How Have Things Changed?

A while back, fan Keith Johnson asked a deceptively simple question: “How has your writing changed from your first book to the last one?” As I’ve explained elsewhere, my first published novel, The Sword-Edged Blonde, was an idea I’d nursed from 1980 to its publication in 2007. My second novel, Blood Groove, as well as my most recent, Wisp of … Read More

Location, location, location

“Memphis is in a very lucky position on the map.” –Steve Cropper   Facebook friend and fan Paula Cassidy recently asked me, “What’s the most difficult thing about using Memphis as a setting for some of your books?” For those unfamiliar with them, I wrote two vampire novels set in 1975 Memphis, Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of … Read More

How Does Being a Southerner Affect My Writing?

Recently fan Laura Kannard asked me, “How has being from the South affected your writing?” I got a similar question during my recent appearance at Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ, so it’s been fresh on my mind. And it’s one of those questions for which there’s no easy answer. It’s clear that the South certainly has more than its … Read More

The apocryphal soundtracks to some of my books

It’s no secret that music is a big part of many of my novels, from inspiring the titles to influencing the plots to being part of the story itself. I’m not alone in this, I’m sure. Recently my friends at Facebook’s Heroic Fiction League, Nathan Long and John R. Fultz, posted “playlists” of YouTube videos, songs that either their heroes … Read More

Announcing Time of the Season

So this year I’m trying something new: through the good folks at Story Vault, I’m releasing a three-story ebook chapbook for the holidays. It includes: “Cold Wind,” a Tufa story that updates us on Bronwyn and Craig from The Hum and the Shiver. “A Ghost, and a Chance,” in which Sir Francis Colby from Blood Groove crosses paths with the … Read More

Ain’t No Cure: vampirism as disease

(October, the month of Halloween, conjures one name in our household: Dracula! This is the third of a series of posts on various aspects of Dracula and vampires in general. I’ll be giving away a two-pack of my own vampire novels Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of Blood to one lucky commenter per post, so comment early, comment often!) Richard Matheson, among … Read More

The best of Dracula

The Halloween season here means one thing, one name: Dracula. It’s time for my annual re-read of the novel, and to break out the Dracula DVDs. Because I love them all: Schreck, Lugosi, Lee, Langella, Jourdan, Palance, Kinski, Butler, even misfires like Oldman. So I thought it would be fun to pick my favorites specific aspects of Dracula cinema. For the … Read More

Exclusive new Memphis Vampires short story

As a thank-you to all the folks who enjoyed Blood Groove, and in anticipation of the release tomorrow of The Girls with Games of Blood, here’s the first part of a short story that takes place between the two books. You can read the whole thing on my website here. J’OUBLIE (c) 2010 Alex Bledsoe Memphis State University, late summer, … Read More

Gone (but not forgotten) in 60 Seconds

If one cinematic trend defines the 1970s, it’s not the summer blockbuster (Star Wars, Jaws), the “New Hollywood” grit (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver) or even grindhouse exploitation. It’s the car chase movie. And the undisputed king is H.B. Halicki’s 1974 film, Gone in 60 Seconds. To make an independent movie in the 70s was a sign of drive and willpower … Read More