Was one of the Brontes a Vampire?

Back in 1892, Mercy Brown was a young girl that caught tuberculosis from a family member and died. Her mother was the first to die of the disease, but some of her siblings also became ill and died. When her brother Edwin became ill, the townspeople encourage Mr. Brown to dig up his kin and see which one was a vampire, which he did. Mercy, having been the latest to die and due to a cold winter, hadn't decomposed much in her grave, so it was concluded she was undead and sucking the life out of the remaining family members. Poor Mercy's heart was removed from her body, burned and made into a draft for Edwin to drink. He died two months later.

I learned of this gruesome bit of history when I was in my early twenties and it stuck with me over the years. Just the gruesomeness of digging up a loved one and making a potion from the ashes of their heart is enough to put me off my feed.




So I was thinking, what if it was true that tuberculosis was a form a vampirism? That would mean someone in the Bronte family was a vampire. Charlotte was the only sibling to survive into her thirties. Imagine the horror of knowing your dead relatives are trying to suck the life out of you from beyond the grave. No wonder Charlotte was always described as being so humorless. She must have felt it was her sister, Anne, that was the vampire. That would explain why she went out of her way to surpress the reprinting of Anne's books. But given his ability to suck so much out of the family during his life, I'd put the blame on Branwell.


If you prefer your vampires with a little more humor and romance, try my ebook, Fangs for Nothing, for 99 cents on all ereaders.

Kindle

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H.P. Mallory talks about selling ebooks

H.P. Mallory was kind enough to do a mini-interview about her latest title, How I Sold 200,000 ebooks, A Guide for the Self Published Author:

AA - You have a new book out and it's non-fiction. What can you tell us about it?

HP - Well, I've hosted quite a few sessions on self publishing and I get a ton of emails from authors asking for advice so I thought it would be a great idea to put out a book detailing everything I did to get where I am today, that's my newest release, How I Sold 200,000 ebooks.

AA - What tricks of the trade can readers expect from

How I Sold 200,000 E-Books, A Guide for the Self Published Author?

HP - Quite a lot actually. Here is the bio:
* What is the best approach to take when creating book covers
* How to optimize your book's description page
* Choosing the category of your book
* The question of pricing your book
* The importance of Social Media and, more specifically, Facebook, Twitter and Blogging
* How to get reviews including interviews with leading Review websites such as Dear Author
* What to feature on your website
* The importance of Search Engine Optimization
* A Q&A with the people from Pubit!, the self publishing platform of Barnes and Noble
* The seven steps of self publishing success from the owner of Smashwords, one of the largest and most well known self-publishing platforms
* Tips and tidbits from Goodreads, the world's largest online book club website
* And so much more!

AA - If you could ask one famous person from history three questions, who would it be and what would you ask?

HP - Shakespeare: Did you really write everything or was it Mary Sydney pretending to be you?

Jane Austen: I would just tell her how much I admire her work!

AA - Name three authors that have influenced your writing. What do you love about them?

HP - Jane Austen: Just love how she characterizes men.
Karen Marie Moning: Love the action and romance and mystery of her Fever Series
Laurell K. Hamilton: Love how badass Anita Blake was!

AA - What will be your next fiction title and what can you tell us about it? When do you expect it to launch?

HP - Great Hexpectations is my next title and that is due to release on Halloween 2011. It is the third installment in my Dulcie O'Neil series, about a fairy in law enforcement. This book will see Dulcie traveling to the Netherworld and it will be a wild ride!

AA - You are currently running a super-cool contest. What is it and how can people enter?

Before each of my releases, I run a contest whereby the winner becomes a character in my book. I'll be posting a new contest for the next Jolie book, probably next month!

Thank you H.P. Mallory!

Fangs for Nothing -Reviews! + Interview + Contest!

My smile is a little wider this week because I've just received two excellent reviews for Fangs for Nothing.

Boekie's Book Reviews said, "Wow. This book was amazing! I found Fangs for Nothing to be the ideal YA novel. If you're looking for a book with adventure, mystery, friendship and romance than this is definitely it. I loved the storyline, I read the book in one sitting. With the vampire craze going on it's interesting to see it shown in a different light. For the entire review, go here.

And

Word Spelunking said, "There is definitely no shortage of YA vampire novels these days and after awhile it seems that one vamp story just sorta runs into the next, which is why Adrianne Ambrose’s Fangs for Nothing was such a delightful surprise. Fangs for Nothing is one of the most fun, original, smart YA vampire books that I have read in a long time. This book is delightfully tongue in cheek sarcastic, well written, and full of impossible to not like characters." For the entire review, go here.

Plus
Word Spelunking did an interview with yours truly which you can find here.

To put the cherry on the Sundae, Word Spelunking is holding a contest so you can win your very own Kindle e-copy of Fangs for Nothing. It's super easy to enter and the chances of winning are extremely good. Go to the end of the interview and you'll see the simple to enter contest.

Yay for fabulous book reviewers on the web!

Is Tuberculosis Responsible for Vampirism?

Hundreds of years ago, before there were scientific explanations for every day occurrences (like diseases) people would explain them with superstitions and magic. If you sneezed, it was because you were possessed, if you were too hairy it was because you were a werewolf, if your young children were naughty it was because of the fairies …etc. Nowadays, we have completely logical explanations for these things. Keeping this in mind, you can understand why countless historians and doctors have tried to explain the birth of the vampire myth. For more information, go here.

I remember hearing a story on NPR about how after a family member dies of TB, if you then became ill you had to dig up the body and make up a draft using a piece of their heart. I can't even imagine thinking a dead member of my family was trying to suck the life out of me and then having to dig them up. Very troublesome.

In the mood for a humorous vampire story? Check out Fangs for Nothing. Only 99 cents on all ereaders.