Weiners!

It's been a tough day. I had a number of decisions to make. I'm not going to go into all of them right now, but suffice to say that this blog will be a-changing! Soon. Changes for the better. The downside is that you'll all have to update your blogrolls because a new address is part of the package.

Part of the changes coming to my "Batty" blog are due in part to the fact that I have weiners, er winners for you! Yes, the tagline search has come to an end. An unexpected end. Here's the deal: I loved everything that was offered up. I couldn't make up my mind. David from BellaDaddyBlog sent me "Fangs For the Memories", but that's the name of a Kathy Love book. (A really good book too!) I liked the Absurdist's "Sunlight Is Overrated". I liked it a lot. But it reminded me of Britt's tagline. I'll come back to this tagline in a minute.

So, I was still pondering the taglines while Jester helped me out with the new Wordpress theme. I mentioned to him how I changed the verbiage on the Comment Luv to say that it's trying to sink its fangs into your last post, please wait while it finds a vein. Jester laughs and replies, "I vant to suck your blog!" BINGO. My kid and I both went, "THAT'S IT!" In one fell swoop, without even meaning to, Jester won.

Now, going back to the Absurdist's tagline, I kept mulling it over in my head because I really did like it a lot. However, to move the idea away from Britt's tagline, I kept thinking of it as "Sunlight Sucks". Last night, while letting WP kick my ass and make me cry, I got the idea of just moving the whole kit and kaboodle. I mean, wouldn't it make it a little harder for the hunter from my office to find me? Not that I'm hiding. I'd just like to make it harder for them on principle. So the Absurdist also wins. I registered sunlightsucks.com tonight.

And there we have it. Two weiners, er winners! Congratulations to Jester and the Absurdist. I am going to try to make a t-shirt with the bat logo on it now. If that doesn't work out, they can still have the Bar t-shirt. A t-shirt with fangs. Yummo. Thanks to everyone who participated. I appreciate the effort you all put into my need for a tagline.

One last thing, thanks to everyone for visiting Socially Dead. My kid has now pasted her underwear clad ass on her new blog for Half Naked Thursday. She even offered a crotch shot for next week. OY. How did I know she would fit in this well? Happy Friday to all! MUAH!

Why Vampires? - A Contest

My last contest was a flop. No one can find the man from the Air France commercial. I'm a lot disappointed. He was soooo hot. Anyway, I've got a couple things up my sleeve. The first is about this blog and what I spend all my time on when I'm not blogging or working at the cemetery. Writing. I write about vampires. I write about other creatures too at the Bar, but the vamps are, well, my thing. Now, I'm going to reveal to you why it is that I must write vampires. (You'll need this for the contest.)

David from BellaDaddyBlog may remember this. He was with me that day. It was Halloween, my 17th birthday. I think David was 14 or 15. My mom sent me to my sister Jeannette's to pick up my present. David and I hopped into the Starsky and Hutch car and drove to my sister's. She gave me a pair of gold Gypsy earrings that belonged to her, but which I had admired for years. She also gave me her copy of Interview With the Vampire. She looked at me oddly and said that when she first read the book, she knew it was meant for me.

Now, my sister Jeannette is an unusual woman. From the time I was about 4 or so, she lived with the Gypsies. The REAL Gypsies. Jeannette does palmistry, Tarot, and astrology charts. She's very good at it. She's also a Buddhist. Oddly, she never gave up some of her Catholic icons though. I think she's a very religious person, but her beliefs are slices from many different religions.

Anyway, never having had much belief in the occult or religion, I didn't think much of her giving me that weird look. I just took the book and said thank you. My entire life Jeannette had had a habit of turning up out of the blue and giving me odd books to read, and different music to listen to. (All my sibs are much older than me. Jeannette's about 15 years older.) She gave me her prized copy of Abbey Road because I loved it so much, but only if I would take the White Album too. She took me to Catholic church and taught me to light candles. She taught me to meditate. She exposed me to things I would never have been exposed to at a young age had she not been my sister.

Interview With the Vampire had a profound affect on me. It was the only Anne Rice book I read for many years. I didn't want a sequel. I didn't want Louis spoiled for me. Louis sat in my head for a long time. He was seductive, more so than Lestat.

One day I spied a series of books by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro about the St. Germain vampires. I picked up the first book and by the end, I was officially obsessed with vampires. I had a HUGE collection of vampire books within a year or two. I tried writing the vamps, but they never came to me.

Years passed. I lost the huge collection of books and a handwritten copy of my novel Note By Note when I lost my storage unit in the high desert. I eventually read the other Anne Rice books. Shit happened to me. I lost the vampires. I felt them calling to me sometimes though. Then I found a cool little used romance bookstore. The woman there introduced me to paranormal romances and handed me... Katie MacAlister.

The vampires came back to me full force. The were inside me, clamoring to come out. But I hadn't found their vehicle yet. I went to Katie's website and found... The Bar. I read and read and read. For two solid weeks I read the Bar. By the time I caught up to where the writers were, I was ready to intro a character. Not a vampire, but a black dragon. The black dragon was related to two vampires. Eventually, I introduced them - Blake and Dominic Solent, thousand year old vampire brothers, who had once been Knights Templar.

And so, I found where I belonged. The rest is history. Of a sort. The Bar led to Andrei Andrei, who led me to blogging. The blogosphere community and it's people are awesome. I can't imagine my life without all of you now. The Bar, the bloggers, and the vampires.

Now, that you're all yawning at my longwindedness, here's the contest:
I need a real tagline. Something that is me, but something amusing too. Everyone has a cool tagline. I want one. So, hit me with a tagline. You have until midnight Pacific time on Sunday to leave your tagline in the comments. If you prefer a more private means of entering the contest, email your entries to winter at winterheart dot com. One caveat: you cannot say, "Bite Me" (cause all my little icons already say that), but you can use it as part of the tagline. C'mon. You know you wanna win a t-shirt with fangs.

Now, before I go... Tune in to Snackie Radio this Sunday because Hilly's guest is MOI! Yes, the two gals from SoCal will titillate you and make you horny, baby!

SUNDAY APRIL 20TH AT 3PM PACIFIC/6PM EASTERN

CLICK HERE TO GET A REMINDER FOR THE SHOW!

See you all Sunday at Blog Talk Radio! MUAH!

A Fanged Tuesday

Today's Tuesday Tune is a fanged song. I have been working on vamps a lot recently, and I love this song, so it all kinda works. The song is all instrumental with that little spoken piece rippling through it. It's a Lost Boys kinda song. Oh, and I love Godsmack too. Sully Erna looks like a vampire. Oh, baby.

The bloodsuckers I've been writing lately are my rock star Rune, his best friend Spyder, who is an extreme athlete, and Spyder's sister Gracie. Rune is just discovering that Gracie is his mate. Gracie is a hard nosed thing, prickly as a porcupine. She acts like she doesn't like Rune. She's pretty mean to him. She even told him she thinks he fucks men. Spyder kinda pushes the two together when Gracie's ex shows up trying to stake her. Then Spyder bails to deal with his own bloodmate, a wildling named Bianca. You will find all these recent posts at Winter Writes.

I can't post my Girl With Fangs today. I'm sorry. My back is out and I am a little buzzed on some vicodin codeine cocktail kinda pill. My back still hurts, I just don't give a shit cause I am floooooaaaaaating. Heh. I can't keep my eyelids propped open enough to edit the pages. I will post some Lex as soon as my back feels better. We are almost to the good part where Alaric walks naked into the bathroom and finds her in the jacuzzi tub.

There was something else I was going to say, but my foot's asleep and it's annoying me. So I gotta go. Thanks to all of you who stuck up for me choosing a hot fuck over some power and mega bucks. I must be lonely and need love. Wait. Isn't that a repetitive blogger theme? Shouldn't we be capitalizing on all the lonely bloggers out there by starting a blog just for them? BlogMatch.com. BlogDate.com. Lonelybloggerswhowillbegratefultogetsome.com. BlogFuckers.com. I like that last one. It has a nice ring to it. Quick! Someone check Whois!

I started my new job as moderator at DerbyFever.com tonight. It's cool having power over the sim. I can't wait to see if I have power in the chatroom too. Heh. I feel evil. Now, I gotta go check on them before I hit the air mattress that leaks. Have a rockin fanged Tuesday peeps!

Thursday Thirteen the Eighth

Remember that last week I got the idea from Susan's TT for a Bar themed TT? Well, this is it. It's a little long so I hope you'll bear with me. I always feel like I'm overloading you all on the Bar, but I promise not to do every TT on this story! At any rate, even though there are more than 13 couples in the story, here are 13 hot Bar couples!

Thirteen Immortal Couples from The Bar Story 1. Lucius Kohl and Opal Morgan - Luc is a vampire and Opal is an elemental. She can control the elements. When Luc makes her cry, it rains. The two of them have had a very rocky story right from the start. Opal ran away from Luc for about 25 years. Luc chased after her, always arriving after she'd left. Eventually, they joined, but it wasn't a fairy tale joining. Instead, Opal joined with Luc to save his life, in a situation fraught with danger. Recently, the two have finally become engaged. 2. Alaric Kohl and Alexandria Valentine Kohl - Both Alaric and Alexandria are vampires. Alaric was a drunk who had lost his first mate and didn't want the second one. Lex had lost her mate in a Nazi concentration camp and was involved with Alaric's cousin Johann, who wasn't interested in her for the long term. The vampire deity decided that since Lex was fading (dying) she needed to find her a mate. She put Lex in Alaric's path to see if he would become attracted to her, which, of course, he did. She is an ex Playboy bunny after all. The two begin to have dreams of each other before they even meet, and after they meet, it's one big let's fall in love and have sex 20 times a day party. They got engaged in New York's Central Park and flew to Vegas to the Bellagio to get hitched. Currently, they are expecting the birth of a son in the spring. 3. Matt Havens and Emerald Morgan - Matt Havens is a Pixie Prince and Emerald Morgan (Opal's younger sister) is a fire elemental. Matt left his home behind the veil to live in the Otherworld as a Calvin Klein underwear model. He ends up the boy toy of rock star Carlisle Ross, who dumps him when her mate comes back into her life. Emmy is the mate of Alaric Kohl, who dumps her for Lex Valentine. Queen Mab puts Emmy and Matt into dreams that aren't really dreams, and Matt ends up taking Emmy's virginity. He finds out the dreams aren't dreams when awakens and finds blood on his um you know. Emmy thinks the dreams are just dreams until, after a series of keystone cops scenes, Matt gets the chance to tell her he's real. Currently, the two are engaged, and off to London so Emmy can record her first album. 4. Johann Kohl and Lacey Phaedra - Johann Kohl is a vampire and Lacey is a Pixie Princess. Behind the veil, Lacey lived in the duchy next to Matt's. Her father was murdered by an evil pixie named Daggon who was obsessed with her. She escaped to the Otherworld and hid there. Finally, her job as a photographer for a tabloid, brings her into the world of budding rock star Johann, who is the lead singer of the all vampire band, Dark Ones of the Disgraced. At the time, Johann is hooked up with Lex Valentine and suffering from the loss of his mate who was killed in a bomb blast set by the evil Hellbounds vampires. Eventually, Johann gets over his first love Avei, and Lex, and embarks on a relationship with Lacey. Currently, the two are but a few posts away from doing "IT" for the first time. 5. Mary and Derek Draconarius-Wyrme - Mary and Derek are the mainstays of the Bar. They are the old married couple, but you'd never know it based on the way these two act! Mary is a red dragon, a fierce fighter, who came from a background of treachery and deceit and cold blooded killing. Derek is a green dragon, the wyvern (leader or king) of the colorless dragon sept. Derek too is a fierce fighter, and has untold magical abilities. However, his father instilled in him a desire to reunite the dragon world so that all colors were equal and at peace. Derek's sept is filled with dragons who were either kicked out of, or ran away from their septs. Many of them have prices on their heads, but Mary and Derek never fail to accept them. Currently, the two have four young dragons, quads, who were prophesied to bring about the unification of the dragon world. 6. Tarren Griffiths and Helios Kronos - Tarren is a dragon of mixed blood. Her mother was a silver dragon and her father a black dragon. Helios is a silver dragon. Tarren's mother was a captive from the last silver-black war. When Tarren came of age the evil ruler of the black sept, Onyx, gave her the opportunity to become one of his soldiers. As a warrior, Tarren meets her mate Gregory who runs the resistance against Onyx. After Gregory dies, Tarren is left alone. Helios has been searching for his mate all his life. On a mission to rescue silver captives and return the rightful black wyvern to his throne, Helios' life is saved by Tarren. Tarren ends up in Helios' family home as bodyguard to his brother's mate Rhiannon, the heir to the black sept. Helios doesn't discover that Tarren is his mate for quite some time, although Tarren knows. Eventually, she tells him and the two get together. Currently, the two have not yet mated and marked each other with mating marks, but they are living together at Kronos Chateau, the family pile. 7. Tristan and Winter Blackthorne - These two were my first two characters at the Bar. Winter is a siren, mated to a black dragon. Tristan is the true black wyvern. However, he spent more than 300 years in exile, while his people thought he was dead. His evil half brother Onyx tried to have him murdered, and thought he had succeeded. Instead, Tristan's best friend and bodyguard Talon saved his life and helped him escape from Wales. While living with his cousins the Solents, Tristan meets Winter and falls in love with her. He mates her after she pulls a crossbow bolt out of his shoulder. They have one child, Rhiannon, who is grown. They lose several other babies but finally Winter becomes pregnant once more with a child whose destiny has been prophesied as linked to that of Mary and Derek's children. Eventually, Tristan kills his brother Onyx and returns to his throne. Winter gives birth to their daughter Galen that night. Currently, the two are in Paris introducing Galen to friends and family. 8. Darrius Kronos and Sascha Kohl - Dare is a silver dragon and Sascha is a vampire. Dare had been involved with Opal's twin sister Ruby, but she ended up mating with his best friend Xavier. After that, he began to become interested in Johann's younger sister. However, Sascha suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome because she had been held captive by the Hellbounds vampires for many years until her brother rescued her. She had a difficult time dealing in the Otherworld and felt out of sync with her life because her brother was mated at the time to Avei. Avei and Sascha didn't like each other. Sacha hated that Avei never liked to let Johann feed. Avei didn't like how Johann spoiled his sister and held up for her over Avei. During this time, Sascha grew closer to Dare as Johann increasingly had less time for her. Eventually, Sascha and Dare discovered that they were mates and they joined. Currently, they are expecting a daughter in the spring and are on the eve of their wedding. 9. Rhiannon Blackthorne and Tobias Kronos - Rhiannon is a black dragon and Tobias is a silver dragon. Rhiannon comes of age (gains the ability to shift to dragon form) during a time of great danger to her family. The witch Vanora calls on her friend Tobias to play bodyguard to Rhiannon. Tobias has a rep as a party boy, but secretly wishes for a life of meaning. When he and Rhi meet, they light sparks off one another. Rhi sees the party boy and Toby sees a princess of the black sept. Toby gives Rhi her first kiss and witnesses her first kill. As the danger increases, the two grow closer. Eventually, they realize they are meant to be together. When Rhiannon's mother is kidnapped by the evil mage Caden, and her father takes off to rescue her and win back his sept, Rhiannon is left in the care of the Kronos brothers. When the danger is at it's height, Rhiannon asks Tobias to mate her, not just as a means of securing her safety, but because she has fallen in love with him. Currently, the two are living at Kronos Chateau dealing with family issues, but their destiny is about to catch up with them. 10. Elijah and Hasi Blue - Elijah is a blue dragon and his mate is from an alien realm, a city called Velocity Drift City. Hasi is basically an electrical conductor. With the help of an amulet that she wears around her neck, Hasi controls electricity and can use it as a weapon. The two had a very rocky beginning that included trouble with a man from Hasi's past. Finally, they mated and Hasi became pregnant. However, she was unsure if the child was Eli's or the man from her past's. They finally discovered that the baby was Elijah's. While pregnant, Hasi was kidnapped by Onyx and held in a dungeon in a Hungary castle. She was rescued by a team lead by Gregory Nefis, Tarren's mate. During the rescue, Gregory is killed. After their son Antonio is born, the Goddess of Mischief puts something in his bottle and he grows to manhood overnight. Currently, Elijah and Hasi have recently reunited after a fight over Antonio drove Hasi from her mate. 11. Carlisle Ross and Stein Kohl - Both Carlisle and Stein are vampires. Carlisle Ross is a very big rock star with a past. Her real name is Rosslyn DeVere, Duchess of Carlisle. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, she was engaged to marry a Grand Duke from Frankfurt named Stein Kohl. However, she ran away when she thought Stein was only marrying her because of her connection to the Queen. Rosslyn bears Stein's son out of wedlock, but he's murdered at age ten. Meanwhile, Stein is put under a spell by Godgifu. Thinking he's dead, his parents stick him in the family crypt. Because of her friendship with Dominic Solent, Rosslyn eventually becomes Carlisle the rock star. When Johann's mate is killed, Carlisle reads about it in the paper and decides to go to Paris to get some closure regarding Stein. What she doesn't know is that Dominic has discovered that Stein is not dead, only in a coma. He and Johann release Stein from his crypt. When Carlisle goes to the cemetery, Dominic tells her Stein is alive. The two eventually get over their pasts, and some secrets and join. They are currently engaged and about to go on tour. 12. Blake Solent and Eden Wellesley - Blake is a 1000 year old vampire and Eden is human, an ex-CIA agent. The two meet at Blake's nightclub Wicked Pleasures while Eden is hunting an Otherworld assassin named Madspawn. Blake falls for her right away, but is stunned to discover she has a tattoo of his rock star brother Dominic's signature on her hip. The two get past that and end up together almost from the moment they meet. Their "couple-ness" is solidified during a shootout in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where they are fighting Hellbounds vampires and searching for Madspawn who is working for the HBs. Blake, who was once a Knight Templar, has a magical holy sword that kills anything evil. Eden keeps a flamethrower in the trunk of her Audi. Currently, the two have not yet joined because Eden has a fear of living forever. 13. Valerian Kronos and Nyx McClaren - Valerian is a silver dragon and Nyx is a water fairy. Val is a commander in secret branch of the silver sept's army, the Silver Shadows. Nyx is a legendary spy and hacker known as the McClaren. The two meet when they are both on a mission to rescue people being held by Onyx. They have a one night stand and Valerian feeds Nyx his fire, something only other dragons or a mate are able to withstand. Because Nyx took his fire and fed it back to him, Val knows she must be his mate, but he doesn't want to acknowledge it. After the mission, both of them return home. Val is injured in a black dragon attack and Nyx feels the cut along her own back. Driven to find Val she ends up with him in a B&B, fighting her feelings. She escapes once Val's brother Helios arrives, but Val finds her in Wales. Eventually, the two work out their problems against the background of a mission to regain the black sept for Tristan Blackthorne. Currently, the two are mated but their lives are in danger from a rogue Fallen Angel named Macaire, who has a mysterious vendetta against Nyx.

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That's it for me today. Kyra Sutra is taking a few days off from blogging, so she can just relax and blog hop. Her guest blogger on Thursday is the always awesome Turnbaby, and on Friday, you'll find me over there being more raunchy than I get here at home. So I hope you will all come by Kyra's blog on Friday to see how rude and wild I get! And, don't forget to go by today to see Turnbaby's offering!