Grant Bowler is Coot, the Biker Werewolf (via True-Bloodnet.com)

From True-Bloodnet.com comes an article featuring new cast member Grant Bowler,the rebel werewolf from Mississippi; enjoy!

Maybe it’s the pull of the moon that has Grant Bowler going from playing Wolf West in Outrageous Fortune to playing a werewolf in this season’s True Blood. And speaking of fortune, his character is evidently sensitive about his name, Coot!

Grant told the New Zealand Herald that Coot is a biker werewolf that does pretty much what he wants. But in addition to obeying his employer, the vampire King of Mississippi (Denis O’Hare), he also has to watch out for traffic cops and dog catchers.

According to how things work in True Blood’s world, in order to be a were, both parents have to be weres. As such, they are pure blood. “They are at the top of the food chain in terms of any creature that can shift”.

“Every time someone does vampires or werewolves or ghosties or whatever, the trickiest part is figuring out the rules and sticking to them, I guess. On True Blood there are times when werewolvess really, really want to shift – you know like maybe a full moon or whatever, they have a really strong desire to shift. But they can also shift at will.”

When asked about his scenes where Coot shifts from human to wolf, Grant explained that because in the series you could be shifting 25 or 30 times, creator Alan Ball wants to focus on the story rather than the “bones popping, hair growing out of the face kind of thing”. So ”we shift quite simply and quickly”.

Does he enjoy playing roles like Coot? In response, Grant said “the older I got, the stranger I found it that the jobs I tend to get offered are jobs where I bash the guys and kiss girls – and that was fine with me.” And, as Coot, “Yep, I get to kiss girls, terrorize people and get into a bit of biffo”. In other words, he can be an ignorant jerk.

Grant was asked if he considers himself an Australian or a New Zealander, since he was born in Australia and raised in New Zealand.

“No, I wouldn’t say that I was one or the other. Whenever I have been asked that I say I am both. I’m an Australian and a Kiwi. I really do feel I have been influenced by two places for that very reason. I call myself an Oziwi.”

So he and fellow Kiwi co-star, Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), have some things in common to talk about. “Although she likes to tease me that I’m an Aussie.”

With lots of work on TV shows and films, Grant is staying very busy. But he seemed pretty definite when he was asked if he would play another wolf. “No, I am done with wolves.” But let’s see what happens on the next full moon!

News From Angry Robot!

More exciting news from Angry Robot:

JUSTIN GUSTAINIS JOINS THE ROBOT HORDE


We are delighted to announce our latest signing, bringing a stunning series of books set in the harassed police department of a city full of vampires and werewolves.

Angry Robot has signed urban fantasy author Justin Gustainis for a new series set in Scranton, Philadelphia, in a world where supernatural beings are part of everyday life. Stan Markowski is a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. As Stan puts it in the first book, Hard Spell: "When a vampire puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that's when they call me. My name's Markowski. I carry a badge."

Justin Gustainis said, “I'm tremendously pleased to be associated with one of the most dynamic publishers in speculative fiction today, and I look forward to selling enough books to put a smile on that robot’s face.”

The first title in this sensational series, Hard Spell, will be published by Angry Robot in spring 2011, in both the UK and USA.

Review: So Fey, Queer Fairy Fiction edited by Steve Berman (Lethe Press)

I was so excited when this book came in the mail!  I've been a long time fan of the Fairy Tale anthologies put out by Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling, including their similar offerings in the Young Adult market.  The way those authors took the old fairy tales and reinvented them in each volume was always so satisfying to me, every story was a jewel.

Steve Berman's SO FEY reminds me very much of those anthologies and is now high on my list of fairy tale retellings.  For me, as a gay man, it was truly wonderful to see fairy stories and queer fiction woven together to create shining, new takes on the old familiar themes.  I thought this was an outstanding collection and want to congratulate Berman and all the authors on their beautiful work.

Here are some of my favorite stories from the collection:

"A Faun's Tale" by Tom Cardamone is a short but sensual story about a faun's romp in New York's Central Park...

"A Bird Of Ice" by Craig Laurance Gidney, where a spirit falls in love with a mortal...

"Three Letters From The Queen Of Elfland" by Sarah Monette, where a woman is torn between her duty to her husband and her attraction to Nyx, the Queen...

"Detox" by Elspeth Potter is a hilarious story where a brownie turns the tables on his mistress...

"The Coat Of Stars" by Holly Black has a gay, Latino man returning home to find his long lost love...

"Year Of The Fox" by Eugie Foster is a beautiful story of a princess in exile who turns hate into love...

and "Ever So Much More Than Twenty" by Joshua Lewis features a gay man who travels with his daughter back to the cabin of his youth, and the memories of his fairy lover...

Again, I thought this was a great collection of stories and I hope Mr. Berman will bring us another volume some day.  It is a must read for lovers of fairy stories and for fans of gay fiction.  You can pick up SO FEY here: http://www.lethepressbooks.com/gay

Lethe Press

So You Want To Start A Book Blog? by Amanda Rutter (via Angry Robot)

I saw this post on the Angry Robot website and it really spoke to me as I am only 8 months into my own blogging experience.  Amanda has her own blog at Floor To Ceiling Books, which I am a fan of.  I'm enjoying writing my own blog very much and I found Ms. Rutter's advise very helpful.  Here is the post in its entirety:

So You Want To Start A Book Blog…..?
When I agreed to write a blog post for Angry Robot, Lee Harris suggested possibly writing about starting a book blog. Which I am going to do – but all prefaced by you realising that I TOTALLY fell into the whole affair and feel as though I am still groping my way to decent and regular content

First of all: why start a book blog?

On a personal level, I started my own book blog because I wanted to keep track of all the books I was reading, with a few comments alongside so that I could identify them in the future. Because I am afraid, people, that my memory is failing me as I get older and sometimes I have that terrifying moment when I get a couple of chapters into a book and I realise “I’VE READ THIS BEFORE!” I had been putting my reviews on Librarything up until that point, but I didn’t appreciate the fact that my well-written, thoughtful reviews (yes, I am that egotistic) were being overshadowed by such glorious critique as “This book is really good. I wish that I was Bella.” I’m being generous with the spelling in that quote as well. I complained to a friend about this, and he suggested I start a blog and put my reviews on there. I wasn’t lying when I said I fell into it!
For a person who sits down and decides that they want to start a book review site, I would urge you to let the idea bubble away for a week or so before taking the plunge. It is not a decision to be taken lightly. I say this because I didn’t realise the commitment involved if you want to run a successful book blog. Sure, if you are just planning to throw up the occasional review and pad out the rest of your blog with commentary about what is going on in your life, or political rants, or personal thoughts on life, the universe and everything then get you gone and started! If you want to provide thoughtful and in-depth content about books (reviews, articles, interviews) then this is going to become an extreme time sink – don’t say you haven’t been warned.

I also offer this stark admonition: do not start a book review site for the free books. Just do not. Publicists are very happy to send out books – once they realise that you are serious and committed and providing decent reviews. To start with, be prepared to write reviews on all the books you already own – because, seriously, as someone who wants to set up a book blog, you should have a fair number. You should be deeply enthused about all the books that you currently own and acquisitive about all the books you plan on buying. The free books come later. They are a wonderful perk – but a privilege, definitely not a right.
Part the second: Setting up said blog

You’ve made the decision to set up your blog. You have grand plans for stupendous content. You are prepared to read A LOT. Now what? You have some practicalities to decide on, such as what name to assign to your blog, whether to use a free platform or take the plunge and buy your own site, and what sort of regular posting schedule you will work towards.

I spent the longest time trying to think up a name for my blog. At first, I wanted something that would reflect my own name. Then I threw around a few ideas on the theme of fantasy and science fiction. It was a moment of desperation that had me thinking of just books! I glanced at my floor to ceiling bookshelves – and then had it! Floor To Ceiling Books. For me, it was important because it means I’m not limiting myself to any particular genre. It is also memorable, and suggests the enthusiasm inherent to any blogger – that of having far too many books to read. So, although it was a last ditch name, I am now extremely comfortable and confident with the name I ended up with.

I would warn you not to pick any name that is too long, or that you’d be embarrassed to have on a business card, or that is anything like the names already out there! Do your research, people! Do a search on the Internet to see if someone is already using your carefully-chosen name – no one likes their work or identity stolen!

Now, as to the platform for your blog – I will say straight up that I am virtually a technophobe when it comes to writing in code and developing a website. This means that a) if you’re looking for technological speak and a genuine analysis of whether Blogger or Wordpress is the better option, you’re best going elsewhere and b) if I have managed to use both Blogger (for Floor to Ceiling Books) and Wordpress (for Fantasy Literature) then, honestly, everyone can!
The point I want to make is that in your first burst of enthusiasm, you might decide to purchase your own domain name, hire a graphic designer to do your banner and create your identity, buy 100s of business cards ready for all those events you’ll be attending….. STOP! Don’t do this! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – blogging is a commitment and a time sink, if you want to build a successful blog. Until you know for sure that you are prepared to put in this work and effort, go for the free option – you can always make the change later! I chose Blogger, because I was more familiar with the name, but both Blogger and Wordpress have advantages and disadvantages so I’ll leave you to make up your own minds.

Lastly: the myth of the posting schedule…

Some bloggers I know have an absolutely dedicated and fixed posting schedule – see The Book Smugglers and Book Chick City for fantastic examples of this. Their readers are comfortable with what they will be seeing on certain days, and I’m sure it makes it easier on Ana, Thea and Carolyn to know what they are posting when. It really is an excellent idea to plan. I…don’t. I wish I did. I’ve tried. My method of posting is to do everything on the fly – I’d love to recommend this method to you, but the scattershot approach really does leave you panicking as to what you can possibly fill your blog with while you are neck deep in reading a 600-page epic that will take a good couple of days to finish and you can see all the other bloggers producing fabulous articles and reviews and interviews and… *breathe* Yes, there are definite advantages to planning!

What I will advise is that prior to starting your blog (I mean, you don’t have to start it immediately – what’s the hurry?) you build up a nice little backlog of reviews, all written and ready to go. This means that if you ever find yourself struggling through a long book, or stuck for content in general, you will have the option of posting one of these reviews instead. I wish someone had told me this before I started!

Third Point: Publicising your blog

This is actually the fun part! As far as I’m concerned, it has meant surrounding myself with like-minded people on Twitter, joining in with blog comments and going to conventions – chattering about books and joining the enthusiastic community makes publicising your blog incidental.

Twitter and Facebook remain great resources for reaching out to a diverse readership – but you have to be patient. People can’t be forced to follow you, and won’t appreciate it if you just use the social network for blatant pimping of your new blog. Rather, join conversations, get to know people and only once people are accustomed to your name and your existence should you ask for contacts to help spread the word about your wonderful book review site!

Use forums and messageboards sparingly: regular users will know when you are only there to try and get new readers for your blog. Again, become a part of the community. Post your reviews directly to the website, rather than just spamming links to your blog. Use a discreet little signature on your posts that will send people to visit.

If your content and your reviews are good, the publicists will come to you. Don’t chase too hard – it makes you look pushy.

Finally…

Always remember the reason you start your blog, whether it is talking about books, reading new genres and authors, or sending the word out about criminally under-read subgenres (Paul Smith, I’m looking at you!) When the going gets tough, or you run into blog politics (which woefully do exist), remember that you are blogging for pleasure and for yourself first and foremost. If you are happy, your blog will be happy!

Have fun!

New Cover Art: Kill The Dead by Richard Kadrey (EOS)

Eos just released the cover art for KILL THE DEAD, the second in Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim series.  While I've read Kadrey's BUTCHER BIRD and found it excellent, I have yet to start on this series, so I have some catching up to do!  Here are the blurb and the cover, which I love...it really sets the mood and sells the book...

"What do you do after you’ve crawled out of Hell to wreak bloody revenge? If you’re Stark you turn to bounty hunting, tracking and decimating whatever rogue monsters you’re paid to kill. Stark hates the work, but he needs the money, especially the big bucks Lucifer is offering. In town as an advisor on a biopic of his life, Lucifer needs protection, and he wants Stark as his bodyguard. But the gig isn’t all bad; there is the very sexy, very hot French porn star Brigitte Bardo, a friend of Lucifer’s in LA to remake her reputation as a legit actress. While it isn’t love, it’s pretty damn good, and after 11 years of demonic chastity, it’s enough for now.

Stark has enough trouble juggling a diva devil and a scorching French bombshell without a zombie plague to complicate matters. And just what happens when a human-angel half-breed is bitten by the living dead? His human side begins to die, transforming him into an unstoppable angel of death—a killing machine devoid of emotion or thought, with no regrets or future to worry about. Not a bad way to be when you’re choices are limited. Now, Stark has to decide...if he does finds a cure for the zombie infection, will he take it?"

Review: 12 Burning Wheels by Cesar Torres (M-Brane SF)

12 BURNING WHEELS is the new collection by Cesar Torres.  It is the result of his challenging himself to write a short story a day for twelve days.  There was no common theme, no editor to work with; Torres just wrote to write.  I found it a beautiful, sensual collection with no two stories quite alike but read together, they provide a unique look into the bizarre landscape of Torres's mind.

Torres writes with a very sure hand and the tales in this collection is range from the erotic to the creepily horrorific.  The pace is very fast and because of the nature of the project some of the stories end abruptly, begging for further expansion, so I hope that Cesar revisits some of his worlds very soon!

All the stories are quite good but here are my favorites:

"The Broken Chest" is a story of of the relationship between a father anf daughter and immediately reminded me of the early works of Tanith Lee, beautiful!

"The Scryer" is weird and wonderful and the world of the Worm Queens needs to be explored further!

"Honey" is a retelling of the Greek Circe myth, from her point of view - beware her wrath!

"Mantis Love" is the most upbeat tale in the collection and was very touching as well.  There weren't a lot of kids out when I was in high school as there is today and I always applaud the young people that are proud of who they are at such a crucial age.

"Tincture DRK-01"...Cesar, LOVED IT!  Love potions always come with a price...

"We Merge" reads as if its from a larger work but it is still an action packed piece and compelling intoduction to Dax the Spider's world...

and "Lemonade..."; again, I believe part of a larger piece and another snapshot of a weird, colorful world...

I really enjoyed each of these short peeks into Cesar's mind and at the same time was sad there wasn't more to read to whet my appetite.  I definitely look forward to reading more of Cesar's work and recommend you do the same.  In the meantime, pick up a copy 12 BURNING WHEELS here  http://bit.ly/dwwpUZ  from Amazon.

Review: The Blue Moon Cafe by Rick R. Reed (Amber Allure)

I am loving that werewolves are making a comeback in horror fiction!  So it was with huge excitement that I plunged into Rick R. Reed's new book, THE BLUE MOON CAFE.

Terror has struck the gay community of Seattle.  Someone (or something) is killing gay men right in the heart of the gay district of the city and the murders are so violent that the authorites have no clue as to who is committing the crimes...or if the killer is even human.

Thad is unemployeed and single and is becoming dissatisfied with the recent downturn his life is taking.  Then one day, he wanders into The Blue Moon Cafe, a new Italian bistro that's just opened.  Here he meets Sam Lupino, the restaurant's owner, who is everything that Thad wants in a man-handsome, dark and passionate.  The attraction is mutual and after a dinner that satisfies one appetite and whets another, Thad takes Sam home.  The sex is rough and incredible and Thad  finds himself falling for Sam...but Sam is full of secrets.

Thad also meets Jared who is blond and sexy, and while Thad finds Jared attractive, he is too hung up on Sam and getting to the bottom of where Sam disappears to during the full moon to give in to that attraction...and the violent killings are continuing, and striking closer to home.

This was a great read and that is due in large part to Rick's expert handling and blending of the two storylines he has going here; the romance building between Thad and Sam is fraught with passion but also mystery since Thad feels Sam has secrets he's not telling him.  Then there's also the snapshots we get into the killer's mind as it continues it's bloody attacks on the gay men of Seattle.  Rick early on creates a creepy suspense and builds on it throughout the tale; he also captures Thad's confusion and insecurity about Sam equally well and as the book races to it's conclusion, secrets are revealed and more lives are put in danger when  the two storylines converge in a bloody yet satisfying climax.

I believe there is more to the story then what Rick's revealed to us so far.  There is definitely room for a sequel and then there's the question of a certain character that comes to the rescue just in the nick of time.  Let's hope Rick doesn't leave us hanging for too long and we hear more from Thad, Sam and Jared very soon. 

I highly recommend this book for you horror and werewolf lovers out there.  It will be a great addition to your library.  You can buy THE BLUE MOON CAFE here http://amberquill.com/AmberAllure/BlueMoonCafe.html .

And I also remind you to keep a lookout for ON THE EDGE, Rick's forthcoming collection due out this summer!