Children's vampire book synopsis: Count Dracula leaves behind the foggy woodland hills of Transylvania for the humid, narrow streets of New Orleans. Dracula's wife Caramella has been seemingly abducted by his arch nemesis, the French nobleman Le'snot, who has whisked her away to the Garden District to be married on Halloween. Le'snot's friend, Edvard, is brooding and glittering (he's bitter that his fangs will not develop) and agrees to help Le'snot when he falls in love with a beignet waitress named Cookie at Cafe Du Monde. And finally there is the small brown wolf-like puppy Wolfie who is burdened with a particular affliction for turning into a human boy during the full moon. It's his curse to bear, and while in human-boy form for those three days he searches old books on ways to destroy the human curse, not immediately seeing the hypocrisy of his quest. Dracula and his son Devon arrive in New Orleans at a pier in front of Jackson Square, with St...

Happy Halloween, dear blog and friends. Hurricane Sandy is on her way and the flooding has begun around here. Wind gusts are extreme, too. I began a strong edit of Unique . From over 140,000 words I'm working near to 100,000 words for a much more single direction. I hope to postpone the apocalyptic ending for another story so to keep the plot and setting in present day for the time being. I like it in Baltimore. I'll blow it up later. The book 2 story is still in the works as I really like the story of Evan waking from a coffin in the earth a decade or so into this new world inhabited by tall, dark castles and vampire technology and mutants and a much quieter planet. Saw Hotel Transylvania with my girlfriend and nephew over the weekend. Really cute flick, but eerily reminded me of my failures to get my vampire children's book ( A New Life in New Orleans ) done. I'll share a synopsis soon.

During this past year I've learned a lot about myself, and forgot a lot, as well. During this past year I reckon I could've had polished my book and had it published, twice. Instead, I burrowed deep into my depression, snuggled into it, cried that I wanted to find a way out of it, but like the barb of a cactus, the more you pull the deeper it sets. During this past year I've missed a lot of opportunities. During this past year I watched my beloved Baltimore Orioles win 93 games and burst onto the Postseason stage and falter dramatically. That was the flipside to my deep despair. The boys in orange and black gave me a summer to remember while survived a summer to forget. Today I started writing again, added a nice new piece to the first book and I have two pages in what is now the definite book 2. As the original book 2 became a piece for much later in the series. Who knows, maybe I'll be back soon... It's Halloweentober, which means all I think about night and...

Unemployment. Day 180. Withdrawal. Pain. Agony. The Displaced Vampire all but forgotten. How can i fix any of this?

I know this is a bit late, but it's Halloween once again, the time for ghosts, ghouls and other nasties, but more specifically it's a time of vampires. And this year, let's celebrate the vampire hunters, the slayers of the undead Children of the Night in film and television and literature. And considering I've recently attened the Theater of the Vampires Ball in New Orleans with special guest Laurell K Hamilton, let's celebrate her very own slayer: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. I've just finished reading the fifth book in her very long running series, Bloody Bones, and honestly I was hooked again. Serephina, the town's master vampire, is described so beautifully and wonderfully spooky that the book's weaknesses disappeared for me completely. Reading a captivating chapter like that is the kind of stuff that inspires me most to continue to write, even when I'm in hopeless despair. But Anita Blake is a richly deep and complex character, and after hearing...

The Theatre of the Vampires Ball . We had originally planned to attend the ball as the hooded-cloaked vampires of the theatre as seen in Interview with the Vampire , but the trip was nearly in jeapordy, so costumes were out of the question until last night. I need help finding a costume, quickly. Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the guests this year, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a suitable Anita Blake-inspired costume. I'm not exactly Jean-Claude material. I just don't have the hair for it...

I lost my job as I was hospitalized with atrial fibrillation. Interesting, huh? I was in shock for quite a while, and then I realized I hated the job anyway. So I'm a statistic again and proud of it. Power to the People! We're headed to New Orleans in a few days, and I swear I need this. Granted, while the heart issues were giving me non-stop grief the past month, my doc gave me a clean bill of health, so I eliminated quite a bit of depression. So I plan on just living life. Me and my dog chillen at home and I'll continue to write. God, I thank you for the faith and the good heart, but I wish I could consistently write and finish this book and get it published. My attention span has to focus... There's so much more I should add, considering the length of time that I've been away from this diary, but I want to chill. I want to think about another ARVLFC vampire ball again and beignets and cafe au lait and Bourbon St music. Tomorrow: MNF and Baltimore Ravens.