More positive attention for my vampires

THE BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY like WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN BLOOD

Worth Their Weight in Blood by Carole Jahme. Book review

Posted on March 19, 2015 by craiglockley in Reviews

Reviewed by Dave Brzeski

It’s not easy, these days, to put a new spin on vampires, but Carole Jahne manages it. The supernatural is dispensed with in favour of treating vampires as a genetic, evolutionary offshoot of Home Sapiens. It works very well, for the most part, and makes for a truly fascinating read. I really liked the concept that a group of altruistic vampires were working for the betterment of mankind, by trying to wipe out AIDS and other blood-related diseases.

Carole Jahne goes to a lot of trouble to work out the scientific origins of her vampires, and does an exemplary job of it. 

"may be the best vampire book I’ve read in a long time"

Spider Monkeys are a sexually segregated species - very like humans!

CAN SPIDER MONKEYS HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY GIRLS LIKE SUGAR AND SPICE AND BOYS LIKE SLUGS AND SNAILS? I for one think so...

Sociologists will tell you society makes us behave the way we do & it is society's fault that males can focus on details and excel in engineering and physics and that it is due to societal conditioning that females orientate towards people-centered careers, such as nursing. Yet parents insist they never made their son like toy cars and they never encouraged their daughter to play with dolls. Boys and girls and men and women naturally segregate for play and for work and I think there is a genetic reason for this and that society was built by our evolved biology. New research on the spider monkey at Runaway Creek in Belize reveals they are a sexually segregated species and it's speculated that other primates, including chimpanzees and orang utans, may also be sexually segregated. I wrote a bit about this in New Scientist.

Richard Dawkins talks vampires with Carole Jahme

Strangers on a Train

I was delighted to share the bill with Richard Dawkins at the 2012 British Humanist Conference. It was even more exciting to find myself sat next to him on the train home afterwards. Click here to watch a video of Richard Dawkins' speech at the conference. Click here for a video of my presentation, "The Better Apes of Our Nature" and below is a verbatim account of my confused, "extreme-male brain-type meets extreme-female brain-type", conversation with dear, dear, dear Dawkins on the train home :)

C       Oh Richard, nice seeing you again, it was a great conference, can I sit down? (squashes into seat opposite him, shoves his bags aside, doesn’t wait to be asked)

RD     er… Yes 

C       [I’d thrust copy of my novel Worth Their Weight in Blood into his reluctant hands the previous night] Do you think you’ll get a chance to look at my book?

RD     I hope so

C       I know you must be extremely busy, it’s just I’ve done something really innovative and I quote the Selfish Gene. I use Darwinian science to explain….. 

(RD stares out of train window looking somewhat bored) 

…..how vampires might have evolved, I compare them to humans and chimps. I use the way vampires don’t reflect in mirrors as a metaphor for self-reflection. 

RD     (alert) Don’t vampires reflect in mirrors? 

C       No they never see themselves, we never see them in mirrors 

RD     (looks quizzical) Really? I didn’t know that. 

C       Didn’t you ever see an old Hammer Horror? 

RD     (looking more confused) No, I never have. 

C       Yes it’s gothic law, vampires don’t reflect in mirrors. 

RD     Are we discussing bats? 

C       No vampires, like Bram Stoker’s Dracula 

RD     I thought vampires were bats. 

C       Well they are, but they are also fantasy creatures 

RD     (looks extremely nauseous) I don’t really do fiction 

C       I know it’s not your thing, but I’ve synthesised your research with gothic law & I think you’ll like it. 

RD     Oh. (looks confused) is it available on Kindle? 

C       Yes, shall I send you a digital version? 

RD     er..Yes 

C       Great, (jumps up out of seat) lovely seeing you. 

RD     (happy now I’m going) Yes, yes, lovely, 

C       I’ll be in touch 

RD     Right-o 

C       Bye 

RD     Goodbye

Susie Hamilton's brand new work now exhibited at the Paul Stolper Gallery

Paul Stolper Gallery is presently exhibiting "Marrakech", a new body of work from British painter Susie Hamilton

Hamilton rarely gives interviews and is notoriously camera shy. Last week I was invited to her studio where, on film, I questioned Hamilton on her methods, her rationale and what drives her forwards. Watch this 21 minute video for insights on Hamilton's technique and what makes her tick. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4B5R-AbLoE&feature=youtu.be

(watch in 1080p HD)

 

How to Have Fun with Complete Strangers for the Rest of Your Life...

THE BRITISH HUMANIST ASSOCIATION 2012 CONFERENCE CARDIFF WALES 

Carole Jahme 

presents 

...The Better Apes of Our Future...

OR 

How to Have Fun with Complete Strangers for the Rest of Your Life...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceOI5risYZ0

Shake Sphere at the RSC

Shake Sphere Talks at Royal Shakespeare Co

These events are going to be really innovative - a true synthesis of art & science :)

 http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/events/the-shakes-sphere-talks.aspx

Please visit Count Gore De Vol's Tomb of Dark Delights where you will find all sorts of fascinating things to read curtesy of award winning horror writer Judy Comeau INCLUDING a review of Worth Their Weight in Blood.........

WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN BLOOD by Carole Jahme

The author, who holds a Master’s Degree in Evolutionary Psychology (in addition to being a journalist, broadcaster, film actor and program producer), has put a scientific spin on the hoary and venerable vampire trope in her novel, WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN BLOOD. Scarlet Fox is woman of her times: the year is 1990, which finds Scarlet a lonely, unemployed young woman who is desperate for job and some kind of stability. She takes the first job she can get—a night-shift worker at a new laboratory that specializes in blood disease research where she is put to work studying a chimpanzee with a rare blood disorder. It’s not long before love-starved Scarlet begins a sexual relationship with a co-worker, but Scarlet has other concerns as well—she is preoccupied by the memory of a family found burned to death within a circle of standing Neolithic stones reminiscent of Stonehenge. What could it mean? As her job at the blood lab proceeds, Scarlet is horrified to discover that her fellow employees are actually vampires. Scarlet is forced join their species, a species that has evolved as a result of natural selection. Fascinating discussions as to whether or not vampires have souls, and whether their species is superior to humans ensue, but there is plenty of action as well, because the vampires have split ranks and are at war with one another. A troubled young boy whom Scarlet has taken under her wing and a renegade vampire provide thrills and scares when they begin to unravel the society of vampires who have made Radfield their home. Ms Jahme’s novel is shot through with interesting ideas and concepts far removed from typical vampire fare. For more about the author, please visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/carole-jahme.