by KarenEssex | Aug 5, 2010 | dracula in love
I am hanging onto my rain hat here in London as August 10th, the pub date for DRACULA IN LOVE approaches. Reviews thus far have been absolutely amazing, more than I dared wish for. From book bloggers who compare it to novels by the Brontës and Anne Rice, to a veritable rave in FANGORIA Magazine, the number one horror publication in the world, I’ve been gratified and humbled by this outpouring of generous words.
Let me assure you that THERE WILL BE BLOOD AND THEIR WILL BE PARTIES. The kick-off celebration is on September 20th at Fraiche Santa Monica, and you are all invited. We will provide delights of all kinds, including special appearances by the Undead. The festivities will move through Southern California and then across the country, culminating ‘round Halloween in New Orleans at the Vampire Film Festival. ... Read more.
by KarenEssex | Apr 28, 2010 | dracula in love
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After forty-three months of research and writing, and a lifelong fascination with the esoteric, I am happy to announce that DRACULA IN LOVE, my fifth novel, will be published by Doubleday in August 2010.
There is blood on the pages, faithful readers, but it is not only from the vampire’s bite. I would like to share with you just a little of the bizarre process of writing this most rebellious of books. It was as if a supernatural being had taken possession of my research and my typing fingers for its own purposes. |
In the early stages, the protagonist refused to appear on the page as I had imagined her and came forth with a personality and agenda of her own, speaking to me in a voice I did not recognize. For months, I wasn’t sure that I even liked her! She and the rest of the characters defied my painstakingly constructed one hundred twenty-page outline and forged their own paths, which they would only reveal to me in stingy little increments. I burned a thousand candles and listened to sacred music in my London flat hoping to persuade the writing gods to give me back my book, but ultimately, I had to capitulate and allow them to do as they wished, though I had no idea where they were taking me. In the end, it is a far richer, more surprising, and more thrilling novel for the characters having taken stern control of their destinies. ... Read more.
by KarenEssex | Nov 28, 2009 | books, power, sex, women
KE: The film producer Lynda Obst once told me that she came up with the idea for the George Clooney/Michelle Pfeiffer romantic comedy One Fine Day, when she—overworked, exhausted—was lying on a massage table thinking that to meet a man she would have to literally crash into one with her car. Andrew Davidson, who I chatted with recently on the blog, opened his bestseller, The Gargolye, with a car accident that transforms his character, body and soul. And I have always been a fan of the late painter Carlos Almaraz’s oils depicting cars in flames. What is it about art and car wrecks? ... Read more.
by KarenEssex | Sep 29, 2009 | history, stealing athena, travels
At the HNS Conference, C. W. Gortner and I caught the great Margaret George red-handed in the bookstore buying our books. We were so thrilled that we had to have the incident preserved for posterity!
KE: At the Historical Novel Society Conference this summer, Margaret George, C. W. (Christopher) Gortner and I answered questions about gender and the art—and marketing—of historical fiction. Margaret’s novel, The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers (1998), is now a beloved classic, and it was written in the voice of a man, about another man, but by a female author (I sound like I’m pitching Victor/Victoria!). Christopher’s new novel, The Last Queen, has received much acclaim, and it is written in the voice Juana “la Loca.” I have written in the male voice, and I feel that two of the most authentic and inspired character portraits I have ever written were Julius Caesar and the eunuch Meleager, both from my Kleopatra series. ... Read more.
by KarenEssex | Aug 21, 2009 | history, stealing athena, women
Also posted on Vintage/Anchor Books. Click here to check out their site.
In their respective novels The Gargoyle and Stealing Athena, Andrew Davidson and Karen Essex both tell parallel stories that take place in two different time periods, intertwining the lives of people separated by centuries. The books also explore common themes of the mystical, the mythic, karmic debt, the creation of art, and romantic love. In a candid and uncensored phone conversation, the authors compare their writing processes and talk about the sometimes numinous, sometimes laborious procedure by which they create stories and bring their characters to life. ... Read more.
