Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, Aug. 11 through Aug. 16

Blog posting will be sparse next week, if at all, since I'll be out of state visiting with family.

Since it's crunch time for deadlines, I'll just leave you with warm wishes for today, this weekend, and the coming week.

If you keep scrolling, you'll see where you can find information and, beyond that, my feature stories for the week.

Be blessed!


Non-bylined features:

Monday through Saturday I assembled my non-bylined works - brief posts and calendar listings - into one convenient file and posting them on Facebook in the evening, so readers can easily choose the ones they want to read.

One can also find those event listings, the Gotta Do It calendar, as well as the pets, health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars, under the sections tab on the left hand side of http://www.theherald-news.com/. Click on "features" and the topics drop down.  Gotta Do It runs under "people."

Community news? Again, under the sections tab, under features, and by topic. Updates are posted on these days in print and web (and some only on web on other days as I have the time): 

 Social media:

Daily updates: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries. And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to jon WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/writeonminooka/?ref=bookmarks. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

Upcoming events:

Once Timothy Baran is done updating this page, these will listed here: https://www.bryonyseries.com/fetes-and-feasts.

Check out the progress he has made so far. Each square is hand-built. And be sure to "hover" your hand over the first square. Note: this only works (so far) with the desktop version.

But he's also made A LOT of changes to the website. So be sure to roam around a bit.

Books and Such

Information on my books (including where to buy) along with upcoming events is at www.bryonyseries.com. Again, Timothy is in the process of updating the website, so all titles may not appear. If you have any questions, email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.

10 questions with Herald-News intern Rachel Barks

Today is Rachel's last day, too! But take a few minutes and meet the person behind this summer's byline.

https://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2019/08/05/715040289e564617893f77edf34d50d8/index.xml



An Extraordinary Life: So many extraordinary lives
A look back at some of the Joliet area people highlighted through the years

Maybe you'll know some of them.

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/08/12/an-extraordinary-life-so-many-extraordinary-lives/ahqujdn/



Dacre Stoker is a novelist in his own 'write'
Descendant of 'Dracula's author to appear at 2 events

And I'll be at both of them!

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/08/13/dacre-stoker-is-a-novelist-in-his-own-write/aaq5kei/



Have you read these classic vampire stories?

Check out some of my favorites!

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/08/13/have-you-read-these-classic-vampire-stories/an9hkuw/



LocalLit book spotlight: Kathleen Ellinger of Joliet

Preview to Tuesday's review

https://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2019/08/13/db27768212d0451d810d34c34ed6de37/index.xml

Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage." Follow him at facebook.com/artbymattcoundiff

Irish Vampire Facts (or reposting from 2011)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Irish Vampire Facts

There really aren't any.

True, Sheridan Le Fanu (Carmilla) and Bram Stoker (Dracula) were both Irish. There is also the Gaelic Dearg-Due, always female, that rises from the grave at night to drain the blood (some say life force) of men, but to kill them, not for a meal.

That's about it.

Ed Calkins, the Steward of Tara, is not only creating legend for himself, he is establishing Ireland's first vampire lore.

Is this worthy of a national parade? You decide.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Teen Vampire Readings

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Teen Vampire Readings

No, I'm not recommending any books, but rambling about the vampire material I read as a teen. As far as I know, unlike today, there was not a mass market of vampire stories directed at young readers. However, since I, mostly, preferred reading to movies, I sought out what was available.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” held a permanent position on my lap during ho-hum eighth grade history and science classes. I read that book backwards and forwards, inside and out. The following year, I devoured nineteenth and early twentieth century vampire stories. At fifteen, my interested turned to the historical Count Dracula, Vlad Tepes, his reign of impaling terror, and how Stoker integrated the "real" count into his novel.

While my friends sighed over teen magazines, I spent sunny, summer afternoons laying on a blanket in the backyard and reading books such as Raymond T. McNally's and Radu Florescu's absorbing, now-classic, “The Search for Dracula." A showing of the orginal "Nosferatu" (in my mind, still the best vampire movie out there) on television was worth cancelling other plans for the night.

Less important to me than Top 40 radio was the knowledge that the castle people referred to as Castle Dracula was really Bran Castle, which Dracula did, in fact, use during his raid. I already knew I wanted to write a vampire story one day, but the idea, at this point, had not taken shape. I did, however, continue to read and research. When the time came, I wanted it to be right.

Irish Vampire Facts

There really aren't any.

True, Sheridan Le Fanu (Carmilla) and Bram Stoker (Dracula) were both Irish. There is also the Gaelic Dearg-Due, always female, that rises from the grave at night to drain the blood (some say life force) of men, but to kill them, not for a meal.

That's about it.

Ed Calkins, the Steward of Tara, is not only creating legend for himself, he is establishing Ireland's first vampire lore.

Is this worthy of a national parade? You decide.

Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker

On Walpurgis Night, an unnamed Englishman, possibly Jonathon Harker, on his way to Transylvania, seeks shelter from a blizzard in the opening of a tomb. A crash of thunder, the tomb is destroyed, and a wolf appears on his chest. An interesting telegram arrives at the end.

Some scholars believe this was the original first chapter to Dracula, edited out of the manuscript for brevity. Dracula’s Guest was first published as a short story in 1914, two years after Stoker’s death. It is quick reading and available for free online.

Carmilla

Now that cold weather is returning, curl up this weekend with a cozy gothic novella, one of my very favorite vampire stories, Carmilla.

The story is told by the adolescent Laura, who lives with her widower father in a castle in a remote forest. Injured in a carriage accident outside their home is a young girl, Carmilla, about Laura's age. The family cares for Carmilla during her recovery. The recognition is instaneous for the girls. Both claimed to have dreamed of the other during their respective childhoods.

Soon, the girls become romantically close friends, despite Carmilla's extreme languor, unstable moods, and habit for rising late in the day. Eventually, Laura dreams of a mysterious cat biting her chest, but leaving her room in the form of a womon. Laura's health soon suffers.

One day, a shipment of family heirloom portraits is delivered to the castle. The subject of one of those portraits, Mircalla, Countess Karnstein, identically resembles Carmilla. You can guess the rest.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu first published Carmilla 1872, twenty-five years before Bram Stoker's Dracula. Some scholars feel Carmilla heavily influeced Stoker's novel. Read it and see for yourself. Carmilla is available for free on my online sites.

Teen Vampire Readings

No, I'm not recommending any books, but rambling about the vampire material I read as a teen. As far as I know, unlike today, there was not a mass market of vampire stories directed at young readers. However, since I, mostly, preferred reading to movies, I sought out what was available.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” held a permanent position on my lap during ho-hum eighth grade history and science classes. I read that book backwards and forwards, inside and out. The following year, I devoured nineteenth and early twentieth century vampire stories. At fifteen, my interested turned to the historical Count Dracula, Vlad Tepes, his reign of impaling terror, and how Stoker integrated the "real" count into his novel.

While my friends sighed over teen magazines, I spent sunny, summer afternoons laying on a blanket in the backyard and reading books such as Raymond T. McNally's and Radu Florescu's absorbing, now-classic, “The Search for Dracula." A showing of the orginal "Nosferatu" (in my mind, still the best vampire movie out there) on television was worth cancelling other plans for the night.

Less important to me than Top 40 radio was the knowledge that the castle people referred to as Castle Dracula was really Bran Castle, which Dracula did, in fact, use during his raid. I already knew I wanted to write a vampire story one day, but the idea, at this point, had not taken shape. I did, however, continue to read and research. When the time came, I wanted it to be right.