You know how they say it's bad to live through your kids? But, but, what if they're fascinating the hell out of you? My kids are, at ages 19 and 17, finally getting into comics and baby, I am riveted! The boy is currently following old-school Batman--yeah, back when he was tougher than your average superhero and a helluva lot easier to identify with. The girl is into X-Men. Wolverine's her fave, but she's cool that my nod goes to Gambit. And I have finally discovered there's a special sort of satisfaction in watching your kids get jazzed over the same stuff that had you nosing through the book rack at the newsstand over thirty years ago.

So how about you? Any love for comics lingering in your heart of hearts? Is manga more your thanga? And what characters still draw your awe after all these years?

As you may have noticed by now, music influences the way I think and often shows up in my writing. So maybe it's no surprise that I began to think Vayl needs a theme song. Here's my idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_EFdod4YDo

I'd love to hear yours!

I've thought of the best title. Ever!

Is this how stories are born? With a title? I can't remember now how the Jaz Parks series was created, chronologically speaking. After I made the decision to write a story about vampires, it all sort of exploded. And the title was part of that ka-boom. My title, I mean, not the one you're used to.

I called it Club Undead, because I thought it described the plot pretty well, and it was literally the name of Aidyn Strait's hangout. Unfortunately, Charlaine Harris had a title out at the same time that sounded a lot like mine, and you know the rest of the story.

However, this title is so perfect that it has definitely come before everything else. In fact, it may inform the entire plot and most of the characters. How cool would that be? I'd tell you what it is, but that would spoil the surprise! And I know how much you guys love surprises, right?

Just to ease the anticipation somewhat, I can offer you other juicy news. I have a couple of new interviews in the works for the near future, one of which will be streaming live from an Illinois radio station over the Internet. More details to follow!

In the meantime, I'd love to hear about any fun surprises you've experience in your lives!

Naw, I guess it doesn't sound like something you'd build a celebration around. But there's gotta be more to organizing a book than Roman Numerals and banging your head against the wall every time you come up against another plot stopper.

So I was thinking maybe we could dress it up. Make it more fun. Because that's how the first step in creating something new should feel. Full of excitement and anticipation.

So help me out, yeah? While plotting the eighth book in the Jaz Parks series should I:

a) dress up like a private eye and dictate the whole bit into a retro tape recorder the size of my toaster.

b) do all my work while hanging upside down from my closet pole like a bat in gossip mode.

c) hire a private secretary who looks a lot like Jaz's Martha to type up my ideas and growl at me when I get extra whiny.

d) other (Details, please!)

Well, yeah. I'm trucking off to the city of my birth this Saturday to sign piles o' books and reconnect with my roots. And they go pretty deep there. After all, my great-grandpa built the house that his daughter, (who inspired Granny May) lived in on Linwood Avenue nearly all her life. And, on the other side of Mom's family tree, my grandpa Ryan survived the depression on those city streets and, more often, in its pool halls, winning money from guys who had no business betting against a slickster like him.

I can almost hear you saying, "But, still...Evansville? Indiana? What the hell is in Evansville, Indiana?"

Can you say . . . Casino Aztar?

Thought so. Or how about, Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden?

Or my personal favorite, Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, where my grandma used to take me for picnics and lovely hikes in the middle of a bustling city.

And, as of this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CST--me. Got some free time and gas money? Come on over. We'll talk monsters, baby!

Event: Jennifer Rardin Book Signing (Bite marks in your copy of Bite Marks optional)
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Barnes and Noble Store 2692
Street: 624 South Green River Road
City: Evansville, IN 47715
Phone: 812-475-1054

I’ve tried to introduce the rules to Jaz & Vayl’s world to you bit by bit as the series progresses, partly because it’s boring to sit through a lecture, even if the subject happens to be vampires. And partly because I wanted the world to grow for you, as if you’d just entered into it through one of the fire-framed plane portals, and the learning process was as much a part of your experience as if you were a new member of Jaz’s crew.

What I hope you’ve noticed is that Jaz’s powers have grown each time Vayl has taken her blood. And that his have as well, but in different ways. I’ll be focusing on this issue more in books seven and eight.
What I wonder right now, is how you think vampires and their victims/donors should view the process of blood-sharing. Is it feeding time? Is it a sexual liaison? Is it pure predation or the most basic kind of gifting? What do you prefer to read when it comes to the most traditional of vampire habits?

The only way the official release of a Jaz Parks adventure could be more fun would be if Bite Marks literally ripped out of a trade paperback sized coffin, did a back flip, and shot an arrow out of the cover into an evil vampire. Since that may not actually happen today, I'm settling for my tried-and-true happy dance. Hey, at least I can count on flying shoes! (Which reminds me, am I the only one who's ever accidentally broken something with a high-flung sandal? Because, really, this stuff can't just be happening to me . . . )

I was thinking about our psychic the other day, because she's kinda hard for me to wrap my mind around. Partly it's the age issue, and partly it's the touchy-visiony deal she's got going, both of which are tough for me to relate to. But I love her, so I try.

And what I get to and click with, almost instantly, is that she's a survivor just like Jaz. She's just found a different path for herself. And no wonder. A former African priestess who's dealt with demons (see Biting the Bullet) and lived to tell the tale, this is the only woman I know who can wear enough jewelry to sink her to the bottom of the ocean if she falls overboard and still look classy. Same with her outfits. Outrageous, most of them, and yet--on her they resemble the next great line coming out of Paris. Because she's got that inner poise and beauty that lights everything around her with a soft, you-can-chill-now glow.

When you read about Cassandra's "look," which celebrity do you most think our class act dresses like?

a) Elton John
b) Beyonce
c)Gwen Stefani
d) Busta Rhymes
e) Other (please explain)

I'm beginning to get the first messages from people who've been told their book has been shipped. It's early yet, but then some retailers like to move their products as soon as they hit the warehouse. I have a feeling Bite Marks falls into that category.

Which means you'll soon have Jaz and Vayl's latest adventure in-hand. And that led to my latest curiousity. What do you do when you get a book you've been waiting months to read? Big production? Tub fulla bubbles and candles throughout the room? Ship the family off to the movies so you can have a night alone? Can't wait to hear!

I watched a movie last night called The Breed, in which vampirism was depicted as an infection. As far as I could tell, (and I wasn't watching all that close because I was also writing at the time) you didn't even have to drink the blood. Get it in a cut, or maybe even in your pores, and you're done for.

I understand that the quick-turn is helpful for movie makers. Lotsa drama within a short period of time. But as an audience member, or a reader, how do you prefer for that particular detail to play out? Is it more realistic for you if the turn is spread out over days or even months? Are you cool with the "disease" angle? Where do you stand?