brianrayfiction.com Blog

Latest news on the street. There’s going to be a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies graphic novel. (Also keep an eye out for Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.) Here’s what Publishers Weekly says:

The Graphic Novel will be adapted by Tony Lee, a veteran comics writer who has worked on X-Men, Spider-Man and other comics series, and artist Cliff Richards, who has worked on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics series. The deal was announced at the San Diego Comic-Con International and was negotiated by Mutzumi Miyazaki, Del Rey director of licensing and acquisitions, with Marsha Armitage-Bristow, executive v-p of licensing at Dimensional Branding Group, and Jessica Schmidt, director of sales for Quirk Books.

This horror-classics blend is really starting to take off. Maybe I should try to get in at the ground level of this bubble before it bursts. For I predict that by 2015 we’ll see nearly all of Jane Austen’s novels retold with the addition of gruesome creatures. They’ll begin to appear on summer reading lists across the country, and Victorian lit scholars will no doubt throw a few of these page-turners onto their syllabi in order to pump up their students for what’s otherwise – at least for them – dull stuff. What’s next? Perhaps Bleak House in Space. Anyway, I’m calling dibs on Emma, because I’ve just heard the muse whispering in my ear. I envision that this Emma will not only try to match-make among humans but also various night walkers. Harriet Smith will be re-cast as a recovering vampire who must learn proper etiquette and courtship protocol in order to wed the wealthy Mr. Elton. The new opening chapter will begin with Emma saving Elton’s life from the un-mannered Harriet, who’s initial idea of flirtation involves, of course, blood sucking. If Harriet can’t learn a more ladylike way of charming her suitors, of course, Emma will have to slay her. A short preview:

The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation, much more evil than Harriet’s recent transformation, were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself: these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, had been so unperceived, that she had barely noticed. She had always wondered why Harriet slept all day and was never in her bed at night, and why she now avoided sunlight. The first error, and the worst, now lay at her door – or beneath the table, was more like it, her dress bloodied. It had been foolish, it had been wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together without at least considering the possibility that Harriet belonged to the world of the undead. It was adventuring too far, assuming too much, making light of what ought to be serious—a trick of what ought to be simple. She was quite concerned and ashamed, as she looked at the writhing, fanged Harriet now chained and shackled to the table leg. She resolved to do such things no more, unless, of course, this vampiress could somehow be schooled in the art of manner and conversation. Yes, that was it, indeed, Emma thought, and scurried off to fetch her conduct books.

Been one helluva weekend between belly dancing shows, Rocky Horror, and a drive through Sumter to find some inspiration for final revisions on the novel-in-progress, which I hope to more or less wrap up before heading to the Rockies. (We’ll see how that goes.)

The current novel was last week’s bestseller for Hub City. I hope copies keep moving. By the way, if you’ve enjoyed the book you might write a sentence or two on Amazon. This tends to help.