TrueBloodNet Exclusive: True Blood Cast Interview at Club Fangtasia

True Blood stars Marshall Allman (Tommy Mickens & Tara Buck (Ginger)

Being a writer for TrueBloodNet is loads of fun - especially when you are given the opportunity to attend events such as Club Fangtasia. It's even more fun when you get to interview the True Blood cast that are attending this event!

The stars have a busy schedule, between autograph signings at the Seamus O'Tooles Irish Pub at Knox Ozone and their public appearances at both First Contact's Full Blood convention and the Club Fangtasia True Blood Halloween party. But  I was lucky enough to interview Marshall Allman (who plays Tommy Mickens on HBO's True Blood) and Tara Buck (AKA Ginger The Screamer in HBO's True Blood).

While Kevin Alejandro (Jesus Velasquez) and Janina Gavankar (Luna Garza) were unable to attend this event due to the devastating effect of Hurricane Sandy (you can help out by donating to Red Cross or using the iTunes app), fans will certainly not be disappointed by Marshall and Tara!

The full interview can be viewed at TrueBloodNet.

Now that all my media obligations have been met, it's just a matter of donning my costume - I'm going as Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll), which is the reason I am now a redhead - and joining in the festivities at Club Fangtasia, which is truly the most fun ever!

Make sure you check back here for my Club Fangtasia Recap.

True Blood Club Fangtasia Halloween Party is Approaching Fast!

It's Time to Announce the Awesome Stuff!

So, you've heard me mention it time and again here, on Facebook and on the TrueBloodNet website. Club Fangtasia is being hosted once more by the fabulous crew at the Seamus O'Tooles Irish Pub in Knox. While the first two events were truly spectacular, this year promises to top all current expectations! But you need to get in quick as the very last 20 VIP tickets and 20 General Admission tickets have been released. Go to the Club Fangtasia website quickly if you want to snap a few up!

So what's new?

• This year there are True Blood celebrities - yes you can meet some of the actors that make the show so darn HOT!
• Spectacular prizes are on offer. Want a piece of your fave True Blood star? Then this is the best bet you have of winning it for nothing more than the purchase of your ticket
• An all day event has been organised by First Contact Conventions called Full Blood and will include a day of True Blood activities. (Check here to see if tickets are still available)
• Personalised autographs (of the celebrities attending the Halloween party) can be purchased at Seamus O'Tooles from 2-4pm on Saturday the 3rd of November (the day before the event)
• True Blood auctions - bid on personal True Blood items belonging to the stars of the show! All proceeds will go to the charities of the celebrities choice - a win-win situation for all involved
• True Blood merchandise - buy bottles of Tru Blood and Merlotte's T-shirts amongst other great items
• Fangtails: Tru Blood cocktails - need I say more?!
• Oh, and, I will be interviewing the celebrities!

So, who are these celebrities that I will be chatting to for TrueBloodNet? Well, as per the recent email sent from Club Fangtasia headquarters, it was announced that Pam (Kristin Bauer) has been summoned by The Authority and can no longer attend. Holly (Lauren Bowles) has unfortunately been caught up in one of her very own wiccan spells and will not be released in time, which means she will no longer be attending either. But there is still a super line up to keep even the most avid True Blood fans happy!

Replacing Pam is the fabulous Tommy Mickens (Marshal Allman), which is sure a fantastical feat since he was killed in a previous season! Luna (Janina Gavankar) has also graciously decided to replace Holly and is shape-shifting into a bird as we speak in order to make it to Australia before the 4th of November. Jesus (Kevin Alejandro), Lafayette's brujo boyfriend is also confirmed as attending - his whole body and not just his head ;-) And, finally, Ginger, the screamer, (Tara Buck) is confirmed as well. Let's just hope we can hear the music over her blood-curdling wails!

Want me to ask the celebrities a question on your behalf? Then let me know in the comments below and I'll see what I can do.

Make sure you bookmark or subscribe to this blog in order to view the exclusive TrueBloodNet video interviews with the stars of True Blood as well as my recap of the Club Fangtasia Halloween party!

(Photo Credits: Garth O'Hehir/ClubFangtasia.com.au)

True Blood Season 5 Finale - Gran's Pecan Pie Recipe

So tomorrow is the Season 5 finale for HBO's True Blood. Being a writer for the TrueBloodNet fan site, this means a bitter-sweet moment for me. Firstly, it means my writing load eases again. For the twelve weeks while the show airs, I am busy writing the episode recaps and keeping on top of what's going on in the Sookieverse. Secondly, it means the show is over and I have to wait until the following June to get my next Bon Temps fix!

Of course, finale night means party night also! This year there will be Tru Blood Plasmapolitans (Tru Blood, Vodka and lime juice) as well as a good dose crying - which of course means Sookie's gran's famous Cryin' Pie! For those of you who haven't been bitten by the True Blood bug, in Season 1, Sookie's gran met an untimely demise. As a result, Sookie proceeded to work her way through half a pecan pie she found in the fridge that gran had made before meeting her bloody end. Needless to say, she blubbered her way through the entire thing!

Gran's Pie before adding the maple toffee

This year, I have attempted to replicate gran's pie. I think I've come pretty darn close. So here is the recipe for you all to enjoy. If you want a more authentic version, omit the maple toffee.

Gran's Cryin' Pecan Pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust

1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
113grams cold, unsalted butter, chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pie Filling

395gram tin condensed milk
60grams brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsps Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pecan halves, to decorate

Maple Toffee

Brown sugar
Maple syrup
Water

Method

• Add all the pastry ingredients to a food processor and whiz until totally combined.
• Grease a pie dish and, using your fingers, press out the pastry dough until smooth. 
• Bake in the over at 170 degrees Celsius

• Add all the pie filling ingredients (except the eggs) to a pan and heat on a medium temperature until the sugar is dissolved.
• Turn off the heat and allow to cool for five minutes.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking quickly to prevent them cooking unevenly.
• Turn the heat back on to low and whisk until the mixture thickens into custard.
• Pour into the pie crust and decorate with pecan halves

• Firmly pack 1/3 cup brown sugar into measuring cup. Top up with maple syrup to the 1/2 cup mark. Add to a pan along with 1/4 cup of water.
• Turn on the heat to high and let the mixture boil. Keep checking the toffee by pouring a small amount over the back of a cold metal spoon. As soon as it becomes super sticky, pour the whole lot over the top of your pie.
• Refrigerate until set and serve with either whipped cream or ice cream
• Enjoy! (But don't forget to cry while eating it.)

Halloween, NaNoWriMo and a New "Friend"

Here in Australia, Halloween is not so much of a big deal - or it wasn't a few years back. When I was a child, we never celebrated, mainly because my mother was religious and she didn't want to encourage the devil. So, of course, as soon as I was given half a chance, I stuck to Halloween like warts stick to witches.

This year I have been lucky enough to score tickets to possibly the best fun that can be had on Halloween eve - Club Fangtasia. This is a True Blood inspired party. There are plenty of Sookie's (myself included), loads of vampires and enough blood on tap to keep those vampires away from the humans. This event is so popular, that it is now sold out. Make sure you pop back here later on next week for all the photos in their gruesome glory!

Once Halloween is over, it is time for NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month to the uninitiated). This time last year I had absolutely no idea that the 80,000 word novel I was about to churn out in 29 days would be be picked up by publishing co-operative Fantasy Island Book Publishing. And such is the joy of the wild abandonment that is NaNoWriMo - anything is possible.

This year's theme is just as dark as last years, 'Emeline and the Mutants,' but nowhere near as bloody. Or so I hope. You see last year's novel was supposed to be urban fantasy, not fantasy/horror. Who knows which way the winds of creativity will flow once I start. I have tentatively titled this novel, 'The Ring of Lost Souls.' It will be based around an evil entity that has been trapped in an abandoned mental asylum. It's only point of contact with the 'real' world is via a ring. Needless to say my main character will be stupid enough to put this ring on and come in contact (read: possessed) with this entity.

Just like last year, my main character has graciously decided to set herself up with a Facebook account. So if you want to follow her life story as it unfolds during the month of November, then make sure you send a friend request to Isobel Claudette Smith.

Happy Halloween and good luck to all my NaNoWriMo friends - may all your plot bunnies be well behaved this year ;-)

Here, There and Everywhere!

It feels like it's been a million years since I blogged. And, honestly, it has been a while, but September is a crazy, busy month for me. I have roughly 1,865,778 things on my list of "Stuff to finish before NaNoWriMo."

So here is a really brief breakdown of what I have been up to:

• School - yes, I am a mature age student. I am currently studying to become a hot librarian. Or so my hubby seems to think. Hopefully I will just be one of those regular types that don't have to wear glasses and swish my hair ridiculously every time someone enters the library.
• TrueBloodNet - this is an all year gig (I write articles for them), but the True Blood season finale is in September, so I have a legitimate excuse to be all fangbangery, just like a goth teenager
• Club Fangtasia - this ties in with True Blood also. It is an awesome Halloween party being held at a local pub. So I also have an excuse to splatter red paint at a white Merlotte's t shirt and call it a costume
• Getting Emeline and the Mutants into print format - Now I can hear you all squealing with excitement (and I know some of those squeals are coming from men, so I will be discrete and not mention any names *cough* Gary Hoover *cough*). For those of you who are not yet lucky enough to own a fabulous eReading device, you will be able to purchase my book in paperback very shortly. Of course, this is another excuse to splatter red paint: this time at a book cover. By the way, watch this space for an exclusive sneak peak of the new cover artwork
• School holidays - my kids are on holidays. Some days I do nothing but separate the pair of them. Once of these days I will video it, YouTube it and let them have to face the fact that their mother is very good at embarrassing the crap out of them
• NaNoWriMo - Emeline and the Mutants was last year's NaNoWriMo. This year I have been researching a story that will be entirely different. So far I have bookmarked about 100 websites that deal with the paranormal, ghost hunting and deserted mental institutions - can you guess what my book will be about? It has a current working title of 'The Ring of Lost Souls'

Phew! I'm exhausted...time to go back to studying......(read: watching Ghost Hunters for 'research')

True Blood Interview on Triple J Radio Station

So, you may have noticed that i am a bit of a True Blood fan. I also write for a US based True Blood fansite called True Blood Net. Recently, my hubby was listening to Triple J on the way home from work, when a conversation was started about True Blood, and all things relating to vampires. So being the opportunist my hubby is, he insisted that I send them a text about the show.

So I did.

And this is what happened (you can listen to the whole podcast, but my interview starts around the 29 minute mark):

It's True Blood Time!

So I am a Trubie through and through. I have the blood spattered t shirt a la Sookie in episode 2 of Season 1 to prove it! Which means that as I write this, I am doing so with trembling fingers and a blood pulse that could quite frankly be dangerous. When blog goes live, True Blood will be screening in the States: Season 4, Episode 1. Unfortunately, being here in Australia, I will have to wait quite a bit longer to view this episode. Or watch it illegally and then suffer the guilt of robbing HBO and the actors of their royalties.

But, for a True Blood inspired blog, I thought I would bring up the subject of vampires. Being a writer for True Blood Net, I have had a while to ponder this very matter, and in particular, why True Blood works so well. Is it because of the current infatuation with all things fang related? Or is it the fact that most things HBO touches turns to gold? It's probably a bit of both. But I think it has more has to do with the fact that True Blood is glorfied porn. Blood-spattered vampire porn, to be exact. So many of my friends what this show in secret. They never bring the topic up unless someone else mentions the show first. It's all a bit naughty - even for grown ups. It's completely childish of us, watching it in the dark and behind closed doors. Possibly with a bottle of wine and a whip (or is that just me...) However, that is the one thing that seems to make us love the show even more than the books by Charlaine Harris that the show was based on.

As an author of a book that contains vampires (but not hotties of the Eric Northman persuasion) and *hopefully* enough gore to make HBO and Alan Ball proud, I would like to think that, as adults, we are more mature that that.

But I don't think so ;-P

Happy True Blood Day Fangers! V""V