MATTERS CONCERNING VAMPIRES

For most of the last couple of years, I've been chained to my desk a lot meeting deadlines for the first two Raine's Landing novels. Which means I missed a lot of movies that I otherwise would definitely have gone to see. But thanks to the magic of postal DVD technology -- as I've pointed out earlier -- I have finally been catching up. And there's one horror flick I was absolutely kicking myself about having missed. Until I finally watched it, that is.

Friends have told me that they liked the thing. But 30 Days of Night, I'm afraid, left me pretty cold. Okay, maybe it was supposed to ... it's set in the far north reaches of Alaska, the premise being that while the sun's away all month, the vampires get to play. Not so bad a concept ... until you start to realise that it's basically just a bloodsucking rehash of the excellent SF chiller Pitch Black. And there are holes in the telling of the story you could drive a hearse through -- sideways! These vampires are supposed to have hidden themselves from human beings for centuries ... except they are such startling and gruesome creatures, it is impossible to see how they could manage that. And once they've killed most of the inhabitants, why don't they take the trouble to search the houses in this very small town for survivors properly?

But the problem that really rankles is, at which point did a lot of horror movies stop having a real, recognisable plot? The Descent? The unappealing Creep? When did this genre of films turn into just a series of frightening or gruesome scenes all clumsily stapled together? Compare '30 Days' with Kathryn Bigelow's excellent 1980's vampire effort Near Dark and you'll see precisely what I mean.

I'll hopefully get to see Let the Right One In before it disappears from our cinemas. And Twilight has just turned up in the mail. So I'll be talking more about vampire movies on this blog before much longer. Let's hope I have better news to report.

As I mentioned earlier, there've been some good things being said on the Internet about the first RL novel, 'Dark Rain', particularly on Horror Mall's forum 'The Haunt'. So I thought I'd reproduce a little of it here. Gene said "Tony Richards is a fine writer. I would recommend his work." A guy calling himself wcr01gsr went further, proclaiming that "Tony Richards is a fantastic author!" And Jim opined "I can't wait for his next book to come out involving the town of Raine's Landing." Thanks for the kind words, guys. And as for the next Raine's Landing novel, happy to oblige!

AN AMERICAN FRIEND

Robert Morrish bought five stories of mine — ‘Yesterday, Upon The Stair,’ ‘Siafu,’ ‘A Place in the Country,’ ‘Misdirection’ and ‘Nine Rocks in a Row’ — during his editorship of Cemetery Dance, and I never once got to meet him. Now that he’s recently quit the magazine, I finally did. Bob was over in London on business from California, and we got together for drinks in Covent Garden before heading across for an Italian meal in Soho. Great guy … a real pleasure to spend time in his company. Writing’s not all hard graft, I’m relieved to say.

There's currently some on-line chatter, by the way, about the first Raine's Landing novel, 'Dark Rain,' here.

ON A MIDNIGHT STREET

If you've never heard of the much-praised British magazine Midnight Street, here's your chance to put that right. Edited by Aldershot-based good guy Trevor Denyer, it carries science fiction, fantasy, supernatural tales, horror ... in fact, every kind of fiction that is speculative or paranormal. There are interviews, articles, even poetry, as well as reviews and a Showcased Author every new edition -- I was one such back in #6. And all of this for a remarkably low subscription rate. Check out the link if you don't believe me.

Oh yes, and the cover story for the current issue -- #12 -- is called 'The Crows' and is by guess who. I think that it's one of the most frightening tales I've ever written in my life. It will be interesting to see if anyone agrees. (The cover of Midnight Street #12 appears here by kind permission of Immediate Direction Publications).

THE AMAZING ALAN PRICE

To a packed to the rafters Bull's Head, Barnes, this week to see one of my musical heroes, singer, songwriter, and virtuoso pianist Alan Price. Price first came to the public's notice as the outstanding keyboard player for hit British 60's band The Animals ("House of the Rising Sun"; "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"). He then went on to form his own group and duetted with Georgie Fame, before launching out on a solo career the high point of which was probably his writing and performing of the classic, award-winning soundtrack for Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man. And the man was in buoyant form this week, bantering with the audience and launching into memorable numbers from throughout his career, including a couple from my favourite album, Between Today and Yesterday. As a songwriter, he shares many qualities with Paul McCartney. He understands how strong a tool simplicity can be, and recognises the power contained in local and traditional forms of music, weaving all of that into his compositions in a way that lesser artists couldn't manage. And as a singer? Well, the guy's sixty-six, and took a little while to get properly warmed up. But by the second set, that familiar Geordie twang was filling the whole room, to the delight of his audience. He's due to go on tour soon, so look out for him around your way.

RETURN TO RAINE'S LANDING

Louise and I just had house guests over the weekend, the terrific vampire writer Nancy Kilpatrick and her partner Hugues over from Montreal for a week's visit to Merrie England. Nancy spent half her time trawling around London's more interesting cemeteries ... looking for vampires, I'd presume! Otherwise, it was a real pleasure to have them here. But now it's back to work.

And that means Raine's Landing Book #3 -- 'Midnight's Angels.' I'd love to tell you more about it, but that would involve giving away too many details about Book #2, 'Night of Demons,' which isn't even out until November. Suffice to say that by Book #3, a lot of characters that you've been introduced to are encountering a string of 'problems.' Cassie's not her normal self. And Lieutenant Saul Hobart is decidedly not well. More headaches and trouble for our brave and even-headed hero Ross Devries to put right. But that's what heroes are for, isn't it? Although ... Ross would never admit he is one.

This blog is now linked to SF Site, by the way. Thanks, Rodger! And for the last couple of months, the news page on my website was down. It's now up and fully functioning. Oh, and there's more news about 'Dark Rain' currently up on the Eos Blog.(*Photograph copyright (c) Tony Richards 2009.)

ARE BOOKS LIKE A GLACIER GLOBAL DUMBENING MIGHT MELT?

I recently put this piece on my Wonderlands blog, and it aroused a good amount of lively comment. So I thought I'd post it here as well:

In the most recent issue of Cemetery Dance magazine, British horror editor Stephen Jones repeats his assertion that 'almost no one reads books any more.' In fact, he repeats it at length, opining that, because of competition from the visual media, mass market books will go 'the way of the vinyl record,' reading will revert to being 'a gentleman's pursuit,' and there'll only be the independent presses left to pander to it.

Now, I've known Steve for more than twenty years. He generally goes in with both guns blazing on most issues, which is one of his strengths. And he's right to be concerned about the state of modern culture. But I think he's over-shot the mark this time. Except he's not alone in that. I've been hearing almost all my adult life how movies, TV, and now computers are going to leave us with a world where no one bothers to pick up a paperback any more. Which, I think, is to ignore some basic facts. Let's look at this calmly for a moment.

FILM has been around as a very popular form of mass entertainment since the early Thirties, almost ninety years by now. And there's no sign yet of Barnes & Noble closing down because of it. Yes, film plus TV -- namely videos and DVDs -- has made some inroads into people's reading habits. But on the whole, films and books have enjoyed a reasonably cosy symbiosis. How many people, for instance, will read The Kite Runner because they saw the movie first. On a personal level, I might never have read a word by John O'Brien -- a superbly powerful author -- if I hadn't been to see the movie of Leaving Las Vegas. Films, then, do not seem to be the problem you might first suppose. It only takes a couple of hours to watch a movie, after all. Plenty of time left for reading.

TELEVISION has undoubtedly made inroads into reading habits ... no slightest question of it. But as badly as some people would have us believe? It hasn't been around as long as movies, but it has been around since the Fifties. Barnes & Noble is still there. And remains there despite the fact that several generations -- including my own -- have grown up being suckled at the glass teat. I'd suggest the following. That whatever damage TV might have done is, well, done. We've seen most of the worst of it. And the figures seem to bear this out. Ask any US mass market editor, and you'll be told that the numbers of people who read dropped about a decade ago, but then levelled out. Reading has not, in other words, gone into freefall becase of the boob tube. I'd suggest something else as well -- that, although there are some good shows out there, so much TV these days is cheap 'reality,' 'talent,' or 'celebrity' junk that the only people who'd watch it non-stop are the type who have only a 50-50 chance of holding a book the right way up in the first place.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY falls into two basic areas, the INTERNET and VIDEO GAMES. And I do concede that there's cause for concern here. Both activities are obsessive and time consuming. Neither activity taxes the more intellectual part of the mind, the part you need for reading. But even to this dark cloud there remains a silver lining, namely the large sections of the Internet given over to books and reading. There are publishers out there on the web, booksellers, review sites, online magazines and novels, readers' social sites like Library Thing and Goodreads (not to mention this one), hundreds of sites given over to matters relating -- especially -- to fantasy fiction. And that's not even mentioning the thousands of blogs written by avid readers, some of whose book consumption is truly phenomenal. All of which provides some kind of counterbalance to the guys out there playing Grand Theft Auto over and over again (and who I hope stay put behind their PCs, because I don't relish the idea of meeting them in any dark alley).

The fact is, every time that I get on a Tube train -- that's a subway train to most of you -- every time I go on a beach or sit beside a swimming pool, I'm surrounded by people who are not only reading books, but a wide variety of different ones. And therein I think lies the real problem. It's not that people do not want to read ... it's that the pace of modern life leaves them with little time to do so. When they get a chance to devour a novel -- commuting, or on vacation -- they tend to grab it with both hands. Which gives me hope. What do you think? Why not enter the poll at the top of this page, although I'd welcome longer opinions as well.

RAINE'S RAVES

 Here are some reactions to 'Dark Rain,' both from reviewers and general readers. An appropriate click will get you the complete review.

"This is a modern day Gothic urban fantasy that mesmerizes the audience into a one-sitting read. An exhilarating dark thriller" -- Harriet Klausner.

"A tense, thrilling story. The ending practically says 'Sequel on the way!' and I certainly hope that's true because there would seem to be much more to the story of Ross Devries and the others, and I know readers are going to want to see it" -- Toni V. Sweeney.

"What a fascinating book! Builds to a really pageturning ending, one that I couldn't stop reading. Bravo to Mr. Richards! Now where's the next volume?" -- Kathy.

"Raine's Landing is a place of magic, and it's one that instantly sucks you into its wild heart" -- Marie O'Regan, Total Sci Fi.

"A great read! Richards is a great writer, and I can't wait to read more by this author" -- Sarah.

"Gripping tale. I could not put the book down. I hope there will be a sequel" -- D.

"It's got magic, mystery and mayhem, with a cool noir feel" -- i-Newswire.

"An innovative, compelling novel of dark fantasy. I recommend it" -- Margaret L. Carter.

"It will keep you on the edge of your seat. A definite must read for those into dark fantasy, paranormal fiction, or just a good book" -- Colleen Cahill, SF Revu.

"The narrative is never less than compelling as it hurtles towards a resolution. All that remains is to wait patiently for the sequel and find out what else Richards has in store for us" -- Peter Tennant, Black Static.