Winner for Book Giveaway

A few weeks ago, I posted a giveaway for the book I had just finished reading called The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. As you may recall, it's a bit of a mystery novel meets vampire novel. I like to think of it as the thinking (wo)man's version of Twilight.

The winner of the book is Joanna who sweetly wrote: O wow! That sounds incredible! I was reading your blog entry and thinking..."I wonder if this book is available here"! :) I love that you are giving it away and I would love to have it if I win :)

Joanna, can you please email me-- elventryst@gmail.com-- and let me know your address!


XOXO,

The (Non)Twilight Giveaway

"The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper. Recently, however, a shock of sorts has prompted me to look back over the most troubling episodes of my life and of the lives of the several people I loved best. This is the story of how as a girl of sixteen I went in search of my father and his past, and of how he went in search of his beloved mentor and his mentor's own history, and of how we all found ourselves on one of the darkest pathways into history. It is the story of who survived that search and who did not, and why. As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claw."

   Thus Elizabeth Kostova begins her 676 page novel, which follows the young protagonist as she chases through Eastern Europe on the trail of one of history's cruelest figures, Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia.  It's a lyrical book, filled with letters and mysterious characters that weave in and out of the plot.  Along the way, we're treated to a history lesson; we're whisked back in time to witness Vlad Drakulya, defender of Christendom and enemy of the Turks as he does battle with Sultan Mehmet II in the fifteenth century.


   This is, in fact, a vampire novel, but it is much more than that.  It is a richly woven together book, part travelogue (trains wind over narrow mountain passes in the Balkans), part history (much of the story revolves around the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453), and part vampire lore.  It is a wonderful combination, and makes for a fascinating read.


   As many readers know, today marks the release of the third film installment of the Twilight series, Eclipse.  I finished reading this book last week, and I have a thing about wanting to pass the books I read along.  As I was reading it, I kept thinking how much more I preferred this book to the Twilight series, as it is more complex, and yet still had that component which draws you in, namely, the vampire.



Up for grabs is a dog-eared paperback copy of the book, The Historian (this book is in used condition).  If you want it, leave a comment on this entry of my blog.  The contest ends at midnight EST on Monday July 5th.


Best of luck and happy reading!


XOXO,

Sometimes I Wish...

Sometimes I wish that I had the life of my alter ego... (she seems to have all the fun!)

She looks so happy and lucky in love. He's kind of cute, too.

Of course, if I couldn't have that, I'd settle for a random superhero power-- hands that heal, anyone? Or maybe they just emit a strange light? Okay, well that would be weird.

I know… Maybe I could just turn into a vampire? What do we think?

XOXO,

*These are all pictures of me, by the way, taken during happier times when I was working. Can't say that I've been doing much of that lately!

Of Vampires and Twilight

I am so excited for the midnight release of Twilight, the film version of the popular vampire novels by Stephanie Meyer, on DVD.

My discovery of these books have been very timely as I became engrossed in them last week, obsessively reading through all four books in about a week's time span, and now, without delay, the movie is being released-- just in time for me to drool over Edward Cullen and the other vampires.

A few years ago, I worked a lot with a photographer who shot romance novel covers. She'd book me to be the heroine and we'd work for about a half hour recreating the image for the cover of those books-- the best part is that I often got to work with a hunk. After the photo shoot, an artist would render a cover based on my picture. I probably only did about ten covers in total, but those were probably some of the most fun shoots I've ever done.

One of the book covers I did happened to be a vampire novel-- Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks. It's a fun cover, and the really cool part is getting to see how I would look as a vampire. Pretty awesome, right?

Did you read Twilight? What did you think?