As a writer of children’s books, I’ve always been fascinated – not merely by the narrative, characters, and plot that form a story – but how ideas themselves spring to life and cross-pollinate to form some kind of creative endeavor, whether that’s a song, a poem, a book or anything else that provokes an emotional response. Rather than shying away from the question: "Where do you get your ideas?" I like to embrace it and search for answers myself. These books all set contexts through which the nature of imagination and ideas are explored alongside the tales they tell, and they remain an influence on the ideas I have, and the words I write.
A formative book from my childhood, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen kick-started my love of all things magic, heroic, and fantastical. Not only that, but the setting was close to where I grew up – these were locations I knew but viewed through a mythic lens. Loosely based on the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge, Alan Garner creates a fantasy world that feels so real as two children are pulled into an adventure where the very future of the world of men is on the line. It remains so influential on my own writing that I still return to the old dwarf caves of Fundinvale as an adult and enjoy the tale every bit as much as I did when I was a ten-year-old reading by torchlight under the duvet.
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is one of the greatest fantasy novels of all time.
"Alan Garner's fiction is something special." - Neil Gaiman
When Colin and Susan are pursued by eerie creatures across Alderley Edge, they are saved by the Wizard. He takes them into the caves of Fundindelve, where he watches over the enchanted sleep of one hundred and forty knights.
But the heart of the magic that binds them - Firefrost, also known as the Weirdstone of Brisingamen - has been lost. The Wizard has been searching for the stone for more than 100 years, but the forces…
Urban fantasy is quickly becoming my favorite fantasy subgenre, and this is especially the case with Kim Harrison’s The Hollows.
Pale Demon is book 9 of the series, but I think it’s the best one so far. The series focuses on bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. Rachel thinks she’s a witch but in Pale Demon the truth of what Rachel truly is finally comes out, and wow, I really did not see that coming. This is certainly a turning point for Rachel and her friends, the living vampire Ivy and the pixy Jenks.
Sure, you’ll have to go through all of the previous books in the series, but I promise it’s going to be worth your while. I can’t wait to see what the next book has in store for Rachel.
"I wouldn’t miss a Kim Harrison book for anything."—Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels
New York Times bestselling urban fantasy superstar Kim Harrison is back with Pale Demon—her ninth electrifying adventure featuring contemporary witch Rachel Morgan. This time Rachel's leaving the Hollows, on a cross-country road trip with a pixy, an elf, and a vampire, as she races to clear her blackened name at a California witches' convention in order to avoid an eternity of torment at the claws of a soul-devouring demon. Pale Demon is Kim Harrison at her gothic best—combining mystery, action, intrigue, paranormal romance, and…
Found family is my favorite trope. You can change up the genre but give me a cast of loveable characters and you got me. It hits close to home, since when I left home to go to college, I created my own family. They are my Albany family, and we all still meet up at least twice a year no matter that we all live across the country. The bonds we created as we figured out who each of us was, are still strong to this day. I write stories that contain those same elements so everyone can experience the joys and tribulations of these bonds.
Lizzie and Belle are best friends. The kind that you want in your life and you want to live next door to. Well, if you don’t mind witches, magic, and living in werewolf territory. The bond between the two of them is so tight they touch each other's minds.
Follow along as they fight to stay hidden and safe while hunting a vampire that stalks their home. Each book brings us closer to the mystery of the two of them and I can’t wait to see where it ends.
In a world where magic and science sit side by side, and powerful witches are considered necessary aides for all governments, Lizzie Grace is something of an outlier. Though born into one the most powerful blue blood witch families, she wants nothing to do with either her past or her magic.But when she and Belle, her human familiar and best friend, open a small cafe in the Faelan werewolf reservation, she quickly finds herself enmeshed in the hunt for a vampire intent on wreaking bloody havoc. It’s a hunt that soon becomes personal, and one that is going to take…
While I can trace my love of romance books back to the bookmobile where I checked out every Sweet Dreams and V.C. Andrews book I could every Wednesday, I blame Anne Rice for my lifelong obsession with vampires, shifters, and alphas that go bump in the night. Paranormal romance has been my go-to for two decades, with contemporary romance coming in a close second in recent years. Although I write the stories I want to read, the books on this list have inspired me. The emotions and devotion they cultivate are what I aspire to create with my own books and I hope you love these as much as I do.
L. Ann is a new-to-me author and one whose Forgotten Legacy series made me an instant fan. Her writing is smooth, angst is high, and characters are heartbreakingly real. Romance guarantees a happily ever after, but L. Ann keeps you guessing how she’s going to accomplish it until the bitter end. For paranormal romance readers sliding from vampires over to shifters, the Midnight Pack series is a delicious excuse to stay up past bedtime to finish off just one more chapter.
So, really, the sizzling hot alpha male shouldn’t have been surprised when a move to a new town and a fresh start doesn’t go according to plan - especially when Shaun’s wolf lays claim to the beauty he unexpectedly finds on his property.
Passion soars, but Cassie comes with her own brand of trouble in the form of an ex who can't take no for an answer.
To make matters worse, there’s a hunter on Shaun’s tail. One who will stop at nothing to take down the Midnight pack once and for all.
I’ve always had a wild imagination and have been creative and expressive through various art forms since I was young. After a series of crazy and vivid dreams, I decided to turn them into a story. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had over 20 projects, each with a different style but all with my voice. I grew up in Cheshire and studied digital media at the University of Bradford, but moved to my paternal home in Spain in 2009, where I now teach English and moonlight as a fantasy author.
Imagine if Rapunzel was kidnapped by a vampire king but then hunted the people who could kill her with one bite.
This is a fantastic book with vampires, magic, wings, and a female main character that’s realising not everything is as she was led to believe. There wasn’t a moment that I doubted it would be 5 stars.
One of my favourite things is how she struggles to accept the truth about the people she thought were her family. She also has to ally with a vampire who has a dangerous curiosity for her, and I loved trying to work out why.
Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always-always-guard your heart.
The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.
But winning won't be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.
Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an…
In 2009 I published a book on the real vampire community. I didn’t know that Twilightwas about to sweep America and I inadvertently became a “vampire guy” for a few years. I appeared on Geraldo and NPR. I was interviewed by the Colbert Report (but it never aired). I even talked to MTV about hosting a show where I interview teenage vampires. Then we all got into zombies instead and my fifteen minutes of fame were over! I learned a great deal researching my book and giving talks on vampires. In 2010 I taught a special class at Tufts University on vampires where I assigned selections from these books.
Michelle Belanger is a psychic vampire and an intellectual leader of the real vampire community. This book draws on her experiences of coming to self-identify as a psychic vampire and she actually began writing it in notebooks while in college. The Psychic Vampire Codex provided vocabulary for people in this community to talk about their experiences and a metaphysical theory of what exactly psychic vampires are and why they are different from other people.
I have had the opportunity to meet Belanger and she is a really fascinating person. She founded a metaphysical community called House Kheperu and offers workshops on magick and psychic energy. She is also a fiction author, musician, activist, and many other things.
The Psychic Vampire Codex is the first book to examine the phenomenon and experience of modern vampirism completely from the vampire's perspective. Father Sebastiaan, a fellow vampire writes in the foreword that Michelle Belanger's system "introduced a breath of fresh air into the vampire subculture. It freed us to look at ourselves in a new light, and it also helped those outside our community to view us differently. No longer were we parasites or predators . . . we could use our inborn abilities to help people heal." Psychic vampires are people who prey on the vital, human life energies…
As a kid, I was consistently described as one who had her head in the clouds. I was far away imagining all sorts of fantastical things; dragons soaring in the sky, a witch blasting a fireball in the grocery store, a werewolf coming to eat the gym teacher, the coffee barista is actually a vampire, etc. There is something alluring about supernatural beings existing in our often mundane world; whether they are being subjected to the same life we are or are wreaking havoc for any reason.
Rose and Lissa are dragged back to a school for vampires; though it’s a fair bit more complicated than that, with vampires of different sorts and being able to wield magic.
Rose is Lissa’s bodyguard and the school trains their powers, so that Rose will be able to protect Lissa (who is a princess) when the time comes. Their lessons don’t stop them from getting into a whole swath of familiar teenage drama.
ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM IMMORTAL ENEMIES . . .
Lissa Dragomir is a mortal vampire. She must be protected at all times from the fiercest and most dangerous vampires of all - the ones who will never die.
Rose Hathaway is Lissa's best friend - and her bodyguard.
Now, after two years of illicit freedom, they've been dragged back inside the iron gates of St. Vladimir's Academy. The girls must survive a world of forbidden romances, a ruthless social scene and terrifying night-time rituals. But above…
When I was five my dad had to carry me, crying, out of the Salem Witch’s Dungeon. You’d think that would put a damper on my love of spooky things, but it absolutely did not! Bela Lugosi was my first crush. I set up Haunted Houses in my garage and read every single book my local library had on the Salem Witch Trials. I made my way from Bunnicula and The Halloween Tree, to books by Stephen King and Anne Rice. Halloween and horror will always have a special place in my heart, and yet…I still don’t let my legs dangle off my bed, lest the monsters get me.
I firmly believe that Halloween books are for everyone, even kids who don’t want their pants scared off or kids who aren’t big readers. In comes Lumberjackula! An adorable graphic novel with a great Halloween esthetic.
Jack is a half vampire, half lumberjack kid who has to make a big decision: should he go to Lumberjack school like Mom wants, or Vampire school like Dad wants? Jack doesn’t want to disappoint either parent, but he has a secret…he wants to dance!
Lumberjackula has all the fun of Halloween without the fear, and the illustrations are adorable. It’s a great book to make sure all of your middle graders get to join in the Halloween fun. (And as a former goth myself, Dad’s band is awesome!)
For fans of The Okay Witch and Fake Blood, this hilarious middle grade graphic novel follows a half-vampire, half-lumberjack boy who feels torn between his parents and just wants to be a dancer.
Jack is in a pickle. His lumberjack mom wants him to go to Mighty Log Lumberjack Prep to learn how to chop wood and wear flannel. His vampire dad wants him to go to Sorrow's Gloom Vampire School to learn how to turn into a bat and drink blood-orange juice. And Jack has a secret: what he really wants to do is dance.
My love of vampire stories can be put down to two men: Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing—Dracula and Van Helsing. I can’t remember how old I was, but undoubtedly too young to be allowed to sit up and watch late-night Hammer movies on the BBC. I was into science fiction too, particularly Doctor Who, and it was that, in part, which inspired me to become a scientist, studying physics at Cambridge. It may seem odd that someone so grounded in what is real should so enjoy writing about the impossible. But it’s reassuring to know that what I write can never actually be. Probably.
The Lesser Deadis set in the past, but it’s not what you’d expect from an historical vampire novel. The setting is New York City, 1978, and so the atmosphere is more like the American police movies and TV shows that I grew up with than a gothic shocker.
Told by an unreliable narrator with an authentic, claustrophobic voice, the story follows an internecine conflict between two groups of the undead beneath the streets of Manhattan. Buehlman expertly mixes a twisting plot with believable vampires, who both disturb the reader and elicit their compassion, making this my favourite vampire novel of the 21st century.
WINNER OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION’S BEST HORROR NOVEL OF THE YEAR
“As much F. Scott Fitzgerald as Dean Koontz” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs), Christopher Buehlman excels in twisting the familiar into newfound dread in his “genre-bending” (California Literary Review) novels. Now the acclaimed author of Those Across the River delivers his most disquieting tale yet...
The secret is, vampires are real and I am one. The secret is, I’m stealing from you what is most truly yours and I’m not sorry...
New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die.…
Being a petite person, I can’t move furniture by myself or lift heavy boxes. It’s freaking annoying. I dream of having a magic wand or some sort of power that would make me stronger. If there was a potion to turn me into a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, kick-butt type of girl I’d drink it in a second. Since there is no such potion, I write and read books about supernatural girls who don’t take crap from anyone, especially the guys in their lives.
Whenever Tessa touches someone’s skin she hears their thoughts and experiences their emotions which makes having friends and dating difficult. When she finally meets the guy of her dreams, he bites her. Not in a fun, sexy way but in an I’m about turn you into a werewolf kind of way. To keep her from going feral, she’s forced to attend St. Ailbea’s Academy aka werewolf school. I love academy books and this one has all the feels.
One stupid party. One stupid boy. One stupid kiss. And my life was virtually over.
Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind.
But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy,…
