What would I be, if God wanted me to be something different? I would be whatever God saw fit to make me.

Whatever God sees fit for me, one thing will never change. I will always be a monster.

– Solomon Birch

World of Darkness: Mirrors is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Listen to what I tell you, son, every word is true
The sisters haunt the night, and might fight over you
Nothing can steal your soul and stamp it in the mud
Like being the new play-pretty for the girls with the games of blood . . .

The old song warns of the beautiful Bolade sisters, Patience and Prudence, whose undying rivalry was said to stretch even beyond the grave. But Count Rudolfo Vladimir Zginski has never heard the song. A suave Continental vampire, staked to death more than sixty years ago, he has risen to stalk the Southern nights of Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1975. Although new to the modern world, he has quickly developed a taste for its hot blood, willing women, and high-speed automobiles.

Alex Bledsoe, author of Blood Groove, returns to he world of the undead with a tale of fast cars and vengeance that never dies. . . .

Flames Rising is pleased to present the first chapter of The Girls with Games of Blood.

A mad scientist is experimenting with viral Rage in the middle of the woods. One of the victims of this crazy doctor’s experiment goes mad, escapes and kills the Doctor himself before escaping into the woods, where he meets his death from the Virus. After eating the corpse of the infected victim, the Rage Virus spread to the wild vultures. This causes a lot of horrific problems for visitors and campers to the woods. The birds attack several hikers in the area, spreading and mutating the virus into the plant-life as well. The Vultures infect victims by spraying this yellow slime into their faces. After a group of concert goers get tangled up in this mess when their RV is pretty much decimated by a Raging Zombie and air bombed by Raging Vultures.

After going through hundreds of entries, the judges have narrowed the field and selected the nominees for each of the 20 categories. On behalf of the judges and the Board of Directors, please allow me to congratulate each publisher for their nomination(s) for the Tenth Annual ENnie Awards. Voting for the ENnies will begin on July 16th. Until then, feel free to view the nominees and offer your own congratulations.

Visit the official announcement page for links to all of the products listed below:

The judges have chosen five products for each category below. The HM products (Honorable Mention) are products that the judges really liked, but fell short of an actual nomination. For more information, click on a product’s name. Winners will be announced on the evening of Friday, August 6th at Gen Con!

The Ancient Egyptian gods have defeated all the other pantheons and claimed dominion over the earth, dividing it into warring factions. Lt. David Westwynter, a British soldier, stumbles into Freegypt, the only place to have remained independent of the gods’ influence. There, he encounters the followers of a humanist leader known as the Lightbringer, who has vowed to rid mankind of the shackles of divine oppression. As the world heads towards an apocalyptic battle, there is far more to this freedom fighter than it seems…

A demon is nothing but sin given will and power

A man who makes a deal with a demon is inviting that sin into him. It does more than consume him – it defines him. It wears him. It rots away at the core of his being. Demons can do it to places, too – whole cities, given the chance. They can alter the supernatural landscape.

Here, then, is the result of sin, hubris and impatience, and here is a chance to banish a demon back to Hell and right a great wrong – or to seize power. Which will the characters choose?

Fallen is Babylon is available now at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

With fans eagerly anticipating the debut of Archaia Entertainment and Before the Door’s first joint comic project, the two companies proudly unveiled the final cover to the first issue of LUCID, which will debut in August in comic book shops, with advance copies available at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Calif., July 22-25, 2010.

Lucid is a four-issue miniseries written and illustrated by newcomers Michael McMillian and Anna Wieszczyk, who also drew the cover. McMillian is a longtime comics fan and no stranger to the entertainment industry, having recently appeared on the hit HBO series “True Blood” and as a recurring regular on the Amanda Bynes CW television series, “What I Like About You.” McMillian is the creator of Lucid and this is his first written comic work. Wieszczyk is based in Poland and her short story, “Acid Sunset,” was recently published in Popgun Anthology Vol. 4. She is also currently working on Halo8’s Godkiller motion comic.

Fantasist Enterprises is offering lifetime subscriptions to its line of anthologies and novels in an effort to raise funds for their next anthology, Fantastical Visions V. The fundraiser is taking place from June 15 to July 31 on Kickstarter.com, a web site devoted to helping creative projects, events, and dreams come to life. “We’re offering lifetime subscriptions to the Fantastical Visions series, as well as our main line of fantasy and horror books, in order to publish the anthology, and to generate seed money that will help us grow as a company and work with more authors,” says publisher and editor-in-chief William Horner. “If we raise enough capital, we have several projects in the works that we will be able to complete right away. We’ll then reopen for submissions.”

The Event FIVE Years in the Making!

Thirteen mystical Artifacts, including the Witchblade, the Darkness and others, guide the fate of the Top Cow Universe. For centuries, it’s been whispered that bringing together all 13 Artifacts would herald mankind’s destruction. But a mysterious figure has been manipulating events, laying plans to put Armageddon into motion. The final phase begins here, with the abduction of Hope, the daughter of Sara Pezzini and Jackie Estacado. What ensues will remake the entirety of the Top Cow Universe, from the Witchblade and the Darkness, to the Angelus, Magdalena, and countless others. Artifacts #1 is the perfect place for faithful readers to see their loyalty pay off, and for new readers to experience the Top Cow Universe.

Flames Rising is pleased to present several preview pages from this new series by Top Cow Productions.

Adapting a beloved book series into another format is brimming with challenges. What goes into your head is rarely what you see and/or hear in the adaptation. Even a movie winning the Oscar is decried by patrons of the source material. The Dresden Files is no different. In spite of the pitfalls, Jim Butcher has not shrunk from putting his work in as many different formats as possible. The Dresden Files received the TV treatment. This was met with condemnation from many fans, but I must admit that though I didn’t enjoy the show, it was what first made me notice Butcher’s work. A new roleplaying game is out, something that fans of Jim Butcher know he would certainly have taken particular joy in seeing. And a limited series of comics entitled Welcome to the Jungle has been out and received positive reviews from this site and others. But Welcome was an original story. Storm Front is a true adaption of the first Dresden Files novel.

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with a guest post about writing and inspiration from New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn. At the end of the post, Yasmine is offering a chance for you to win a copy of BONE MAGIC from her Otherworld urban fantasy series. Be sure to check out our excerpt of BONE MAGIC, too!

When I think about what influences my writing, first I have to go back to childhood. I had a very rough childhood—there was no Brady Bunch like life for me when I was little. Besides problems with my stepfather, we lived in a house that was creepy as hell with a lot of black widows in it, and I’m convinced it was haunted. I was psychic even as a child and that sure didn’t help. So horror plays into my books, always, in muted tones and shades of gray.

Another equinox is here, and life’s getting more tumultuous for the D’Artigo sisters. Smoky, the dragon of Camille’s dreams, must choose between his family and her. Plus, the sisters can’t locate the new demon general in town. And Camille’s summoned to Otherworld, thinking she’ll reunite with her long-lost soul mate Trillian. But once there, she must undergo a drastic ritual that will forever change her and those she loves.

Flames Rising is pleased to present you with an excerpt from the first chapter of BONE MAGIC, which was written by Yasmine Galenorn.

I wasn’t overly familiar with the works of John Wick before I picked up the first two Acts of this Curse of the Yellow Sign series (presumably a trilogy), but on the strength of what I’ve read I’m encouraged to seek out more. That’s always a good sign (pun not intended). Since then I’ve noticed that his name has been linked to some other reputable games, such as Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea and, more recently, Houses of the Blooded.

To a certain extent there is much to compare the Curse of the Yellow Sign series with the trilogy of scenarios within the Chaosium monograph Ripples of Carcosa – three scenarios that explore the ‘Hastur Mythos’ over different eras.

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with an exclusive look at the writing process behind author Meagan Hatfield’s SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE. Here, Meagan talks about her path to publishing and offers some insight on her writing process.

As the release day for Shadow of the Vampire inches closer and I chat with more interviewers and newspaper editors, I have realized the one question I dread the most, is unfortunately the most commonly re-occurring one… “What is your writing process?”

Now it seems like such an easy question on the surface. However, it can also be a fully loaded one. It’s like everyone thinks that since you are a “published author” you must have some cookie cutter, fail-proof way to write a book that will not only be stellar in quality, one that will sell and will be a procedure others can follow like an outline and use to create their own books. Um, I hate to burst that preconceived bubble, but…POP! There it goes!

The truth is, there is no one true way to write a book.

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with an exclusive look into the mind of Alex Bledsoe, an author who has published a series of horror novels with an unusual vampire character. Find out what Alex Bledsoe thinks about vampires, and why they are so meaningful to him as an author.

I’m a long-time fan of the vampire as a literary figure, and believe strongly that to realize its potential, that figure must function as a metaphor for something else. The standard tropes–blood drinking, aversion to sunlight and crosses, unending existence, irresistible sexual attraction–are simply gimmicks without the metaphor’s symbolic context to give them meaning. And what makes the vampire so special is that it can embody so many disparate things while remaining true to its essential nature.

First off, I’m going to tell you, do not read this book without reading the first book in this series – Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe). Since I didn’t read the first book, I had to make some assumptions about what was previously written – hopefully most of my assumptions are correct. Although I tried not to divulge too many key points in the book in my review, there are some spoilers here, so reader beware.

This is a story about a teenage girl named Mina who, having just turned into a vampire, learns that her family has to move away from California. So, the Vampire Council (VC) plans the “death” of her entire family in a tragic accident, reinvents their family history…

Sharpen your fangs and lick your ruby red lips! It’s Vampire Week at FlamesRising.com! From now through Saturday, we’re going to introduce a broad range of vampires to you through reviews, articles, essays, and a fun contest, too!

While FlamesRising.com has always been a big fan of the vampire genre, this week is our chance to honor all the great vampire characters that are out there while exploring some new ones. To help you get started, here’s the Top 10 Most Popular Posts about vampires on FlamesRising.com.

DOJ Inc. is proud to announce that they have closed a deal to acquire a majority share of Indie Press Revolution, the industry’s leading direct-sales network of high-quality small press game publishers, and will be taking over administrative operations of the company beginning July 1st, 2010. The minority shareholders have all approved the sale and will be retaining their ownership shares in the company.

“I’m delighted to be taking over a sales organization with the brand strength and reputation for quality that IPR has built over the last several years,” says Darren Watts, President of DOJ Inc. “IPR has a very strong business model and has done an outstanding job representing its client creator-publishers, and we intend to carry forward with the same philosophy in order to bring great new games to the public from the cutting edge of game design.”

JScarred bounty hunter Jonah Hex is charged with tracking and hunting down his oldest enemy who is preparing to unleash Hell.

Catch Jonah Hex in theaters this weekend starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox!

Check out the Movie Mayhem Sale at DriveThruComics.com!

Save on titles from Top Cow Productions, Archaia Entertainment, Caliber Comics, Moonstone Books, Dangerkett Creative and more!

Last week Eric posted his recent Interview with Joe R. Lansdale here at Flames Rising. One of the titles discussed in that interview was The Complete Drive-In published by Underland Press.

Flames Rising is pleased to present the introduction to this new collection. The Complete Drive-In is available now at Amazon.com.