Inanna Arthen's Talk on Vampires - Complete set of podcast episodes

In a lively talk recorded at Books and Boos in Colchester, Connecticut, on April 20, 2013, Inanna Arthen traced the history of vampires in fiction and debunked some of the common mistakes and misinformation about the genre.

I broke the talk up into three parts to fit the format of my "Vampires, Witches, and Geeks" podcast. All three parts are now posted here:


Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Book Review: Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse, #13) by Charlaine Harris

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm always surprised by the vehemence of some of the reviews I see about the Sookie Stackhouse series. To those who complain about Harris's writing style or how simple Sookie acts, read some of Harris' other series. Her other characters can be sophisticated and complicated. Sookie is an average person. She reminds us that we don't have to be the most educated, the most wealthy, the most polished to be a worthy human being. And she reminds us that we can all make mistakes in the name of love.

Some reviews of this last book in the series are angry for another reason: They're not happy who Sookie ends up with in the end. Harris is an experienced, skilled, writer, with experienced skilled editors. If she felt that was the best ending for her story, for her book, we can be sad, we can wish it were different, but we should stand by her decision to end the series the way she did.

Would I have ended the series the same way? No. But I'm still glad I read it, and I think it was concluded reasonably well. I'll miss Sookie, but I look forward to reading Harris's other works.

View all my reviews

Interview with Writer Jeff Strand

I've restarted my podcast Vampires, Witches, and Geeks with an enticing series of interviews recorded live at a small gathering of horror writers in Bristol, Rhode Island. Officially named the Northeastern Writers' Conference, most people know it as Necon, and those who know it intimately sometimes call it Camp Necon.

My first interviewee is Necon Guest of Honor Jeff Strand. Jeff Strand is a really nice guy – and funny as hell. You’d notice the funny bit, even if you never had the pleasure of meeting him in person. Just look at the titles of his books: Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary), Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, Lost Homicidal Maniac (Answers to "Shirley"), and Casket for Sale (Only Used Once). What I wanted to interview him about, though, was the novel Draculas, a collaboration with authors F. Paul Wilson (who I also interview in this series), Jack Kilborn (J. A. Konrath), and Blake Crouch.

So, here's the first in the series, my Interview with Writer Jeff Strand. As always, I try to keep the podcasts short and sweet. Hope this brief introduction is enough to entice you to sample Jeff's works.