I'll listen to just about anything, but tend to prefer hard rock/heavy metal from the 1980s. (Yes, I'm a product of the great Hair Bands of the 1980s. Long live the power ballad!)
Contemporary:
Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, NIN, H.I.M., Seether, Evanescence, Disturbed, AC/DC, Metallica, The Great and Powerful Oz!, Marilyn Manson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, Aerosmith, Isabella Boulay, Dixie Chicks, White Zombie
Classics:
The Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Creedence Clearwater Revival,
Charlie Daniels Band, Jimmy Buffet
Movies
General: Anything by Alfred Hitchcock, 1930s horror films (Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Mummy, etc.), comedy, scifi
Specifics: Anything with a vampire theme, but especially Near Dark, Interview with the Vampire, Lifeforce, Lost Boys, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Dracula 2000, Love at First Bite, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Blade Trilogy, Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, and classic Hammer films with Christopher Lee,
Nightmare on Elm Street series, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Alien series, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Over the Hedge, Stranger than Fiction
Television
CSI, The Closer, Law & Order, Doctor Who, Family Guy, Blood Ties, What Not to Wear, Mythbusters, Iron Chef America, SpongeBob, Dead Like Me, Buffy series, Charmed series, Kindred: The Embraced, Six Feet Under, and anything else I find interesting
Books
Authors: Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, L. A. (Leslie) Banks, Laurell K. Hamilton, Terry Brooks, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Kelly Armstrong, Val McDermid, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, H. P. Lovecraft, J. K. Rowling, Carolyn Haines, Peter Straub, Jennifer Armintrout, Faith Hunter, Vicki Pettersson, Rachel Caine, Tanya Huff, Joe Hill, J. A. Konrath, Lee Child, Clive Cussler, James Lee Burke, James Patterson, Jim Butcher, Eileen Dreyer, Thomas Lakeman
Magazines: Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Apex, Ellery Queen, Analog, Rue Morgue, Asimov's, Dark Realms, Fangoria, Weird Tales, The Writer, Writer's Digest, Romantic Times, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, GOTH Magazine, Gothic Beauty, Dark Discoveries
Genres: Horror, suspense, mystery, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy
University Of South Alabama
Mobile, AL
Graduated: N/A
Degree: In Progress
Major: (Graduate) English/Creative Writing
Clubs: Horror Club, Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key International Honour Society, Sigma Tau Delta
2006 to Present
University Of South Alabama
Mobile, AL
Graduated: 2006
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: English/Creative Writing
Minor: Art History
Clubs: The Horror Club, Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key Honour Society, Sigma Tau Delta
CRIMSON SWAN
A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel by Jeannie K. Holmes
Alexandra Sabian, a vampire and Enforcer with the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigation, moved to Jefferson, Mississippi six years ago to escape the ghosts of her father's murder and a past filled with violence.
Now a killer stalks the vampires living in the small town and the deaths are resurrecting the past Alex though she left behind.
Alex must fight bigotry, the media, and herself in order to stop the killings before her brother becomes the next victim.
***
Excerpt from Chapter 1:
Six lifeless eyes followed him, silent witnesses who would never share their stories, never reveal his secrets.
He tried to ignore their accusing stares by turning his back to them but six pinpoints of heated malice bore into him as he swung the hammer. Each strike drove the sharpened cross through layers of flesh and bone to pierce the still heart of his latest victim.
No, he shouldn’t call it a victim. It was nothing to him. It wasn’t even human. It, and others like it, would pay for their crimes. Crimes committed against him, his family, and against God himself.
Those bastards would pay for what they had done to Claire. He would see to that.
The final blow landed and the hammer fell to the blood-soaked cement floor with a dull thud, splashing drops of congealing blood onto his already stained work boots. He stared at his handiwork and smiled. It was perfect, just like the others. He giggled as he wiped a bloody hand across his sweating brow.
“That bitch’ll never figure this out,” he said, turning to his mute audience. “Not ‘til it’s too late, anyway.”
Six lifeless eyes stared at him in adoration. Three mouths opened in a silent chorus, singing his praises, as he waltzed to a tune of his own design with the memory of his beloved Claire.
Want to read more?
CRIMSON SWAN, the first in the Alexandra Sabian
series, recently sold to Bantam Dell for publication in September 2009. It's a dark urban fantasy novel that combines two of my favorite subjects: vampires and forensic science. The sequel, A WICKED TURN,
is in the works and finds Alex searching for
two missing girls. The only clues to their disappearance are a business card advertising a
role-playing website and a fake vampire fang. Can she find them before it's too late?
Be sure to check out my website for more information, fun stuff, and short stories:
Want to know more about me and my work? Sign up for The Crimson Swan e-mail list! Talk with me and other members about the books, forensics, vampires, demons, rogue muses, dark urban fantasy, and the general strangeness of my world. Members will also be the first to learn of upcoming events, important inside info, interesting trivia, and loads of other cool stuff.
Announcements regarding the publication and promotion of the novel CRIMSON SWAN and author appearances will be posted first on the e-mail list!
First of all, even though my name is Jeannie, my friends call me J. K. -- it's easier to remember. *g* I'm a native of southwest Mississippi but now live in Mobile, Alabama with my husband, Mark, and our four cats -- Chaos, Panic, Disorder, and Nugget. When I'm not writing, I'm a graduate student at the University of South Alabama working toward my MA degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing and always on the prowl for the perfect megahugebighonkin'ginormous cup of coffee -- white chocolate mochas are my absolute favorite.
Member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America, Sisters in
Crime, Alabama Writers Forum, International Order of Horror Professionals, and the
Association for Gravestone Studies
Note: I do NOT accept friend requests from people with private profiles. I understand wanting to have a little privacy. Nothing wrong with it. In fact, I enjoy mine, what little I have now. However, MySpace is a public forum. If you want to be friends with people, you have to introduce yourself. That's the function of the profile. You know who I am. If you want me to be a friend, I have to know who you are. If you have your profile set to "private" and still want to be my friend, send me a message, introduce yourself and I'll consider it. Otherwise, I will automatically deny your request and you'll miss your chance to join me on my quest for the perfect megahugebighonkin'ginormous cup of coffee.
The list of who I'd like to meet is long and too frightening for children to see. Parental discretion is advised.
Alfred Hitchcock - Wait, he's dead. Peter Benchley - Oh, yeah, he's dead too. Edgar Allan Poe - Damn, another dead one. Janis Joplin - Again, dead. Jim Morrison - Also dead. Jackson Pollock - Another dead one. H. P. Lovecraft - Very much dead. William Shakespeare - Seriously dead. Stephen King - Ah ha! We've got a live one! Dean Koontz - He's alive, too! Charlaine Harris - Very much alive. Kim Harrison - Also very alive. Faith Hunter - Alive and well. Vicki Pettersson - Another live one. Carolyn Haines - Oh, wait. I already know her. I see her at least once a week. Duh. J. K. Rowling - I bow before greatness... Larry Elmore - Check him off the list...met him years ago in Biloxi, Mississippi at CoastCon XV. Margaret Weis - One of the first people to inspire me through her own kick-ass writing. Tracy Hickman - Margaret Weis's partner in the original Dragonlance series. May as well collect the whole set, right? Robert Englund - Duh, hello! Freddy Krueger! Bruce Campbell - Who doesn't want to meet him? Paula Deen - Don't ask... Johnny Depp - For obvious reasons... Todd Lockwood - Who's that, you ask...only one of the greatest fantasy artists of all time. Look him up. Julius Caesar - Again with the dead guys... Rob Zombie - He's just...well, weird. Besides I like his music, his art, his movies... Alice Cooper - The original shock rocker. Been a fan for years. Sully Erna - Godsmack rules! Laurie Cabot - The Official Witch of Salem, MA Tom Savini - Hollywood Horror Special FX Guru/Actor/Director...I met Tom on Oct. 30, 2007! Woohoo!! He's a great guy with a wicked sense of humor.
But mostly, I'd like to meet lovers of good coffee, other dark urban fantasy, horror, paranormal, and thriller writers, mystery and romance writers, readers, booksellers, agents, editors, artists, musicians -- anyone who's really interesting.
I've been working hard at my end, and I've been so behind on my visits to your profile. My apologies. I hope you are having a wonderful summer. It's already been extra hot here in NC.
But I've been really excited even with the heat. My newest book, Tigress by the Tail: The Moon, will be released on 15 July, and it's kept me hopping just thinking about it. It's a special series at Tease Publishing, part of the Dark Tarot series. So if you like the darkness, and you love shape shifters, this is the book for you! The week of release I'll start posting a few excerpts as well, so keep your eyes peeled!
