few plot/story ideas from the list:

Vampire Trivia - Part 1

Vampire Trivia

A group of vampires has variously been called a clutch, brood, coven, pack, or a clan.

One way to supposedly deter a vampire is to throw seeds (usually mustard) outside a door or place a fishing net outside a window. Vampires are compelled to count the seeds or the holes in the net, delaying them until the sun comes up.

Anemia (“bloodlessness”) was often mistaken for a symptom of vampire attack.

The Egyptian goddess Sekhmet was known to drink blood, and the ancient fanged goddess Kaliof India also had a powerful desire for blood.

A vampire supposedly has control over the animal world and can turn into a bat, rat, owl, moth, fox, or wolf.

Female vampires were often blamed for spreading the bubonic plague throughout Europe.

According to several legends, if someone was bitten by a suspected vampire, he or she should drink the ashes of a burned vampire. To prevent an attack, a person should make bread with the blood of a vampire and eat it.

Some historians argue that Prince Charles is a direct descendant of Vlad the Impaler, the son of Vlad Dracula.

Monsters - Werewolves, Vampires, and Gargoyles

As my 31 Days of Halloween continue, here is a short post about monsters. I found at least two story ideas as I read through the list. How many can you find?

Monster Trivia & Folklore

1. Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hairy palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.
2. Vampires are mythical beings who defy death by sucking the blood of humans.
3. In 1962, The Count Dracula Society was founded by Dr. Donald A. Reed.
4. To this day, there are vampire clubs and societies with people claiming to be real vampires.
5. There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.
6. Many people still believe that gargoyles were created by medieval architects and stone carvers to ward off evil spirits.