Bertena Varney's Lure of the Vampire

I'd like to introduce you to another friend of mine. Her name is Bertena Varney and she's quite the expert on things vampire. I met her a few years ago after Vampires' Most Wanted was published when I drove down to Kentucky to be in the Southern Kentucky Book Fest (I detailed it in my blog posts The Road to Kentucky Pt. I and Pt. II). She was my neighbor during the fest and it was great to meet her and exchange ideas with her. We've kept in touch ever since.

Bertena is a sociology professor at Southcentral KY Community College (SKYCTC)  in Bowling Green, KY. She holds masters’ degrees in sociology, criminology, social science and education. She is from Winchester, KY and attended Morehead State University in KY. 
She was named to the Top Women in Horror in 2012 by Venom and Honey and Blaze McRob’s Tales of Terrors in 2014 and has been nicknamed the Vampire Professor.

She is an Amazon and Kindle Bestselling author of Lure of the Vampire and Lure of the Vampire: Revamped. She is also contributor and co-editor for Vampire News: Tasty Bits to Sink Your Fangs Into, Vampire News: The Not So End Times, Vampire News: Really...Vampires Suck!, and contributor to Vampires Romance to Rippers an Anthology of Risque Stories; Vampires Romance to Rippers an Anthology of Tasty Stories; and The Witching Hour and Sirens Compendiums.

She's also the Examiner.com expert on "True Blood," vampires, television, movies, and more.

She does lectures at libraries, conventions and conferences, including the Harry Potter Convention in Salem, Mass., The Sirens Convention in Vail, Colorado, ScareFest Horror Convention in Lexington. She's also conducted talks at smaller events and discussions in New Orleans, Chicago, London, Paris and other fun places.

Recently, she released the third edition of her book Lure of the Vampire. I bought a copy of the first edition at the fest and was really impressed with the work she did on the subject. I asked her to send me something about her latest edition that I could post on the blog. So let me let her explain to you about her new book:

"The Lure of the Vampire is a pop culture reference book for writers, vampire fans, students and teachers who love to study the mysterious creature of the night. This book is for the fanatics who sit up at night and watch reruns of Buffy for the hundredth time, the Twi-hards that line up for hours before the show just to glimpse the newest "Twilight" movie, the Truebies who all knows that “waiting sucks” between each season of "True Blood" and for those diehard traditionalist that balk at all of this “new” vampire craze.



The Lure of the Vampire is also for the new writers who love creating their own worlds where the vampires may be aristocratic and romantic or dark and dangerous; the world where there are castles, heaving bosoms, chivalry and danger of loving a vampire, the dreams of so many women in today’s world.

And finally, The Lure of the Vampire is a book for those who love to study all aspects of the vampire in both pop culture and the world. Whether they are the historian who loves tracing the evolution of the vampire or the sociologist who wants to explore the world of those that live the lifestyle, the reader will find resources here to help them in their quest for knowledge of this lifestyle.

The Lure of the Vampire is divided into ten sections beginning with mythology and ending with modern vampires. Within each section there are lists that will help the reader learn basic and fun facts about that section’s topic. Links to websites are provided to ensure that the reader may find more information about that section without having to search for it on the Internet or in other books. To help supplement a particular subject within that topic, there are personal essays or interviews that give the reader a personal look from the author’s perspective. For example, Lure of the Dead Boyfriend provides the reader with a look at why women love vampire romance while exploring the vampire as a soul mate, an erotic lover, and an escape from the real world.

Lure of the Vampire provides unique interviews with vampire authors, role players, and those that live the lifestyle. The reader can delve into the world of a creator of an alternate reality or learn more about those whose lives lead them to embrace vampirism as a way of life.

Lure of the Vampire is a complete pop culture reference book for those who enjoy vampires and their impact on society. It provides an extensive bibliography that will allow the reader the opportunity for additional independent study."

Her book originally began as a master’s thesis and then was edited and formatted differently so that vampire fans would enjoy the information as well. Over the last three years she has been asked by fans to create a course online, like the one she teaches in person, and that class has finally been created and will be ready to begin when the book becomes available for sale hopefully on Aug. 1.

She is enrolling students now at a 50 percent discount of the normal class tuition. Once the student pays for the class via PayPal or credit card and purchases the book, they should email the her to get the invite to the class. The class covers each chapter in the book and provides the student with the questions that they must answer, videos for them to watch, an essay for them to write and final: there are also discussion boards that are open for class discussions. Upon completion the student will receive a certificate of completion via email to show that they have completed a course in Vampirology (the study of vampires).

Anyone interested can  check the course out at this address: http://mysticalparanormalacademy.ning.com/classesoffered/introduction-to-vampires-class

Then  email her at vampireprofessor@yahoo.com or message on her Facebook profile - https://www.facebook.com/bertena.varney to get payment and registration information for the class.

You can also check out her website at www.bertena.com