For the second book in my vampire novel series, The Matriarch: Guardians, I began to invent items unique to my vampire-infested world. One of them was a modular fauchard – affectionately dubbed “the Decapitator” – designed to hunt neophyte vampires too new to their undead world to fully understand their abilities. Yes, that’s real…and currently being built as a show-piece prop; it’s what all the cool vampire hunters are carrying most nights.
For seven seasons, the HBO series “True Blood” – based on the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse books – deviated almost unrecognizably away from the source material. Every character not killed off managed to pair up with someone, but similar to the final Harris novel that reportedly left fans unsatisfied, HBO botched a chance to one-up the author on the final outcome of Sookie and Bill.
Here’s three suggested treatments for a better ending; this is just off the top of my head, but I prefer number three.
***SPOILERS IF YOU STILL CARE!***
Pick one…they’re all better than what crawled out of the writer’s room.
October 24-26, 2014: Literary guest (confirmed) at Spooky Empire Ultimate Horror Weekend in Orlando, Florida.
We’re also putting together what may be the BIGGEST Ultimate Occult Showdown we’ve ever done; just waiting on word for day and time. Fingers crossed for the BIG room!
See highlights from my past guest gigs on the Appearance Page.
As promised: highlights from the 2014 Ultimate Occult Showdown shot at Ancient City Con. If you don’t yet know what we do, this is a good example.
A game show with no prizes and audience participation is mandatory! Vote up your favorites in a contest of characters, movies, and TV programs but be ready to tell us why. Rules are made up as we go along by your opinionated a**hole hosts Kevin A. Ranson and Brett J. Link. Presented by MovieCrypt.com and Grim D. Reaper!
As a few of you know, I am married to a wonderful horror author, Linda S. Cowden. Her book about the Grim Reaper called Grimmie is an awesome read, so last October we shot several still photos with a small cast to create a book trailer based on the opening chapter.
Here it is: shot, scored & cut by me!
Enjoy, and feel free to spread the love around!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFACUtHup2g
“Just when you think you know what to expect from a sequel, Kevin A. Ranson completely shatters predictability with The Matriarch: Guardians. The perfect pace and continuity of the different subplots fuse together seamlessly (to) deepen the pull into each character’s motives.
“Allow yourself to become emotionally charged in this modern-day vampire thriller. It is so tangible and believable that you might even second guess the intentions of every administrative professional that you put in charge of your loved ones. You might also start to desperately want to find the quality care of a qualified vampire. I now see the situation as being a Win/Win…just don’t ask too many questions. Although the first book The Matriarch delivered a dark and intense sojourn, the sequel has managed to launch the story out of the atmosphere!”
~ by Kimmie Chameleon for DarkMedia.com
Yes, I’m a bit of a shutterbug, so I made this video with highlights from the show…not everything, but a lot of what I saw passing our table and walking around the floor. I’m working on a different video with Ultimate Occult Showdown 2014 highlights, so watch for that coming out soon! Meanwhile…
I get this question all the time. A LOT.
Fox Mulder inspired my preferred answer…with a heavy influence from Bela Lugosi.
The Matriarch: Guardians is available NOW, but here’s a “mood trailer” for you with bits of dialogue lifted from the text. Enjoy…and feel free to comment and share!
Extra fun bit! If you have a cool sound system or really great headphones, you’ll get a bit of a treat; I put a lot of cool and creepy stuff into the soundtrack that you’ll miss on a teeny phone speaker. Turn it up!
Popular Arts Conventions are great places for fans and artists to meet and interact over common interests: books, film, television, cosplay, web, or whatever. The fear, however, is that fans – abbreviated from the word “fanatics” – are the only source of irresponsibility and poor judgment. For those of us who at one time or another have stood on both sides of the convention table, there IS such a thing as a bad guest.
Fortunately, David Gerrold has nailed a comprehensive list of essential guidelines that guests new and old should probably abide by. With his kind permission, I have immortalized it not only for myself but for anyone in the industry.
All of you know someone who might have benefited from such knowledge.
Don’t be that guest…ever. Or ever again.
Read and heed.
Kevin A. Ranson 