Saturday, May 9, 2009

WELCOME TO VAMPIRE BOOKS NAVIGATOR!

Greetings fellow authors, vampirophiles, vampire book bibliophiles, librarians, publishers, authors' representatives and publicists, book buyers and distributors, and all those whose interest, passion or business (maybe all three) includes vampire books!

Why would one even want help navigating the choppy (sometimes bloody) waters of books that fall in the sub-genre of vampire books?

One reason: because vampire books are legion and it helps to find reviews that sort the wheat from the chaff, or, er, the blood from the guts.

Since the books reviewed here are all worthwhile vampire books, choosing any (or all) of them, as time goes by, will make our wallets and vampire-loving hearts happy since we won't be misled into buying books that, ahem, suck!

Starting with two of the greatest vampire novels of all time --- Dracula and I Am Legend --- we will cover a wide range of vampire tales, from the classics to books that are just plain fun to read, including, not necessarily in this order:
  • Stephen King's Salem's Lot;
  • Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire;
  • Whitley Strieber's The Hunger;
  • Kim Newman's Anno Dracula;
  • Laurell K. Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures;
  • P.N. Elrod's I, Strahd;
  • E.E. Knight's Way of the Wolf;
  • Kim Harrison's Every Which Way But Dead;
  • David Wellington's Vampire Zero;
  • Chloe Neill's Some Girls Bite;
  • Celis T. Rono's That Which Bites;
... and many more!

Who's James Gormley and why should we trust him?

Well, I am a published author, a former book editor, a member of the National Book Critics Circle and I was horror book reviewer for Publishers Weekly from 1993 through 1998. I have been a member of the Horror Writers Association and helped develop the writers' guidebook, Writing Horror, with Mort Castle for Writers Digest Books. I am also a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).

So there you have it--we're off to a bloody good start!
Authors, publishers, authors' publicists and representatives: please put me on your lists of reviewers to whom advance or first-off copies of books and requests for comment are sent.
Please mail advance and/or review copies to:
James J. Gormley
Vampire Books Navigator
c/o PCE, Inc.
377 Park Avenue South
6th Floor
New York, NY 10016

Thanks!
James J. Gormley