Friday, May 25, 2012

Sonja Blue's DNA, Par t2

Another contributor to the primal creative soup that resulted in Sonja Blue is proto-punk musician/force of nature Iggy Pop, who combines Sonja's anguish and The Other's anger, gleeful chaos and fondness for self-destruction.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sonja Blue's DNA: Part 1

One question I've gotten a lot in the 23 years since Sunglasses After Dark was first published is "where did you get the idea for Sonja Blue?" Like all things, she evolved over time. She was essentially born from my dissatisfaction with the role models provided to me as a young girl. There were precious few smart, witty, competent, kick-ass  strong women on the pop culture scene in the 1960s. With the very obvious exception of Diana Rigg's Mrs. Emma Peel, on the British spy-adventure show THE AVENGERS.


Addicted To Ebooks

A Dozen Black Roses is one of the books featured on the front page of today's Addicted To Ebooks, a database where authors and publishers can submit their ebooks, allowing readers to search by genre, price or subject matter. The only caveat is that the book must have at least 5 US Amazon reader reviews and 1 book blog review, and cost less than $6.


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Some Velvet Morning Now Available via Kindle & Nook

The Sonja Blue novella Some Velvet Morning is now available from Biting Dog Publications in ebook format from both Kindle and Nook for $3.99, with a new cover by Psycho Sako Studios.


Once upon a time there was an Contessa who kept herself eternally beautiful by bathing in the blood of those she butchered. For years and years she traveled around the world, luring innocent and sinner alike to their doom in order to feed her monstrous vanity, with no one to stop her. Then, one day, the Contessa met the dreaded vampire hunter, Sonja Blue, with her mirrored-eyes and dreadful silver switchblade. The Contessa survived their fateful first encounter, only to lose her legs. No longer able to hunt or kill on her own, she sought out a partner to help her draw her bath of blood. She finally found the perfect companion in Phaedra, a young runaway with a troubled past, who she schooled in the arts of seduction and murder, until she became the world's deadliest female serial killer. Together they have left a trail of death and destruction across the globe, always managing to be just a step or two ahead of their hated nemesis. But all fairy tales must have their end. And now that Sonja Blue knows where the Contessa is hiding, living happily ever after is not an option.


Buy it from Kindle
Buy it from Nook

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Friday, May 4, 2012

You, Too, Can Wear Sunglasses After Dark

 For sale! Limited quantities! The late great Martin Emond's vision of Sonja Blue is featured on these quality preshrunk Sunglasses After Dark t-shirts, originally printed by Old Glory. $15 M-L & $18 XL-XXL. Shipping & handling included within the USA. $5 extra for orders outside the USA. Paypal only: nacollins313@att.net

RIP Marty1969-2004


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Sunglasses After Dark Back In Print!


After spending years out of print, the award-winning Sunglasses After Dark is back in ebook form via Premier Digital  Publishing, with a brand new cover by artist extraordinaire Sean Hartter!

 Acknowledged as one of the first Urban Fantasy novels, Sunglasses After Dark burst upon the fantasy/horror scene in 1989, garnering wide-spread critical praise and winning the Horror Writers Association's coveted Bram Stoker Award, as well as the British Fantasy Society's Icarus Award.

Out of print for several years, Premier Digitial Publishing's edition of Sunglasses After Dark has been extensively revised and edited by the author, and is now considered the preferred text. The sequels In The Blood and Paint It Black are scheduled to be released by PDP later this year.

One spring night in London, heiress Denise Thorne disappears while partying at a nightclub, never to be seen again. That very same night Sonja Blue, a tough-as-nails punk vampire/vampire-slayer, conceived in terror and blood, is born from the city's gutters. Saved by modern medicine before she could die, she is a living vampire who still posses a soul and is determined to fight for what remains of her humanity. In the years since her bizarre resurrection, Sonja Blue travels the globe, hunting down and disposing of those creatures that prey on the innocent while searching for the vampire Noble who created her. But when she investigates a sleazy televangelist named Catherine Wheele, who is exploiting Denise Thorne's parents, Sonja finds herself up against a powerful inhuman adversary. But as dangerous as Catherine Wheele proves to be, Sonja's greatest foe remains The Other, the demonic personality with whom she is locked in constant battle for control of their shared body. Can Sonja Blue over her inner demons in time to rescue an innocent man from Catherine Wheele's unholy clutches?


 

 $4.99 from Kindle










$4.99 via Nook



Return of the Living Wiki

Several years ago Sonja Blue had her own Wikipedia listing, which included an extremely detailed psychological study that must have been done by some nameless, very dedicated fan, because it sure as hell wasn't me. Then, about 4 years ago, her entry disappeared, eradicated by some self-appointed wiki-editor who decided Sonja somehow wasn't as culturally important as tertiary characters in obscure anime, and banished it to limbo. Either that, or he was a Joss Whedon fanboy, and took umbrage at the opening paragraph of said article (emphasis mine):

"Sonja Blue, previously known under the name Denise Thorne, is a fictional character. She is a Vampire Slayer/Vampire heroine from a self-titled series of novels written by Nancy A. Collins. Sonja Blue is considered to be the archetype of the tough, vampire female in leather within supernatural-themed literature. She could also be considered a direct forerunner of Buffy Anne Summers (a young woman with the power of a demon, who stalks and kills supernatural beings, particularly vampires), and the world she inhabits bears many direct similarities to the Buffyverse, full of demons blending into human society, and taking on many human attributes in the process. The specific type of vampirism represented in the Sonja Blue novels is extremely similar to that depicted in the Buffyverse, in terms of both propagation and effect. The Buffyverse character Faith seems very reminiscent of Sonja at times."

But on the internet, just like vampire fiction, dead is not forever. I have recently stumbled over the exact same entry enshrined on Wikibin.org, joining other entries discarded from Wikipedia.org such as Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, B-Goth and Steamfunk,  and Lynkos.


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Coming Very, Very Soon

I am pleased to announce that an authorized  ebook edition of Sunglasses After Dark will be appearing soon from Premier Digital Publishing, a new epublishing house that also features work by such authors as Stephen Ambrose, Piers Anthony, Sue Grafton, and Andre Norton. This version of Sunglasses After Dark has been considerably revised and updated, and features a rockin' cover by Sean Hartter, (who also sells posters, hint-hint). Keep checking back, as I'll be posting the links to Amazon, Nook, iTunes, Kobo, Sony, and Google Play once they go live.