Interview with Fiona Mcvie

I'm visiting with Fiona Mcvie today and answering her questions about my background, writing, and life in general. Please stop by and comment
https://lnkd.in/dAr5B-C

The Story of Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Author Kathryn Meyer Griffith is with us today to share the backstory of her latest release, Scraps of Paper.

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I’ve been writing for over forty-one years and have gone through a lot of frustrating or downright infuriating situations with publishers and editors.  Since 1981 I’ve had eight of them. I’ve suffered 4% royalties, dreadful covers, bad editing and shoddy proof-reading, confusing statements, late royalty payments (or nonexistent ones) and other near-criminal acts committed against me by publishers and editors I’d so naively put my trust into over the years. Now days I like to look back at those occasions, write about them; smile or even laugh over them, though they weren’t so funny when they were happening. This is one of those smiling times…because the conception, writing, publishing and, finally, self-publishing of my murder mystery Scraps of Paper has had such a long vexing journey.

On January 15, 2013 I self-published it as an eBook, for the first time, on Amazon Kindle Direct, after waiting ten long years as it languished beneath a terribly unfair hardback contract with Avalon Books that had a sell-off limit of 3,500 hardcopies. Ten years where they claimed it barely sold (no joke…their asking price was ridiculously high at $26.00) and that it didn’t sell one copy in the last two years of its contract–though the book was on sale everywhere on the Internet. I never received one royalty statement and had to beg in yearly emails to be told how many copies had sold that year. Of course, since the totals never got near the 3,500, , they said, I would get no royalty statements. And I never did. Not one. Ever. Last month my book was finally mine again and I was free of that atrocious contract and now, after a revision and commissioning a new stunning cover from my cover artist Dawne Dominique, I’ve released it into the world without the publisher’s shackles to imprison it. Fly little bird, fly!

Originally I wrote it be the first of a series set in this quaint, quirky little town I tongue-in-cheek called Spookie. I mean, most of my books before were horror novels and I was basically considered a horror writer, so the town’s name was the tip-of-the-hat to my horror roots. It’d be my first venture into that genre, which I’d always loved. Sherlock Holmes. Murder She Wrote. Detective Frost. Miss Marple. I wrote it and then, quickly after, a second in the series All Things Slip Away for Avalon Books. I got a modest advance up front for each one.

It was 2002. I’d come out of a lengthy publishing dry spell. My seventh paperback novel, Zebra’s The Calling, a ghost story with an ancient Egyptian theme, had come out in 1994. Then they dumped a lot of us mid-list horror writers, me included, saying horror was dying; and for eight years I couldn’t sell another book. Well, living my life got in the way during some of that time. I’d lost my long-time good-paying graphic artist job in 1994 and had to find another one. The pay was a lot less. No good for my budget or my standard of living, which really fell. I went from one of five bad jobs to another over the next six years…each worse and lower paying than the one before.  Each more demanding. I needed to make money. No longer could I live with pie-in-the-sky literary dreams. I had to face reality. So I stopped writing for a while.

When I finally came up for breath and my head was back on straight again I decided to write something different…a mystery. I’d always loved mysteries.  I began writing Scraps of Paper. About a woman, an artist named Jenny, whose husband has been missing for two years, and who’s just learned he’s been dead all that time–a victim of a gone-wrong mugging. She begins a new life and moves to a small town full of fog, quirky townspeople and mysteries. And right away she’s drawn into one of her own when she buys, renovates, a fixer-upper house and uncovers hidden in it scraps of paper written by two young children who once lived there with their mother, and who supposedly drove away thirty years before and were never seen again. The town thought they simply went someone else; began a new life. But Jenny suspects they never left the house; suspects they’d been murdered. Then she finds three graves in the back.

Of course, with her history of a missing husband she develops the overpowering urge to find out what happened to them. The scraps of paper she continues to find makes the bond, the desire, stronger. She forms a friendship with an ex-homicide cop, Frank, and together they try to solve the mystery. Only thing is there’s someone still living in the town that just as desperately doesn’t want them to. Someone who’d kill to keep the murderer’s identity secret.

When done I was proud of it. Thought it was good. I sent it to Avalon Books in New York. They loved it and bought it. I signed the contract, though I didn’t like some of the things in it. But I was desperate. I hadn’t had a book published in so long and, as my mom always said, beggars can’t be choosers.  I sold them the second in the series, hoping it’d help sell the first. They got great reviews. But I came to regret signing both those contracts more as every year went by because I never received one penny more for either book for the next ten years. I know, it sounds impossible. But it happened to me. I’m sure it happened to a lot of their authors. Probably one of the reasons Avalon Books sold themselves lock-stock-and-barrel to Amazon Publishing in June of 2012 and, without their authors’ knowledge or permission, including mine, sold away their authors’ contracts from under them as well.  I guess you live and learn. I was just lucky Scraps of Paper’s contract had run out. I took the book back.

But, all that is in the past, and my revised Scraps of Paper-Revised Author’s Edition is now available, on sale for $3.99 (much better than $26.00), at Amazon Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B1W4A2K   And I hope people will have the chance to read it this time around and like it.

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About Kathryn Meyer Griffith...

Since childhood I’ve always been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. I began writing novels at 21, over forty years ago now, and have had seventeen (ten romantic horror, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and two murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press and Amazon Kindle Direct.

I’ve been married to Russell for almost thirty-five years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois called Columbia, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha, live cats Cleo and Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s Books available at Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kathryn+Meyer+Griffith

                                                                                    

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:

Evil Stalks the Night (Leisure, 1984; Damnation Books, 2012)

The Heart of the Rose (Leisure, 1985; Eternal Press Author’s Revised Edition 2010)

Blood Forge (Leisure, 1989; Damnation Books Author’s Revised Edition, 2012)

Vampire Blood (Zebra, 1991; Damnation Books Author’s Revised Edition, 2011)

The Last Vampire (Zebra, 1992; Damnation Books Author’s Revised Edition 2010)

You Tube Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZU77j_q4S8

Witches (Zebra, 1993; Damnation Books Author’s Revised Edition 2011)

The Nameless One (short story in 1993 Zebra Anthology Dark Seductions; Damnation Books Author’s Revised Edition, 2011)

The Calling (Zebra, 1994; Damnation Books Author’s Revised Edition, 2011)

All Things Slip Away (Avalon Books Murder Mystery, 2006…Amazon Kindle Direct ebook & paperback 2013)

Egyptian Heart (The Wild Rose Press, 2007; Author’s Revised Edition, Eternal Press 2011) My self-made

You Tube Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cogCNYKzPqc

Winter’s Journey (The Wild Rose Press, 2008; Author’s Revised Edition, Eternal Press 2011)

You Tube Book Trailer address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZYCs2DVhHg

The Ice Bridge (The Wild Rose Press, 2008; Author’s Revised Edition, Eternal Press 2011)

You Tube Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28HZqu-my1g

Don’t Look Back, Agnes novella & bonus short story: In This House (2008; ghostly romantic short story out; Eternal Press 2012) You Tube Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3q9rZryFMo

BEFORE THE END: A Time of Demons (Damnation Books 2010) 

You Tube self-made Book trailer with original song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0-U9c2Lwfo

The Woman in Crimson (Eternal Press 2010)

You Tube Book Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRBvDI5G4Y

The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Fiction: Volume 1 (I did the Introduction)

4 Spooky Short Stories (Amazon Kindle 2012)

Telling Tales of Terror (I did the chapter on Putting the Occult into your Fiction)

Dinosaur Lake (from Amazon Kindle Direct 2012)

Human No Longer (Amazon Kindle 2013)

Scraps of Paper –Revised Author’s Edition (Avalon Books Murder Mystery, 2003; Amazon Kindle 2013)

My Websites:

http://www.myspace.com/kathrynmeyergriffith (to see all my book trailers with original music by my singer/songwriter brother JS Meyer)

http://www.bebo.com/kathrynmeyerG

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1019954486

http://www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith

http://www.goodreads.com/profile/kathrynmeyergriffith

http://www.jacketflap.com/K.griffith

http://www.shoutlife.com/kathrynmeyergriffith

http://romancewriterandreader.ning.com/profile/KathrynMeyerGriffith 

http://www.romancebookjunction.ning.com/profile/kathrynmeyergriffith

Book review: Killing Jenna Crane by Lynette Sofras

Killing Jenna Crane by Lynette Sofras
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The plucky and spirited detective Jenna Crane is a character concocted by author Ellis Crawford. Beside followers and fans, Jenna had believers in her, which was more than what Ellis' ego could take.
When I picked up Killing Jenna Crane I didn't know what to expect. I'm familiar with the author's masterfulness of story-telling, but plot wise I was in the dark. Every page was a discovery of a new angle to the story. There are several layers to this book and I enjoyed peeling away each...when Ellis dug deeper for the truth, the story took me with him even as his world crumpled around him.

My favorite character is Ellis, despite his shortcomings. He possessed an aliveness that brought him to life...perhaps it was in the manner in which he dealt with matters that were dramatic, or romantic, or mysterious, or downright creepy.

I enjoyed reading Killing Jenna Crane and can't recommend it enough to others.

View all my reviews

Latest Cover Art by Novel Prevue

As promised, here the latest cover arts designed by Novel Prevue

The Man Who Built the World by Chris Ward

Killing Jenna Crane by Leynett Sofras

Sarah Jane by Suzanne De Board

Update on promotional videos by Novel Prevue

It's been a while since I updated the blog here with the promotional videos I create for author under the umbrella of Novel Prevue. Today I'm doing that. Shortly I will share the book covers I created.

Cinderella Series by Kae Elle Wheeler

Historical/FairyTale

Buy links:

* Book I: The Wronged Princess

• Amazon: http://amzn.to/RyYxub
• Nook: http://bit.ly/WjpVm0
• Smashwords: http://bit.ly/S1UQje

* Book II: The Unlikely Heroine

• Amazon: http://amzn.to/PAqPJ6
• Nook: http://bit.ly/U01kSn
• Smashwords: http://bit.ly/RQsOVX

* Book III: The Surprising Enchantress [Coming soon]

• Coming soon: http://klwheeler.com/id29.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Finding Lily by Lisa D. Ellis

Women's Fiction

*To be released by Soul Mate Publishing in January 2013*

• Author website: http://www.lisadellis.com
• Buy link: http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/meet-lisa-d-ellis/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Prescott Series by B. J. McMinn

Western/Historical Romance

• Author website: http://bjmcminn.com
• Amazon buy link
• Barnes & Noble buy link

I hope you enjoyed watching these promotional videos.

I've been tagged: I've Got The "LOOK"

Hello, lovely peeps. I'm so thrilled to have been tagged by the magnificent Lynette Sofras with "You've got the LOOK." Lynette is not a magician, although some might argue (I'm one of those) that this is exactly what she does with her fiction.

The concept of this tagging is to take my latest work in progress or current manuscript and search for the word "look" then post some of the surrounding text/paragraphs and tag 5 authors.  
I chose Avenger, book 2 in my "sweet" paranormal romance trilogy, Unsettled.

In Avenger, Luke is the spirit hunter dispatching rogue spirits back to the Laymour. Laymour is the Northern Star in human lingo, it's also where spirits await judgement. They either go to Hell or get a second chance to rectify their errors through reincarnation. Needless to say, spirits destined for Heaven, never pass the Laymour.

Avenger is scheduled for a January release, and since I don't have the cover art yet, I'm sharing Luke's image as he will appear in the coming-soon-book trailer.

Blurb:

Luke has two purposes, hunting spirits and avenging his own death.

Pru has one goal, to return to her body, especially now that Luke is interested in her. Her memories of his shady past haunt her and keep her on guard around him.

Ignoring his teen infatuation with Pru, Luke looks for ways to exorcise her, while she must face the fact that she might never be united with herself again.

Amidst rogue spirits, ferocious drug smugglers, and unbendable celestial rules, Pru and Luke’s love demands a sacrifice that can snuff out their rekindled romance before it has even begun.

When Luke has to decide between his conflicting desires, which path will he choose?

And will the sacrifice be worth it?

Excerpt:

“Luke?” Pru blinked, not believing her eyes. Occasionally, memories of her teen crush pushed through her mind for no reason and she used to push them back. She couldn’t do that now,  those memories were in the front seat because he was standing right in front of her.

He just had to develop a voice that dripped awesomeness.

Pru shook her head. What’s wrong with me?

Luke gawked at her, his hands tucked casually into pants pockets. Pru had the impression he wasn’t as nonchalant as his appearance implied for meeting the girl who—according to him at the time—qualified to enter a mind-fuck contest.

“What are you up to?” He barked at her.

Definitely tense. She chose to ignore his rudeness. “You can see me?” She rushed toward him then halted as memories of previous attempts to touch others surfaced in her head. They were nasty experiences that left her reeling with emotions alien to her.

“Are you looking for a place to stay?”

She tucked a runaway strand of hair behind her ear and frowned. “What do you mean?”

Slowly, he said, “Are you up for a stay?” His voice had an edge to it, one she didn’t trust.

Eyes narrowed, she said, “I’m not homeless. Your hostility doesn’t make sense.”

He lowered his head and shook it. Perhaps if she explained her situation, he might know what she should do. “I guess I should be grateful for meeting someone. It’s been very lonely. No one to speak to—”

“And no one to possess.” A vein throbbed in his jaw.

She took a step back. “Possess?”

“Since I’m the only living person who can see you, I suggest you drop the innocent act.”

People gawked at him and changed paths as they neared him. It didn’t seem to bother him that others thought he was talking to himself.

Pru laughed, pointing a finger at herself. “You think I’m dead?”

“I know you’re dead,” he said through gritted teeth and pulled his hand from his pocket. “Time to send you home.”

Home was too far away, way beyond her lifeline’s limit. An ache pulsed in Pru’s chest and birthed a fury that paralyzed her with its intensity. Instead of facing her, Luke swiveled about, his gaze following a woman pushing a baby stroller. Pru ceased to exist for him and that infuriated her even more. She stomped a foot. “You don’t even know where I live.”

He kept looking at the other woman.

“I’m talking to you, Luke. Look at me.”

He tilted his head as though tuned to something else. Finally, he said, “Yeah, I see that.” His eyes flicked back to Pru. “I’ll have to give this one a rain check then.” Smirking, Luke lifted his hand and saluted her. “Catch you later, sunshine.” With that, he followed the other woman.

“Don’t call me that,” Pru shouted and dashed after him. After few strides, her breath caught and her steps faltered. Like a lasso, the invisible lifeline tightened around her mid-section, constricted her chest, and snatched her back.

She had overstepped her boundaries.

I hope you like the excerpt. 
It's time to pass on the torch to 5 authors who I believe do possess The Look. They are:

• Jenny Twist
• Tori L. Ridgewood
• M. Allman 
• Cheryl Yeko
• Alicia Dean

Guest Blog: Women of Strength Series by Adelle Laudan

Fellow author, Adelle Laudan, is about to introduce us to her aptly titled series, Women of Strength. Please join me in welcoming her and don't forget to take part in the generous giveaway. 

You're on, Adelle!

A Woman of Strength is one who inspires others to face life's adversities with their heads held high. 

I have launched my series with three previously published stories; Juliana - Rosa - Shani

Today we will look into Rosa's story. Sometimes a Woman of Strength stems from dealing with a difference  she is born with. In the case of Rosa, she was born deaf. Her challenges come in many forms, one being the misconception that being deaf is synonymous with being mentally challenged. I am also deaf, but can interact with the hearing with two super duper hearing aids. Without them, I hear nothing, which is sometimes a blessing. My kids know if they see me reach up and turn off my hearing aids, I've had enough!  lol I have always wanted to tell a story from a deaf person's point of view, in this case, my own.

Blurb: Rosa is deaf. She was adopted by loving parents after her mother died in childbirth. Rosa teaches deaf children music. At her 21st birthday party she crosses paths with the band manager, Devon Barnes. The first encounter is not, pleasant when Devon mistakes her deafness for being rude. Is Devon simply another man who sees her being deaf as also being mentally challenged? Why is she attracted to such a man?  
Here is a short excerpt:

The song ended, and she kissed her father’s cheek before she wandered off down the garden path alone. He didn't remember making a conscious decision to follow her. She stood next to a bush laden with tiny pink roses and held one of the delicate blooms between her slender fingers, drinking in its scent. Her milky white breasts gently rose, and his manhood stirred at such a minuscule gesture.

“Your garden is most exquisite,” Devon heard himself say. Her enticing gestures did not falter as she continued down the path without so much as a hint of recognition. Perhaps she didn't hear me. He moved closer before he spoke again.

“You look absolutely stunning tonight.”

Once again she moved on, not even a glance back in his direction. He should have known the spoiled birthday girl wouldn't give him the time of day. When would he learn? He had half a mind to tell her exactly what he thought of her snobbish airs.

Devon’s temper, laced with far too much whiskey, got the best of him, and he held her arm, firmly spinning her around to face him. He bent down and crushed her delicate lips with his burning desire.

I’ll show her that I’m every bit a man as any of those rich guys back at the party.

The look on her face wasn't what he expected. He thought she might have slapped his face before whirling away. This heavenly vixen did neither of these things. She looked bewildered, her expression one of utter disbelief. Maybe she truly hadn't heard him. That’s not possible, is it?

He reached for her hand to try and explain. She recoiled from his touch as if he were on fire. The first drop of a rain of tears escaped her clouded green eyes before she held up her dress and ran towards the house.

Thank you Su, for having me here on the 3rd day of my Women of Strength Blog Tour. Each month I will add a new story of another Woman of Strength. 

I hope you will enjoy this ongoing series.

Please leave a comment and I will randomly pick one winner to receive  this calendar magnet for 2013 and this lovely steampunk pewter symbol for woman charm. All names will go in a draw to win your choice of one of these three stories.

Please feel free to visit me on the next stop of my blog tour. You will find the schedule HERE

Website

Woman of Strength - Links to purchase as wells as Info on Contest

Blog

Facebook

****

Thank you, Adelle for the visit and giveaway. The excerpt is intriguing, I must buy a copy of this book :-)

How it all ends

Currently, I'm reading a book by a talented author I truly respect for her smooth and fascinating writing style. What I love when I find a good book is the worry I put myself through guessing the ending. Yes, I've said it before, I'm a masochist.

Which got me thinking...in how many ways can a book, with good intrigue and suspense, end? The answer was simple; in one of four ways:

• The good guy/hero wins:

They win the whole battle without a hint for a sequel. This is a good approach if it's a standalone, however, if it's a series, it sorta ends there.

• The bad guy/monster wins:

This is seen in genres like thriller or horror. When you grab a romantic novel, even the hero's death is a win. Evil prevails only in the darker fiction.

• The good guy/hero wins but...:

He has a son who will demand revenge, or the monster has left one egg unhatched. It is also possible that the hero offers a sacrifice even though he's won. He might've lost his inheritance, or his dear mother died, or he lost an arm...you name it. Works well for a series but it doesn't have to be part of one.

• The bad guy/monster wins...but:

There's a chance the hero or his followers will demand a rematch. Can be a standalone for darker fiction, but it can also be the cliffhanger to keep readers coming back for more of the series until evil is vanquished completely.

Having summarized all possible endings here, it's clear that when a masterful author is at work, a reader can never guess HOW the ending will be. In romance, for example, you know the hero and heroine will be together at the end...the question is, how will they overcome all the impossible obstacles in their path and reach there!

Also, you have to consider how likeable the hero is and how much you're rooting for his success.

With the book I'm currently reading, I'm happy to report that I have no clue which of those four endings will occur. Totally loving it :-D

One Writer's Journey: Su Halfwerk, Tips to Make Writing Easier

One Writer's Journey: Su Halfwerk, Tips to Make Writing Easier: Today's guest is multi-published author Su Halfwerk.  Su is going to share some of her tips to "make writing easier." ....

Please join us today to find out what these formatting tips are.
See you there.
Su

Latest book trailers from Novel Prevue

Stormy Pursuit by Jean Hart Stewart

Erotic Romance

Book Summary:
How can the twin daughters of Lars, that powerful elf, manage to get in so much trouble? With both of them falling in love at the same time with men who they think they can never have. And when Lars sets out to bring down a villainous political opponent will he manage to save his daughters or lose them and their loves in a fiery death engineered by the villain?

****

Unsafe Haven by Char Chaffin

Contemporary Romance

Book Summary:
For Kendall Martin, a small, remote village in Southwest Alaska seems like a good place to start over. On the run from an abusive relationship, she leaves everything familiar behind and begins a new life as owner of a small souvenir and sportsman trading post in picturesque Staamat.

Denn Nulo knows everyone in town: he's the Chief of Police in Staamat. He's lived there all his life, except for his college years, spent in Anchorage. Originally planning on practicing criminal law and living in Anchorage permanently, Denn is forced to change his plans when he receives word that his widowed mother has passed away, leaving his young sister, Luna, alone. Denn comes back to Staamat to care for Luna.

When Kendall meets Denn, she begins to believe there are truly good men in the world. Denn is everything she wants: strong, loving, dedicated to family, protective. . .and patient. There is instant attraction between them, but Kendall is leery of men, and Denn craves a serious relationship that includes marriage and children. Their courtship is a conflicting mix of hesitancy and passion, with Luna, desperately needing a mother figure in her life, cheering them on.

As Kendall learns how to trust again and her romance with Denn grows more intense, a local woman who's had her eye on Denn for years releases a torrent of damaging jealousy. . .and the nightmare from Kendall's past discovers where she's hidden herself.

****

Twice In A Lifetime by Jennifer Jakes

Romance / Time Travel

Book Summary:
Be Careful What You Wish For. . .
No-nonsense stuntwoman Isabella Douglas will do anything to stop an unwanted divorce and reclaim the happy life she had, even allow her old friend to concoct a magical spell to turn back time. But when the spell goes awry, Izzy finds herself trapped aboard a 1768 Caribbean pirate ship with a captain who's a dead ringer for her sexy as sin husband, Ian. Convinced he's playing a cruel joke, she's furious -- until she realizes he doesn't know her or believe they're married.
Captain Ian Douglas does not have time to deal with an insane woman who claims to be his wife; he has to save his kidnapped sister. But as Izzy haunts his dreams and fills him with erotic memories he can't explain, he's forced to admit he feels more than lust.
Trapped in a vicious cycle of past mirroring present, Izzy knows they only have days to find Ian's sister and prevent disaster from striking a second time. If she doesn't, their marriage will be destroyed again -- along with the man she loves.

Hellbound's Signature Cake

It pays off to have a foodie for a sister.
Muna (owner of MunatyCooking) read Hellbound and couldn't help transforming her feelings to a cake. We've named it Choco Diavolo and you can read my guest post about it, see it, and get its recipe here:
http://munatycooking.blogspot.com/2012/05/choco-diavolo.html
You can also see the devil's reaction to the cake :-)

Please stop by and leave a comment...we'd love to hear from you.

Guest blog: The Story of Vampire Blood by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

This month, author Kathryn Meyer Griffith is sharing with us the story behind Vampire Blood, her release from Damnation Books.
Over to you, Kathryn!

***

The Story of Vampire Blood

Author’s Revised Edition by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

A rerelease of my 1991 Zebra paperback romantic vampire novel

Damnation Books Buy Link: http://damnationbooks.co/book.php?isbn=9781615724253

In 1990 or so I’d just got done releasing my first three paperback novels with Leisure Books, a romantic historical (The Heart of the Rose 1985) and two romantic horror books (Evil Stalks the Night, 1984 and Blood Forge, 1989), and because I wasn’t making much money on them, was looking, as most so-called restless young authors were doing, to move up in the publishing industry.

So I wrote snail mail letters to three established authors of the day – Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Peter Straub – asking for a little advice and a little help. What do I do next? I want to be one of the big dogs running in the big races. I want to make the big bucks. Be famous like you. (Ha, ha. I was so naïve in those days!) 

Well, Stephen King and Peter Straub never answered my letters but one rainy fall night I got a phone call from Gerda Koontz (Dean Koontz’s wife) and she said Dean had gotten my letter and wanted me to have a name of a brand new agent who I should call or write to and say I was recommended by him. If I thought it strange that Dean Koontz himself wasn’t actually talking to me I was told by Gerda that he was a shy man and had had a particularly hard couple of months because of family problems (I think it had something to do with his father in a nursing home or something, but can’t exactly recall now) and he’d asked her to call me. She often did that for him, as well as helping him with the business side of his writing career. He (through her…and I got the impression that he was actually nearby telling her what to say the whole time) said I had to have an agent (I didn’t have one) and then he gave me the name of an ambitious one, Lori Perkins, just starting out and his advice on what I should do to advance as a writer.

I do remember being incredibly touched that he, a famous busy novelist that I admired – I loved his Twilight Eyes – would take the time to talk to me, even through his wife. They were both so sweet and we talked for nearly an hour all about writing, books and everything.

I took their advice and contacted that agent and she agreed immediately to represent me on my fourth book, Vampire Blood, no doubt, because I said Dean Koontz had recommended her to me. Name dropper! But Vampire Blood was the reason I’d contacted those famous authors in the first place. I thought it was the best book I’d done so far and wanted it to go to (what I thought at the time) would be a better publisher than Leisure Books, which contracted and hog-tied their writers with a horrible ‘potboiler’ one-size-fits-all ten year contract with low advances and 4% royalties. Yes, I got a whole whopping 14 cents a book in those days, but, I must confess, they did print thousands of paperbacks each run and had a huge distribution area.  I thought I could do a lot better. Anyway, Lori Perkins wanted me to send her the book and she did like it and eventually sold it, and then three others zip-zip-zip right after, to Zebra Books (now known more as Kensington Publishing) at 6% royalties and double the advances I was used to getting. They slapped a sexy blond vampire with a low dress on the cover and a hazy theater behind her. Lovely colors. I thought it was an eye-catching cover. I was so happy. I thought I’d made it! Again, so naïve.

Vampire Blood. A little story about a family of vicious killing vampires who settle in a small Florida town called Summer Haven and end up buying and fixing up an old theater palace to run, and pluck their victims from, and a divorced, down-on-her-luck ex-novelist and her worn-out father, who along with friends, help thwart them.

Now to how and why I wrote it.

My husband and I lived in this small Illinois town, Cahokia, at the time and there was the neatest little hole-in-the-wall theater in a nearby shopping center we used to go to all the time…run by a family of a sweet man, Terry, and his wife, Ann, and sometimes their three children, two teenage boys and a girl named Irene.  Such a friendly, but odd couple. The run-down theater was their whole world it seemed. The kids helped take in the tickets, pop the popcorn and sell the candy snacks.

Now the minute Terry and Ann found out, in one of our earliest conversations, that I was a published novelist they were my greatest fans. Terry went right out and bought all three of my books and they all read them. Terry always thought they’d make great movies. Next time my husband and I went to the little theater Terry and Ann greeted us like old friends, so delighted to see us, and refused to take a dime from us for anything. We got in free whenever we went from then on. Now in those days my husband, my son, James, and I were pretty broke. I worked as a graphic designer at a big brokerage firm in downtown St. Louis (across the Poplar Bridge from our Illinois town) but my husband was in between jobs. We lived on a shoestring. Hard times. So I always was so tickled that we could get into the local movies for free. We went a lot, too, as we loved movies, especially science fiction and horror films.

One night I was watching Terry and Ann and their joy in running that little theater, with the kids bustling around doing their jobs, and I got the idea for Vampire Blood. Just like that! Use them and the theater as a backdrop for a vampire novel. Hey, wouldn’t it be neat, I off-handedly mentioned to Terry one night, if I wrote a book about a family of vampires that was trying to pass as a real human family, the man and woman wanting so badly to fit in and lead a normal life for a while, renovating and then running a theater together…but the kids are wild and, as kids always do, make trouble for them in the town…killing people? Terry loved the idea and I asked him if it’d be all right to use him and his family as a template for the vampires. He was thrilled to be part of anything to do with my books and said yes. So…I wrote this book about them (sort of), the theater (making it much grander than it was, of course), a small town terrorized by cruel, powerful vampires who can change into wolves at will….and a saddened lonely woman, her brother, and her ex-husband (who she still loves and ultimately ends up with again after he saves her life) who finds herself again, but loses a lot, as well, fighting these vampires. Vampires she doesn’t believe in at first.

I was very happy with the book when it was done and dedicated it to Terry and Ann when it came out in 1991. Terry and Ann were thrilled, too.

So Vampire Blood came out and did very well for me, second only to my Zebra 1993 Witches. As the years went by it went out of print and when, twenty years later, Kim Richards at Damnation Books contracted my 13^th and 14^th novels, BEFORE THE END: A Time of Demons and The Woman in Crimson, she asked if I’d like to rerelease (with new covers and rewritten, of course) my 7 out-of-print Leisure and Zebra paperbacks – and I said a resounding yes!

So…here it is…Vampire Blood…twenty years later, alive again and better, I believe,  than the original because my writing then was done on an electric typewriter, with gobs of White-Out and carbon paper (I couldn’t afford copies), using snail mail; all of which didn’t lend itself to much rewriting. And in those days, editors told an author what to change and then the writer only saw the manuscript once to final proof it. Who knew what those sneaky editors were slipping in inbetween and before the final book was in an author’s greedy little hands. Hey, and I was working full time, raising a son, living a life and caring for my big extended family in one way or another, too. Busy, exciting, loving, happy and sad times.

For this new version, Damnation Book’s cover artist Dawné Dominique made me an astonishingly intriguing cover of a lovely vampire (Irene the youngest vampire who turns out to be the most brutal and ancient in the end)…but, thank goodness, without the low sexy top. And my DB editor, April Duncan, helped me make it a better novel.

A lot has happened to me and my family in these twenty years, as well. Both my parents, and my beloved maternal grandmother, the storyteller of her generation, have since passed away. Many people we used to know have. Old boyfriends, old friends and relatives. I miss them all! I no longer have that agent; she went on to bigger advances and bigger writers.  I lost my good job at the brokerage firm, bumped around in lesser jobs for years, always writing in my spare time, and now, at long last, write full time while my husband works way too hard in a machine shop to support us.

Rewriting the book brought back so many good memories…and tears over those no longer here. The theater closed sixteen years ago, the owner believing it’d served its purpose and used up its time. Terry and Ann, heartbroken, were never the same. They had other jobs, none they truly cared about.  Ann is still with us, but Terry died a few years ago, I heard from someone. We lost contact once they stopped running the theater and we moved from Cahokia to a nicer town miles away.

But I’ll never forget those early days and the stories that came with them. Days of high hopes and far distance future dreams…some of which have come true and some which haven’t. I’ve never made the big bucks, never gotten truly famous, but now, at long last and to my great delight, all twelve of my older books, from Leisure, Zebra, and The Wild Rose Press are being rewritten and reissued from Damnation Books and Eternal Press between June 2010 and July 2012. Better than ever after I’d rewritten them. I have plans to write more books and short stories, too, when they’re done. Most importantly, I’m living a good life with a husband I adore and brothers and sisters I love. Writing the stories I was born to write and happy I am. I have my memories. All in all, I’m a lucky, lucky woman.

So, all you writers out there…never give up and never stop writing!

Thank you!

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Kathryn Meyer Griffith has been writing for nearly forty years and has published 14 novels and 7 short stories since 1984 with Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books and Eternal Press in the horror, romantic paranormal, suspense and murder mystery genres… and all 12 of her old books, see below, (and two new ones) are being brought out again between June 2010 and July 2012 from DAMNATION BOOKS www.damnationbooks.com and ETERNAL PRESS www.eternalpress.biz again in print – and all in  e-books for the first time ever! Learn more about her at www.myspace.com/kathrynmeyergriffith or  www.bebo.com/kathrynmeyergriffith or  www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith or www.bebo.com/kathrynmeyergriffith and http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1019954486 .

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Here’s a list of all my published novels and short stories:

Evil Stalks the Night (Leisure,1984; Damnation Books, July 2012)

The Heart of the Rose (Leisure,1985)

Blood Forge (Leisure,1989; Damnation Books, February 2012)

Vampire Blood (Zebra, 1991; Damnation Books, July 2011)

The Last Vampire (Zebra, 1992; Damnation Books, October 2010)

Witches (Zebra, 1993; Damnation Books, April 2011)

The Nameless One (short story in 1993 Zebra Anthology Dark Seductions;

  Damnation Books, February 2011)

The Calling (Zebra, 1994; Damnation Books, October 2011)

Scraps of Paper (Avalon Books Murder Mystery, 2003)

All Things Slip Away (Avalon Books Murder Mystery, 2006)

Egyptian Heart (The Wild Rose Press, 2007...out again from Eternal Press in

  August 2011)

Winter's Journey (The Wild Rose Press, 2008...out again from Eternal Press in

  September 2011)

The Ice Bridge (The Wild Rose Press, 2008...out again from Eternal Press in November 2011)

Don't Look Back short story (2008...out again from Eternal Press in 2011)

In This House (short story 2008...out again from Eternal Press in 2011)

BEFORE THE END: A Time of Demons (2010)

The Woman in Crimson (2010) ***