Have you ever read something by H.P. Lovecraft?

Lovecraft was an urban explorer himself. He liked exploring old houses especially. In his books I've read descriptions of the old places which bring poetry to them I envy (as a writer and explorer myself). Anyone who has explored an old house, especially those who have explored many of them and still love finding yet another, will treasure reading Lovecraft's short stories.

I knew about his books for a very long time but thought they were too gruesome and frightening for me. I think that would have been true while I was still a young woman of high school age. But, now that I am nearing 50 and a seasoned explorer... they seem more like stories I've heard before. This is no fault of H.P. Lovecraft.

His stories were horrifying, terrifying and gruesome enough at the time he wrote them. But, like an old house, we have become weathered to horror, especially when it's in fiction. Lovecraft read horror, modern people see it in movies, which is far different than reading it in print.

I read this book in high school, a long time ago. The story has stuck with me. It's science fiction but it could be horror. Not because it's gruesome, creepy or morbid. Just because the idea of seeing yourself so clearly and so much better than you had been before - only to then be returned to what you had been... that seems horrifying to me.

The book came first. There are at least two movies created from the story in the original book. I've seen the older movie and I've read the book. The book had more impact and meaning to the telling of the story. It was less like seeing the story through someone else's vision rather than your own.

Algernon is the mouse in a lab experiment. Charlie is the man picked to take part in the same experimental brain surgery. It all seems to work so well at first.

Algernon is exceptional, the experiment seems to work with greatly positive results! So they pick Charlie because he has never been exceptional, intellectually, and this is what the experiment is all about. Can they improve the intelligence and thus the whole life of someone who started out the level of below average? Can they turn Charlie into a genius?

At first Charlie is still being beaten by Algernon, the mouse. Charlie doesn't like that, of course. He has always known he was not as smart as some people but he looks up to people and thinks well of everyone. He believes the people he works with are his friends. One of the saddest parts of the book is Charlie's realization that they were making fun of him, even treating him badly but he never understood enough to know.

Charlie improves, understands more, sees more and begins to want more for himself too. It's not long at all before he is beyond any intelligence level in Algernon, the mouse. Charlie even surpasses the scientists who created and performed the experiment. Charlie falls in love, makes plans for the future... but one day Algernon dies.

Algernon had started losing his super intelligence, gradually. Charlie, knowing he had the same surgery, expects his results will backslide and now, knowing and understanding so much more he knows he is going back to who he was before. the difference being that now he sees a very different picture of who he was before and how he was treated by other people.

If knowledge is power, is ignorance bliss?

How would it feel to have come far, learned so much, changed your life and yourself and then have it all taken back until you are reduced to so much less than you had been even for a short time? I can't imagine living each day as someone who understands the jokes people made about him when he was less intelligent and knowing you would soon be back to that life again.

Of course, there is a movie too. Read the book first.

I began reading the Immortality Bites series when the first paranormal romance came out in paperback at my local book store. The last three books in the Immortality Bites series have evolved from paranormal romance to the mystery genre. An interesting switch in genre while staying true to the original characters and style of the books.

Michelle Rowen is a Canadian writer, from the Toronto area. This year Michelle celebrated a ten year anniversary for heroine, the main character, Sarah Dearly. Ten years from the original idea, books published in two genres to now. Quite an accomplishment.

Finding Michelle Rowen Online

Michelle Rowen Twitter Facebook

A Quick Interview with Michelle Rowen

I was disappointed to read that you have put the Immortality Bites mystery series on the back burner. Do you have plans to keep Sarah Dearly going, maybe in another genre?

I'm very happy to hear you've enjoyed the series! I would say, more than "putting it on the back burner," that after writing about Sarah for a decade, over seven books in which she "starred," we've both come to a comfortable stopping place. I absolutely adore the paranormal mystery genre, so the future will probably include more books about a brand new main character, or perhaps I'll get the urge to revisit Sarah and Thierry one day and see where their adventures have taken them.

What was the hardest or most interesting thing about writing in the mystery genre?

I started writing in what could only be properly described as "paranormal chick-lit" when it was a hot genre back in 2006. Before too long, most paranormal readers began looking for grittier and sexier books, rather than quirky and funny. What I love about paranormal mysteries is that the "fun" stuff that I love can rise to the surface again. Mystery readers (specifically in cozy paranormals) are totally okay with talking animals, wacky spells, and sarcastic heroines -- which is what I love to write the most.

Why did you choose to write a mystery rather than science fiction, fantasy or the horror genre?

For many of the reasons stated in the last question... there's more room to explore the fun side of things that isn't entirely welcomed in other genres. Also, I will admit that Sarah is the one character I've written that stubbornly directed me in what she wanted -- probably since she's existed in my head for so long, she feels she can take such liberties. And after she got the vampire of her dreams (who, FYI, was not the guy she was originally supposed to end up with at the end of Bitten & Smitten!), she implicitly stated that now she was ready to solve some mysteries. There were always mystery and suspense elements in the original series, so it felt like a very natural evolution.

I really enjoy your writing style. What was your writing background before you became a published writer?

Thank you! It took me a while to find my voice. I spent my "wannabe a writer" years trying to write historical romances and literary fiction, to no great success or personal passion. I'd say that my love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a huge influence on me -- and I know it was a huge influence on many other paranormal authors. Around the same time, I discovered first person urban fantasies, in particular the earlier Anita Blake books, that helped me develop my own writing. I even wrote some fan fiction to practice, which will never, ever, ever see the light of day. grin They say write what you love to read, so that's what I tried (and still try!) to do.

What do you especially like to read yourself?

I'd love to say I read widely, but that is a goal I constantly fail at. Currently I seem to read a great deal of YA paranormal and fantasy books, almost always in first person, and...judging from my TBR shelf... not much else! I used to be a big Stephen King fan and would love to get back to his writing. And I am a major Karen Marie Moning fan who is counting down the days until the next Fever book.

What do you see as the future of paranormal novels? It seems to be a genre that's slowing down a bit.

I think, like with every "hot" genre, there is a life span to it. Paranormal has been super hot for, I'd say, twelve years now, which is quite a long time in publishing. A few years ago, I visited a bookstore to see that the shelves, particularly in the romance department, were full to overflowing with paranormals, as publishers scrambled to put out what readers were buying. Nothing can be sustained at those numbers for long, and readers' tastes change. As businesses that need to see a profit to survive, publishers will try to meet these changing interests. Luckily, now there is the option of self publishing and authors who love to write PNR can take the fates of their vampires, werewolves, or fae princes, into their own hands -- and straight to the reading public who can't find it as plentifully on the selves anymore. It's a great time to be a writer!

Reading Immortality Bites

The name Sarah means "princess" and I was expecting the character would be another of those vampire princess types who seem to have endless money and resources for shopping, beauty and fashion being a feature of the book as much as the story itself. I was very glad to be wrong.

Although fashion is part of the story it is not the focus. Instead you will find an adventure with plot twists, a strong backstory, unexpectedly likeable villains and characters you don't easily forget. The writing style flows and carries you along. I found myself unable to stop reading until after 4:00 AM when I came to the last page and all the loose ends were tied up in a fairly happy ending for most of the characters. No, not everyone gets a happy ending, some just get to carry on and maybe find themselves in another story.

The story is the thing in a book by Michelle Rowen.

Links for Christopher Moore Fans

Christopher Moore Twitter - @TheAuthorGuy Bluesky - @theauthorguy Christopher Moore's Blog

You don't need to read the books of Christopher Moore in any order. I can say that from my own experience. I have read them in no order what so ever.

I read "The Stupidest Angel" first. I thought it might be a funny Christmas story so I added it to my over night bag when I visited my brother over the Christmas holidays (about 3 years ago). Sure, it was in the holiday theme.

I would not now claim it as a family friendly, warm hearted holiday tale. Don't mistake this to mean the book was anything less than great. From that first book I have searched and dug for Christopher Moore books until I have now read all but 3 of them (I've started reading Lamb so that will leave just two soon).

A Quick Interview with Christopher Moore

I read a review you wrote about Dracula. I haven't read it yet but was surprised you have it as a favourite. It's not a funny book! :)

I started out a horror writer, it's just that people laughed at my horror stories, so I went that way.

Your books overlap from humour to horror, historical and dabble in science fiction/ fantasy - which is your favourite genre to write?

I don't even think about genre because my stuff straddles so many. I do prefer writing historical for a couple of reasons. One, I usually learn something cool in the research, and second there were no cell phones. Cell phones can be a great device to get information between characters, but for suspense they can be a killer, and I'm finding a lot of writers are depending on the "no service" device to keep the suspense heightened. (Last episode of True Detective. Why not call back-up? No cell service.)

Your one liners on Twitter are great. How do you keep fresh inspiration and ideas flowing for your books and Twitter too?

Well, I tend to react to the world in a humorous way by default, so Twitter is easy because I can react to anything in the news, a quote, a meme, anything. Twitter is sort of the natural habitat of the nonsequitur, so if something comes out of left field, it's okay, it will probably work. For a novel, I'm usually reacting to the world that I've created in the book, and usually from the point of view of the characters, so I'm constrained by say, 19th century Paris, so I have to think in that context. There are times, though, when I'm working on a book and I just don't have anything to put on Twitter because I'm in the world of the book. I'm still not sure I know how to do Twitter, right, anyway. Cleverness doesn't necessarily translate to followers. I think I've discovered that people respond better to being nice and insipid than being clever and funny.

I loved the idea of vampires being turned to statues but what I really want to know - Is Abby Normal going to be back soon?

You read all three, right? She's sort of the star of Bite Me. She also has a cameo appearance in the book I'm writing now, the sequel to A Dirty Job.

Sacre Bleu was more than just a fun read. You did a lot of research for that book. I think it must have been tricky to bring famous people from history into life, as characters in your story. How did you decide on their personalities and how far to take them into your fiction?

The thing about the impressionists is we know a lot about them, unlike the characters in Lamb, from 1st Century Palestine, about which we know almost nothing. So you have letters by Cezanne, for instance, both to Bazille, and about Bazille. Renoir's son wrote a biography of him while the artist was still alive, and Renoir comments on the personalities of the artists. Most of the letters, of course, are much more formal than anyone would speak, so I have them being more casual in their speech, and probably more casual than they actually were. Toulouse-Lautrec was the one I really took a lot of liberties with because I needed a character who was naturally funny, but when you see the photos of him, he seems like he was a pretty playful guy. Ultimately, though, I crafted the book around the artists who I thought I would like, personally, like Bazille and Renoir, and I didn't have the ones who didn't resonate as much with me, like Degas and Cezanne, although I think that the latter two were probably the better painters.

I'm looking forward to your new book, Serpent of Venice. But, I'm partial to Pine Cove because I began reading your books with The Stupidest Angel. I've read them in backwards order, finished reading Practical Demonkeeping this Spring and read the Lust Lizard last year. Are the people of Pine Cove going to survive the next monster you drop in on them?

I really don' t have any plans to go back to Pine Cove. When I was writing those books I lived in a little coastal town in California that sort of mirrored Pine Cove, but I left there in 2003 and since then my "go to" location has been San Francisco. I just don't have new observations about a small town I could put in a new book.

I read Frankenstein this year and began short stories by H.P. Lovecraft over the summer. Do the horror classics inspire you and which (if any) are your favourites?

I read those when I was coming up, in my teens, and with both of those, Frankenstein and the Lovecraft stories, you have to take them as products of their time. The stories and mood of Lovecraft stick with you, the feeling of dread, but his writing was very formal and sort of dense, I think largely because he was getting paid by the word, but also because of the 19th century stories that inspired him. So you learn very early on that you can't and shouldn't write like Lovecraft. Shelly is similar. She was brilliant, sort of beyond of my ability to comprehend of someone who was 19 year old, but she was of her time. Frankenstein is extraordinary in many ways, but I think I knew by the time I was 17 that I'd never be able to write that way and make a living, and that's what I wanted to do. So yes, you HAVE to read those classics. You have to know what has come before. (What T.S. Eliot calls "the poetic tradition") Otherwise you're going to do something that was done better a hundred years ago and you may not even put a good spin on it. There used to be a running joke among sci-fi writers that everyone, at some point, would write a "the star was a spaceship and Jesus was an alien" story and think they were the first one to have the idea. (I know I did.) If you don't know that's a non-starter, you just pile on. You read that stuff and you take what you can from it. You'll go back years later, after you know more, and Frankenstein will be a new book.

I wrote a story or two imitating Lovecraft and Poe in my teens and they were terrible, but that said, The Serpent of Venice is partly based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, so having read those classics have served me pretty well. I could probably do with a refresher read on a lot of them.

Why I'm a Fan of Christopher Moore's Books He writes horror, fantasy, and humour all some how rolled up into one winding yet believable story. The key is, believable. No matter what he writes about: vampires, monsters, drug dealers, serial killers, or ageing porn stars - the stories will keep you reading more and laughing along with him.

The Gilmore Girls was a television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel and enough characters to fill a small town. Of course, the town, Stars Hollow, was part of the show as well as the fictional location where Rory grew up and Lorelai went from spoiled rich 16 year old girl with a baby to owner of The Dragonfly Inn with her best friend, Sookie, as a partner.

Rumours about a Gilmore Girls Movie or New Series

Since the show ended there have been rumours about it coming back. So far nothing concrete and the original producers and actors are not saying anything for sure. I would love to see a Gilmore Girls Christmas special. It could tie up loose ends about whatever happened to Lorelai and Rory....?

Did you love, like or never watch it all that much?

Since the show ended I have heard people criticizing it. Some say Lorelai was an awful Mother, prying into everything, not setting a great example and so on. But, I think, that was what the Gilmore Girls was really about: making mistakes, getting things wrong but overall keeping on track and standing by your family, friends and the values you hold especially close. Gilmore Girls wasn't about a perfect Mother and daughter relationship. It wasn't meant to be an icon for single Mothers or small business women or girls growing up. It was about learning from your mistakes and not being afraid to take chances and be who you really are.

Lorelai and Emily

I especially like every scene with Lorelai and Emily, her Mother. They had such a hard relationship, each wanting to be closer and yet neither of them willing to give enough ground to find that middle ground. The actresses (Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop) made these scenes my favourites during all seven seasons.

Women ran the show. Women were the central characters but the men in their lives were important too. Lorelai dated a few but kept coming back to Christopher (Rory's Father) and Luke (who owned the famous Luke's Diner). Did you ever wish Lorelai had married Max, from season one and stuck with him? I still think he would have been the best match for her, but it just didn't get written that way. Lorelai also had a rocky relationship with her Father. I was happy to see the final episode end with him telling her she had done a good job with Rory and deserved to be congratulated.

Which character was your favourite?

There were so many characters in that town: Sookie and Jackson (Melissa McCarthy and Jackson Douglas) were so much fun to watch as they began dating and then all the years of being married and having children. They created their own show every time they had a scene together.

I liked Dean best of all Rory's boyfriends. Of the town's people Babette, Miss Patty and Gypsy (the car repair woman) stand out for me. Do you remember Babette's little house and her tall husband, Maury?

Then, how can anyone forget Paris Geller? Starting out by considering Rory her competition for excelling at school and going to Harvard. Paris and Rory became unlikely friends. Lane was Rory's best friend but I'm sure Rory was the best friend Paris ever had. If ever the Gilmore Girls gets a come back or a Christmas special, Paris (Liza Weil) must be there.

Gilmore Girls Wiki (Great fan site and knowledge base about the show).

25 other little known facts about the Gilmore Girls (from Thought Catalog).

Missing the Gilmore Girls?

I haven't seen the show come up on Netflix so far. But, I've only been with Netflix since the start of this year. If you need a Gilmore Girl hour or two the best you can do is get the DVDs or take a look at the other options, like the music from the show (see below).

Fan Moments for the Gilmore Girls

Do you remember the last scene, from the last episode of the last season... sitting in Luke's Diner, ordering coffee and breakfast. The camera pulls away as Lorelai and Rory continue to talk. Just the way the pilot episode ended, only they were talking about boys instead of Rory travelling.