So I have a BlackBerry Storm smart phone. It is the best phone I’ve had to this point. I am a tech junkie and have loaded and unloaded many megabytes of applications. I keep some for a little while then get bored and move on to the next BBBBA (Bigger, Better, BlackBerry Application). I started with games, then discovered eBook readers. I’ve tried 3 or 4 already. They feed my compulsive need to read. Recently I discovered the Kindle App for BlackBerry. I am totally in LOVE! It fulfills all my addictive reading needs:

1) Amazon has the amazing(!) 1-click® option… I find the book I want to download, press the 1-click® button and INSTANTLY it loads to my phone.

2) The Kindle App integrates perfectly into my phone’s design. I just click (press the screen) on the right side to INSTANTLY advance the pages and on the left side to go back.

3) The Kindle App remembers the last page I was reading and INSTANTLY opens to that page when I click the book name. I don’t have to remember where I was. I don’t even need to bookmarked it manually, but I can if I want.

I love being able to put as many books as my phone’s media card will hold. Some people collect music mp3s. I collect books.

My first downloaded book was What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe so I could participate a GoodReads book club.

The rest of the books my current reading list:

Foreign Influence: A Thriller by Brad Thor

Winston’s War by Max Hastings

Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams (aka, Elizabeth Spann Craig)

Pretty is as Pretty Dies: A Myrtle Clover Mystery by Elizabeth Spann Craig

Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs

Gunpowder Green by Laura Childs

Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs

While a digital reader will never replace books for the true aficionado, the Kindle App for BlackBerry suits me just fine. Yes, I have to wear my reading glasses when using my phone, but I have to when reading a book too. Eventually I would love to have a Kindle or Sony eBook reader, but for now I am enjoying being able to grab my phone from my purse or back pocket and sneak a couple of pages in while I’m waiting in line or for my dear Hubs to pump gas. At least now, I don’t have to give an account of myself for taking a book on a date! LOL

Ok, I admit it… I have read the whole Twilight saga. And yes, I saw the first two movies. No, I haven’t seen Eclipse…yet.

Yes, I like Dark Shadows, the 1960s cult classic.  No, I’m not fond of Interview with a Vampire — although it’s probably because a couple of the actors’ current public lives have turned me off to them personally. The story itself was intriguing, albeit, typical:  Vamp seeks soul… regrets past.

I’ve watched a few episodes of Moonlight on CBS. Cute vamp, cute mortal…same old stuff.

I had managed to totally avoid watching any of the The Vampire Diaries broadcast on the CW, until…

I got hives. The meds gave me insomnia. What else is a girl to watch all by herself in the middle of the night during a huge thunderstorm that was pouring torrential rains? Vampires.

And so, during my 36+ hours of feeling like the undead myself (minus the phenomenal strength and gory appetite), I watched the entire first season…all 22 episodes.

And yes, my BlackBerry calendar is now set to alert me to 9 pm, September 9 for the premiere of Season 2.

So what is up with vamps? Why are so many women and teens absolutely fascinated?

• Well there is the ageless thing… They get to stay whatever age they were when they were ‘changed.’ (I would have wanted to have escaped the teen years for sure!)
• Then there is the amazing strength, both physical and healing. Cure for the middle-aged sag???
• How ’bout the lack of repercussions for misdeads? ‘Cept that whole stake in the heart thing.
• If you get your vamp info from current YA lit, it’s mostly about the sex. (Understand the draw here.)

But on the whole, the vampires of current movie and literature rave are still angst-ridden and dissatisfied with their lots. Unless they’re the bad guys. They just rampage and destroy the perfectly happy(?) lives of the ‘good’ (or vegetarian) vamps.

And to step up on my quasi-feminist soap box for a minute…

How come, with the exception of Alice & Esme, all the female vampires are self-centered, raging pyscopaths? They get to be beautiful but are relegated to hateful side stories–not the main focus of any of the vamp stories I’ve read or watched. (Jane, Katherine, Claudia–Rosalie does have that turnaround in mood, eventually.) Even the bad male vampires have appealing plot lines because there is a chance they can become good guys eventually. (More on Damon Salvatore, played by Ian Somerhalder, in a bit.)

Most females in the stories are the mortal girls just begging (or thinking about begging) to be ‘turned’ by their hunky, heartbeat-less, boyfriends. Come on Bella, Elena, Beth, Victoria! Woman up!!!

My conclusion on the subject of living the life of the undead:

An eternity filled with angst, anger, regrets (plus always worrying about fire and wooden stakes)–is not my idea of a fun immortality. The stories appeal to the feelings of powerlessness in their fans. And the nurturing instinct in women to make it all right for those we love…

Now to Damon Salvatore

In the beginning of Season 1 of The Vampire Diaries, he is the evil brother trying to ruin everything for our hero, Stefan (played by Paul Wesley). Stefan is the very typical brooding, stuck at 17 years old, male vampire. Now at my undisclosed age, I have to deal with an “ick” factor when watching some of these hunky actors playing teens–so I am more drawn to adult male vamps. Damon (played oh-so-well by Ian Somerhalder) seems to fit right into what appeals to me: A gorgeous (adult) bad guy who seems to have some redeeming qualities…he will change, IF he can steal his brother’s love interest.

The season finale left us wondering just how Damon will be redeemed. That is the only reason I will be tuning in Thursdays this fall. No really!

PS: The vamp image at the top was my avatar, Tricia, for the few months I let myself procrastinate during my writing time playing Vampire Wars on Facebook. Even with my mature mindset, I still designed a slender, hot avatar with great hair! Plus her eye color matches mine. Don’t judge me…I’m only human… For now. *Just Kidding, my prudish friends! Remember, I’m a fiction/fantasy writer…*