Here we are at day 11 and I want you to forget everything you think you know about vampires, because today author Sara Reinke is in the house. Wow! Let me tell you, her Brethren Series had Maria and I fighting over who would read the book first. This world is seriously different, complicated, fascinating and unique. There are two books in the series DARK THIRST and the newly released DARK HUNGER. Looking for something new and different in the world of vampires? Check these two out.
RNTV: Sara, the Brethren are some seriously scary vamps; what do you think they’ll be doing this Halloween? Can you tell us a bit about them; and is there any way we can protect ourselves?
Sara: Thanks for such a fantastic welcome! This is my favorite time of the year – bar none! – and I’m really excited to be here. As for the Brethren, they’re not your cookie-cutter, garden-variety sort of vampire in that they’re not immortal or undead. They’re very much alive, like you and me, and although long-lived and possessing accelerated healing capabilities, they’re very much mortal. I always imagined them in my mind as a sort of wolf pack, a very tight-knit, patriarchal community that keeps itself secluded from humans as much as possible. The Brethren view themselves as being superior to humans; to them, we’re pretty much cattle. They interact with us as much as necessary in order to insure their way of life remains a secret. The best way to protect yourself from them is to not go to work on one of their Kentucky horse farms – that’s where they live, breed and feed, so a human there is as good as lunch.
RNTV: Rene (Dark Hunger) is one of the sexiest vamps in romance books – what do you think he’ll be doing this Halloween?
Sara: Ordinarily, Rene might have said he’d be tying one on for Halloween, but this year, I think things will be different. He’s used to drowning his sorrows in alcohol; in finding solace from a past filled with heartache and loss at the bottom of a liquor bottle, but now that he’s met Brandon Noble – and his twin sister, Tessa – Rene is uncharacteristically laying off the booze. I think he wants to try and change his ways, be a better person – a better man – for Tessa.
RNTV: Do you do anything special at your house for Halloween? What kinds of treats will you be offering?
Sara: Plastic vampire teeth, of course! Of the neon colored variety – I’ve got three big bags of them that I bought to use at a book signing earlier this year and never did. Around my house, we spend about an hour passing out treats while the kids get into costume and scarf down something quick for supper. Then we leave a huge bowl full of goodies on the front porch for passing-by trick-or-treaters and we hit the streets, treat bags in tow! My kids love Halloween, and for me and my husband, it’s very much like being kids again ourselves, to enjoy the holiday vicariously through them.
RNTV: Do you have a particular scary story that you’d like to share with us? (I know I’m asking a lot with this question – so if it’s too much you can skip it)
Sara: Once when I was in high school, two of my friends and I took this poor guy out into the middle of nowhere and broke out a ouija board. We’d already planned everything – a practical joke in which one of my friends would pretend to become “possessed” by something we channeled through the ouija board. Then he’d chase us into the woods, and we’d all get a good laugh at how we scared the crap out of this poor guy. And that’s pretty much how it went down. That remains one of the best all time practical jokes of which I’ve been a part.
RNTV: List your all time favorite scary movies.
Sara: Event Horizon; The Prince of Darkness; Night of the Living Dead; Jeepers Creepers; Jaws (does that one really count, though? That’s a favorite all-time movie period!)
RNTV: Halloween is all about ‘the other world’, rituals and things that go bump in the night. What are some of your rituals?
Sara: I always double-check my locks. Door locks, deadbolts, car locks, you name it. Even if I know it’s locked, I’ve got to check it to be sure.
RNTV: You’re out trick or treating and you get bag after bag of candy corn; what do you do? (I’m asking all the authors this question, it’s not a trick question, it’s a biased question. You see, I don’t think Candy Corn should be classified as a candy or a treat – in my opinion it’s more like a punishment). What is your favorite Halloween candy?
Sara: As for the candy corn, I’d either: (a) bring it to work with me and pawn it off on my co-workers; (b) send it to work with my husband and let him pawn it off on his co-workers or (c) save it for next year and give it away myself. (Just kidding on that last one!)
My favorite treat hands-down is Mounds candy bars. The little single-serving sized ones they put out at Halloween are absolutely evil. I’ll sit and dig through the treat bowl to find and eat every one of them.
RNTV: Do you have any special rituals you do during Halloween or is it just about fun and games?
Sara: For me, it’s fun and games. I didn’t have much to do at all with Halloween after adolescence until I had children of my own. Now I’m starting to get into it more, the dressing up and trick-or-treating, because it’s something my kids look forward to, get excited about. Their energy and enthusiasm are infectious.
Sara will be visiting with us today to answer all your questions. And make sure you stay tuned at 2 p.m. we’ll be posting another contest. In the meantime, I’m wondering, do you have any special rituals that are part of your daily life? Me, I’m a bit like Sara, I double check the locks in my house at least 3 times before I go to bed. Maria thinks I’m nuts.
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cyclops8
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 3:40 am:
Hi Sara,
Congrats on your current release. Will there be more books in the Brethren series? I don’t have any special rituals, but I always pick out my outfit for the next day the night before and have my purse/tote ready with all my necessities(wallet, keys, phone.)
PJ
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 7:05 am:
Welcome Sara! I haven’t read your books but they do sound interesting. I don’t think I’ll be applying for a job at a Kentucky horse farm anytime soon!
Marisa, I share that door-checking ritual!
Maria Lokken
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 10:26 am:
Hi Sara! So glad you could join us today. I am a big fan of your Brethren Series. I was hooked the minute I opened the book. You create the most unusual paranormal/vampire society I’d ever read. Their blood lust had my skin crawling! Great stories, great action and wonderfully unique heroes and heroines.
I can’t believe you played a practical joke with a Ouija board — most people are scared witless by them. And I agree with you about JAWS. I remember when I went to the movie theater to see that film, I was in a state of high anxiety the entire time. I won’t watch horror/halloween/scary movies… just too much fodder for my imagination.
Andrea
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 10:43 am:
Hi there, Sara, and welcome to RNTV!! We’re so happy you could join us. Congrats on your Brethren Series!
I have to say that I also share the door checking/locking ritual. I even lock the doors on my van in the garage! Oh, and I also always push in my emergency brake pedal no matter where I’m at. LOL
Has anyone seen the movie THE STRANGERS? I watched it with my sisters the other day. Scary stuff. I enjoyed it.
Maria Lokken
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 11:14 am:
Andrea – I never even heard of The Strangers? What’s it about? And how can you watch the scary stuff?
Andrea
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 11:26 am:
Maria — The Strangers just came out on DVD. It’s about a young couple at the family summer house that are tormented by 3 people wearing masks/hoods one night. We watched it during the afternoon. I told my sisters that that was the ONLY way I’d watch it. I won’t watch that stuff right before I go to bed. No way. LOL
Maria Lokken
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 11:31 am:
OMG! Why were they tormenting them? Were these just 3 deranged individuals with nothing better to do? See you watch movies like this and then you don’t want to go to a summer house. After JAWS I didn’t want to swim in the ocean for years. After PHYSCO, I couldn’t take a shower alone for months. After the Boston Strangler, I wouldn’t open my door to ANYONE.
Marisa O'Neill
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 11:31 am:
Hi Sara, so glad you could stop by today.
Jaws so counts as a scary movie. I couldn’t go to the beach for the entire summer after I saw that one. I think that kind of movie, the one where most of the guts and gore are left off the screen are the most frightening. It is all about anticipation and the not knowing.
Buffie
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 12:23 pm:
Hey Sara! Thanks for stopping by.
I’ll join the group who check the locks all the time. That’s me. My doors are locked during the day while I’m inside too.
Andrea — you are brave girl! There is no way I’d watch that movie. I bet Trisha loved it
azteclady
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 12:41 pm:
*waving madly* Hi, Ms Reinke!
I’m still upset about the ending in Dark Hunger (you know I am!) but I keep hoping you’ll have other stories and other worlds to share with us soon.
Halloween rituals? Hmm… hide with a book and a flashlight
Maria Lokken
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 1:20 pm:
Azteclady – yeah the ending was a bit of a shocker.
Andrea
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 1:21 pm:
Maria, they answer the “why” at the end of the movie. They were definitely deranged. And I totally agree, it makes me not want to go to a remote summer house … ever. Eek!
Karin
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 2:00 pm:
Hi, Sara! I haven’t read any of your books, but they do sound really interesting. I’m with PJ, though, in not applying to any horse farms in Kentucky anytime soon.
I’m definitely not a scary movie fan at all and just a tiny glimpse of Jaws when I was little and my parents were watching it was enough to give my nightmares for years about being eaten by a shark. Of course, our trip to Universal Studios, where they had a mock-up of the shark in Jaws, shortly after that didn’t help.
The only ritual I really have with locks is to glance at the door locks when I go to bed to make sure someone locked them. My other rituals are all about what I do to get ready for bed, like brushing my teeth and showering, and it all has to be in order.
Gannon
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 3:02 pm:
Hey, Sara! I haven’t read your books yet, but I love vamps so I will definitely be adding them to my list.
Mounds candy bars are a favorite of mine, too. My kids don’t like coconut, so I get all of theirs. Yay!
Andrea, I’ve seen clips of THE STRANGERS, but I know I can’t watch it without getting completely spooked. Some scary movies are okay, but not too scary. I still like POLTERGEIST, though.
orannia
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 4:11 pm:
HI Sara. You’re a new author to me, so I haven’t read any your books but sound interesting
I check locks too – before I go to bed and before I leave for work in the morning. I have a little litany that I rattle off…..and woe betide I don’t do it! Is there anything worse that getting halfway down the road and having to go back because you can’t remember if you shut a window?
And maybe it’s just the OCD person in me trying to break out, but does anyone else have to have things straight?
Sara Reinke
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 4:12 pm:
Hi, everyone!
I’m so excited to be here today — sorry it took me so long to pop by. (Darn day job, LOL)
The Brethren Series ends after “Dark Hunger.” I’d hoped to continue the series, but my publisher decided not to contract future books. Disappointing, but a business decision I can certainly understand. Kensington has given me a fantastic opportunity to make new friends through readers and share my stories with the world — which has been a lifelong dream. I will always have warm-and-fuzzy feelings toward them.
Meanwhile I’ve been working on a new urban fantasy manuscript and am about 75,000 words into it. I’ve got another in the pipeline once this manuscript is finished, so I’m hoping to be back in the publishing game at some point in the future. Otherwise, hell, I’ll just post things for free on my website, LOL.
As for horror movies, I’m sort of a closet horror movie fiend. Zombie movies are a personal favorite. I haven’t seen “The Strangers” yet because I’m also a not-so-closeted chicken, but my hubby and I went to see “Quarantine” a couple of weekends ago — it’s great! Good and scary, just enough gore without being sadistically gory. And sort of zombie-ish which is never a bad thing.
I’ve been trying to think of other rituals I practice. Whenever I finish a manuscript, I used to go and eat at a Mexican place near my house called Ernesto’s and have a margarita to celebrate. But Ernesto’s is closed now, so I’ll need to find an alternative.
Sara Reinke
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 4:17 pm:
Orannia, don’t feel bad. Ages ago, when I was in college in Richmond, KY, I drove an hour to Lexington to look at an apartment. Got all of the way there and remembered I’d stuck a pot pie in the oven for lunch that I’d forgotten about. Had to drive all of the way back to Richmond again, hoping like hell along the way my apartment hadn’t burned to the ground. Luckily it hadn’t. But the pot pie was officially a hockey puck by the time I got home.
Gannon mentioned “Poltergeist” — I was telling a friend yesterday I used to be absolutely TERRIFIED of the scene where the guy picks his face off. I remember seeing it as a kid and it scared the bejeesus out of me so badly, I wouldn’t watch the movie again. For more than 15 years, I wouldn’t watch “Poltergeist,” not even when it came on TNT or some other cable channel, because of that scene. Finally, a couple of years ago, it came on at Halloween and my husband coaxed me into watching it. Imagine my surprise to discover the face-picking scene, which I remember as being so gruesome and realistic, it remained indelibly etched in the landscape of my mind for almost two decades, was so cheap and cheesy and fake looking now, it was comical. Not “nearly” comical — laugh out loud comical. Needless to say, I had a good chuckle at my own expense out of that!
Maria Lokken
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 4:18 pm:
Hi Sara – I have to say, I am one of the disappointed fans that the series is not continuing. Dark Hunger left me wanting MORE…. You put quite a twist at the end of that book. Do Rene and Tessa get their happy ending? Does Brandon forgive the double cross?
Now you’ve made me hungry for Mexican food – I could go for some salsa and chips right about now.
Sara Reinke
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 4:33 pm:
Hi, Maria,
I’m sorry I left the ending hanging. I really wanted the book to end the way it does because I felt like it was the one that stayed the most true to the characters. And like I said, I was hopeful the series would continue…so I took a gamble, with a caveat from my editor that future books might not be contracted. Unfortunately, my gamble didn’t pay off, which is disappointing for readers and an embarrassing, hard-learned lesson for me. I’ve posted the synopsis and three opening chapters from my original pitch for the third book on my message board: http://sarareinke.activeboard.com. I’d post the whole book, but that’s all I have written of it. Several folks have emailed to ask if I’d consider writing the book anyway and try to publish it through a smaller press or an e-publisher and I may do that yet. I’ve drafted a query letter to Double Dragon Publishing to see if they’d be interested, considering the book is part of a series in progress, which means it would a hard sell to anyone else. But I have a long-standing, very good working relationship with DDP (I have a fantasy series in ebook with them) and would feel very comfortable turning the series over to them if they’d take it. I haven’t sent the query yet, because with the holidays coming up and two WIPs underway (plus I work full time, have two small kids, am president of my RWA chapter and just got elected to the national RWA Board of Directors — whew!) I’m not sure when exactly I’d have time to squeeze writing it in!
Daggonnit, now I’ve made MYSELF hungry for Mexican food.
pambook
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 8:52 pm:
Hi Sara, I sure hope DDP will let you continue with the Brethren series. When I was in school, a group of us used to get together on Friday nights and take out the Ouija Board and had some interesting experiences, nothing scary; but, one of the girls did say she sensed something evil and wouldn’t go anywhere near it, she’d go in the other room whenever we took it out.
Sara Reinke
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 9:11 pm:
Well, I have amazing news! Thanks to the encouragement I’ve found from my readers both in private correspondences and in public forums, like this one, I decided to email the publisher at Double Dragon and query about the possibility of picking up the third Brethren book.
DDP offered to contract the book sight unseen. (Told you I have a great relationship with them. Deron Douglas, the publisher, is an absolute doll.) They offered me ebook and paperback publication through Lightning Source with full distribution, which means it will be available in bookstores. plus audio book, too. While DDP is a small company, and thus can’t get the book out everywhere like Kensington, at least this would be an option for those readers who have enjoyed the series and have been rallying to resurrect it.
The book’s not written. I don’t know when it will be, LOL, much less when it would be released, but I’ll definitely follow up on this and do my best to put together a story everyone will enjoy. No more cliffhangers, I promise, LOL. Of course, I may have to change from the synopsis I’ve posted at my forum now, and will probably remove it just to preserve some semblance of secrecy, LOL — hey, a girl’s gotta have a hook to keep people reading!
Who is now officially hyped
Sara Reinke
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 9:11 pm:
I’m still hungry for Mexican food, dammit…
Maria Lokken
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 9:37 pm:
That’s terrific news Sara! Just remarkable. Personally, I can’t wait for it to be published, I’ll be one of the first people to buy and download the book.
We want to thank you for taking the time to join us here at RNTV! Now, you really should treat yourself to a Mexican dinner this weekend — you deserve. And keep writing those fantastic stories.
Thanks!
Maria & Marisa
Sara Reinke
on Oct 29th, 2008
@ 10:39 pm:
Oops. well, I guess I’d better find out first if I can legally do this, LOL. (And thanks, AL for the suggestion/caveat!) I checked my contract and have emailed my editor to see if this can be arranged. If not, back to square one.
TAMI blackroze37
on Oct 30th, 2008
@ 4:11 am:
love your covers!
Sara Reinke
on Oct 30th, 2008
@ 9:32 am:
Well, hot diggety damn! My editor at Kensington checked with their legal department and said it would be okay for me to continue the series with DDP. So “Dark Passion” is on again!
Maria Lokken
on Oct 30th, 2008
@ 1:47 pm:
Fantastic!
pambook
on Oct 30th, 2008
@ 8:11 pm:
Great news, Sara, I’ll be watching your newsletters, get writing it soon, lol.
Marisa O'Neill
on Oct 30th, 2008
@ 8:26 pm:
Wow Sara – this is great news! I’m very excited!