Top Ten Vamps, Best Books of 2012, and Future Reading!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday, however you celebrated. Ours was quiet with the family, and Bella the Hound. As you can see she loved her squeaky reindeer, even falling asleep still clutching it; she's such a puppy :-D

I've also been around the internet (despite being quiet in some areas :-))

I'm over at the fab Nudge on Book Geek with my Top Ten Vampires. (And I was good and don't talk about Malik, though, of course, he is my Numero Uno Fang Guy *g*) Bet you can't guess who I chose as my substitute #1?

I'm here at the awesome Wicked Lil Pixie for her 31 Days of Xmas. Find out about my fav holiday food, the weirdest thing I collect (not that weird :-)), and my fav books of 2012. And there's a GIVEAWAY (Int: winner's choice of one of my books)! And there are loads of other fab authors in the event, with giveaways too!

The lovely Melliane at Between Dreams and Reality has both The Bitter Seed of Magic and The Shifting Price of Prey on her Best of 2012 list! *blushes* Huge thanks, Melliane! Plus she's having a GIVEAWAY (Int: winner's choice of any of the books on her list, and there are lots of AWESOME books on the list, so why not check it out?

And wonderful Ellie at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm has The Sweet Scent of Blood on her Best of 2012 list, in some fabulous company. *blushes again* Thanks so much, Ellie!

As for my own Best Books of 2012 - they're all here on my Goodreads. Most are next books in my fav series, or by Authors I Love, and a few are by new, or new-to-me authors that I'll mention here. (Note to self: read more new authors).

The Trouble with Fate by awesome Leigh Evans (out now in the US and releases Jan 3rd in the UK).

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering, until a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet.

I was lucky enough to get an early read of this fab book! Hedi, the heroine is a likeable, light-fingered heroine with smarts; Bridge is a tough, sexy hero with troubles; and there's a glimpse into a fascinating fae world that will have you howling for the next book. I loved it and can't wait for the next one!

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Elsewhere, Midnight Girl, and Nevernever by Will Shetterly. These are linked novels of the Borderland series, set in Bordertown - A hybrid community of misfits, oddballs and runaways. Where humans, elves and halflings co-exist. Where magic and the brutal realities of survival clash and mix. 

One of my all time fav books is War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. Reading that lead me to Finder, her novel set in the Borderlands (which has some of the same characters as Will's novels) which is another love. As soon as I read it I wanted more of the Borderlands world, but this was in the olden times when the print books were hard to get hold of here in the UK, before the Rise of the eBook! But now Will's Borderland books (and others) are on Kindle (which is my current e-reader of choice, but not the only one available :-)). #VeryHappyReader

ETA: Books read this year 70+
Currently reading: The wonderful A Tangle of Magicks by Stephanie Burgis - LOVE
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And here's two books that I'm hugely looking forward to reading in 2013.

Between by Kerry Schafer - out Jan 29 US, and UK (I think)

Vivian Maylor can’t sleep. Maybe it’s because she just broke up with her boyfriend and moved to a new town, or it could be the stress of her new job at the hospital. But perhaps it’s because her dreams have started to bleed through into her waking hours. All of her life Vivian has rejected her mother’s insane ramblings about Dreamworlds for concrete science and fact, until an emergency room patient ranting about dragons spontaneously combusts before her eyes—forcing Viv to consider the idea that her visions of mythical beasts might be real. And when a chance encounter leads her to a man she knows only from her dreams, Vivian finds herself falling into a world that seems strange and familiar all at once—a world where the line between dream and reality is hard to determine, and hard to control…

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Seven Kinds of Hell (Fangborn series #1) by Dana Cameron - out March 12 US, and UK.

Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself. Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She’s a werewolf and a daughter of the “Fangborn,” a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil. To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.

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Me, Mr Mc and Bella are celebrating Hogmanay with shortbread and a wee dram, as always. Hope everyone enjoys their own New Year celebrations and wishing you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2013!

Sláinte!
 See you next year!

Filming at The Rookery!

Want to know a really scary exciting, cool thing that happened to me a couple of weeks ago? 'Course you do! (Hey, stop that heckling at the back there! *g*) Well, I was filmed* for a short piece that's going to be part of the fantastic TV show - The Book Show. Squeeeeee! (and also *faints*) Find them on twitter here: @thebookshow

The show's host, Mariella Frostrup, is interviewing Anne Rice, author of Interview with a Vampire (bet you can guess what they wanted to ask me about - yep, those fanged creatures who are so popular just now *g*). So if you want to see how I did *bites knuckles* (and you're in the UK and can view the Sky TV channel 243 - not sure if it will be available online - for which you're all probably thankful ;p) then tune in at 8pm on Thursday 13th October.

*The actual filming took just over an hour - obviously that's a lot of me on film O_O, which was pretty nerve wracking, though not so bad as it could've been, as I knew that they were only going to use about 2/4 mins of it at most (the best/most pertinent bits *phew*). And for those interested in these things, I did my own make up - not one of my strong suits, and something I don't usually wear too much of, so hopefully I don't look too washed out or overdone *sighs*.

The film crew consisted of the lovely Victoria who asked me questions, the camera man, the lighting man, and the sound man, all who were very friendly and professional. The filming took place in the gorgeous room above (I sat at the side end of the table there, with the bookcases behind me). The room was chosen for its slightly gothic feel, and the curtains drawn/lights off so it looked suitably dark, but the actual camera lights trained on me were bright enough to double for an interrogation! (Not that it felt like that at all :-D!!). Victoria and the cameraman also had a small monitor which they used to check they were getting the shots they wanted, and the mic - perched just above my head - wasn't in frame. It was really so interesting and cool to see how it is all done.

I wasn't the only one being filmed (I didn't see any of the other participants, though, so I don't know who they are :-)), so I'm curious to see who else is on the show.

Hey, and if I really suck, please be kind to me :-)

ETA: Well, I got my 15 seconds of fame :-D. I was quite anxious waiting to see what I was going to sound/look like*  and whilst short (yep, hope no one blinked, otherwise they'd have missed me - which is a whole lot better than ending on the cutting room floor *g*), but I thought I did okay'ish. So, now feeling very relieved, it's wine o'clock! And loved the spooky lights and sounds added!

With thanks to the superawesome Jon Weir, Senior Publicity Manager at Gollancz for getting me the gig - find him on twitter @jon_weir

Phil the Shelf - BBC Radio Wales

Phil Rickman explores the attraction of horror and nouveau-gothic fiction with authors Suzanne McLeod (The Sweet Scent of Blood) and Peter Luther (The Mourning Vessels). Listen here until the 20.12.08.

*

Phil Rickman [a best-selling crime writer] does a radio show where he interviews published authors about their books. [A very nervous me in this particular one!] Not only does he talk to Peter and myself, but also to Anne Rice!

At the same time he also invites aspiring authors to send in the start of their novel, along with a synopsis, which he then forwards to a relevant publisher for their comments. In this episode two aspiring horror authors have sent in their novels and Jo Fletcher* [my editor at Gollancz] gives advice to them about their submissions. John Jarrold [my agent]also talks about the current market for fantasy and horror.

*


Ever wondered what a radio studio looks like?

Via the wonders of technology, I was able to sit in my local radio studio for the show, which despite the fact I was on my own [and did I mention nervous!] and not much larger than a broom cupboard [the show's producer's description, not mine] was really pretty cool.






* no prizes for guessing that it was thanks to my editor that I was interviewed for the show *g*