CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! WINNERS POSTED SHORTLY.Happy Tuesday everyone! It's sun-shiney here and it's going to be a lovely Indian Summer day here in Michigan. How about where you are?
I'm in writing lockdown on multiple deadlines, and preparing to head to Italy (I know! I know!!) for a mini book tour two weeks from today, so this is going to be a short but sweet post with a juicy little giveaway today. How's that?
Most of you probably know I also write a female vampire hunter series as Colleen Gleason (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles), and a week from today the world of the Gardellas will be featured in a new anthology called Bespelling Jane Austen.
Included in the anthology are Mary Balogh, myself, Susan Krinard and our own Supernatural Underground's Janet Mullany. Each of us has taken a Jane Austen novel and bespelled it--ie, given it a paranormal twist.
How much fun is that? So of course, I'm going to share the wealth with our Supernatural Underground readers and give away a copy of this lovely trade paperback anthology and the first book in my Gardella Vampire Chronicles series to two lucky winners.
That's right. Two winners. Two books each. Didn't I tell you it was gonna be juicy?
All you have to do to enter is comment below and tell me what your favorite classic novel is, and whether you'd like to see it "tweaked" or redone with a paranormal or erotic or contemporary twist...or whether you like it just the way it is.
Please share on FB and Twitter, too...you don't get extra credit for it, but we appreciate our readers helping to spread the word!
I'll draw winners tomorrow in hopes of getting the books out before the actual release date.
And by the way...if you like classic novels redone with an erotic twist, you might want to check out Colette Gale's versions of The Phantom of the Opera, The Count of Monte Cristo, and the Robin Hood love triangle. *wink wink, nudge nudge*
58 comments:
I think the best classic that could be tweaked would be Jane Eyre. It has all the gothic elements already, just needs a little woo-woo (and a shortened red room chapter IMHO). It would be cool to have Mr. Rochester, who is mysterious already, as some sort of supernatural....something...
I love that story!
Of all the vampire series, the Gardella Vampire Chronicles is one of my favorites and is on my keeper shelf :)
Wow, you sound busy. I'm not a reader of the classics, so I really can't comment on classics. But a book that really influenced me was This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. He's one of my favorite authors, and he inspired me to write my first novel.
Have a great day!
My favorite classic is Jane Eyre. I can see how tweaking it would be fun, but it's super creepy as is.
I don't know if this is a classic but I've loved Emile Zola's, Ladies Paradise ever since I had to read it in University, many moons ago.
The book is essentially the story of the first department store and the decimation of Paris' merchant class as well as a tale about the rise of a "lowly" shop girl through her own ambition and hard work.
There's lots of hot French guys that would make excellent vampires and the female protagonist would make a kick-ass vampire honey or killer.
sghorney at gmail dot com (I never know whether I need to leave this or not :) )
My favorite classic (REALLY classic!) novel would be Dante's Inferno. It's one of the first fantasy/sci-fi novels in it's way. It couldn't really be any more paranormal, but Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle teamed up in 1976 and gave it a modern remake in their novel with the same name, which was pretty good.
Steven Gatlin
I would like to see iilaid given a twist.
I really like Jane Austen´s Pride and Prejudice. Why not make a sexy yampire or werewolf out of Mr. Darcy? :)
My favourite classic is Pride and Prejudice, and it's already been tweaked, which I enjoyed immensely. However, I would love to see them redo Moby Dick as well. Wouldn't that be fun?
What a great contest and the anthology sounds fun! I only read the classics that were assigned during school. I have read Jane Eyre and Weathering Heights on my own, but...OMG! Gone with the Wind. Scarlet would make a great vampire .
My favorite is Cather in the Rye. I'd like to see Holden as a vampire. He could do a lot of damage roaming around NYC.
sowickedlovely@live.com
One of my favorites is A TALE OF TWO CITIES, which could totally handle a supernatural makeover. Dickens is surprisingly flexible. :)
chelsea AT vampirebookclub.net
My favorite classic is Frankenstein and I would love to give it more steampunkery.
beatrixtroels@gmx.com
My favorite classic is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. A paranormal twist would probably make this book better!
aikychien at yahoo dot com
I like The Count of Monte Cristo and it would be fabulous to see it tweaked with a paranormal twist.
I like Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice I would love to see a werewolf in there somewhere.
My favorite classic would be Gone With The Wind. I don't know that it would be as good revamped.
seriousreader at live dot com
My favorite classic is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I love the book as is but if someone did "tweak" it I'm sure I would read just out of curiosity ;)
bubsgrl03@yahoo.com
Yay! I LOVE this giveaway and I'm so excited. Good luck to everyone.
One of my favorites is Romeo and Juliet and I would love to see an erotic version of that one to come out. Of course with Romeo and Juliet as adults. lol
romancebookjunkiesdanielle at yahoo dot com
I got two classics that I really like:
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë - this one could use some zombies or vampires in my opinion
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - perfect all by itself!!
I really don't have a favorite classics novel, I'm not usually a fan of them. However, I do enjoy Edgar Allen Poe, but does his work really need a paranormal twist?
Although, there is one classic that has popped into my head. What about The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne? Would that be too easy though?
Wow, in West Michigan it's windy-- really windy. Yikes! I'm not sure my classics are anyone elses, but I'd have to go with Anthem by Ayn Rand-- if you want me to go older I'd have to say anything by Poe.
Italy is going to be so wonderful. I just saw Letters to Juliet--awwwww...
@susied: Thanks so much! I'm delighted you've enjoyed the Gardellas. Do you know that I (as Colleen) have a new historical vampire series coming in April?
@Becky and Sharon: I love Jane Eyre too...I think Janet Mullany actually did an erotic version of it, with Mr. Rochester being in CHAINS...I think it's been published by a smaller ebook press.
GONE WITH THE WIND with Scarlett as a vampire would be just toooo cool. Love that idea; too bad the book's not in the public domain and can't be tweaked like that without permission.
@Vampire Book Club...Dickens would definitely lend itself to paranormal and also steampunk.
And I love the idea, @ruth, of a steampunk Frankenstein!! What a great thought.
@Barbara E: If you love the Count of Monte Cristo, you should check out Gale's book MASTER.
For those of you who mentioned PRIDE & PREJUDICE: the Susan Krinard story in BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN is about a vampire Darcy!! Hold on to your hats. :-)
@Ashley I loved EAST OF EDEN too...as well as THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
@Danielle If someone did ROMEO AND JULIET, I hope they'd make them smarter and less melodramatic in the end so there can be a happy ever after!
....now, back into lockdown. I'll check back later. Thanks for all the comments!
Jane Eyre is my favorite and I am excited that a contemporary version, Jane by April Lindner, is coming out in October.
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
I love Wuthering Heights!
I also like The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Littopandaxpress(At)yahoo(dot)com
I have to go with Jane Austen´s Pride and Prejudice. I am SUPER excited about BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN. I also love The Fountainhead and Of Mice and Men- not sure how those would work out if they were revamped. I would read them if there were though!
Don't count me in Colleen, for obvious reasons!
On the topic of revamping the classics, my mind was warped by an English teacher when I was an impressionable teenager (at an all-girls school in England, boy, were we awash with hormones). Anyway, she told us, quite seriously, that when couples took a walk in Austen's novels they were actually escaping to have sex. No kidding. So for years the scenes in Persuasion where a whole gang of characters go for a walk and change partners had me sort of hot and bothered.
Otherwise, revamped classics? It's tricky because not everyone has read them, and for me, half the fun is coding the original--translating something elegantly into a different context.
You're gonna love Colleen's novella in this anthology, btw!
p.s. my revamped version of Jane Eyre is Reader, I Married Him, from Loose-Id. Mr. Rochester is the one imprisoned in the attic.
Little Women would be my choice -- I guess Beth could come back as a Zombie or a Vampire -- could be interesting
contestmom AT hotmail DOT com
I posted this morning but just wanted to mention that I received an e-mail about a new young adult, contemporary version of Jane Eyre that is out. It is called Jane by April Lindner. It looks good!
A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorites. Might be a good choice for a steam punk rewrite.
My favorite classic is Dracula which has already been done a number of times.
My fave classic literary read is The Count of Monte Cristo! I would so read it if it was tweaked with a supernatural twist. Werewolves, maybe? Vampires might a little too easy or not. If it ever got done I would so read it!
jessbess2505[at]yahoo[dot]com
I love Sense And Sensability and if some supernatural moments were added that would be really cool!
forceofstars(at)yahoo(dot)dk
Actually, one of my favorite classics was Count of Monte Cristo, but it's been done with a paranormal/sci-fi twist already in an animated Japanese series, Gankutsuou. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the accompanying graphic novels!
lorena (dot) ruggero (at) gmail (dot) com
Little women. In fact in B&N the other day I saw they remade it with werewolves so I might just need to pick up a copy
terilhack(@)yahoo.com
Sounds like a very fun read! I would love to read what four different authors bring to the table! Although I am an Austen Addict, my favorite novel of all time is Jane Eyre and to be honest I have never read a variation of so I would be open to trying anything!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Meredith
Merry816@aol.com
My fave is Pride and Prejudice and of course I would love to see it tweaked alittle.
hewella1 at gmail dot com
How about the story of Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare? It's a classic oldie.
Twisting the tale & rewriting the ending, I'd love to see Romeo as some supernatural being - vampire, necromancer, demon, shaman - who can raise the dead, and turn what was a tragedy into a Happily Ever After story! :-)
Jane Eyre is my favorite and it already has been tweaked. As has my second fave, Little Women. :) I read Jane Slayer and enjoyed it. I haven't read the second one.
I can't wait for Bespelling Jane Austen! I love The Gardella Vampire Chronicles but want more Sebastian.;)
I'm looking forward to your new series though!
I would say, The Phantom of the Opera (with vampires of course.) I'll have to check out Colette Gale's version. And her Robin Hood love triangle, LoL.
Pride and Prejudice...and yeah baby tweak it with some paranormal love!!! lol
ismellsheep.blogspot.com
k28dalton@yahoo.com
Hmm...I would like to see Emma redone with a paranormal twist! That would be awesome.
I'm on the Jane Eyre front as my favorite classic--but I like it just the way it is.
I'm conflicted, because I know there are some really good tweaks out there, but mostly I have a hard time with change--I like the new ideas and concepts, but I prefer new stories and characters, so that I don't have to choose.
@Janet--I had an English teacher tell us the same thing about the characters taking a walk in The Scarlet Letter--I think our class almost mutinied trying to get our teacher to somehow prove his theory, because none of us were buying it.
on a separate matter--does anybody have a good explanation of steampunk? because I've tried looking at wiki and it just confused me.
@Joss I just wanted to say good luck with your deadlines!!!!
Frankenstien Would love for it to be a newer version Paranormal Romance.
sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com
Long Days Journey into Night - it's so depressing already, they may as well be zombies.
cories5[at]hotmail.com
Taming of the Shrew is my favorite classic. I love that play. I could definitely see maybe some witchcraft or vampire slayer angle. Gotta love the tough ladies.
My favorite "classic" is Pride and Prejudice. It has been tweaked over many times, I have not read any versions though.
I don't read many classics, but my favs were The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Honestly, although I like it when an author reimagines a classic in a modern setting, I'm not that wild about all of the current paranormal/classic mashups.
My fav is Jane Eyre. I think it would be interesting to have vampires in it!!
lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com
My favorite is Wuthering Heights and I love it just the way it is. There is already that ghost element with Kathy so, don't think it needs much else.
My favorite is Pride and Prejudice. I like it as it is, but I wouldn't mind a retelling with interesting twists. :D
fabgiada (at) gmail (dot) com
With all the tweaking and "mash-ups" that has been going on, it surprises me that no one seems to have thought about doing it to any Charles Dickens books /
I think the time period in which he writes would be perfect for zombies and vampires etc.
So how about David Copperfield and Demons.
Carol t
buddytho {at} gmail DOT com
@nymfaux Thanks for your comments! Steampunk is most often described as a Victorian England setting (although not always), but with technology like we have today...yet the technology runs on steam.
An excellent example of a steampunk movie is Disney's Treasure Planet, and also the Wild West movie that Will Smith was in.
A common example of steampunk is also The League of Extraordinary Gentleman--although I understand the movie is terrible; but the comic book is much better.
Hope that helps!
Jane Eyre...I think the "mysterious" Mr.Rochester would make a perfect bruting werewolf.
Thanks all for your comments! Contest is closed...winners to be posted momentarily.
Thanks Joss!!! That helps A LOT!!!!!
--I'll have to check out Treasure Planet, but I've seen the other two--And I did hear that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen wasn't very good--But I loved it anyway (I actually saw it twice in theaters!)--So far it's the only thing that's redeemed my feelings for Jules Verne....hmmm, I know the contest is over, but maybe he could do with some undersea vampires and werewolves...
Again, thanks so much for the explanation!!!!
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