Now available in print: Clan Drakul--The Kindred Vampires

For all erotic-romance vampire lovers--and readers who like two stories for the price of one...

Now available from Amazon, my first print book from eXtasy Books--Clan Drakul: The Kindred Vampires by Celine Chatillon.

Click here to order your copy today!


Two tall, dark and handsome vampires looking for someone to share eternity with-while dealing with a maniacal vampire hunter provides the focus for Clan Drakul.

In The Vampire Next Door, Val Drakul thinks the sexy girl upstairs could fulfill his every fantasy, but will Melynda's career plans take a backseat to things that go bump in the night? When a deadly foe ensnares Mel in his plot to rid the world of the Kindred Vampire race, can Val save the mortal woman he loves without transforming her into the lonely being he's become? 

Kinsman Vlad Drakul has found the love of his existence in the beautiful businesswoman Sofia, but is the sex-loving vixen all she appears to be? Leo Van Helsing cherishes his family's calling a bit too much. He'll see the bloodsuckers dead, and he's not above using others to obtain his goals-even if it kills them. One fatal night in Istanbul will change Vlad's afterlife forever. Can Vlad abide a Blood Betrayal?

 Clan Drakul now available in print at Amazon.

Vote for Defiance Today!

Click on the Demand it link below and help St. Louis land a world premier of the television show Defiance. After all, there's a picture of the Gateway Arch in their logo. Shouldn't St. Louis have a premier? Thanks for voting early and often.

View all St. Louis events on Eventful

 

Archon Hear a Who!

 In case you didn’t grow up reading Dr. Seuss like I did, Horton Hears a Who is a story about a very large elephant who hears a very, very, very tiny civilization living on a dust mote resting on top of a wildflower. Horton tries to convince his friends that these tiny beings in fact exist, but they don’t believe him because they can’t see or hear the microscopic people who inhabit Whoville. Horton doesn’t give up, and in spite of physical pressure and ridicule to give up his belief and destroy the wildflower, he perseveres until the tiny Whovillians make themselves known to all by shouting, “We are here! We are here! We are here!”

David Tennant as the 10th Doctor with the TARDIS

At a “First Friday” event I attended recently at the St. Louis Science Center’s Omnimax theater, a full-house of over five hundred fans watched a double bill of new series Doctor Who episodes featuring nanotechnology. The line to get into the theater snaked throughout the Science Center and out the door. All five hundred plus tickets were distributed—they even had to turn fans away they said because of the fire code. Many attendees came dressed in Who inspired costumes and T-shirts. Many said this was the first time they had realized there were so many fellow fans in the St. Louis area who enjoyed the same TV show they did. Many stated they had never heard of the St. Louis regional science-fiction convention Archon, but they’d attend Archon if they knew other Doctor Who fans and programming would be there.

Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor

But what’s a classic children’s tale got to do with being a Doctor Who fan and a regional science fiction convention? Hang in there, and I’ll try to tie in the analogy the best that I can.

Archon isn’t the largest annual sci-fi convention in the US, but it has been around the block for quite a few years now—thirty-six years to be exact. It has hosted literary, artist, performing/filking and media guests. For purposes of this blog I’ll concentrate on Archon’s media guests. The fans have turned out in large numbers to see and hear these media guests give talks and presentations. The fans have waited in long lines for autographs and photographs. The fans have generally had a good time at Archon discussing and sharing their love of a particular media guest and/or the movie/TV series franchise he/she represents. In recent times Archon has hosted media guests such as multi-talented voice actor Billy West (Futurama) as well as the gang of Cinematic Titanic, featuring many of the original cast of the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000.  (This year’s media guest just added to the bottom of the list: Gil Gerard. You remember him from the 1970s TV show Buck Rogers, don’t you?)

Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor with Amy Pond

With so many wonderful media guests in its past, a sci-fi buff might assume that Archon is not against inviting media guests to their convention, right? But it has come to my attention recently that Archon does not seem interested in hosting a media guest connected to the worldwide phenomenon known as Doctor Who. Why is this the case? I haven’t a clue, but perhaps you and your like-minded friends can help us find out why Archon doesn’t jump on this opportunity to cash in on the popularity of the world’s longest running science fiction TV franchise. 

Our wedding cake shaped like a TARDIS

I use the term worldwide phenomenon on purpose, for in spite of its origins at the BBC,the television series now plays on BBC America as well as on various PBS stations throughout the US. Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures have broken the chains of being cult TV shows from Great Britain to become American sci-fi favorites with regular viewers in the many millions on a weekly basis. The DVDs, audio plays, books, graphic novels and other related products can be found in Best Buy as well as your local comic book stores. You could even say it’s given the Star Trek franchise a run for its money.

Producer and writer Steven Moffat

I’m painting this picture so even if you’re not familiar with the series that you will still see how a media guest from the Doctor Who universe would appeal to many science fiction fans and not just a tiny handful living on a dust mote resting atop of a wildflower. Many Who fans would be willing to travel to the St. Louis area and pay the Archon membership fees to see these Doctor Who media guests. More memberships to the convention sold—more money for Archon to host even bigger and better conventions in the future. A win-win situation.

Here’s where the Horton Hears a Who analogy comes into play: It has come to my attention that several Doctor Who connected media guests have actually expressed an interest in attending Archon. Even better, these actors, producers and writers of the series were willing to come for free if their travel expenses were covered, and they’d be willing to travel from within the United States, since they’d already be in the US working on other projects.

Yes, that’s right. Who media guests expressed a desire to attend Archon and were willing to do so for the price of a domestic airline ticket. Increased sales of Archon memberships to fans who’d love to see a Doctor Who media guest would surely cover the price of an airline ticket, right?

The names of Doctor Who media guests who have voiced an interest in attending Archon? Hold onto your hats, folks: 

John Barrowman as Captain Jack

John Barrowman, Steven Moffat, and Alex Kingston. 

Are you able to peel yourself off the floor now?

Alex Kingston as Riversong

Yes, Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood fame, the current producer/head writer of Doctor Who, and the vivacious Riversong who played a pivotal role in last season’s story arc all wanted to travel to St. Louis and meet the fans here in the middle of the country. But, somehow, they were turned away or simply ignored by Archon representatives.

Fortunately for fans with lots of money and vacation time, Barrowman and Moffat recently attended Comic-Con in San Diego, and many of the Torchwood crew will be at Dragon Con in Atlanta later this year. These mega-sized sci-fi conventions will benefit from the crowds Who media guests will draw. Alas, those of us who can’t afford to attend far away mega-cons are out of luck.

My novel about Doctor Who fans who meet a mysterious stranger...

Here’s the call to action: If the BBC is  still willing to send a Doctor Who media guest to Archon in the future, would you be interested in attending and supporting the con with your membership? If you are, please consider joining with the local Who fan club, the St Louis CIA, in signing a petition, sending an email, or letter to the Archon committee expressing your support for Doctor Who media guests. This link takes you to Archon's contacts info page. Please be polite and to the point in your communications. If you have any other ideas on how to bring Who media guests to Archon, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

The original Star Trek fans were able to bring their beloved program back on the air back in the late 60s, so perhaps a letter writing campaign can demonstrate to the Archon powers-that-be that we aren’t invisible, dust-mote-dwelling denizens. We are many, and we have supporters like Horton who aren’t afraid of helping us to make our voices heard.

Let’s shout together as Doctor Who fans, “We are here! We are here! We are here!”

Trying to find Humor in the Heatwave

Getting ready for the parade...

 It's next to impossible to smile on a day when it's 95 degrees Fahrenheit at 9 o'clock in the morning. It's next to impossible to get excited about it being mid-summer when the forecast says the high today will be 109 F with a heat index of 115 F. It's hard to even think about tomorrow when the guy on the radio says tomorrow's temperatures are suppose to be worse.


I mean, my insides literally feel like they're baking themselves into haggis. How much worse can it get?

At least we still have electricity and somewhat of an air conditioner and box/ceiling fans. We're blessed compared to many who lost power in the recent storms. But still, I'm praying for rain and looking toward the skies and sighing a lot. When? When will it rain or at least cool down to say... 92 F?

 
Still, I've tried to find a little fun in all this sweltering heat. Independence Day started out in the mid-80s, so I figured I could make it through a two mile jaunt called the Webster Groves Independence Day Parade. I didn't go it alone, of course, as I accompanied the Greater St. Louis Ghostbusters along the route. We passed out candy and flyers for the upcoming unofficially first-ever Ghostbusters sci-fi con, Ecto Con.



Check it out. You know you want to... I promise, it will take your mind off the heat.


Because on a day like today, who you gonna call? I hope not the A/C repair guys but the Ghostbusters! :-)

Container Gardening

I've been meaning to post another blog about what all we've been doing this summer to go "green", but life crises got in the way (again). All is not lost, however. We plan on attending a seminar on how to use solar power in the city this coming week, and a couple of weeks ago we attended the first annual St. Louis Sustainable Backyard Garden Tour. Organic veggies, bees, chickens and goats--all growing in peoples' backyards in an urban setting. It proves that it is possible to get in touch with nature and get away from processed food, one chicken at a time... But first, here are some photos of our own "sustainable garden" growing in containers on our very hot and very narrow balcony:

The tomato plant got off to a good start and has produced two Roma tomatoes already.

The pepper plant really took off after we planted some spaghetti squash next to it. Perhaps she was lonely?

The very first "hula hoop" pepper!

Our containers are not pretty or even store bought, but found plastic tubs, buckets and old styrofoam boxes.

Here's a happy hen we met on the sustainable tour in Webster Groves. Even though the chicken house was just mere yards away from a train track, the noise of the engines blaring past every few minutes didn't phase her and her feathered friends one bit.

These three gals were very happy eating blueberries from their master's hand... and lived in the city proper. We learned a lot about egg production and how entertaining raising poultry can be.

Having your own beehive would keep you in honey, but all those swarming bees make me a bit nervous.

Aquatic organic agriculture: crayfish being raised in a rain-fed backyard pond. Both pretty and productive.

The All New, All Dancing, Singing, Performing Blog

It's time to throw beads! Happy Mardi Gras! Opps, that was last month, wasn't it?

Happy April Fools’ Day! The blog title is no joke. I’m attempting a new format with my blog(s) and this seems as good a time as any to implement it.

I’ll admit it right here and now: I was born sometime B.C. (before computers). I’m not so keen on the daily blog thing. Sure, many people blog daily, but having worked as a columnist in the time B. B (before blogs), when words were actually printed on paper, monthly postings worked best for me. I’d come up with one good idea (or even one not so good), write it and post it on the blog. I’d write several hundred or a thousand words on a topic and hope to get some sort of feedback from readers. Most of the time I heard only crickets chirping in the distance.

Times change. People don’t have time to read long blog postings. Short blog postings are perceived as being more entertaining than one longer, in-depth rant. Short blogs also more conducive to promoting one’s other writings I’m told. Being unemployed, I need to promote and sell more books in order to survive, so it’s time for me to bite the bullet of blogdom and attract more readers to both my blogs and books.

On our way to Sesame Street, Mardi Gras style!

A lot of what I use to send out in my monthly e-newsletter for many years now, I’m going to post here whenever it happens. I enjoy sending out the e-newsletter, but I understand how much email you read everyday for work, play and other groups. From now on, the newsletter will be very brief and direct you to where the information can be found online. That way, you can pick and choose what interests you most and skip the rest if you’re rushed for time. If you’re not already one of my general e-newsletter members, sign up for it at http://groups.yahoo.com/cindyappelnewsletter If you just want to know what’s going on with my erotic-romance persona Celine Chatillon, you can join that newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/celinesdreams

Since I possess “multiple personalities” (I write in multiple genres), I host separate blogs for them. But time and health issues have kept me from making them all that different lately. That will change over the next few months. This blog will continue to feature the “G to PG-13” rated writings of Cynthianna and Cindy A. Matthews. The hot, adult-oriented, erotic-romance excerpts and book news will be found exclusively at Celine’s Dreams: http://celinesdreams.blogspot.com . Please become a “follower” of any and all of my blogs by clicking on the “follow this blog” button on the right hand side. Thank you.

What is it? Whatever it was--it works!

I used to share lots of fun and fascinating articles and web sites I came across on the ‘net in my e-newsletter, but in this day and age of Twitter, I tend to “tweet” them instead. If you’d like to follow my infrequent tweets, I invite you to become one of my followers. http://www.twitter.com/cynthianna3

I enjoy interacting with my readers, my friends, family members and other denizens of the electronic age at my author page at Facebook, too. You can “like” my author page at http://www.facebook.com/cynthianna.celinechatillon This past month, I sponsored a contest for new members of my Facebook page. (You can read about it there.) A free e-book prize has been awarded to Linda for joining my Facebook page and leaving a comment. I plan on doing some more giveaways and contest promos again in the future, so keep checking back here for details.

Slowly I’m becoming more in tune with the digital world around me… And I am publishing on a more regular basis again. Many of my books are now available in Kindle format (especially Celine’s titles), so if you got a Kindle for Christmas or your birthday, can I entice you to give them a try? You can find direct links to my Kindle books at my Amazon author pages:
Celine Chatillon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQY3BM
Cynthianna: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQZYGK
Book reviews and “tagging” and “liking” of my books at Amazon is appreciated.

Mardi Gras tip #6: If you're nice to the parade marshals and the cops, you get more beads!

I’m still updating my author pages at Goodreads. I should get there in the end, but if you’re tech-savvy and can walk me through it, feel free to drop me a line and share your sage advice. Thanks! So far, I think I’ve discovered Celine’s author page and updated it at http://www.goodreads.com/celinechatillon_cynthianna
If you’re a Goodreads junkie, please feel free to become my “fan” and rate/review my books.

Okay, now’s the time to actually blog a little about my upcoming releases…

Slowly catching up with the digital book revolution—I discovered my writer’s how-NOT-to from Uncial Press, The Curse of the Manuscript Eating Slushpile Monster, is now available for the Nook reader at Barnes and Noble. Just do a search for it by title at bn.com and it should pop up. It’s also available in print with a shorter title, Defeating the Slushpile Monster, from Smiling Assassin Productions.

My science fiction-romance novella, Unalone, is coming soon from Devine Destinies books. I don’t have a release date for it yet, but you’ll be the first to know if you follow this blog. A brief synopsis can be read on my web page: http://www.cynthianna.com

Both my romantic fiction persons are working together on another science fiction book series along with several other writers. We’re still in the preliminary planning stages and we don’t want to spill the beans just yet—sorry. Keep it tuned here for updates… particularly if you’re a fan of vampires, steampunk, action-adventure and romantic-suspense.

Here’s something different I’ve written lately—I’m writing sketch comedy and I’ve seen it produced onstage at a local night club. My husband, author Adrian J. Matthews, and I know Brendan Allen, an up and coming actor. We thought we’d like create some new material for him and his fellow cast members. Our sketch “2011: A Fridge Oddity” was performed this past week by The Non-Prophets Theater group during their “Non-Prophet Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine” sketch night at Lemmon’s in St. Louis. We really enjoyed seeing our work performed and thought the cast did a great job. They might even do another sketch we wrote next month.

This new blog post has gone on long enough! If you want to see what Celine Chatillon is up to bookwise, head on over to her Celine’s Dreams blog—now. And be sure to leave me a comment here telling me what all you'd like to see in upcoming blogs.

These Times Are A 'Changing!

These times are a'changing... Find out what these thousands are up to in the blog below!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It’s the Year of the Ox they say. Okay, it’s not as flashy as the Year of the Dragon or as comical as the Year of the Monkey, but where would we be without the dependable ol’ ox? We’d all be starving—or at least our ancestors would have starved and we wouldn’t be here now, would we? The ox pulls the plow, the plow tills the field so the farmer can sow grain, and the grain grows so we can have bread. Slow and steady, the ox is a dependable animal that shouldn’t be thought less of or teased for his understated elegance. So, Happy Year of the Ox! May all of us have the strength to trudge along, pulling our plows, like the sturdy, reliable ox.

I realize my New Year’s resolutions are already off, as this blog wasn’t updated earlier in the month as I had intended. I hit the ground running in 2009 with several freelance work projects, and I haven’t had a chance to come up for air until now. But it’s been an exciting year so far, right? We have a new president and hopefully a new sense of optimism. It’s time for a change. I agree.

I know I personally and professionally need to make some changes. I’m working on them—it is difficult and I’m a great procrastinator. I need more people in my life to hold me to my goals and make me work toward my dreams. I confess that I’ve not been writing fiction lately at all. My heart hasn’t been in it. I miss my daughters a lot, and I don’t hear from them often. I work a long, draining job and make a hideous commute daily, and it’s exacting a toll on my body and soul. I seem to catch all the viruses going around. I suffer back and leg pain to an excruciating degree some days. Bitch, bitch, whine, whine, moan, moan…

I would like to say my New Year’s resolutions include getting a decent paying job that isn’t located halfway across the county, but I have to be realistic. The unemployment rate is dismal here as it elsewhere. I’m pretty much stuck with what I’ve stumbled upon until I stumble upon another position. But I can make changes.

I can say that I will write more fiction this year and get those promised sequels to my fantasy-romantic-comedy LOVING WHO and the next story in “The Paranormal Lovers of St. Louis” series out there. I don’t make much money from my fiction writing, but I do enjoy it. Occasionally, one of my readers tells me that they enjoy it, too. That makes it all worth it.

One tiny bit of “change” I did today was go to an open casting call right here in the St. Louis area. Yeah—a movie with George Clooney is going to start filming here in March. It’s based on the novel Up in the Air, and they needed an airport terminal. Guess what? Since St. Louis is no longer a hub airport, Lambert Field has a completely empty concourse for them to use as a set. They need something like 2100 extras to fill it up. I thought, “Why not?” I might not get “the call” but at least I can say I tried.

(I actually have been an extra before, once on an indie film. I went running and screaming up a dark street in a low budget zombie flick. I had fun. Everyone should have to run away from zombies now and then.)


So in case I ever make it big on the Silver Screen, you can say you knew me when I was just a lowly, underpaid, struggling writer. Autographs will still be free, too. ;)

Love, Fun and Fantasy in Loving Who!

How many alien assassins tracking her down does one fangirl need? That question is answered in my lastest fantasy-romantic-comedy release... Enjoy an excerpt from it this month and leave a comment to be entered into my book drawing. Thanks!

And if you're in the neighborhood, I hope to see you at Archon 32. Don't forget to introduce yourself.


LOVING WHO
by Cynthianna
ISBN: 1-60180-075-4
http://www.mojocastle.com/celine/lovingwho.html

The man...the magic...the movie? Screwball romantic-comedy meets the world of Doctor Who fandom. Cici Connor's life will never be the same when she takes John Smith, a mysterious Brit, into her bed and her life begins to change... possibly for the better. After all, how many alien assassins tracking her does one girl need?

An Excerpt from Loving Who:

That's how it all began. A week later, 'John Smith' sat next to me on my slate-blue sofa with a bowl of microwave popcorn balanced on his lap. His eyes seemed glued to the TV screen as if it was the most wonderful invention to come to St. Louis since the introduction of microwaveable toasted ravioli.

“The crazy things that bloke gets up to,” he murmured as the credits began to roll on the third episode of the latest series. “Quite unbelievable at times.”

I laughed. “That's why it's called science fiction. It sure the heck isn't science fact.”

Suddenly those big brown eyes of his bore into mine. “You enjoy studying the sciences, don't you?”

I swallowed hard. How did he know? I nodded automatically. “Yeah, sure I do. I didn't get a chance to study any science in depth in college, but I've always had a layperson's fascination with all things astronomical.”

“Yes, I noticed your Amateur Astronomer certificate on the wall when we came in. It hangs beside the bookshelf containing an astrolabe, a year's worth of Sky and Telescope, and the hardback edition of Stephen Hawking's' A Complete History of Time.”

Whoa. This John Smith was much more observant that I had credited him. Here I thought for the last three hours he'd been simply enjoying my TiVoed episodes of Doctor Who. Instead, he'd been scoping out my apartment.

“You know what an astrolabe is?” I wondered aloud. Most of my friends had mistaken it for an unsually shaped, miniature telescope.

He frowned, puzzled. “Of course I know what an astrolabe is.”

A chill raced down my spine. Perhaps bringing this handsome stranger home hadn't been such a good idea after all…

“Is your fascination with the heavens why you've become such a fanatic over a television program about a time traveler?” he asked.

I blinked, but still I found myself glued to the spot. “Partly. Mostly it's pure escapism for me. I have to have something in life that will rescue me from this dreary existence occasionally. Doctor Who is a godsend.”

“Even when it went off the air for a decade?”

“Even then. There were the books, the conventions, the awful TV movie and the fans. The fans are the best. I've met a lot of lovely Doctor Who fans over the years. They've cheered me up enormously when I was down and out between jobs and husbands. When Southwestern Bell transferred me here from Dallas I didn't know a soul, but the local fans soon became my family. I'm not alone in the universe as long as I know there are others out there who like the same thing I do.”

“Hmm.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. He seemed to be seriously contemplating my heartfelt disclosure. “Then why do you frequent dodgy establishments such as the place I found you in earlier today?”

I blushed and averted my gaze. It was time to spill the beans, to let him in on the underlying motivation for bringing him back to my place. I suddenly felt ashamed of my actions. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“Cici? Is there something you'd like to tell me?”

His voice sounded soft, yet demanding. He placed a hand under my chin and tilted my face until his penetrating eyes meet mine once more. My heart began to race and my breathing became ragged. His prying eyes continued to probe the depths of my soul. Every fiber of my being burned with a desire to make a clean start of our relationship.

“Okay, you caught me,” I confessed with a sigh. “We need you to star in our fan film. You're a dead ringer for the Doctor. My plan involved kidnapping and seducing you, forcing you to stay in town for a while so we could film our friend Sammy's screenplay. He's terminally ill. We want him to see his movie idea made before he passes on. That's all. I promise.

Loving Who… available at Mojocastle Press:
http://www.mojocastle.com/celine/lovingwho.html

Cynthianna
http://www.cynthianna.com
Boldly going where no one genre has gone before!