Celluloid Diaries: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

Scariest Vampire Animals

scariest vampire animals

Head over to Writing My Own Fairytale where I did a guest post on the scariest vampire animals as part of the book blog tour for A Good Man.

The vampire animals I wrote about are:

Vampire animal #1 - Lampreys


Long monster-like fish with neither scales nor jaws latch onto a host with their hook-like teeth and gulp down its blood. Luckily, they spend almost seven years as harmless larvae, but once it reaches adulthood they terrorize their habitats and even attack humans when starved. They have caused the extinction of many other water creatures.

lamprey


Vampire animal #2 - Mosquitos


Mosquitos are behind more human deaths than any other animal because of the diseases they carry. Male mosquitos are pretty harmless because they eat a vegan, nectar-based diet, but female mosquitos need to drink blood to get their protein, thus carrying over diseases such as malaria.

mosquito


Vampire animal #3 - Bedbugs


Bedbugs hide in dark, secluded areas during the day - in mattresses, behind walls, under floors - and come out at night to drink blood. An outbreak spreads quickly, since females lay up to 500 eggs in a lifetime. Pesticides nearly wiped out American bedbugs in the 1940s, but they've recently come bouncing back. Kissing bugs are similar to bedbugs as they come out at night and feed upon humans. They are bigger and more aggressive than bedbugs. They also spread disease.

bed bug


Vampire animal #4 - Ticks


Because ticks can drink up to 600 times their body weight in blood, they are considered one of the scariest vampire animals on earth. They also spread illnesses like Lyme disease.

tick


Vampire animal #5 - Vampire bats


Of the roughly 1000 bat species, only three drink blood. They feed mainly on horses, cattle and other livestock, but they sometimes attack humans as well. One bite alone is enough to spread rabies.

vampire bat


Vampire animal #6 - Candirú


Let's finish with one of the scariest of all vampire animals: the candirú. These parasitic catfish live in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers and are known to enter the victim's private parts where they feed upon the blood and tissue. When this happens, it is very difficult to remove the candirú. They are the main reason why it is forbidden to swim naked in those area's.

candiru


***
vampire animals

Loved Dexter and American Psycho? Then you will love A Good Man.

Louis Caron is a good man – vegetarian, he feeds the homeless, takes care of animals and is concerned with the ecological future of the planet. But his altruism has a sinister edge – he's a vampire - and local detective Taglioni is becoming increasingly suspicious. Louis' attempt to escape the police will take him on a journey into his own private hell where he is not only forced to confront his worst fears, but also to destroy the lives of those he cares about most.

Purchase  

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Upcoming collaboration with Daph Nobody

Creepy Swamp
Here's an extract from an interview with Daph Nobody (A Broken Life, Blood Bar, L'Enfant nucléaire) about our upcoming collaboration:

"J’ai un projet d’écriture avec Vanessa Morgan, qui est romancière et scénariste. J’aime beaucoup son univers, et nous nous entendons très bien. Je travaille actuellement sur la traduction française de son premier roman, Drowned Sorrow; une de ses nouvelles a été récemment adaptée en court-métrage, The Strangers Outside. Nous nous complétons, elle plonge ses lecteurs dans le fantastique onirique, moi davantage dans un réalisme cru. Elle est plus douce, moi plus trash. Il y a entre nous une magie qui s’est opérée dès les premiers échanges. Ça fait déjà un certain temps que nous avons envie de développer un projet ensemble, et d’ici 2013 on devrait démarrer ça."

The rest of the interview can be found at Batifolire.


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Character Interview With Louis Caron

character interview with a vampire

To celebrate the release of the vampire thriller, A GOOD MAN, we asked the main character, Louis Caron, to stop by today. Louis Caron is a good man - he's a vegetarian, feeds the homeless, takes care of animals, and is concerned with the ecological future of the planet. But his altruism has a sinister edge - he's a vampire! If you've already read A GOOD MAN, this interview should be amusing and insightful. If you haven't read it, hopefully, the character interview will pique your interest.

What do you think it takes to become a good man?

Louis Caron: Let me quote Jonathan Safran Foer to answer your question: "Cruelty depends on an understanding of cruelty, and the ability to choose against it. Or to choose to ignore it." It's impossible to be a good man 100% of the time. Imagine you are in a relationship that is not working out for you anymore and you are very unhappy because of it. If you leave the woman who is still madly in love with you, the woman's friends and family will probably tell you how cruel you are, even if you are a good person in all other areas of your life. But is there a better option? In my opinion, a good man is someone who chooses to be good whenever he can, but it doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing your own health and happiness.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Short Movies Underground Festival SMUF - Book Signing in Saint-Saulve (France)

SMUF Short Movies Underground Festival

The Short Movies Underground Festival (SMUF) in Saint-Saulve, France, is right around the corner and for those attending, I will be signing limited copies of A Good Man and Drowned Sorrow on Saturday, June 23rd. I will be joined by the director of A Good Man, Steven De Roover. Swing by and say hello!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Interview on Suko's Notebook

melissa george

Below is an interview I did for Suko's Notebook about my latest release A Good Man and its movie adaptation.
 
Suko's Notebook: In December of 2010, I first interviewed Vanessa Morgan, after having read her unnerving novella, Drowned Sorrow. I'm thrilled to present another interview with this writer in which we discuss her latest project A Good Man currently in preproduction with Radowski Films. It's about Louis Caron, a vegetarian who cares about homeless people, animals and the future of our planet. If Louis seems too good to be true, then trust your instincts, because he has a sinister side as well - in fact, he's a vampire. The story, the screenplay, the film - it all sounds very exciting to me!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

A Good Man Number 1 on Amazon

Amazon Bestseller
Un homme bien (also available in English as A Good Man) is now number 1 on Amazon France in the 'SF, Fantasy &Terreur' category. It also has Top 30 positions in the categories 'cinéma' and 'scénario'.

The English translation, A Good Man, is equally doing well on Amazon US - with a Top 25 position in the 'Arts and Entertainment' category.

About A Good Man:

Loved Dexter and American Psycho? Then you'll love A Good Man.

Louis Caron is a good man - vegetarian, he feeds the homeless, takes care of animals and is concerned with the ecological future of the planet. But his altruism has a sinister edge - he's a vampire - and local detective Taglioni is becoming increasingly suspicious. Louis' attempts to escape the police take him on a journey into his own private hell where he is not only forced to confront his worst fears, but also to destroy the lives of those he cares about most.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Bloody Week-End - Book Signing in Audincourt (France)

Bloody Week-End convention in Audincourt, France

What are you doing on Sunday, July 8th? I'll be signing copies of Drowned Sorrow and A Good Man / Un homme bien at the Bloody Week-End convention in Audincourt, France, that day. Bloody Week-End is aimed at an audience interested in horror and offers a mix between feature films, shorts, literature and art. Even if you don't like horror, you have a lot of other reasons to come by - as Audincourt is situated near the Swiss border, there are many hiking and dining opportunities with an amazing view on the Alps. I hope you can make it!