Fangtastic Books: Vampire Movies with October Weeks- What Are Your Favorites?

Thanks for having me on your blog! Today I’d like to talk about the importance of music and movies to my writing process.

I’ve always written to music and movies. It’s an important part of the process for me, just as important as having something hot to drink next to me to sip on J The trick is to have music that speaks of the characters and atmosphere of the book. For instance, when I write about ghosts, the music is normally softer—classical, instrumental, music with a soft haunting edge to it—and the movies have to be about ghosts or have a haunting feel to them. When I’m writing vampires, the music is harder—rock, metal, driving/heavy instrumentals—and the movies have vampires or supernatural creatures in them.

I cannot write in total silence. The words won’t flow if there isn’t background noise (movies) or music. I’ve tried to write in total quiet and that…didn’t work out so well.

While I was writing The Damned, the music of Evanescence was on repeat. Ninety-nine percent of the book was written to their music. But during revisions and edits, the muse wanted movies in the background. Vampire movies, of course.

Underworld and Underworld: Evolution were the main DVDs that were playing in the background. Kate Beckinsale’s Selene is one of my favorite characters, and the movies have the same type of tone and environment that my book, The Damned, does. These are movies that I could watch on repeat even when I’m not writing—two of my favorites!

What are some of your favorite vampire movies?

The Damned

October Weeks

Genre: Dark urban fantasy

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Date of Publication: March 12, 2015

ASIN: B00UESEIJW

Word Count: 69,000

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Book Description:

Eight years ago, slayer Tuck Houston lost two of her closest friends to a Damned vampire named Josef Dragos—a beast who traded the sun for darkness and blood. She’s been hunting him since the day she walked into the carnage he created. But Josef has hidden himself well in the underground, from both slayers and other vampires.

When slayers around the globe start disappearing in a familiar pattern—Josef’s pattern—she’s put on the hunt. And despite the painful memories and very real threat to her future that come with tracking him down, Tuck is certain of one thing: she is going to make Josef Dragos wish he’d never been born.

Available at Amazon

Excerpt:

Tuck Houston casually strolled through the front doors of the ritzy hotel with a warm smile on her face, her hoodie and jeans soaked through from the rain. “Wasn’t expecting the downpour,” she said as she neared the front desk, cringing a bit inside as her boots left a bit of mud on the carpet.

The clerk chuckled as he regarded her. “I don’t think anyone was—forecast didn’t say anything about rain.”

“Damn weathermen can’t be trusted.” She laughed as she made her way to the elevator and clicked the button.

“Apparently not!”

When the elevator doors opened a few moments later, she said, “Have a good night.”

“You as well.”

When the doors opened again, she made her way to her quarry’s room, letting herself in with the key she’d obtained the day before. Digital keys were much harder to obtain than the old metal keys smaller hotels or motels used. She’d charmed the male clerk into giving her a key so she could surprise her “lover.”

The room was empty, of course. As he’d done the night before, her target was having a “drink” at the bar before retiring to his room, courtesy of some idiot human. Even the Damned couldn’t kill everyone they fed from—got suspicious after a while, to humans and slayers.

Walking across the high-end hardwood floors spread over the entire room, Tuck sat herself down on a chair, kicking her wet boots up on the edge of the bed and placing her pure silver knives on her thighs, which had been sheathed at her waist under her hooded sweatshirt. They weren’t her favorite weapons, but they were best for close contact.

She’d been tracking Samuel Bellows for a little over six weeks, from Boston to San Francisco—the city she was now in. He was responsible for the killing of seven little girls, drinking them dry of blood then abandoning their bodies in the woods. She could practically taste his death on her tongue.

But those girls were not the reason she was after him. His power had lingered at the scenes of several missing slayers—she planned on having a nice, bloody chat with him about that.

Footsteps jarred the quiet about twenty minutes later. Samuel’s footsteps. No human would have heard his steps, but she was more than human—slayers had a predators’ hearing, and she clearly heard the delight in his gait. He had a new target, he had human blood on his tongue, and—she smiled to herself—he had no idea what was in his room.

The key card slid in the lock, the door clicked, and into the darkness of the room came Samuel Bellows—five-foot-ten, a bit heavyset, and reeking of glee.

He was a dead man.

She held her position patiently as he turned on the lights. The look of surprise in his gray eyes when he saw her was so comical that she actually laughed. “Good evening, Samuel. The name’s Tuck Houston. But you can call me Ripper, if you’d like.”