Hi all! It’s great to be here for the Month of Monsters. I’ve always been a fan of things that go bump in the night, but it wasn’t until I saw the Mel Brooks film, Young Frankenstein, that I realized monsters could also make me smile.

And the lesson stuck. As a professional writer, it’s a lot of fun to put a twist on the traditional myths. Like in The Accidental Demon Slayer, all of the Shoney’s restaurants are secretly run by werewolves. Yes, the pack can be frightening if you cross them, but they also enjoy a good burger – rare if you’ve got it.

Or in The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, we have a shapeshifting dragon who works in a magical version of the DMV. It seems my demon slayer heroine is great at following her instincts, not so good on the Demon Slayer aptitude test. Too bad the dragon lady is out to get her.

But, hey, it’s all in fun. To celebrate the lighter side of monsters, I’m giving away a signed, first edition copy of The Accidental Demon Slayer or The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. Just name your favorite monster book or movie.

Update: Thanks for all the wonderful comments!! I selected a random winner and the commenter who won is…Cybercliper! Congrats!!! And keeping checking out the daily posts for more chances to win great prizes!

Sometimes it takes a monster to catch a monster.  🙂  Okay, that was the general idea that inspired my upcoming paranormal bounty hunter series.  I wanted to create a world in which some of the characters were so dark, so powerful, that, well, it would take heroes (and heroines) equally dark and powerful to catch them.

So Night Watch was born.  Night Watch is a bounty hunting agency, a paranormal bounty hunting agency.  The hunters there can be demons, shifters, vamps–they can be the character that probably should fall under the “Monster” heading, but in my series, these are the good guys (and gals).

The first book in my Night Watch series is ETERNAL HUNTER, and it will be released on December 29, 2009.  But, hey, why wait until then to read the book?  I have an Advanced Reader’s Copy that I’d love to give to a commenter this weekend!  To enter this contest, just tell me what you think of monster heroes.

And if you want to read an excerpt from ETERNAL HUNTER, you can check one out here.

Winner! The winner of a signed copy of THE STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER is…Hales! Congrats, Hales!

Hey friends! I’m thrilled to be back here at Cynthia’s place, where it’s always a lovely time. Thanks for the opportunity, Cynthia! I loved our chat about Demons earlier this year, now I’m thrilled to be talking about yet another delightful topic. Monsters.

I get so excited to talk about anything associated with Paranormal, every time I become even more of a fan of the genre I’ve always adored, and I continually appreciate just how much fun it is to write. And it’s true. Monsters, especially, are fun. It’s most fun to come up with the particulars that make a monster what it is; how protagonists must deal with the problems it creates, and how to get around the creature, use it to their advantage, or to best or outsmart it. Of course sometimes monsters might work for the good guys, I don’t want to discriminate J. When monsters show up in a Paranormal, it’s a great opportunity for world-building – especially if it’s one that the characters are previously unfamiliar with. That’s one of my favourite moments in story-telling, the first reveal of a major paranormal element.

Here’s a brief insight into the first of my Strangely Beautiful series. From the back cover of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker:

“What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…”

So here’s the first appearance of my heretofore unseen monster in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker:

An infernal thing the likes of which The Guard had never seen passed through the structure of La Belle et La Bête and descended upon their table. Snarling horrific, snapping teeth in their faces and shredding tablecloths, the abomination was a huge cloud of black smog that became one dog and then one hundred, a chimerical, shifting creature that was at first incorporeal and could pass through walls, but which then flickered into something deadly with claws, jaws and horrible red eyes. In the next moment it became a cloud again, impossible to catch.

“What in God’s name is this?” Rebecca shrieked, scooping up her wool skirts as she spun and dashed to the door, her companions following. “Josie, Miss Linden’s upstairs. We’ll not test her with a thing such as this. Have her lock herself in!”

Josephine raced upstairs. Elijah backed down the alley outside, staring at the demon cloud with horrified fascination as it followed, floating at the level of their heads and taking up nearly the entire width of the alley with its bulky canine body and flickering profusion of heads. It hunched forward, ready to attack.

Michael took Rebecca’s hand on one side, and Jane took the other. A powerful wind whipped around them. Josephine, having bade Miss Linden stay within, swiftly joined their ranks. She took Michael’s left hand. “Elijah, come,” Rebecca commanded.

The beast lunged, but Withersby ducked out of the way. “Please tell me this is just the Black Dog of Newgate,” he exclaimed, joining his friends in their circle of clasped hands. London’s most gruesome tale of spectral revenge was much less horrifying than entertaining thoughts of a whole new breed.

Rebecca shook her head. “No,” she replied. “We’ve never seen this.”

The dog whipped around to face them, snarling. But as it prepared its next attack, Rebecca shouted a command in the ancient language of The Guard. The hellish thing cocked its head, opened its many maws wide and jumped—only to disperse at the last moment into a grey mist and pass through them.

(End of Excerpt)

YOUR TURN: Do tell: I want to know what gets you all excited – or nervous – about monsters! What’s your favourite monster of all time?

(And, of course, because I love giveaways, one commenter will win a signed copy of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker!)

Blessings!

Leanna Renee Hieber

www.leannareneehieber.com

www.twitter.com/leannarenee

It’s Day 1 here at the Month of Monsters event, and today’s guest is the always awesome…Vivi Anna!!! Welcome, Vivi! Thanks for kicking off the party!  🙂

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Halloween is just around the corner.  I love Halloween.  I love getting dressed up and panhandling for candy.  The more the better.  Rockets are my favorites.  I also like the mini chocolate bars.

What I also like about Halloween is the penchant to watch scary movies.  Being scared kicks up our adrenaline and it can be like a rush.  I like scary movies.  Not the gross out gory ones of today, like Saw or Hostel, hated both of those.  I don’t want to lose my lunch I want to be scared and creeped out.  I like the older horror movies.  But my favorite horror movies of all time are the ones that are cool and sexy with young actors and a kickin’ soundtrack.

Here are my top ten favorite horror flicks.

1.    The Faculty
2.    Cursed
3.    The Lost Boys
4.    Dracula 2000
5.    The Craft
6.    28 Days Later
7.    Shaun of the Dead
8.    The Covenant
9.    Blade III
10.    Vampires

And these are the top 10 rated horror movies from the International Movie Database.

1.    Psycho (1960)
2.    Alien (1979)
3.    The Shining (1980)
4.    Aliens (1986)
5.    Les diaboliques (1955)
6.    The Thing (1982)
7.    King Kong (1933)
8.    Frankenstein (1931)
9.    Lat den ratte Kommain (2008)
10.    Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

You see old school horror is way cooler than the gross out gore fests of today.  At least in my opinion.

What do you think?  Old school creepy horror, or slasher gross outs?  Which are your favorite?

Also what’s your favorite Halloween candy?

One lucky commenter can pick an ebook from my backlist, I have a couple of spooky werewolves, vampires, demons, or Little Red Riding Hood!  EEEEEEEEEEK

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And here’s a peek at one of Vivi’s favorite horror films:

The hunt is on!