Review: Sunglasses After Dark

Sunglasses After Dark
by
Nancy A. Collins
Available from Amazon in trade paperback,
from Barnes and Noble as a Nook e-book,
from various other book sellers on the internet.

Good afternoon constant reader.

If you're looking for a gritty, bloody, no holds barred, in your face no-sparkling-vampires-allowed vampire tale, then this is the book for you.
While Nancy A. Collins is not a "new" author by any means, you need to run, not walk, to your nearest book source and read what you've been missing.

Allow me to introduce you to Sonja Blue. She's a vampire with an ax to grind big time.
When we first meet Sonja, she's cooped up in a loony bin and is slowly but surely starting to shrug off the drugs she's sedated with and able to figure out her predicament. Sonja's "other" is getting stronger and stronger and enables her to finally break out and into the freedom of the night, to pursue her identity and some vengeance.

Sonja is a tragic figure. Memories of who she was before she was turned into a vampire plague her and drive her to the edge of madness. Make no mistake though, when push comes to shove, Sonja reacts in true vampire style.
Blood definitely flows...or splatters, as the case may be.

Another pivotal character in our tale is Catherine Wheele. She's a powerful, enigmatic, charismatic televangelist. Add ruthless to that list and you have the ingredients for a humdinger of an antagonist.

The end scene is satisfying when certain people arrive at their just desserts.

Nancy A. Collins's world of darkness is painted from a rich palette populated not only by vampires, but demons, ogres and other bump-in-the-nighters.

The series of Sonja novels stretches 10 books, with a new one on the rise.


The Official Sonja Blue blog
Nancy A. Collins on Twitter
Nancy A. Collins on Wikipedia

The Reading Challenge, It Goes On

Good evening constant reader.

I'm nearly finished with Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts.
It hasn't been what I expected.
That's not to say it's bad, but it isn't making me want to sit with it on a constant basis.

There are some very good stories.
There are some mediocre stories.

I think the title is a little misleading.
Yes, there are some ghosts in the traditional sense, and some that aren't.
The scope of the collection is ambitious, yes.
Did it fail?
No, but having read two of Joe's novels, this collection is not representative of his talent.

Next up, as I anticipate finishing 20th Century Ghosts before the weekend is out, will be Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins.

13 Questions with Nancy Collins...and don't worry, a review will be forthcoming

Good evening constant reader.

I'm going to do something a little different.

Usually I post a book review, then post the author's answers to the 13 Questions.

This time it's going to be the opposite.

Nancy A. Collins, author of Sunglasses After Dark, In The Blood, Paint It Black, A Dozen Black Roses, Darkest Heart, Dead Roses For a Blue Lady, Search and Destroy, Cold Turkey, Some Velvet Morning (her Sonja Blue series) two more series, Vamps and Golgotham (both trilogies), writer for the comics Swamp Thing and Jason Vs Leatherface, a handful of novels, collections, a lot of novellas, contributor to anthologies...well, you get the idea, she's quite prolific...has answered my 13 Questions.
But I've not reviewed her...yet.

I read Sunglasses After Midnight, In The Blood and Paint It Black when they were first published, (1989, 1992 and 1995 respectively) and they were a knock out. Visceral and twisted, bloody and violent - a vampire lover's delight.
I'm going to go back and re-read Sunglasses After Midnight and publish my review after the 13 Questions.

Nancy has a new Sonja Blue novel in the works and has started a indiegogo page to fund it.
You can find all the information here: Kill City - the new Sonja Blue novel by Nancy A. Collins
If you can help fund this project, I urge you to.

1. You’re hosting a dinner party. What is the menu, and do you cook it yourself, or do you call a caterer?
Grilled shish-ka-bobs made from filet mignon, chicken breast, peppers, onion & Portabella mushrooms; par-grilled corn-on-the-cob; potato salad; and pumpkin-cheesecake with an apricot glaze for dessert. And I'd cheat and do both, because my fiance is a a professional cook and I'd let him do the grilling & the corn, while I'd make the potato salad & dessert.

2. What is your beverage of choice?
Non-alcoholic: Coke Zero.
Alcoholic: Larceny Bourbon.

3. Physical book Vs an E-Reader. Your preference and why?
I still prefer physical books, although I have been reading more and more on my Nook. The basic reason is habit more than anything else--and the fact I can't accidentally skip several pages ahead or back by where I put my thumb.

4. What kinds of books make up your personal library?
It's split between non-fiction reference materials and fiction by friends and those writers who have influenced me over the years. And graphic novels. I have a great deal of J.G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs, William Kotzwinkle, Ramsey Campbell, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael McDowell, Robert McCammon, Joe Lansdale, John Shirley, Alan Moore, Pat Mills and Neil Gaiman in my personal collection.

5. How and when did you catch the writing bug?
Around the age of 3, according to my mother. I got bored waiting for adults to read me stories and started drawing my own--since I still didn't know how to write.

6. What is your writing routine?
Well, I usually do a detailed outline in long hand, breaking the story down into chapters, with each action taken on a separate, numbered line. As I finish that section of the story, I cross it off the list. I usually don't start writing until after dinner, as I spent the afternoon handling the nuts-and-bolts of my business--answering emails, going to the bank, calling agents and editors, etc. I usually work until 2-3 in the morning.

7. If you ever encounter writer’s block, what steps do you take to get past it?
I've had more than one bout of writer's block. The only thing you can do is push your way through it. I try to write something every day, even if its only a couple of paragraphs.

8. Do you have a hidden talent?
I bake.

9. What was your best subject in school?
English, of course.

10. As in any entertainment, there are current trends. How much do these “current trends” influence what you write?
Well, I was approached to write a YA vampire series a few years back, if that answers your question.

11. Mac or PC?
PC.

12. Where do your ideas come from?
If I told you that I'd have to kill you.

13 What advice would you pass on to an aspiring author?
Write what you know. Read outside the genre you're writing for.
Grow as thick a skin as possible, and if you can't grow a skin, never read your reviews on Amazon.

Nancy A. Collins on Fantastic Fiction 
Nancy A. Collins on Facebook