Cool Things Roundup (Dracula, contest winners, your opinion on Russian names)

Posted on May 26, 2013

First of all, I must apologize for being behind in posting the contest winners; my trip to Argentina was jam-packed with excitement, adventure and very good coffee — until I came down with some sort of Hell Virus, which is only now releasing its taloned claws. But I can now breathe (most of the time) and so announce that the winners of ARCLIGHT and FATEFUL are Jime and Kathy! Congrats to you both. Now, for some assorted fun stuff —

 

I have a sneaking suspicion some of you love vampires as much as I do. (Don’t ask me how I figured that out all by myself — I’m uncanny like that.) Anyway, are you guys looking forward to NBC’s “Dracula” as much as I am?

(Embedding video didn’t work! Here’s a link to the trailer — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1jVcmDH43Y)

I think what I love best (besides the yumminess of Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the fact that it’s a period piece, and yet not slavishly following the Bram Stoker text. For quite a while now, any Dracula story has either been an adaptation of the novel or something so dramatically different that it bears no relationship at all — really, just a vampire story with the Dracula name. But this version has Jonathan Harker, and Mina, and is set in the right time period. We’ll have to see how it pans out, but I think this looks amazingly good.)

 

Finally, I’m working on the first book in the FIREBIRD trilogy now, and I’m not at all sure about one character’s last name. He’s of Russian descent, and he’s super, super, hot. (This is important for you to know.) (You might also want to know if this hot guy is good or evil. Let’s just say the MC, Marguerite, would like to know that herself.) If you were going to pick a last name for a very hot guy, would you pick Markov, Zefirov or Malakhov?

18 Responses to “Cool Things Roundup (Dracula, contest winners, your opinion on Russian names)”

  1. furies

    i want to go back and vote for tolstoy. 😉 or dostoyevesky. totally hot.

    • claudia

      Tolstoy could be hot, I think — but Dostoyevsky? I don’t know. At any rate, I don’t think I want to set myself up to type Dostoyevsky over and over for a whole book! 😀

  2. Muna

    I’ll fourth the Malakhov running. Sorry you Zefirov and Markov lovers.

    The ‘mal’ part tosses in the ‘bad’ from Latin ‘malus’, but if he’s our good guy, maybe he’s just a confusing good (at least to Marguerite, y’know. Then there’s ‘Malak’ which looks and sounds very similar to another word: ‘malaak’, which means ‘angel’ in Arabic. Angels are associated with good, but then there’s Lucifer–THE ex-angel–and his fallen angel pals. Again it could go either way with good or bad. 🙂

    Anyways, good luck with the naming, Claudia! (Also, I loved your vlog on finishing writing projects. Will there be future vlogs we can expect?)

    • claudia

      Oooh, very compelling arguments in favor of Malakhov! I like your reasoning. 😀

      There will be future blogs! I’m trying to learn some video editing so the next ones will be a little more visually interesting.

  3. Muna

    **Side note: Yes. I’m totally excited for Dracula. It was an unexpected surprise. Last summer (around June), my little sister and I marathoned the first 3 seasons of the Tudors–we’re still hunting down the fourth and final one (*cries*). I don’t want the series to end, but there’s “Man of Steel”–out next next Friday!–starring the very *ahem*sexy*ahem* Henry Cavill and then there’s City of Bones this summer and Dracula this fall with Meyers.

    • claudia

      … you’ve seen “Velvet Goldmine” right? You GOTTA see “Velvet Goldmine.”

      (Though I’m not sure how old your little sister is. Depending, she might not need to see “Velvet Goldmine.”)