Xmas and The Loneliest Vampire in NYC

What says Merry Xmas more than bloodsucking vampires? Well a few things do come to mind, however imagine your loved one's glee this holiday when she discovers that dream about Santa sucking her blood was really just a repressed memory about her creepy uncle and the only vampire in the house is The Loneliest Vampire in NYC on her Kindle. So get over to Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B005JST3OC?*Version*=1&*entries*=0) before they sell out (no they don't really, but you know the web could go down or something). Or you could order  a hardcopy from CreateSpace, which I will happily autograph for you if you invite me over... and provide scotch, I must have scotch or I stay at home! 

Win a free copy of The Loneliest Vampire in NYC!

Hey kids tired of everyone else getting all the cool gifts every Xmas, or are you just sort of bitter and envious in ever day life? Whatever the case may be, including you well-adjusted types (all three of you), this is the contest for you. To enter just 'like' the Loneliest Vampire in NYC page and answer the question, who is Chester K. Elliot? (hints provided on the facebook page). The best three answers will receive a signed print copy of The Loneliest Vampire in NYC and a free kindle edition as well.
I know what you're all saying, "Alan how can you be so doggone generous?" Well let's just say I'm in a giving mood, so take advantage of it before I turn back into a grasping, greedy, bitter old recluse again...oh wait that's Scrooge...still...

The Loneliest Vampire in NYC the perfect holiday book

Ya it's that crazy time of the year again when we all eat too much, drink too much and spend too much. So what's the antidote for all of you out there with sore tired feet from wondering the mall, subsisting on egg nogg lattes and sugar cookies (do you even like egg nogg)?  

The answer is to carve out some 'me' time from your busy schedule and curl up with the perfect holiday book, The Loneliest Vampire in NYC.

"But that doesn't sound like it's a holiday book, it sounds like it's a little creepy and possibly a little sad," some of you out there are saying to yourselves. That's where you're wrong friends, The Loneliest Vampire in NYC is thrilling and exciting, chalk full of all manner of mystical creatures and the undead. And if severing zombie heads from their bodies doesn't scream yuletide cheer then I sure as heck don't know what does.

But The Loneliest Vampire in NYC isn't just about slicing and dicing the weird things that live in the sewer tunnels it's got romance as well...actually a love triangle, exactly a love triangle and all that entails, rampant jealousy, elicit sex, that's as Xmasy as it gets.

So while your loved ones are flipping channels during those long winter nights, trying desperately to find something other that It's a Wonderful Life to watch, and sizing up household items to grab as potential weapons once the inevitable killing spree begins, you'll be off in a quiet corner with a contented smile on your face.

Why? Because you just finished reading The Loneliest Vampire in NYC, and now you're going to read it again and be transported to far off and imaginary worlds where the only people being killed are evil vampires and werewolves. 

Then when someone offers you egg nogg, instead of snarling, "yeah right bitch like I want to drink cheesecake AND possibly die from salmonella poisoning," you simply smile and say, "no thanks, I have all I need right here." The Loneliest Vampire in NYC now available at Amazon.com, it makes the perfect stocking stuffer (provided of course there's also a Kindle in there.) 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JST3OC

Rave reviews for The Loneliest Vampire in NYC

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JST3OC

This month, I wasn’t sure about which book to write. I hadn’t read any thing ‘transformative’ in a while, but just the same I wasn’t feeling the need to educate or better myself. No what I wanted was a good, rousing story that I could leap into while plunked down on the leather sofa.

In need of inspiration, I turned to the old standby Fang Fiction, perhaps more commonly known as vampire literature. There is, as most of you know, a surfeit of tales regarding all manner of supernatural creatures on the bookshelves (both real and virtual) these days. Most feature a vampire or nosferatu as I like to call them, in some incarnation or other. I perused several, but none caught my fancy, then it happened. I discovered The Loneliest Vampire in NYC.

The Loneliest Vampire in NYC is a wonderfully original novel. Ostensibly about said lonely vampire of the book’s title (Stanley) it is in fact a well-crafted mystical adventure story. Although it is fast-paced enough to entertain even the most benumbed, video game addicted reader, it still finds time to go into the back stories of several key characters and help create a rich universe for these characters to inhabit.

It was in fact in these asides that I found the author, Alan Forsythe, to be at his most masterful in his writing. I found myself rereading the stories (within the story) of Chung Lee Soo and Chester K. Elliot and relished their magical realism.

As a fan of history I also enjoyed the ‘mash-up’ elements, where historical figures and places were melded into the plot.

As I noted, this is hardly great literature, but it is a great take on a genre that has seen a great deal of redundancy in recent years. The author has hinted he has plans to continue the story as a series or at least another book. I do hope this is the case and I look forward to the continuing adventures of Stanley, his misfit companions and his ladylove.

- Jackson Maxwell, Sea to Sky News. 

Twilight author cries foul

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JST3OC
Mega-selling Twilight author Stephenie Myers (or someone purporting to be that person) has (it's rumoured) on The Loneliest Vampire in NYC's use of a vampire, werewolf, mortalgirl love tri-angle, reportedly saying, 'that's totally what my book was about but that one's all gross and icky so it's kindof twisted.'
Actually the vampire, werewolf, mortal girl  love triangle is a very small part of The Loneliest Vampire in NYC and it's not so much a love triangle as a survivor triangle.
for more see: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JST3OC

The Loneliest Vampire in NYC now available on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JST3OC

Interview with a vampire part II

If you're just catching up with our interview with vampire Stanley (last name withheld) the so-called Loneliest Vampire in NYC then please see the start of the interview below.
For those of you following the series we pick up where we left off, Stanley describing his life as one of the immortal undead over drinks at a local Vancouver watering hole.

Us: On a different note - what prompted you to tell your story to the world in the first place?

Stanley: Well like I said, I'm immortal so there's a lot of hours to fill, and I figured what the hell might as well set the record straight.

Us: Your record?

Stanley: Mine sure, but also the world of the undead that gets so misrepresented in the media today. I mean it's just like that book series you mentioned earlier where the vampires 'sparkle' in the sunlight. So kids read that and think - hey what the hell I could be a vampire, it's no big deal, so you 'sparkle from tie to time I can live with that. But you don't 'sparkle' you die painfully. Plus there's so many other things to watch out for; Christian fanatics trying to put a stake in your heart, witches (hey there's a reason it rhymes with bitches) and then there's other vampires...

Us: And that seems to be your biggest pet peeve - other vampires?

Stanley: You call it pet peeve, I call it protecting citizens from an unholy alliance of evil vampires bent on the destruction of the mortal world.

Us: Well yes, there is that, but you were already ostracized by the other vampires before you began battling them isn't that correct?

Stanley: Yes, but...

Us: And weren't you somewhat of an unwilling combatant as well?

Stanley: What is this you have an axe to grind or something?

Us: Not at all just trying to get at the truth of the matter.

Stanley: Alright, 'the truth of the matter' is that yeah I have always been something of an outcast amongst the vampires, but I take that as a source of pride considering what a bunch of freaks they are. As for being unwilling, any sane person is going to have second thoughts about jumping into some of the situations I have, but despite that I think I've always given a pretty good account of myself when push came to shove.

To be cont.

Interview with a Vampire

The long-awaited novel The Loneliest Vampire in NYC is finally out on Amazon.com (and going to wider release mid-October) but still many people ask, who is the Loneliest Vampire and why is he so lonely?
We caught up with Stanley (last name withheld) and spent some time talking with him at the Pourhouse Bar on Water Street.

Us: So thanks for meeting with us and welcome to Vancouver

Stanley: No problem, I like it here, dark and gloomy a lot of the time, which is good for my complexion (he laughs).

Us: Speaking of the damp Northwest there's a popular fiction series about vampires set in nearby Washington State,  in which the vampires, while they prefer the grey skies, have no real reaction to sunlight other than they sparkle - what do you think of that?

Stanley: (laughs) Sure why not, and why stop there? Maybe they could all go hang out at the beach and work on their tans.

Us: So you're saying it's not very realistic, vampires cannot go into direct sunlight?

Stanley: Well they can, but they won't 'sparkle' they'll start to smoke then they'll burst into flame and dissolve to ash.

Us: Right. But we notice you drink, contrary to popular belief - and made famous by the Bela Lugosi line in Dracula, "I don't drink...wine."

Stanley: Yeah a lot of people always ask about that but listen I don't make the rules, all I know is thank God I can drink...booze, because it's gotten me through a lot of lonely years.

Us: Is that what immortal life is like - just a years of long lonely nights?

Stanley: Wow, you're brutal, now I do need a drink (he orders an Absinthe). To answer your question, no it's not all just solitary nights wandering the streets. But when you're around as long as I am there's bound to be more times when you find yourself on your own - there's just a lot of time to fill up is what I'm trying to say.  

Us: Yes but the book is called The Loneliest Vampire in NYC and it's about you, so why have you been single out as especially lonely.

Stanley: Well if you'd read the book, which clearly you haven't, you would know that I do have friends and I do get out and socialize. I'm just not as shallow as some vampires, I don't do the whole club scene, I'm not that into fashion, so I guess it's all relative really. I mean I'm off fighting zombies - thank you very much - so because I do that instead of preening for the paparazzi and trying to get myself on page six I'm called lonely, which some people read as 'sad loser,' instead of thoughtful introspection.

To be cont.

A word about Fenton, which is not the Loneliest Vampire in NYC

Yes my book release has been delayed by about a month. Originally slated for late June it will now be out at the end of July (I promise the wait is worth it). I've had my blog and book trailer out there for a while now and apparently someone has published what she is calling a book, but is actually a short story, under the title The Loneliest Vampire, coincidence? Possibly. But just to clear up any confusion this short story is not my book. My novel, The Loneliest Vampire in NYC is over 90,000 words in length and will be out soon everywhere books are sold.

Loneliest Vampire in NYC out...soon.

Yes I know the publication date was supposed to be today, I'm only too aware I've missed my own deadline.
I've been getting a few messages from interested would be readers and while I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for my new novel, I am indeed sorry to report that publication of Loneliest Vampire in NYC has been delayed.
It will be out soon, but I have been a little sidetracked by my other project the musical/comedy Night of the B Movie with rewrites and rehearsals for that play which launches in Sept (the ads are booked so there's no changing that date.)
It won't be a long wait however I am back working with my editor to get Loneliest Vampire in NYC out as soon as possible and again I thank everyone for their interest.

Tloneliest_vamp_FCP-YouTube_sharing-1.mov

The Loneliest Vampire in NYC

Loneliest Vampire the play

This is an abbreviated version of the play that eventually became The Loneliest Vampire in NYC the novel. I wrote it for the Here Be Monsters Festival last fall and thought I might expand it as I did Night of the B Movie, but there was just way too much I wanted to do with the character of Stanley and the other characters I wanted to add. Stanley in the play is a lot more bloodthirsty than in the novel and the Girl (Anika Andrews in the book) would never ask Stanley or anyone to kill her ex-boyfriend. Although Chet does make an appearance in the novel.

The Loneliest Vampire in NYC

By Alan Forsythe

Bare stage, implied quiet street in Manhattan. A girl sits on a bench reading a book. It is one of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers.

Enter Stanley a vampire.

STANLEY: Yes I am a Vampire, I just like to get that out of the way up front to avoid any awkwardness. So now of course you’re all thinking I’m going to swoop down and devour that girl over there. But you’d be wrong, what I’d really like to do is go over there chat her up a bit and get a phone number or maybe we could be facebook friends. Then maybe we could grab a coffee sometime and she could get to know the real me.

Girl flips page of book, Stanley paces a bit.

STANLEY: Okay I confess that seems a little desperate, especially for a vampire. But I tell you, it’s not easy being basically immortal and having no social life. There are vampires out there living the good life, keeping up the whole sex crazed vampire image. I’m just not one of them. And you know who I blame for my misfortune – HBO and fucking Stephanie Meyers. Thanks to True Blood, Twilight and a couple of other unrealistic portrayals of vampires I’m constantly being compared to brooding teenagers.

Girl flips another page, Stanley paces some more.

STANLEY: It get’s a little depressing, I know brain dead zombies that have more of a social life than me, and seriously, why do brain dead zombies even need a social life?

GIRL: Hey mister can you stop muttering over there I’m trying to read.

Stanley walks over to the girl.

STANLEY: Hi.

Girl looks up, a little distracted.

GIRL: Uh, yeah, hi.

STANLEY: You don’t find me to possess a certain hypnotic attraction?

Girl looks up again.

GIRL: More like a certain hypnotic repulsion.

STANLEY: Oh come on that’s harsh.

GIRL: Hey mister I’m just trying to read here.

STANLEY: Yes I see, Twilight, which is about vampires, so aren’t you, well intrigued by me?

Girl looks up again and gives Stanley the once over indifferently.

GIRL: No should I be?

STANLEY: Well I am a vampire, or as I prefer vampyre, the Nosferatu.

The girl gives Stanley a more careful appraisal.

GIRL: Mmmmmm, no.

STANLEY: No, what do you mean no?

GIRL: You’re not a vampire or vampyr or whatever.

STANLEY: I assure you I am.

GIRL: Sure, have it your way.

She goes back to her book.

STANLEY: Now you’re just humouring me.

GIRL: (without looking up) Basically.

STANLEY: You know I am a dark creature of the night, I could drain your blood and make you my undead slave.

Girl looks up.

GIRL: So does that line work a lot?

STANLEY: I’m just saying is all. One would think one would be a little more impressed when confronted with a vampire.

GIRL: One would wouldn’t one.

STANLEY: That’s right. Wait, I lost track who are we talking about now?

GIRL: (exasperated) Heavy sigh.

STANLEY: heavy sigh?

GIRL: Yes heavy sigh, as in I’m extremely bored. Oh my God!

The girl suddenly lifts her book in front of her face.

STANLEY: What’s wrong?

GIRL: It’s that asshole Chet, I don’t want him to see me (beat) talking with you.

STANLEY: Well why do you care if he’s an asshole?

GIRL: Just never mind, he’s a prick and I hate him.

STANLEY: You know if you want I could drain his jugular and leave him face down in a gutter for the rats to pick over his corpse.

The girl lowers her book, suddenly interested.

GIRL: Really, you’d do that for me?

STANLEY: Sure, why not, besides, I’m feeling a tad peckish.

GIRL: Well okay, I mean only if it’s no big deal or anything.

STANLEY: It’s no problem at all. I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.

Stanley walks off stage.

STANLEY: (OS) Hey are you Chet?

CHET: (OS) Uh, yeah, who the fuck are you?

Suddenly they are blood curdling screams from off stage. The Girl watches onstage from her bench.

Stanley re-enters, his shirt and face now stained heavily with blood. He approaches the Girl.

STANLEY: Well, mission accomplished.

The Girl looks off stage and then up at Stanley, now with some awe.

GIRL: Yeah, that was cool, you totally just killed him.

STANLEY: I am a vampire after all.

GIRL: Yeah you are, wow that’s neat.

STANLEY: Soooo, anyway, would you like to get a coffee or something?

GIRL: Uh, yeah, why not.

She gathers up her things and takes Stanley’s arm, and they walk off together.

GIRL: So do you have your own coffin and everything?

STANLEY: It’s more of a wooden box really, but I’m fixing it up, it’s you know, rustic.

They exit.

Lights down

When will The Loneliest Vampire in NYC be available?

The question I get asked a lot these days is when will The Loneliest Vampire in NYC be published? That kind of mystifies me since it clearly states on the Facebook page 'release date June 28th.' I don't think that leaves room for a lot of interpretation, it's not late June, not the end of June, not Juneish, not umm I guess June, or maybe July, it's June 28th.
On to other news: casting for Night of the B Movie begins this week, and to answer another commonly asked question, no it's not a movie, it's a play, a musical to be exact, based, that's right, on B movies.
Night of the B Movie premiers September 9th here in Vancouver but if you can't make it we will try to cut a youtube trailer so hopefully you can get some idea of what we're trying to do.
Speaking of trailers, yes the Loneliest Vampire in NYC book trailer is coming to a youtube channel near you soon.