All posts by Carl V. Anderson

Interview with a Vampire Author ~Part The Third

Colleen Gleason is the author of the historical paranormal romance novels that make up The Gardella Vampire Chronicles. Over the past two years I have had the privilege of introducing you to Colleen through reviews of her works as well as interviews coinciding with the release of those books. February 5th marks the official release date of the third novel in the series, The Bleeding Dusk. To honor that momentous occasion, I have once again subjected Colleen Gleason to the torture of my relentless interview questions. She has graciously answered these and I have no doubt that you will enjoy them. For those of you who would like to sink your teeth into what has gone before, here are links to Part the First and Part the Second, coinciding with the releases of The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night, respectively. But first,

A Very Important Public Service Announcement:

Like bibliophiles the world over, when I am anticipating a book’s release I have no self control. If I can be there the very second the book hits the store shelves then I am there, parting with my hard earned cash to take my newest acquisition home. Those of you who frequent bookstores in the next few days may have that “ah ha!” moment as you see the sumptuous cover of The Bleeding Dusk tempting you to pick it up and take it home. I am asking you to resist that temptation! “What?” You may ask, “Is this how you promote someone’s book? Remind me not to ask you to help my future book sales!” Never fear, there is a reason behind my madness.

The first week’s book sales are critical to an author of Colleen Gleason’s status. Although she would like to have the sales figures of say, Stephen King, the reality is that she is an author in a genre of books that has tremendous output which means many, many books are clamoring for a buyer’s attention. The official release date for The Bleeding Dusk is Tuesday, February 5th. So the sales that occur February 5th through February 11th are the ones that pack the biggest punch for our delightful storyteller. Those sales have a great deal of influence over her future books being picked up for publication. They tell the publisher that Colleen Gleason is a good investment.

So, control yourselves. Wait. No matter how tempting it is, please realize that this is one of the cases where your vote counts. One book sale does matter here. Waiting is hard, but if you stay tuned to the end of the interview, I assure you that you will find something that makes purchasing The Bleeding Dusk worth a few more days wait.

And now, on with the interview:

Continue reading Interview with a Vampire Author ~Part The Third →

Symphony ~Sarah Brightman

Lured by the whispers of a 40% off coupon I found myself at Borders Books and Music yesterday, looking for something I did not need: another book to take home. After a cursory search which turned up battered copies of all the books I was interested in buying, I decided to visit the hospitality suite (aka, restroom) on my way out of the store (thinking to myself how I would be able to brag to Jeff that I managed to go into Borders with said coupon and not spend any money*). My path took me past the music aisle, however, and my journey was arrested: Sarah Brightman has a new cd out, and the packaging was eye catching to say the least.

Continue reading Symphony ~Sarah Brightman →

We ~Yevgeny Zamyatin

We ~Yevgeny Zamyatin

–published 1921
–203 pages, Modern Library
–4/5 stars

I was asked by Chelle, who co-runs a reader’s advisory blog for the public library she works at, the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, to do a guest book review for their site. I was certainly honored to do so and chose this unique classic to review. I finished the book a few weeks ago and posted my review to them yesterday. It is now up for your perusal. I am turning off the comments here and would ask that you please do me the honor of leaving comments over there. I will be reading them and answering them as if they were right here on my site.

It may just be my internet connection, but the site is a little slow to load. Please be patient if that is the case with you as well. It is a review worth reading, if I say so myself. 🙂

Continue reading We ~Yevgeny Zamyatin →

Friday Favorites: Esao Andrews


(Megan)

Click on the above picture. Go on–do it.

Amazing isn’t it? There is such life in the detail….such depth.

I had no intention for Friday Favorites to veer off the science fiction path any time soon. But that is the way of art. I am more controlled by a passing whim with my choices for Friday Favorites posts than I am with anything else I discuss on this blog, and when I saw the above image I was lost. I have always been a sucker for redheads, whether on film, in fiction, or in art and this painting just drew me in.

And once I am drawn in I get excited. I literally get a sort of ‘out of body’ experience when I am excited about an artist that I am going to share with you and I feel the electricity tingling through me as I sit here to type this.

The artist is Esao Andrews. And it is his work that I share with you today.

Continue reading Friday Favorites: Esao Andrews →