LOS ANGELES (AP) — Headstrong Bella is in love with a vampire. Zoey has a crescent moon seared onto her forehead, the mark of a fledgling bloodsucker. Sixteen-year-old Ever can hear people’s thoughts. Calliope is, reluctantly, Death’s daughter.

All are modern female heroes written by women, read by women and not only obsessed over by teenagers but also their older sisters and mothers. The economy may be deeply troubled, but urban fantasy novels about vampires, werewolves, zombies, supernatural creatures, blood and romance are booming, and women are sinking their teeth into them in ravenous numbers.

“We’re living in a frightening time. I don’t know if it’s an escapism as in there’s scary stuff out there so let me control it through the medium of reading,” says Amy Clarke, a lecturer at the University of California, Davis who teaches science fiction literature.

“There’s dreaming of being with a vampire or werewolf, but there’s always the danger of crossing over. I think it’s a post-feminist way of taking on power.”

The trend gathered steam with Bella Swan and her conflicted romance with gorgeous vampire Edward in Stephenie Meyer’s four-book “Twilight” series, which has sold more than 53 million copies worldwide since the first book’s release in 2005, according to publisher Little, Brown and Company. Meyer’s newest, the more adult-themed “The Host,” has 2 million copies in print domestically.

Call it dark escapism with a racy flair. The “Twilight” explosion, including its hit movie version, has deepened the needs of women urban fantasy novel readers.

Other authors are jumping in: P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristin’s popular “House of Night” vampire series; Alyson Noel’s “Immortals” books: the “Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries” novels by Charlaine Harris, which inspired the TV series “True Blood” on HBO; Richelle Mead’s “Vampire Academy” trilogy; and books by more than half a dozen other female writers.

The genre’s popularity is bigger than just books, says P.C. Cast.

“With women, this is reflecting a shift in our society,” Cast said in an interview from her home in Tulsa, Okla. “I’ve seen a big shift, especially in my classroom, with women standing up and demanding respect. That’s in every woman, whether 16, 26, 56.”

“Our fiction is also reflecting that because we’re writing the fiction. We’ve given ourselves permission to be successful. We’re also giving ourselves permission to have fun,” said Cast, a single mother who taught high school English for 15 years before focusing only on writing.

Her five “House of Night” books, starting in 2007 with “Marked,” follow the adventures of Zoey Redbird, a high school student marked to be a vamp, who must enter the House of Night. Described as a “vampyre finishing school,” it’s filled with bratty girls, cute guys and no end of drama.

Cast enlisted the help of daughter Kristin, 22, to ensure that the teen-speak in her stories reflected current vernacular as opposed to the author’s “inner ’70s teenager saying things that were so not cool.”

It paid off.

There are 5.5 million copies of the five “House of Night” books in print in the United States and the series has been on The New York Times list of best sellers. “Tempted,” the sixth book, came out last fall. The series has been optioned by Empire Pictures, with a film script in the works.

“Vampires are super sexy. Vampires and teens have a lot in common. Teens have surging hormones, vampires have surging blood lust. Teenagers think they’re immortal,” Cast said.

And for older women, says UC Davis’ Clarke, “hot blooded” has taken on new meaning.

“All of the stuff I’ve read have some pretty heated sex scenes in them, and that brings people into the world of it,” Clarke said. “The teens haven’t had sex yet and the mothers have, and it’s maybe not as good as it was.”

Noel’s “Immortals” series focuses on the telepathic teen Ever, who gains her abilities after surviving a car accident that kills her family. Brooding and lonely at a new school in sunny California, she meets handsome immortal Damen. They’re drawn to each other like magnets.

“All of us older people reading these books magically survived high school even though we thought we wouldn’t,” Noel said in an interview from her home in Laguna Beach, Calif. “To be young and beautiful and have power forever is pretty alluring in this society.”

Amber Benson, who earned a huge fan base as witch Tara on the cult-hit TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which ended in 2003, channeled her love of urban fantasy into a trilogy, with the first book released this year by venerable science fiction and fantasy publisher Ace Books, an imprint of Penguin.

In “Death’s Daughter,” Calliope Reaper-Jones is a 25-year-old immortal who works in New York City. After her father, the CEO of Death, Inc., is kidnapped, she must run the family business.

“That was the beauty of Buffy, this female protagonist who looked totally harmless but could do all these amazing things and was trying to be a real person at the same time. She definitely influenced Calliope and her journey,” says Benson, as she sits in her Los Angeles home beneath a sign reading “Old Friends to Read, Old Friends to Trust.”

“We don’t just want to be the tough chick who has no feelings, or the super girly girl who can’t do anything for herself. We want that middle ground,” she says.

With online word of mouth driving sales, fan gals have also started churning out their own stories about witches, vampires, wolves and half-bloods on such Web sites as www.textnovel.com under categories such as “Romance — Paranormal” and “Romance — Urban Fantasy.”

“This is where the key demographic for the ‘House of Night’ lives, these teenage girls that are online most of the time,” Matthew Shear, St. Martin’s senior vice president of publishing, said.

Shear acknowledged Meyer’s effect on Cast’s series and other urban fantasy novels.

“We didn’t buy the ‘House of Night’ series because of ‘Twilight,’ but when we saw sales increasing, we went to everywhere Stephenie Meyer was selling,” he said. “Stephenie Meyer started the boom, and ‘House of Night’ has continued the boom.”

He’s cheering on sales.

“Is it welcome news to the publishing world? You bet it is,” Shear said. “We’re thrilled that people want to buy these books.”

On the Net:

http://www.houseofnightseries.com/

http://www.alysonnoel.com/

http://www.deathsdaughter.com/

http://www.charlaineharris.com/

http://www.richellemead.com/

http://www.textnovel.com

Source: The Daily News Online

Originally all released as trade paperbacks, SMP moved the series into hardcover with the March 2009 publication of Hunted, which has sold 950,000 copies and will be released in trade paperback next month. The success of Hunted convinced SMP that there was a broader audience for the series, and SMP’s experience since last fall has proven that conviction correct. The house republished the first four books—Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, and Untamed—in hardcover in September, and the four have combined to ship more than 500,000 copies. Shortly after the publication of those four hardcovers, SMP released the sixth book in the series, Tempted, with a printing of just over one million; Shear said the publisher has now shipped 1.1 million copies.

As part of the marketing effort for the hardcover editions, SMP included posters of the characters in each book that when combined make up one big poster. SMP also upped its marketing budget, taking out ads in People and on Facebook and using more Google Adwords looking to attract fans of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. “Our marketing has evolved to reach both the teen and adult markets,” Shear said, a strategy that has paid off. “At [Cast] events, there are lots of 20-somethings and older women in addition to teens,” Shear said. The series also has the obligatory Web site, houseofnightseries.com, which is now generating 500,000 unique visitors monthly, Shear said. Audio copies of the book can be downloaded from the site via links to Audible and iTunes.

House of Night is selling very well outside of the U.S. Sales have been strong in Canada (where SMP did a boxed set of the first four hardcovers), and rights have been sold in 35 territories. There will be 12 books in all in the series, and the seventh, Burned, will be published in the U.S. in April.

By Jim Milliot
Source: Publishers Weekly

Not that yesterday’s sweet and innocent girls have grown up to be lusty ladies looking for something kinky, but if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that they just have vampires on the brain. Walk through any bookstore these days and the word just jumps out from the covers: The Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy, Vampire Huntress, Vampire Kisses, and fine, The Twilight Saga, if we’re being obvious. There must be something in the water that’s making girls everywhere a little too bloodthirsty.

Remember the good old days when a teenage girl’s greatest ambition wasn’t about being kissed by a vampire? Better yet, remember when vampires used to be scary? I hate to sound like a hater—that’s “werewolf” to some of you girls—but back then, bloodsuckers conjured up the eerie silence of the night, punctuated only by the terrifying creak of a coffin being opened, the dreadful sound of a bat flapping its wings, and maybe even the tried-and-tested, spine-chilling wolf howl. But these days, the howling has increased a thousand fold, with the shrill, high-pitched shrieks of teens, tweens, and unfortunate adults piercing the silence. Once again, vampires have induced mass hysteria, but this isn’t your regular crowd of pitchfork-toting villagers out to burn the monsters at the stake. Let’s just say that if vampires truly exist, they’re probably hiding in their coffins because there’s an alarming number of love-starved women who are out to get them.

So why are girls suddenly as ravenous for the material as vampires are for blood? Certainly not for the gore and horror, as today’s cookie-cutter vampire stories are doing away with the grotesque Nosferatus and focusing on pretty boys like Twilight’s Edward Cullen. Whereas traditional vampire lore used to be a source of terror, a spotlight on society’s worst fears ranging from the political (parasitic institutions) to the spiritual (evil spirits and curses), the contemporary vampire tale is all about desire. By all acounts, today’s vampires are decidedly sexier, more passionate, and infinitely more human than the cursed embodiments of evil we used to see back then. Notice how the standard weapons of Christianity —crucifix, holy water, rosary—don’t even matter in these new worlds of vampiredom. Authors of chick-lit and paranormal romances have obviously decreed that vampires just aren’t evil anymore.

Take the case of Twilight, where the vampires have gone “vegetarian,” opting to live on the blood of animals instead of killing humans. While main pretty boy Edward Cullen is often all emo about the fact that he’s a monster with no soul, his beloved human Bella helps him realize that choosing true love can lead to redemption. Interestingly enough, our current young adult bookshelves are filled with hot vampires who have far too many redeeming qualities, much like the dazzling Cullens. All these enigmatic vampire boys are dark, brooding James Dean types (read: the epitome of everything attractive in a man) who are just “misunderstood,” which is why every angsty teenager or adult can relate.

It’s also why the ladies keep swooning over the bad yet beautiful vampires of this hot new genre. Forget necrophilia; the lack of a pulse is only a minor detail in the grand quest for undying love. If all the boys are so overwhelmingly good-looking, caring, and adoring, and they live forever, trust the women to come baring their necks for a bite towards immortality. More than eternal youth, women just want eternal love, and therein lies the appeal of undead romance. The new vampire genre awakens a desire for stability and security; it doesn’t matter if the heart stops beating, just as long as it’s frozen in a state of love for all eternity. We want undead romance because it’s intense, it’s perfect, and it’s forever.

And who can ignore the blatant sexuality of vampires? After all, bloodsucking is a strangely intimate thing. Skim through Anne Rice’s novels or watch True Blood’s “Fangbangers” at work and you’ll have an idea of the seduction involved in the vampire world, but popular young adult books also demonstrate how sexy a little restraint can be. In vampire-human romances, the bloodlust is easily equated to real lust, mixed with the appeal of the forbidden. And the human girl in the relationship, much like Twilight’s Bella, The Vampire Diaries’s Elena, and True Blood’s Sookie Stackhouse, often ups the thrill and suspense as she looks forward to being “turned” to a vampire and living with her beloved forever. Ah, the perks of having a teenage vampire for a boyfriend, and oh, the sexy possibilities!

There’s one thing for people to keep in mind when they let underage daughters, lonely wives, and fanatical girlfriends run wild in the paranormal romance section of the young adult aisle. Simply put, some people could just be depressed or repressed, so this endless fascination with vampires might be a small warning sign that we’re craving a little more something. Maybe it’s sex and passion for some, and beauty and romance for others. But here’s what we’re sure of—it has to be powerful, it has to be perfect, and it has to last forever.

Popular New Titles:

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer: Spawning four books and three Hollywood movies so far, the series follows the love story of the handsome vampire Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, the human girl whose blood sings to him more than anyone else’s.

Vampire Kisses novels by Ellen Schrieber: Goth teenage girl Raven Madison falls in love and finds out that her handsome boyfriend, Alexander Sterling, is a vampire.

The Vampire Huntress Legend series by L.A. Banks: A Buffy-like heroine, Damali Richards, is the chosen Neteru, who must hunt and fight dark vampires with her guardian team.

The Vampire Diaries series by LJ Smith: Already adapted as a popular television show on The CW (starring Lost’s Ian Somerhalder as one the sexy vampires), the books focus on two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, who fight for the affections of the human Elena Gilbert.

True Blood series by Charlaine Harris: If you enjoy the HBO series, read the books that spawned the show. The novels follow the adventures of Southern lass Sookie Stackhouse in a world where vampires have come out and revealed themselves in the real world.

House of Night novels by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: The title refers to the “vampyre” boarding school where youngsters must go to become full-fledged vampires. The books follow the story of teenager Zoey Redbird and the dangers she faces as she goes to vampire school.

Vampire Academy novels by Richelle Mead: Set in another vampire school, the story is about half-vampire Rose Hathaway who must train to be the guardian of a mortal vampire, best friend Lissa Dragomir. The two friends encounter forbidden love and unknown dangers as the novels progress.

Night Watch novels by Sergei Lukyanenko: It’s not really young adult fare, but the 1998 Russian novel and its sequels have remained popular for the story’s unique mix of horror and fantasy. Due to the popularity of the books, they have already been adapted into two movies and a television series in Russia.

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurel K. Hamilton: Like the True Blood universe, the vampires in this story have already come out to humans and are considered “normal”. Anita Blake is the main character who plays detective and solves mysteries about these supernatural entities.

The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan: The new fantasy adventure film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is actually an adaptation of the first book in four trilogies by the author.

Source: Manila Standard Today
By: Bernice Bautista

PC Cast has so far sold over 8 million copies worldwide, been translated into 39 languages, is a WH Smith top ten bestseller in the UK and is hugely popular with fans of Stephenie Meyer.

PC Cast’s Goddess of Partholon series is to be published in the UK for the first time at the beginning of 2010.

Written before her bestselling House of Night series (which so far has sold over 1 million in the UK) the Goddess of Partholon trilogy contains Cast’s favourite character, the sexy centaur ClanFintan and is a chance for adult readers to enjoy her writing.

When the Goddess of Partholon series was first published in the US it was awarded the Prism, Holt Medallion and Laurel Wreath awards and was also shortlisted for the National Readers’ Choice Award.

The Goddess of Partholon series starts with Divine by Mistake where feisty redhead and 35-year-old Oklahoma school teacher Shannon Parker is unexpectedly sucked through a fiery portal into the paranormal world of Partholon.

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Waking up in another world Shannon Parker discovers she has swapped places with Partholon’shigh-priestess and is revered as a Goddess by all.

While she can’t believe her luck who doesn’t like to have wall to wall wardrobes of made-to-measure silk dresses and wine on tap, not to mention the personal Spa and handmaidens being Partholon’s high-priestess is far from easy.

On her first day in Partholon Shannon is expected to be married to High Shaman, ClanFintan, a centaur who has no idea of her real identity.

Then there is the threat of Formorthian war on the horizon, and as the high-priestess of a warrior Goddess, Shannon must lead the people of Partholon into battle. Nothing a feisty high-school teacher can’t handle-right?

Source: Female First

Well, you could say that we’ve been writing about humans for over 5,000 years and no one ever got tired of that so perhaps another vampire series is just what we need! Silliness aside, the House of Night series by mother-daughter team P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast is an exciting, imaginative, and inventive series that breathes new life into the ever more popular genre of vampire novels. The books are written for the young adult market but are not intended for readers younger than 16 years of age.

Six books have been published so far out of a planned twelve and the seventh book, Burned, is due to be released on April 27, 2010.

Marked (May 1, 2007) – Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is marked by a vampyre Tracker and must leave her home and school to attend The House of Night, the prestigious vampyre finishing school. Zoey is no typical fledgling though and her powers are soon required to fight an evil secret society in the school called the Dark Daughters.

Betrayed (October 2, 2007) – Now the leader of the Dark Daughters and a high priestess in training, Zoey soon discovers that an evil force within the school is killing human teenagers. When her human almost ex-boyfriend Heath disappears, Zoey must rush against time to rescue him and encounters a heartbreaking betrayal.

Chosen (March 4, 2008) – Continuing on from the events of Betrayed, Zoey must now deal with an undead best friend and what appear to be a series of attacks on vampyres from the religious group People of Faith. The action really starts to heat up in this book and you find yourself racing towards the end.

Untamed (October 1, 2008) – Alienated from her once tight group of friends, Zoey must rely on her two remaining friends (one of whom is undead and the other unMarked) to help her fight the high priestess as she declares war on humans. Loyalties are tested and true intentions are discovered as the book hurtles towards a shocking end.

Hunted (March 10, 2009) – Reunited once again with her friends and her boyfriend, Zoey discovers an unexpected danger at play at the House of Night. Can she convince the others that there is evil amongst them and rid the House of Night of this curse once and for all?

Tempted (October 27, 2009) – After their success in the last book, things are not as quiet as expected for Zoey and her friends as old suspicions and rivalries emerge. In the end, Zoey must make a choice and risk her own life to save the lives of those she cares for.

Burned is due to be released on April 27, 2010, and according to P.C. Cast’s blog, the book is not yet finished, covers have not been chosen, and the synopsis has not even been released! The pressure is on the mother and daughter team to get the book finished in time for marketing and general release!

Five Reasons to read the House of Night series

There are a couple of compelling reasons to read the House of Night series and some factors that set it apart from other series in this genre:

Magic: more than ever before in a vampire series, the characters in the House of Night series use elemental magic and there are strong references to goddesses, spirit, and inner power. If you were a fan of the 1996 film The Craft and the popular show Charmed, then you’ll probably like this a lot.
Magical schools: there is something about boarding schools for gifted and magical children and the House of Night is not unlike a Hogwarts for gifted, magical, American vampyre teens.
Ancient Cherokee traditions: Zoey’s grandmother is a Cherokee and as the books are set in Oklahoma, the book draws greatly on Cherokee legends and traditions. This gives a wonderful spiritual feel to the books.
Strong women: whether they are evil or heroic, the women in the House of Night series show incredible strength of character and will. They are not perfect and they certainly make mistakes but they are far greater role models than Bella Swan who loses her identity and tries her best to die when her vampire boyfriend walks out on her.
The Sons of Erebus: the drop-dead gorgeous vampyre warrior clan will get many a heart fluttering. They are the protectors of the vampyre race and are called upon to protect the House of Night. This is in addition to the vampyres themselves who are all said to have perfect bodies, hair, and grace.
The House of Night series is a lot of fun to read, with each book being action-packed and full of romance, betrayal, and adventure. Strong characters, magic, and mysticism combine to make these books appealing to both young adults and older readers as well.

Source: BlogCritics.org
By: Emm

She said other vampire tomes with a lot of check out activity include “The Vampire Diaries, by L.J. Smith; the “House of Night” series by P.C. and Kristin Cast.

Source: Columbus Telegram

Recommended titles

Local experts pick their favourites

Tempted

A new installment in the House of Night Series, this book is about the fiery vengeance that may be exacted on those closest to the main character, Zoey Redbird.

Source: The Expositor

P.C. Cast & Kristin cast – preferred

***This was originally in Dutch. I used a translator to translate it. Sorry that is is a bad translation.***

From the increasing number of Twilight fan clubs and the fast growing online communities, it is true that the vampire series has come to be a cult favourite. Anjana opines: “Supernatural fiction has caught on after the success of ‘Twilight’. There are so many books out there. There is this series called ‘House of Night’ which even looks like ‘Twilight’ with their cover design. So many authors are building on the success of the series and there are a few Mills and Boon books out along the same theme as well. Apart from books, the supernatural has spread like wildfire to become a pop cultural phenomenon. There were ‘Vampire Nights’ in Delhi and Bangalore as a party theme, organised by Hachette India.”

Read the entire article/ Source: The Hindu
By: Neeti Sarkar

Fab finds: A taste of ‘Twilight,’ vampire-inspired products

“Other notable series include: “The Vampire Diaries” by L.J. Smith; “House of Night” novels by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast; and “Cirque du Freak” by Darren Shan. “Twilight” and “True Blood: The Complete First Season” are now available on DVD. ”

View entire article/Source: Go Erie

BC-US–Best Sellers-Books-USAToday

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback

1. “Under the Dome” by Stephen King (Scribner) (F-H)

2. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books) (F-H)

3. “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P)

4. “Push” by Sapphire (Vintage) (F-P)

5. “Open: An Autobiography” by Andre Agassi (Knopf) (NF-H)

6. “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown (Doubleday) (F-H)

7. “Divine Soul Mind Body Healing and Transmission System” by Zhi Gang Sha (Atria) (NF-H)

8. “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P)

9. “Ford County: Stories” by John Grisham (Doubleday) (F-H)

10. “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-H)

11. “Tempted (House of Night Novels)” by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Press)(F-H)

Source: Town Hall

Haute horror

“These are dark days, indeed. You can’t round a corner without encountering a vampire.

They lurk on bookstore shelves in the House of Night series. They invade your home with TV’s The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. They loom large on the silver screen in The Vampire’s Assistant and the upcoming Daybreakers.”

View Entire article/ Source: The Star

Quad-City fans celebrate ‘New Moon’ release

“Vampires have been making a resurgence in literature and other forms of media in recent years. They have served as major characters in the popular young-adult novels “Blue Bloods,” “The House of Night” and “Vampire Academy.” The adult book series “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” inspired the popular HBO TV drama “True Blood.””

View Entire  article/ Source: Quad-City Times