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Nightshade by Andrea Cremer | Win It Before You Can Buy It!

Patrick Nottingham — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:16:49 +0000

Nightshade author Andrea Cremer got a lucky break. Literally.

Click above to order Nightshade from Amazon.

It all started when Nightshade author Andrea Cremer, professor of history at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, broke her foot in a horseback riding accident the Summer of 2008 and couldn’t walk for eight weeks. With nothing else to occupy the time she started writing what would become the novel Nightshade.

Sometimes I get lucky too, like when someone notices that I do this little blog and they send me cool stuff to pass along to all of you. Thus, I found in my hands on Monday two galley prints (I’m keeping one dammit!) of the novel Nightshade and set about reading it.

From the first chapter I was hooked – it had a grizzly bear mauling and an ensuing fight with werewolves – and was glad I’d have the chance to tell all of you about it.

Really. they didn’t even pay me to say that.

Calla Tor’s world in Nightshade is even more dangerous than she knows.

Nightshade begins with Calla saving a human boy, Shay Doran, who is destined to become one point on an ever flexible-sided love triangle, from a grizzly – helping humans directly is something she’s forbidden to do by the Keepers – for reasons unknown even to her. The town of Vail, Colorado, on the surface at least, looks like any other town, but beneath its surface lies a supernatural world unknown to humans who only think they run the world.

In Nightshade the werewolves, known as Guardians, aren’t the scariest thing around.

In fact what is seems to be are the Keepers. A race of non-human witches who claim to predate humanity, the Keepers attend to their Guardian’s every need: money, luxury homes and cars, the finest foods, and in fact every material thing the Guardians would ever need in exchange for . . . servitude. No Guardian ever questions a Keeper – not even when the Keepers pick their mates, send them into battle, or fulfill their own selfish and sinister appetites. Yes, think “slave master going to the slave house at night” and not “can ya fetch me some ice cream from 711″.

Hooked yet? Keep reading to see how to win a copy of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.

The Guardians, after all, are the Keeper’s best weapon against other side of a centuries long war – the Seekers. Guardians protect the Keeper’s sacred sites – their seats of power like the one located on a mountain near Vail – and they believe their master’s tales of using their power only for the world’s good. Calla believes too even when she disagrees with their decisions, and is destined to become the Alpha female of a newly formed third Guardian pack when she will be mated to Ren, Alpha male from the Bane pack, on both their eighteenth birthday, Samhain – Halloween – thus joining the Nightshade and Bane pack’s future and solidifying the Keeper’s secretive plans.

Yay for prearranged marriages on Halloween! Hey, I like Halloween weddings. I’m just saying.

Don’t get me wrong. Ren’s a good guy, if a bit arrogant from time to time, but through Nightshade Calla must decide if she should follow her duty and obvious physical attraction to her predetermined mate or follow the unheard of feelings she has for the human she saved from becoming bear food – Shay. It’s never completely clear which way she’ll go.

You might think Shay – the forbidden choice – is obvious, but Shay is no ordinary human either. He isn’t at all innately afraid of the Guardians like normal humans are, and his uncle – should I say supposed uncle – is a powerful Keeper. Then there’s the matter of the tattoo on the back of Shay’s neck he’s never seen, a mysterious book written in Latin, and . . .

The rest I’ll leave up to you.

So what did I really think of Nightshade?

At four hundred plus pages, this first novel in a planned trilogy wasn’t at all what I expected. OK, I’ll admit I don’t usually pick up books from the YA section of the bookstore with dreamy, sparkly girls on the front and tag lines that say, “She can control her pack, but not her heart.”

Nope. Not me.

Really this all the marketing department for Penguin Young Readers Group at work. Of course Nightshade will appeal to that audience of tween girls with the two dreamy young men – Shay and Ren – each tugging at Calla’s heart strings. And don’t think I didn’t notice that Cremer took every chance to get the boy’s shirts off even if Calla was bound to “purity” before the union with Ren. Yes, that means no kissing either – well, at least there’s not SUPPOSED to be any. Oh, and Ren didn’t seem to have the same “purity” rule. Ahem.

However, the author also did an excellent job of tip-toeing that fragile line that has to be drawn when writing for the YA audience. You won’t find any boom-chicka-wah-wah, blood-pumping, sweaty sex scenes and the werewolves use their sharp bits judicially.

Yes, there is blood and killing and dare I say it – heat provoking sexual tension. Enough at least to keep me reading – I am an old dude used to watching zombie flicks without flinching after all – without crossing the line to make it offensive or inappropriate the YA audience. Most of it is left to the imagination which I actually prefer when done right. I have, after all, a dirty and warped mind quite capable of filling in the blanks. (Heh! There’s a lovely blank-filler now.)

Nightshade is a classic story that many will recognize, but Andrea Cremer has re-imagined it with strong story telling skills, brisk action scenes (enough to keep guys reading too), and without populating the pages with needless adjectives. (I won’t mention who I’m talking about here.) Nightshade was an intriguing read – Gothic, passionate, mystery-laden – and had a heroine who never whined, pined, or moped. Calla Tor, even when bound by duty, is strong woman-to-be with a mind of her own and is a force to be reckoned with when crossed, and yet she has that quiet, self-assured, independent femininity that guys really want even when they don’t know it themselves.

So heck yeah I’d recommend this book to both YA readers and my fellow genre reading adults. If you want to know more you can check out the author’s blog at www.blurredhistory.blogspot.com and of course I’ll even let you go pre-order Nightshade by clicking the link or the book cover above.

Oh – this is cool too. Them, there crazy marketing folks have an immersive campaign going on over at Facebook where one of the characters, Shay Doran, has stepped off the page into the real world and you can interact with him. He’s got a website too – www.shaydoran.com. Who knew fictional characters could blog?

You can click the banner below to visit Shay Doran of the Nightshade universe on Facebook.

Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . now gimme Nightshade for free!

I should mention this is a galley print so some errors may not be corrected from the final bookstore version. That also makes it more collectible in case this turns into the next Twilight. I’m just saying.

First here’s the rules:

Since this contest will also end up being mentioned on the Barrow fan page of Facebook I have to state some funky rules.

1. This contest has nothing to do with Facebook nor are they responsible for this contest in any way. Period.
2. Anyone can enter this time of any age. If you’re under 18 you must have a parent or guardian’s permission.
3. You must reside in the US – all 50 states – or Canada.
4. No purchase is necessary.
5. Contest ends Sunday September 15th, 2010 11:59 PM
6. I will use random.org to pick one lucky winner from the pool of entries and post it the following day.

How to enter:

Easy! Just send me an email with your name, address, and a subject heading “Nightshade”. Send it to RavensBarrow@verizon.net and enter only once. I’ll pick a winner in two weeks and plaster it all over Facebook, Twitter, and here.

Now get that entry to me and one lucky person will get to read Nightshade before anyone can buy it this October.

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Unicorn Being a Jerk

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:12:40 +0000

Click the jerk above to check out the books site.

Who knew unicorn’s could be such jerks?

Apparently C.W.Moss did when authoring this book about the mythical beastie – the unicorn. It appears the first printing has sold out, and there’s no word on when another will be done. Luckily though, you can see the entire book here. Some are sort of out there, but Unicorn did get a snort or two out of me by the time I read them all.

Below are a couple of my favorite instances of Unicorn Being a Jerk.

Putting a kitten in the microwave.

I also had no idea a unicorn could be anti-Semitic.

Denying the Holocaust.

Yes, the irony of a mythical creature doing this did strike me funny, and no, I am not anti-Semitic so don’t write me letters OK.

Check out more unicorn evil here.

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Spiders On Drugs

How to Haunt Your House, Book Two is available now on LULU

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:59:03 +0000

Click the cover to check it out on Lulu.

This just in from Rabbit Hole Productions – How to Haunt Your House, Book Two is available now on LULU. I loved Book 1 so I thought I’d pass this along to you folks even thought I haven’t had a chance to check out the second book in the series.

The coffin lid was raised a little higher in, How to Haunt Your House, Book one. Now it’s time to dig a little deeper and conjure up some new projects and decorating ideas to impress this year’s ghouls and goblins! Inside, How to Haunt Your House, Book Two, you will find a broad range of home haunt prop step-by-step instructions. From animated props to full sized grave ghosts there is something for the haunt enthusiast in everyone. See how to hack store bought props into something truly ghoul-a-rific. Turn Styrofoam into tombstones, crypts and tombs using just a few basic ingredients and tools. Make a severed hand endlessly stir over a glowing cauldron, amid a collection of Apothecary jars and witches’ bottles filled with strange potions and sinister looking ingredients. Turn this year’s Halloween party into the hair raising experience even the undead will be talking about. Find more great tips and videos visit us at: www.howtohauntyourhouse.com.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t make a dime if you snag this from Lulu, but if you’re so inclined below is a link to Book 1 on Amazon. I’m just saying. Be that as it may I intend to snag a copy soon for review, and guess who’ll end up with it in a contest sometime? Hmmm?

See, even when I’m begging ya to buy something I’m still thinking of ya. ;-)

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

Great Summer Reading: The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:19:05 +0000

Prepare for Moon-induced carnage from some non-nuetered lycanthropes.

Happy first day of Summer folks. Since it’s the Summer Solstice – and a blessed on to all of my Pagan readers – I thought I’d plug a book I’m currently reading called the The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men as an excellent way to enjoy the gloaming light of the late evenings. In fact there’s nothing I like doing more than scrunching up in a comfy lawn chair under a tree and losing myself in a book, and this one, which bills itself as “The Ultimate Werewolf Anthology”, certainly is one to lose one’s self in.

I’ve let myself enjoy the enveloping twilight the past couple of nights as I read it wondering if any four-legged shapeshifters might be lurking behind me as I buried my face in the pages.

Oooh, shivery.

The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men was a collection I snagged back when The Wolfman was in theaters, but I’m just now getting around to reading it. Glad I remembered it being on my bookshelf too. It contains 23 dark stories of furry awesomeness by such writers as Clive Barker, Michael Marshall Smith, Graham Masterton, and Neil Gaiman. Each story is a gory sip of wonder, and while it isn’t a definitive volume, it certainly contains some gems like Twilight at the Towers by Clive Barker and an old favorite The Werewolf by R. Chetwynd-Hayes.

If you’re looking for something to read that’s not too consuming like a novel and you like your werewolves less Twilightishly nuetered then do consider this one. I promise you’ll get your fill at the all-you-can-eat entrails buffet soon enough. You can get it right now from Amazon for a mere pittance – only $5.58 at the time I write this – by clicking the book cover or following any of the links like this one for instance – The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men.

Snag it and you’ll surely be howling at the Moon in no time.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

Another Earth Day Treat – The Quest for the Green Man by John Matthews

Patrick Nottingham — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:09:49 +0000

So a couple of weekends ago I hit Rencon, and while I was there I sat in on a panel discussion of the Green Man. One of the folks on the panel was an author by the name of John Matthews. Dude has written over 90 books on mythology, shamanism, and history. So I snagged one of his books – Quest for the Green Man.

I’m about half-way through it and have found it to be an interesting examination of this archetype throughout multiple cultures and history. Matthews makes the case for the Green Man being embedded in nearly every religion and continent as something that is part of human consciousness. And, if you’re so inclined, there are exercises and meditations to help you contact the leafy one yourself.

Check it out on dead tree pulp by clicking the link above and below to Amazon. Also, you can see the very last year of my home haunt when we did a “Revenge of the Fae” theme. I had my own Green Man in the form of my brother-in-law in a Ghillie suit. Trust me when I say the Green Man in the dark surrounded by tress can be very scary in a haunt. Click Ghillie Dubh below to see some photos from that year.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

Declassified Documents of the British Goverment on Nessie

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:59:37 +0000

Over at Mania.com there’s a great article up by one of my favorite monster hunters Nick Redfern detailing what the British government knew about the Loch Ness Monster as seen in now declassified documents. Something cool to ponder late at night. Here’s an excerpt:

For example, in the late 1970s, official documents made available to the public in 2005 reveal, the then-Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had seriously considered a request to use dolphins in a search for the creatures.

I’m thinking I wouldn’t have wanted to be one of those dolphins. Deep dark water gives me the willies. Hell, I don’t even like to take a bath in case some dimensional portal opens up and tentacles come through to pull me under. Check out the article here and do hit Nick Redfern’s page as well.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Trailer is All Kinds of Awesome

Patrick Nottingham — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:49:02 +0000

I still remember the nostalgic days when the written word needed no Youtube trailer in order to sell it. Ah, back in the 20th Century people actually read for readings sake and . . . Never mind. I won’t go trolling by getting preachy. Either way, if you liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies from author Seth Grahame-Smith then do check out his latest offering – he was rumored to have gotten $575k for a two book deal because of PPZ – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I’m sure old Abe is rolling in his grave even as we speak. You can get it tomorrow March 2nd, 2010, at your favorite book seller or by clicking the photo of Abe about to open a can of axe wielding (who knew the Oval Office had a an axe in it) fury on on some viscous John Wilkes-Booth looking bloodsucker. I’ve posted the awesome trailer below – thanks to SYFY for posting this orifiginally. If you can’t see the video on Facebook or in your email then click Abe Is Kickass to see it.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

Creature Creation with Mike Melillo: Special Effects Secrets for the Halloween Enthusiast

Patrick Nottingham — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:54:03 +0000

Years ago at the very first Horrorfind Weekend in Baltimore – when I was just getting into Halloween and haunting houses – I got to sit in on a seminar by Leonard Pickel, editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine. After the seminar we got to talking, and I asked him what good how-to books he’d suggest forking over cash for. Well, his answer wasn’t much help; he said, “Buy them all.” That wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, me being a nobody on a budget, but I couldn’t argue with his reasoning: if each book gave you just one good idea then the thirty or forty bucks you spent on it was worth it. As a man who has wasted countless dollars learning lessons by making mistakes in prop building that a couple of books could have rescued me from, in hindsight, I have to agree. One good idea can save you money, time, aggravation and maybe even a trip to the Emergency Room – don’t ask.

Now let me suggest to you one book that I guarantee you’ll find more than one good idea hidden within its digital pages.

This week I managed to get my hands on not one, but two copies, of “Creature Creation with Mike Melillo: Special Effects Secrets for the Halloween Enthusiast”. One copy is in the Winter Solstice Let-It-Ride Contest and the other I plan to give away sometime soon so keep watching here. For those of you that lurk about on the various Halloween forums you might recognize the author more by his Internet handles: Dr. Slickshill or Blacklightmike. Melillo truly is a Monster Kid after my own heart who was weaned on a steady diet of the requisite Chiller Theater, Creature Feature, and Kaiju that spawned many an obsessed haunter – myself included.

In fact the first part of Creature Creation is an autobiography – at least the important parts to anyone interested in making creatures. Yeah, you could probably skip this, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I could name a couple of how-to manuals right off the top of my head that would benefit from getting to know the authors; the “who” and the “why” of haunting to me is just as important as the “how” in my opinion, and Melillo’s story telling encompasses everything from his early childhood makeup experiments with sawdust and glue to his involvement in the comic book industry is engaging and entertaining.

Next “Health and Safety” is covered , which I also recommend you don’t skip, after which the author spends a lengthy bit of the book on sculpting techniques and mask making. I’ve seen other manuals cover this, and I bet you have too. However, if you have ever made and been frustrated with a two-part mold over a mask or some other sculpted creation then you do not want to miss this part. Ever hear of a Dumpka? It’s a blindingly simple armature – so simple I can’t believe I’ve never seen something like it before – that will let you create a mask with no seams left from the two-part mold. How? Because by using the Dumpka you will be able to instead create a one piece mold over even the most complex of masks. Heresy you say? Read the book, and all will be revealed by Mr. Melillo.

Next up is where you will be glad you have an e-book. At 167 pages with full color photographs the cost of publishing this behemoth of a book would be prohibitive for most folks to buy. However, because it’s an e-book you will have all the full color photos of Melillo’s mask painting instructions, and I guarantee that when you see “The Bride” come to life one layer of paint at a time the techniques will be clearer to you than from any web page or book you have previously seen.

In fact that’s what the author has endeavored to do and has done for the most part – Creature Creation fills in some of the gaps of missing information on similar how-to’s on the web in order to save you those precious commodities I mentioned earlier: time, money, aggravation, etc.

Throughout the rest of the book you’ll recognize such topics as: Fast Weatherproof Hands, Basic Makeup, Tweaking Props to get that edge over store bought and even many home made props, Building Small Creatures and Large with different techniques, and more. More than I can list here, and I promise you will get at least one great idea from each section of Mike Melillo’s Creature Creation – some of which may cause you to smack your head in wonder because you didn’t think of it – and each will be worth the purchase price of the book.

Now for the important stuff. You can get “Creature Creation with Mike Melillo: Special Effects Secrets for the Halloween Enthusiast” from the Black Light Fright website for $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping – a mere pittance for the one zillion good ideas you’ll get from it. Click the blurb graphic below to be taken right to the store and do check out Mike’s haunt Dr. Slickshill’s Sideshow of Monstrous Oddities as well.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

A Halloween How-To by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:09:40 +0000

One of the best things about the Internet is that everyone can have a voice and there’s no one telling them what they can and cannot say; one of the worst things about the Internet is that monkeys like me are doing it and we have no editors or fact checkers. Yes, the last time I mentioned one of Lesley Pratt Bannatyne’s books I bestowed a Harvard education on her. I failed to mention she was knighted by the Queen and has achieved the 33rd Degree of Masonry as well despite being a woman. Yes, smart cookie that she is she found my error and called me on it. Her bio, which is no less impressive without the Harvard degree, can be found on the Harvard site since she works for them, and we all know that Harvard hires a bunch of slouches as editors and communications writers. Now if I had only taken 3.2 seconds to click that link and read it in the first place . . .

With that said, she’s still one of the Queens of Halloween, and I want to tell you a little bit about another of her books: A Halloween How-To.

Published in 2001 before the explosion of Halloween related websites, forums, email lists, and a quagmire of how-to information, “A Halloween How-To” was the definitive guide to everything Halloween. This would exclude, perhaps, if you happen to be looking for a Pagan religious guide to Samhain; this ain’t it folks. All the information in this guide, which is geared toward an adult contemporary Halloween experience, is still quite relevant, and indeed I found tons of useful ideas for parties, costumes, decorations and destinations I really hadn’t known about before.

Within it’s pages are plenty of good solid ideas to decorate your home and yard, how to pick the perfect pumpkin and carve it, for making do-it-yourself costumes, to liven up a party of ghouls and goblins, to help you decide which music to play from Bach to Midnight Syndicate, for picking classic movies to watch, and for tempting your guest with some delicatible Halloween food recipes. Then Banntyne follows this with an excellent selection of ideas for making Halloween great outside your safe little Halloween home base such as ghost hunting, finding parades and local events, and a profile of some of the nations best haunted attractions (yes, some have went by the wayside since publication but others are still going strong)that you can visit. On top of all this is a good helping of Halloween history, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has read “Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History” also by the Lesley Pratt Bannatyne (I swear I’m going to do a full review on this one soon), and you have a one concise, intelligent, adult read that should give you endless ideas to enhance your October festivities.

Yes, we just finished October, but this book would make an excellent addition to your collection or the collection of a Halloween fan you may be stymied for holiday gift ideas for. Start now people. Time is waisting. Halloween will be here before you know it. Honest!

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne

Patrick Nottingham — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:15:23 +0000

I’m only about half finished with this delightful book, but I wanted to get something up about it. Last Saturday night while I was at Castle Blood, I got a chance to spend the evening freezing my butt off next to Lesley Bannatyne. She was freezing hers off too while she signed copies of her book and spoke with a childlike glee to Castle Blood customers about one of her favorite subjects – Halloween. With an unparalleled knowledge of the subject befitting someone who is Harvard educated – she is smart people so she is – Bannatyne is wonderfully engaging on the subject with anyone willing to listen. She was also in town for World Zombie Day, which I will post about tomorrow, and is writing a new book about contemporary Halloween celebrations; I can’t wait.

Ya got to love an Ivy Leaguer (Is that a word?) who seeks out zombies.

I’ve always thought myself above average in my own knowledge – I like to pretend I iz smart – of the origins of the holiday, but upon reading the first few chapters of “Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History” I realized there are vast gaps in my own picture of this time of year that’s so important to me and just about everyone reading this blog. Yes, there is a lot of rubbish floating about on the Internet pertaining to Halloween, and I’ve managed to ignore most of that; however, I can assure you that if you pick this book up – either from me through the link above or at your local bookstore – that you will be able to dazzle the average person who asks you about your home haunt, party, or just why you love dressing up as a creature of the night every 31st of October.

I’ll post a full review when I’m done, and I’d love to here from those of you that snag this book or already own it.