Time Travel, Vampires and 10,000 Words

Suprise, suprise- Ive another new project on the go!   Im just starting book two of my time travel adventure, this one entitled A Connecticut Vampire in Queen Mary's Court... 10,000 words in five days... still on fire...

 "I unlocked the door, and burst in, to find her advancing on me, smiling, tears falling down her beautiful face. Smiling in return, I slipped my dagger smoothly into her chest. I heard her dress tear, I felt a slight resistance as my blade separated her ribs, then I heard the gurgling as I pierced her heart. As she frowned at me questioningly, croaked her last unpronounceable words, and fell limp into my arms, a knife fell to the ground between us, clattering on the floor. I bent to pick it up. The thin blade had been coated in sticky green ichor. I had dodged another bullet."

 

Queen Mary 1 aka "Bloody Mary"

I finished the first volume, A Connecticut Vampire in King Arthur's Court, in 51 days. Here's brief excerpt

"The large four poster bed stood against one wall; only piece of furniture in the bedchamber, with a dark ornate carved headboard containing the coats of arms of both Arthur and Catherine. I pushed at the ‘mattress’ with the heel of my hand, finding it hard and unforgiving. The top coverlet was embroidered gold, but underneath, fine white silk sheets lay stretched tightly, the clean artist’s canvas for the coming night’s bloody painting. These, the sheets that would be held high for all to see, proving beyond doubt the broken hymen of a Spanish princess. The bloody stains that would be reported back to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella as the successful ploughing of her virgin daughter by a fifteen year old boy."

 
A Connecticut Vampire in King Arthur's Court  by Ian Hall will be published on Amazon very soon, and if things continued the way they have been, it will be soon followed by book two... stay tuned for the launch announcement. Hope you enjoy!

Join me at www.ianhallauthor.com

The Bloody Gavel; by Edgar Allan Poe?

I am writing a short story for a collection called "The Bloody Gavel".

So I rose this morning, and I think I channelled the darkness and grit of the "master of mystery and macabre", Edgar Allan Poe himself.

I decided that the story be in four parts, each woven from a verse of poetry.

So without further yammer, here it is;

The Bloody Gavel

By Ian Hall

“It matters not, where you lay your bones,
Or the compass direction of travel.
For the fate was set, in paper and stone
At the strike of the bloody gavel.”

“Revenge is a route that’s easy begun
But the plot takes time to unravel
But man and his fate are fused into one
At the strike of the bloody gavel.”

“When unity dies in a gang of lies
Conspirators quibble and cavil
But trickery’s sting will show in the eyes
At the strike of the bloody gavel.”

“We never hear death, or the sound of his breath
Or the crunch of his feet in the gravel.
But the Reaper will reap, like a ghostly Macbeth
At the strike of the bloody gavel.”

Accuracy: Getting the Facts Right

Yes, for once there's no pic of old, dead people..... just me, with one of my young fans (Shayne) at a great book-signing.
You see, when I read a book, or watch a movie ('film', sorry folks back home) I'm constantly drawn out of the plot by bad continuity, bad acting, stupid plot-lines, or by the bane of my existence... inaccurate history. It wastes the film/movie for me.
Yes, I'm a writer.
Yes, I write historical fiction.
But I'm also a fan of FACTS.
In any of my books, from the 600 page book in the picture above to our Vampire High School series... accurate facts are researched for almost every paragraph.
In my latest book, currently at 60,000 words, "A Connecticut Vampire in King Arthur's Court", I bring the two together... vampires and history.
But just because I'm writing in a genre that a lot of people dismiss as 'mush', doesn't mean that the story isn't good, or that the history is not researched.
On the contrary, I think I over-research it.
Apart from the vampire... every main or sub-character in the book is real; researched, and actually existed. Every town is real. Every historical fact, every action, every house, palace is real. The timeline of my plot is historically accurate to the day, even the hour.
I maybe write for an hour, and 'research' for another.
Yes, Wikipedia is fantastic, but I've also got an extensive library at home, with many books on the period.
And when it comes down to it, I want you to be so immersed in my books that you never want them to end.
And that makes it all worthwhile.
Okay, my rant is over, I'm going back to Christmas Day, 1501.
Have a great day. http://www.ianhallauthor.com/

Queen Isabella: Columbus Backer and Mother of Catherine of Aragon

Taken from a larger painting, this is Queen Isabella of Spain, quite a woman by all accounts.
She backed the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
She forced the Muslims and Jews either out of Spain, or to convert to Christianity (the invading Muslims gave the Spanish a similar choice, centuries before, but their alternative wasn't exile, it was death.)
And she gave birth to Catherine of Aragon, the wife of both Prince Arthur, and his brother, King Henry the Eighth.
I've been doing a fair amount of research for my new novel "A Connecticut Vampire in King Arthur's Court", and I can only marvel at the lives these powerful people led.
And let's face it, compared to many portraits of the day, Queen Isabella is portrayed as a good looking woman.

Her daughter, Catherine, above, takes that beauty and drapes it in mourner's black for the untimely death of Prince Arthur, Prince of Wales.
In my book, I find Prince Arthur a sickly fifteen year old, but with a name meant to unite England again, and a marriage to the top Princess in Spain, this union was meant to cement relationships, not hinder them.
By the time Prince Henry was fifteen, he lusted after his old sister-in-law so badly, he had to marry her.
Despite King Henry's many affairs, Catherine was pregnant six times, but only once did the child pass the six-day mark; the Princess Mary, who ruled England after Henry's death; the original Bloody Mary.
Research unearths many nuggets, and good books are made of them.
Come see me at; http://www.ianhallauthor.com/

Vampire High School; Free Download

The Turning of Alan Rand is now a FREE download on most eBook sites.
Alan is the main protagonist in the early books of the Vampire High School series.
But, to let you get your teeth (did I really write that?) into our Vampire High School series, and see what we write, and how we write, we decided to add FOUR free chapters to the FREE Alan Rand Download.
So... if you're looking for a new Vampire series to get your fangs into, here's where to go...

Alan Rand, with FOUR FREE chapters of Vampire High School...
http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-High-School-Turning-ebook/dp/B00BK9TQ8M/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1365688023&sr=8-5&keywords=alan+rand

and our website, Vampires Don't Cry...
http://www.vampiresdontcry.com/

Have a great day, and "long may your blood run warm...."

Small Step... Vampire Trilogy to Vampire Series

Yes folks... technically it was just another book, but from a trilogy, it moved the number of Vampire High School novels to four, and that's 'officially' a SERIES.
We kept the format exactly the same; the fist page carries on from the last page of book 3.
Excitement high, fever pitch plot-lines, and a climax to die for..... literally.
It also put the number of vampire High School words to over a quarter of a million.
We gave the whole series (man that 'series' word sounds real good) a brand new look, with a new 'themed' cover set.
April and I are also busy at work on book 5.
Join us at;
http://www.ianhallauthor.com/ for my books.
http://www.vampiresdontcry.com/ for our vampire books.

FREE Vampire story on Amazon Kindle

"Behind the Masque" FREE download, Valentine's Day 14th Feb.
YES! The legend of Cinderella is re-worked in a new vampire story, then shamelessly given away for free to coincide with a commercially based excuse to sell greetings cards, chocolate, and furry teddybears holding red hearts.
(Wow, Ian, why don't you get off the fence and tell it as it really is?)
You'd think we'd thrown away our literary pride, burned our university robes, and sold our souls to the very devils we write about... but you'd be wrong.
You see, giving away our Cinderella-esque vampire story for free on Valentines weekend (14th, 15th, 16th Feb) is actually a fiendish plot to introduce a new strain of flu vaccine to an unwary public, far too interested in Beyonce's newest boyfriend to notice or care.
(Whispers from off-stage... "Ian you can't introduce flu vaccine with this FREE vampire story giveaway.")
("Why not?" I ask. "After all, we're hoping to give away thousands of FREE giveaways and get the flu vaccine to millions of countries!")
(Whisper from off-stage... "Because it's an electronic download, Kindle, eBook, you freaking lunatic/idiot/magalomaniac!!")
(I straighten my tie, do the flexy/clicky thing with my fingers, clear my throat, and continue...)
But we have a fiendish plan. Not quite as fiendish and cunning as Baldrick's plans, but we have tried to work 'turnips' into the blog more than once.
"What?" I ask you. "I've only mentioned 'turnips' ONCE so far? Curses!"
But back to the FREE vampire story giveaway.
We've added the first FOUR chapters of our Vampire High School series to the FREE vampire givaway.
"What value!" You chortle. "These guys are amazing!" You enthuse...
(You are the nicest audience!)
So, to conclude... this weekend... 14th, 15th, 16th Feb 2013, there's a FREE vampire Cinderella redux Kindle giveaway. With four FREE chapters from our Vampire High School series.
Available here;
http://www.amazon.com/Behind-The-Masque-ebook/dp/B00AIQENGI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1360686503&sr=8-4&keywords=behind+masque
You'd be crazy to miss it.