In An Effort To Save Nimblnymph's Soul & Sanity....

[redbrunja]

enderxenocide  and I went shopping today, and we kicked ass. I found three bras, two shirts, and part of pants ALL of which both a.) fit and b.) were on sale. Plus, I had gift cards for half of it. (Hello, there, awesome new shisedo lipstick in a red 1930s harlots would wear.) Plus I knocked off half my Christmas list. (Shut up, I know that it's not even thanksgiving. In my defense, I come back from Turkey Day and have Dead week and then finals and know I won't want to shop then.) As a result of this, I got to go home and throw away two bras that were old and needed to be taken out to the back forty.

Get your lulz for the day: 28 Reasons That ‘Twilight’ the Movie Is Better Than ‘Twilight’ the Book

I would totally be seeing this movie, because the movie would be better than the book and I'm a sucker (heh) for vampire stories, except that the author is a Morman, and a certain percentage of her earnings go to the Church.... the same Church that helped get same-sex declared illegal in California.

The Church of Latter-Day Saints is not seeing one fucking dime of my money.

And nimble? About writing a good vampire novel since no one else is? You totally should and I think I will. I've been looking for a nice project for winter break and I'm a little burned out on my Reiketsukan-verse at the moment.

Since I've been thinking of good vampire novels (and been shocked by how hard it is - especially since they are my favorite) I've decided to post a rec list of damn good vampire novels.

(Some of these are stand alones and some are the first of a series.)

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klaus

This is how you do a romance between a vampire and a teenage girl. Zoe has a life of her own, problems of her own, and so does Simon. The vampire lore is classic and has consequences and Zoe is the furtherest thing from passive. The ending is bittersweet and this is one of the few books when I can honestly say I'd have it no other way.

Covenant with the Vampire (Diaries of the Family Dracul) by Jeanne Kalogridis

I was probably too young to read this when I did. I'm still not sure if I liked it but the author doesn't shy away from either the horrific nature of the vampires or the sex=death metaphor. (In fact, there is a sex scene in the first book that is pretty much burned in my mind. I could probably quote a couple lines word for word. Considering I read this about ten years ago....)

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

The teenagers in this book feel real - mature and young and all trying there best. Also, there's Eve. A barista who grew up in a town ruled by vampires and so dresses Goth as a 'fuck you' to people who could kill her for being too uppity.

Life Sucks by Jessica Abel

A graphic novel this time, Life Sucks, is a screamingly creative retelling of vampire mythology in modern times, and what immortality would really look like in our capitalist world. I'm praying this will be the beginning of a series but this works as a stand-alone. While it will leave you wanting more, stands very well on its own merits.

You Suck by Christopher Moore

Imagine if Carl Hiaasen wrote about vampires instead of Flordia. Yeah.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. 1) by Charlaine Harris

Everyone and their best friend's mother has read this but I feel it's good enough to deserve a place on the list, even if I do feel that is and has teetered dangerously close to succumbing to Anita Blake-itis.

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Her latest book made me think I'd made a grave mistake in buying it in hardcover and I spent a hundred pages cursing her editor and LKH. And then Harrison pulled out a fantastically interesting plot that has nothing whatsoever to do with the main characters love life and her next book regained will-be-pre-ordering status. That said, her first book (linked) is fantastically interesting, has a great, original mythology, and gave me my first femmeslash OTP.

Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop

"I am Tersa the weaver, Tersa the liar, Tersa the fool."

While not strictly a vampire novel, there is a hot, scary, bad ass dead guy who I want to adopt me. I say it qualifies. As you can see, I've read this series so many times I have chucks of it memorized and the spine has a tendency to fall open to my favorite passages.

Blood Price by Tanya Huff

Scary romantic vampire love interest writes historical romance novels to pay the bills. Heroine is an ex-cop who quit the force because she got a degenerative eye condition that means she's effectively blind at night. Which is not going to stop her from being an awesome P.I.

Edited To Add:

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

"Talk to me. Remind me that you are a rational creature."

In in one line, McKinely gives us an ominously hungry vampire who is nonetheless that kind of vampire you'd want to be chained next to. Also, McKinley gives us a deliciously interesting world and a protagonist with a deliciously mundane day job (she's a baker).

Comments

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I was unimpressed with Dead Until Dark. I think I gave it a C grade in my head. I watched two episodes of True Blood and was unimpressed with that too. I thought Bill was okay as a character, if a bit boring (and creepy, but vamps are supposed to be creepy), but Sookie gradually irritated me more and more over.

Much, much for fun was Dead Witch Walking. I'm halfway through the sequel right now--both in audiobook. It drags a bit in places, but I love the world Harrison has created and I like that she's brave enough to have Ivy as a character, and Ivy/Rachel as two female characters with heavy UST and explicit acknowledgment of the sexual connotations of their relationship. I don't ship them, but I do ship their friendship, and I feel bad for Ivy's unrequited affection.

I loved the mink and rat fights sequence in DWW, that whole section of the book. Sometimes I get tired of Rachel's "yeah, whatever, I'll handle it" attitude, but she's a very sympathetic character and I love how much guts she has.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I can totally understand being unwhelmed by Dead Until Dark. I personally enjoyed it (the first one especially) but I can easily see why other people won't.

And Dead Witch Walking is a BLAST. Ivy has grown a lot on my over the series. When she's first introduced I didn't really get her, but as we learn more about how much she's been tweaked by her upbringing it makes SO MUCH sense.

I loved the mink and rat fights sequence in DWW, that whole section of the book. Sometimes I get tired of Rachel's "yeah, whatever, I'll handle it" attitude, but she's a very sympathetic character and I love how much guts she has.

*nods* And I do like that she'll get in over her head and in trouble and that when she pulls her own ass out of the fire she's earned it, you know?

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Yes. And, to be honest, I'd rather see THOSE books be made into a tv show than True Blood, especially on something like the production scale of HBO. There's enough going on in each book in term of A plots, B plots, C, D, and E plots, with another F and G overarching cross-book plotting, that there's a lot of activity to draw on for a tv season. I can imagine Trent Calamack (sp? audiobook!) as a multi-season Big Bad.

However, the worlds take a lot of exposition to get into, and I imagine Jinx and his family would be difficult and expensive to animate on a weekly basis.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Agreed on the whole Rachel Morgan series, although I almost wouldn't want it to get ruined, you know?

Trent would make a GREAT villain, and I'd love to have a great female/male rivalry where they mostly want to kill each other but there is this edge of sexual tension.

And you're right, Jinx and fam would be a bitch to animate.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

pretty:

http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Anger-management-60272739

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I totally wish more people played around with Inner Sakura.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but Inner Sakura starts to play a big part a few chapters from now in Lucid.

If, you know, I ever get off my ass and write the rest of it...stupid middle parts...

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I know.

Those damned middle parts.