BLOOD OATH by Christopher Farnsworth

From Amazon:

Zach Barrows is a cocky, ambitious White House employee until he's abruptly transferred out and partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the president. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound 140 years ago by a special blood oath, Nathanial Cade is a vampire. On the orders of the president he defends the nation against enemies far stranger-and even more dangerous-than civilians like Zach could ever imagine.

Impure by J.R. Bailey

From Amazon:

Koristad Altessor, son of Arach the Black Guardian, is a young, driven necromancer who wants nothing more than to take vengeance upon the villainous vampire who caused the death of his family. But it is not long before the child of darkness is recruited by an order of righteous warriors who are dedicated to protecting the innocent from wicked magic users and unspeakable monsters. Koristad and the lightwielders are about to begin an unforgettable journey to the truth. Koristad sets out to carve a path through the darkness of his bleak world. Ac-companied by Peril, a naïve and innocent lightwielder, Koristad rises to face the challenges that lie ahead-including a erce battle with a barbarian intent on seeking his own revenge. Unable to call upon his magic powers out of fear of being pulled back into the world of the dead, Koristad must rely on his own strength as he realizes there will never again be one like him. After the necromancer and lightwielder are tasked with protecting an ancient artifact, a long extinct bloodline of mages reemerges. Suddenly, Koristad and Peril are fighting for more than they ever imagined, including their own survival.

Amazon.com 

In the supernatural world what is shapeshifting?

Lon Chaney Jr. as Wolfman

Shapeshifting is the ability of something--like a human being--to change its shape into another form or being--like a werewolf. The process can be initiated through an outside force, an act of will, or through involuntary means. In my book, Nymphomania Bloodlust, to be published soon, Arnie Barber, a midwesterner from Chicago, is attacked by a werewolf in the Superstition Mountains and later experiences the involuntary transformation.

The change-over to a werewolf is slow and very painful for the human being whose body is converting into an animal. The skin is stretched to accommodate a larger size, the fingernails shift to claws, as well as the toenails. The feet grow to a hideous size as do the hands and the face contorts into a muzzle with a snout. Of course, if the individual is wearing clothes when the shapeshifting begins, by the time it is complete they are literally ripped to shreds.

Shapeshifting has even been used by Hollywood in movies as a plot device. As an example, the Beast's transformation at the end of the movie "Beauty and the Beast. But nothing equals that of the werewolf which most of us can remember as Lon Chaney, Jr. regularly changed into "The Wolfman" in the movie of the same name. 

Hybrid vampires have more fun

In my novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, due to be published any day now, I wanted to make my two antiheros the kind of vampire and werewolf that would be capable of dealing with any person or situation. To do this I researched the paranormal and came up with a kind of archfiend that would defy any obstacle that stood in its way. It's called a hybrid, which means simply that it is the super power of the supernatural.

Both my vampire, Amy Rogers, and my werewolf, Arnold Barber, were given super strength, super speed and super healing. The vampire, alone, received mind compulsion, immortality, pyrokinetic powers and daytime walking. I couldn't stand the thought of putting my gorgeous vampire, Amy, in a coffin to spend the night alone. I did make sure not to take advantage of these powers to allow the two beasts to do anything they wanted to.

Hybrids are a supernatural crossbreed between two different species, showing up in the TV series "Vampire Diaries" as a cross between a vampire and a werewolf. In Nymphomania Bloodlust they are simply a cross between two human beings and an unknown force from another world. In each case their hosts were a spectral presence emanating from  mysterious portals in the Superstition Mountains. My book will bring it all to life for you.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore

From Amazon:

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her.

Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that's where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy's life -- and afterlife -- in ways he never thought possible.

The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands

From Amazon.com:

Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black's been catching her z's in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there's more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can't very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she'd meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman—dead or alive.

Rich, powerful, and drop—dead gorgeous, Victor's the perfect man for a novice neck—biter like Elvi. He's willing to teach her everything he knows, but he'll have to do it fast. Someone's out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe—and satisfied—for all eternity.

Watch this blog and Amazon.com for my new vampire novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, by Jack E. Dunning

Quinn's Undying Rose by Tina Folsom

From Amzon.com:

Vampire bodyguard Quinn has lived the last 200 years as a playboy trying in vain to forget the only woman he has ever loved: his human wife Rose, who he believes to be dead.
But Rose is very much alive. Now a vampire herself, she has lived in hiding from Quinn all of these years, having faked her death to hide from him a terrible secret--one she knows would drive him to kill her.

When a powerful and evil vampire threatens to destroy Rose's--and Quinn's-- only living descendent, she has no choice but to come out of hiding and ask for Quinn's help. As Quinn struggles with the shock of Rose's reappearance, and they reunite to battle a common foe, they rekindle the flames of their past. But will the passion that reignites between them be enough to overcome the secret that separates them?

Watch this blog and Amazon.com for my new vampire novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, by Jack E. Dunning

The mysteries of the Sedona vortexes

Sedona vortex sites

Sedona, Arizona is just a short drive from Cave Creek, where we live. My wife and I have made the trip several times during our 23 years in the valley of the sun, and have returned home each time feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated. On each occasion we visited at least one of the Sedona vortexes, those cryptic portals that provide mystical energy and send one away wondering what just happened. What happened is often a matter of interpretation

First discovered in the 1950s by Paul Bryant, these phenomena appeal mostly to the New Age believers, but there are many lay folks like my wife and I who think they do have spiritual powers. Not in the sense of religion's spiritual, but the "within us" kind of ethereal feeling. But the non-believers are also attracted to Sedona for the beautiful red rock formations that surround this quaint town. On your first visit you will stand in awe at what surrounds you.

The site, "Sacred Destinations" says all this vortex power or energy is "...located where hypothetical alignments called "ley lines" intersect with one another." Alfred Watkins, an amateur archaeologist and antiquarian "...noticed that straight lines could be drawn between ancient sacred sites like Stonehenge and Avebury and hypothesized that these lines were ancient trade routes." The New Age movement adopted ley lines into their philosophy defining them as "...magnetically-charged sources of cosmic energy."

You'll have to see for yourself and if you do, here's a vortex map to follow.

Reading that Vampires do exist

"Vampires: The Occult Truth," by Konstantinos,  claims proof that creatures of the night do exist. Amazon.com says "The author reveals the occult truths about these creatures, including actual first-person encounters with vampires of all types—the ancient undead of folklore, contemporary mortal blood drinkers, and the most dangerous creatures of all: psychic vampires who intentionally drain the life force from their victims."

Sounds like reading "about" vampires is almost as eerie as reading a vampire novel. Did you know there are four types of vampires? You'll read about vampire legends from around the world, discovering their history as you go. Konstantinos also exposes the threat of 20th century vampires which feed on psychic energy.  And there are blood drinkers out there today, covered in my earlier post on Sanguinarians. You can also learn how to protect yourself from Vampires...that is, if you really want to. Read it.

What is a paranormal portal

"Light in the Dark Paranormal" reports that "The paranormal community has adopted it {portal} to mean an entrance or exit to a world inhabited by supernatural beings." That's a lot scarier than its normal definition of a large door or gate to a building. The internet picked up on the word defining it as the "...point of entry to the World Wide Web." In my new novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, I use portals to create supernatural creatures.

These portals are in the Superstition Mountains just SE of Phoenix, Arizona, where there is already considerable mystery existing surrounding those who enter the mountains to search for the Lost Dutchman's Mine but never come out. In my book, a sinister being uses two portals to create a vampire and a werewolf to kill off targeted Arizona politicians. And one of the main characters in the book uses a portal to solve the mystery.

Physicist Lisa Randall theorizes that portals to other dimensions really exist, and she is trying to find them using the world’s largest particle accelerator in Switzerland. But I'm not sure just how mysterious a portal would remain if we were able to explain it scientifically. Then, Randall might just come up with theories that are even more strange than what we have today. In Smithsonian Magazine "She thinks an extra dimension may exist close to our familiar reality, hidden except for a bizarre sapping of the strength of gravity as we see it."

LITDP says "...many are convinced that Stonehenge in Britain is really a portal to both the past and future, as further encouraged by the recent archaeological discovery of more of the structure buried underneath the visible surface." In some cases old wells abandoned are thought to be portals into the unknown. Sedona, Arizona, has four major portals that thousands of tourists visit annually. It is even believed that your house could have a portal. More on all of this later.

Tired of rejection? Agents ignoring you...Publishers out of reach?

I was tired of rejection and sick of literary agents who never reply or publishers who take forever to give you a simple answer "We're not interested." During all this time I thought anyone who self-published their book was something of a loser who was just desperate and spent a ton of money on a vanity press. Then I found Amazon's CreateSpace,but on the outset it looked just too good to be true. Well it wasn't and I just received the final proof of my novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, and it looks beautiful.

I did spend $99, my choice to buy my own ISBN. Otherwise, zilch, nada, didn't cost me a nickel. And the final product is as classy as anything I have ever seen in the book store. I did it all with technical help from my wife, because she is better at the basics than I. But any computer 101 person could master the CreateSpace process and if you get in trouble you just go to their "Contact Support" for answers. That is also free. There is paid tutoring but I was never in a position to need that.

I had and still do have complete control over everything and CS even handles distribution to book stores, book distributors and other methods along with featuring your book on Amazon.com as well as Kindle. Sound like it's too good to be true? Well it is but for the first time this rrangement refutes the old axiom of "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is." And I already have a lineup for book promotion that I am sure will make my book sell, which I'll discuss later.

If you are struggling take a look at CreateSpace. You won't be sorry.

The Vampire Tapestry, a novel by Suzy McKee Charnas

Stephen King said “scary and suspenseful” and “unputdownable,” and Peter Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, “The best vampire novel I have ever read.” That, alone is good enough for me but there is more mixed with anthropology and a sleep research lab. Edward Weyland has been involved in years of vampire investigation, not for the supernatural aspect, but for the biological side of this paranormal anomaly. But he  makes a near-fatal error, is imprisoned by a power-mad Satanist, and has to take great steps to insure his endurance. Read it.

Have you experienced a spirit portal?

Vortex

When first moving to Arizona over twenty years ago, I was immediately fascinated by the mysterious tales of the Superstition Mountains and Jacob “Dutchie” Walzer’s Lost Dutchman Mine. The Superstitions, just outside Phoenix, Arizona, have been used as the setting for many suspense narratives, documenting those who have gone in to the mountains but have never come out. And they are known for their mysterious vortexes, or spirit portals found there.

"A vortex is a mass of energy that moves in a rotary or whirling motion, causing a depression or vacuum at the center.... These powerful eddies of pure Earth power manifest as spiral-like coagulations of energy that are either electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic qualities of life force," according to Page Bryant.

Supernatural Magazine says "Some psychics believe that on average most homes contain at least one of these portals." I did a quick check in my house without success but haven't given up yet. Here are more specs you might use to locate one in your surroundings:

According to SM, "In technical terms a spirit portal is a region of space that has a 4 dimensional vibratory frequency, where this region of 3 dimensional physical plane and the 4 dimensional etheric plane merge into each other through the aid of an energy vortex. In simple terms a spirit portal is a doorway in the physical world that allows free access to and from the spirit world."

You are dealing with mass energy in high concentrations creating a spiral vortex which can be both positive and negative in nature. Sedona, Arizona, has four known portals that are visited by thousands of tourists each year. We have been there and I can confirm that you definitely feel the energy surrounding you. The strongest in Sedona is the Airport vortex.

I plan to have more later on locating the portal where you live.

Are you a Sanguinarian?

If you are a Sanguinarian you won't want to miss my new novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, that will be published this month and available on Amazon.com, including Kindle. According to By Light Unseen, "Sanguinarians describe themselves as human beings with a compulsion, or need, to consume blood for reasons other than erotic or emotional satisfaction." In other words, it's a physical thing and they also react negatively to it being spiritual.

Sanguinarians can be so addictive as to view themselves in an alter-ego, unable to keep anti-social impulses in check, and actually have to work hard to prevent believing themselves to be the "Beast." These people "...are not merely blood fetishists, because they do report this physical need to drink blood."

There are a few sites available for Sanguinarians--I was surprised by the limited amount of 7,320--but most of them I viewed appear to be sincere in their approach. These folks feel they have been given a backseat by the "explosive" growth of Psivamp (or Psychic vampires), and Otherkin (or people who identify as partially or entirely non-human). But those are another story for later.

BLOOD BLADE by Marcus Pelegrimas

Cole Warnecki is a video game designer who rushes off to British Columbia and finds himself chasing after supernatural monsters. This is a world most aren't familiar with but are fascinated over that Marcus Pelegrimas, Blood Blade's author, escorts you through in the freaky paranormal debut of his book. Warnecki survives an encounter with a nasty werewolf by the name of Full Blood, then takes a new job with the Midwestern Ectological Group that zips him off to Chicago to do battle with insane vampire Misonyk, who infects people with vampiric spores and encourages them to drain victims dry. Lots of gore and wisecracks for the comical side. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Exploring the supernatural

Vampires and werewolves are in a world of their own, the world of the supernatural and, admit it or not, many of you are "bewitched" by the unknown. Now there are some who might fear the thought of the unexplored, but still are attracted, at least somewhat, to its exotic side. In other words, given the chance, most of us could get wrapped up in a good paranormal book about the demons of the other world that can be fascinating with their excursions into uncharted ways.

The vampire, which is the archetype of the supernatural, evolved into its own out of the industrial revolution when the population in Europe was redefining itself. In most cases the vampire is cast as villainous, according to By Light Unseen, but in some cases it can be the antihero, as I have done in my new novel, Nymphomania Bloodlust, to be published this month. Please look for it on Amazon.com and ask for it in your bookstores.

My antihero is Amy Rogers, an Arizona housewife, through whom you experience the transformation of a beautiful, sexy young woman into the monster that creates havoc throughout the metro Phoenix, Arizona area. She must, for her master, eliminate targeted Arizona politicians and some of the ways she employs are diabolical but sometimes comical. She's joined by a snowbird from Chicago who becomes her werewolf partner in the political carnage.

Next, I am going to review one of those not well know authors of vampire lore, but one who deserves promoting.

Happy New Year 2016 from The Dunning Letter!