Why? Why Did You Do This to Me?
To kickstart the I VANT MY VAMPIRE BABY GIVEAWAY I'm posting this unauthorized interview by Vampire Baby's victim/brother:
Here's what I want to know: Of all the baby sisters in the world, why did mine have to be a vampire baby? WHY? Tell the truth, Kelly Bennett aka Ms. Bigshot Author: are you vampire crazy? Or did you turn Tootie into a vampire baby just so you could cash in on the vampire craze?
KB: Of course! I totally wanted to cash in on the vampire craze! (And rake in Armored truck loads of cash)...Who wouldn't? BTW: I'm still waiting....
Who knows: I could go Vampire--I have the fangs for it!
As for vampire crazy: Maybe I would be a vampirepheliac. (I do love writing that word), if I could. But, there's one teeny problem with me going vampire: I have fainted at the sight of blood.
To be fair, it was my son Max's blood. He cut himself picking a piece of glass out of the grass. (Caution: don't play with glass.) Hey! At least I waited until the doctor was finished sewing the top of Max's thumb back in place before my eyes rolled. I remember saying, “I'm going….” The next thing I knew I was on the emergency room floor with my feet propped up on a chair and everyone staring down at me. That's not to say I might not turn vampire . . . I do have fangs.
VBB: Now that's SCARY! So, where did you get the idea for Vampire Baby?
KB: The title came first. It sprang from a workshop at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA). Cynthia Leitich Smith was one of our workshop leaders. Her Tantalize series was hot, so she was the VCFA resident expert on all things Vampire. Someone in the group suggested that certain topics were off limits in picture books. Cynthia and I jumped on that foolish notion.
“Such as?” we asked. That wonderfully-misinformed person looked at Cynthia and said, “What about, well . . . vampires.” And just like that (insert finger snap) I blurted out, “Vampire Baby!”
VBB: How long did it take you to write the story?
KB: About two years and 12 revisions.
VBB: Two years! But it doesn't have very many words? You must be a really slow writer. Why so long?
KB: The title, Vampire Baby, floated around in my head like a guilty secret, stirring and swirling, popping up every so often to remind me it was there for quite a while. But that's all it was, a title. I didn't have a story to go with it.
VBB: What were you waiting for?
KB: YOU! I had to figure out who I was writing about, and who I was writing for. The answer to both was you: an eight-year-old boy with sibling trouble.
VBB: So you invented Too-too-Tootie...
KB: Exactly! I was actually gathering material for a non-fiction book about teeth. A friend shared that unlike most babies, whose bottom teeth come in first, her canine teeth had come in first. That's when the story idea hit me.
VBB: Don't you mean “bit” me? Ha-ha! Canine means “dog.” Why couldn't Tootie have been a dog instead of a sister?
KB:You already have a dog. As I was saying... I actually wrote Vampire Baby with three people in mind: my Candlewick editor, Sarah, because she busted out laugh-snorting when she heard the title; my nephew, Devin; and his little sister, Grace, who has the best giggle.
VBB: How did you come up with the silly name, Tootie, anyway?
KB: It's from the movie Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland. The littlest sister, played by Margaret O'Brien, was named Tootie. That name always made me laugh, and so it seemed perfect because you wouldn't expect a dangerous vampire baby to be named Tootie.
VBB: I still don't get it. Having a baby sister is tough enough. Why turn Tootie into a biter?
Ooops! Did I do that????
KB: Confession Time: some babies hit, some kick, some scream, some bite. To hear my family tell it, I did all of them! In my defense, they were all bigger and stronger and knew more words than I did. So I did what I had to do to get my point across. Biters are misunderstood: we're not bad, but we can be dangerous... And that's all the time we have. If I'm going to write more stories, I'd better get busy.
VBB: Wait! Just one more question, please? What's my name?
KB: That's for me to know and for you to find out in what I hope is the next adventure ofVampire Baby!
VBB: Thanks, Kelly... Uh oh! Here she comes...
“Youch Tootie! No Bite!”
#16 Vampire Baby's Movie Playlist for Halloween
Vampire Baby’s Movie Play List
Okay, so Vampire Baby isn’t old enough to have watched many movies. Nor would she be allowed to at her age—no matter how hard she bit. (For that matter, neither would her big brother.) But, when Vampire Baby is old enough to watch movies on Halloween these will definitely be on her list.*
Archie and the Riverdale Vampires (1999) Archie gets a supernatural makeover in these episodes from the Archie's Weird Mysteries TV series.
Bite the Bullet (1979) A group of ex-rough riders, an ex-prostitute and a gunfighter enter a horse race in the desert.
Bite of the Living Dead (2011) World-renowned herpetologist Joe Slowinski is bitten by a juvenile krait while on expedition in Burma. Rani has also been bitten by a krait in a rural Indian village
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) A teenage girl learns that she is her generation's destined battler of vampires.
Count Duckula, TV Series (1988-1993) The misadventures of a vegetarian vampire duck and his servants.
Let the Right One In (2008) Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.
The Little Vampire (2000)
A lonely boy becomes best friends with a vampire.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
A nerdish florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
Love Bite (2012) School is over and summer has begun in the dead-end seaside town of Rainmouth. While Jamie's friends seem to be happy working in the local pie factory by day and looking for sex by night,
Love at First Bite (1979) Vampire spoof has Count Dracula moving to New York to find his Bride, after being forced to move out of his Transylvanian castle.
Man Bites Dog (1992) In this dark satire, a film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routines. But complications set in when the film crew loses their abjectness and begin lending a hand.
Once Bitten (1985) A vampire Countess needs to drink the blood of a virgin in order to keep her eternal beauty.
Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit, Cartoon (1982) Bunnicula the Vampire Rabbit is a supernatural rabbit whose weakness for draining vegetables of their juices.
Reality Bites (1994) Generation X Graduates face life after college with a filmmaker looking for work and love in Houston.
The Bite (1989) After a guy is bitten on the hand by a radioactive snake, his hand changes into a lethal snake head, which attacks everyone he comes into contact with
Some Dogs Bite (2010) It's a Crime to Steal a Baby! But What if it's Your Brother
More Suggestions, anyone?
*Disclaimer: Movie descriptions are cut-n-pasted from the internet. The list is not, and should, not, in any way, be consider recommendations. Watch at your own discretion.
LAST CHANCE!
Enter the "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy! Here are the Contest Details
#15 Should Charlie be Confessing?
If YouTube would have been around way back when, my brother, Joey, might have been the brother hollering "Youch!" in a clip the way Big Brother Harry does in the infamous "Charlie Bit My Finger" YouTube video.
Harry and Charlie in the infamous clip. From the looks of it, Charlie does not apear to be a Vampire Baby (Although his canines are in shadow.)
Me, a family friend named "Bambi's" baby, and Joe. And no, I did not bite this baby...although it looks as though Joe may be nursing a sore finger.
We have a sick fasination with biting, and the fear of being bitten. Why else would Vampire/Dracula themes be so popular?
The "Charlie Bit my Finger" clip, which as of an Oct. 17, 2013 article, is close to logging half-a-billion views, is proof. The brothers, according to the article, say the attention they garnered from the clip, coupled with the idea that "Charlie bit my finger like a rabid opossum, but Dad kept on filming because he thought it was awesome" has marred the brothers--maybe irreparably. Fortunately, money shouldn't be an issue if they decide to seek help.
An article in the Daily Mail states that this and other "Harry and Charlie" YouTube videos have earned their family more than 100,000 pounds in advertising payments.
How Much Did They Pay You Per Bite, Bela?
Here's a photo of the brothers now. "Open up, Charlie! Show us your fangs!!!!"
HURRY! Enter the "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest, NOW!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!
Midnight Halloween the contest closes. Winner will be announced Nov. 1st.
#14 Confessions from a Vampire Victim's Mom
“I think Zachary was chocolate-flavored when he was little. He was bitten soooooo many times I started thinking about buying muzzles for other kids.”
Sarah Wones Tomp wrote one of my favorite picture books: RED, WHITE & BLUE GOODBYE and the forthcoming "Moonshine" Young Adult novel MY BEST EVERYTHING, (Little, Brown 2015. Her musings can be found at "Writing on the Sidewalk". And while I'm sure she'd laugh at the sight of vampire fangs, I'm pretty sure she doesn't bite!
Everyone with a loved one in the military needs this picture book! You'll have to get it used because it's out of print.. but do... you'll be glad!
Just a few more days left to enter the "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!
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# 9 Confessions of a Girl Scout/Batgirl/Vampire
Sure sometimes I used my fangs for evil. But sometimes I used them for good. When evil struck I'd swoop in and defend the righteous! Fend off the foe! Save the day! Sort of Girl Scout/Batgirl hybrid.
Sadly, there is no badge for "Biting" or "Superhero Skills"
Take this one time, when I was about 5, and my brother 7, a bunch of us were playing "school" (as we did many summer days. Go figure . . . ) I was playing "teacher" this particular time. (No surprise to those of you who know me well, but I almost always played "teacher".) Anyway, this particular day, my brother was playing, too. And some bigger boys,--5th graders--came along. One of them started teasing my brother because he was "playing sissy school with babies."
The boy started pushing my brother. Joe pushed back. A fight broke out. An completely unfair fight, I must add here. A case of big mean bully picking on a weaker guy. Never fear. Girl Scout/Batgirl swooped in and bit the kid on his back. And kept biting-- clamping down as hard as those spiky, sharp baby teeth can--until the boy let go of Joe and ran away.
The big boy ran crying all the way home and told his father. Who came back, very indignant, to find the "bully who had bitten his son!" We were back to playing school then. A hush fell over the group. Then Girl Scout/Batgirl stepped forward. "I bit him!" I announced. "Cause he was picking on my brother."
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!
Confessions of a Vampire Baby's Victim #8
Mary Chapin Carpenter sings a song called "The Bug" (written by Mark Knoffler), it goes: "Sometimes your the windshield/sometimes your the ball. . . . "
That's how it is with babies, too. Sometimes of us are biters. And the rest of you are, well . . .
Take my friend, author Anne Broyles, reading her books, seeing her, knowing her, you'd never suspect her of being a biter. . .
Just released! Sure to become one of those we-read-it-every-year Christmas stories (illustrated by KE Lewis, Pelican)
In keeping with the season: A Russian Immigrant family's first Halloween in the U.S.
. . . And you'd be right.
That didn't prevent Anne from becoming a Vampire Baby's victim though. Here's her story:
"When I was three and a half, my family hosted a family with a toddler. I had a great time lugging this "baby" around and feeling like the "big kid." She was the same size as my doll, but talked some, could play chase, and seemed to adore me. So it was a shock when one day she brought her sweet face in close to mine and...chomped my cheek. It had never occurred to me that another human being would bite me, especially someone who I thought had loved me so much.
I pushed her off of me and yelled for my parents. I vividly remember not so much the pain (though I had teethmarks on my cheek for a while) as the betrayal of that baby's teeth. From then on, I ignored the visiting toddler and stuck with my doll, who was about the same size as the baby, but never, ever, not-even-once bit me."
3 1/2 year-old Anne and her "trusty" friend
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!
After, after, after you Enter the Contest: Here's Mary Chapin Carpenter singing "The Bug"
#5 Is it . . . In The Blood?
Confessions of a Baby Vampire #5
Out of consideration of the faint-of-heart the "red eye removal" feature has been applied to this photo. (Don't let the lack of fangs fool you: the Twilight Vamps have retractable fangs, too.)
Although it doesn't say it anywhere in the book, the main character in VAMPIRE BABY does have a name. He's named after my nephew, Devin. Devin, shares a common root with devil. No one would ever, ever call Devin a devil-child now--he's a top student, vice-president of his school, football player, all around nice guy--now, I say, because there was a time . . .
When my sis-in-law, Joanne, told me about Devin and "that time" she was called into the principal's office, I received the news with a mixture of relief and anxiety. After years of being the only "biter" (whispered from the side of their mouths from behind their hands, and with a shudder of disapproval) it was comforting in that misery-loves-company way to know I wasn't the only one. And a bit worrisome thinking it might be---cue the music dum-du-dum-dum-duhhhhhh-- in our blood.
A quick click through the internet (repository of all knowledge true and not) I'm not the only one worried that vampirism might be hereditary. According to an article from the Pravadaru Post, "Lee Eallis, a British physician, came up with a theory that linked the so-called vampires with porphyria, one of a group of rare inherited disorders due to disturbance of the metabolism of the breakdown product of the red blood pigment hemoglobin. In 1963, Eallis submitted his monograph titled On Porphyria and Etymology of Vampires to the Royal Society of Medicine."
So according to reports, a classmate named Casey "turned" Devin. It happened in Kindergarten, near the "house" corner or the "coloring" corner. Stories vary as to the location and time, as they do regarding the exact incantation Casey used to bring about Devin's transformation. All parties agree on one point. Consistently agreeable, smiley, all around good guy, Devin, turned around a sank his fangs into Casey's back. And when it was all over, even after being sent to the principal's office, even after the authorities were called, and threatened with expulsion and unimaginable punishment, Devin refused to repent. "You deserved it!" was his only defense.
Check out long, sharp, pointed fangs . . .
I'll leave it to you to decide: Is biting a symptom of some rare inherited vampiric disorder or is it simply a matter of being a nice guys last resort?
One last word on the subject. This is Devin's family dog. His name is Mr. Fangles
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!
#1 Confessions of a Baby Vampire
In keeping with the contest, daily--from Oct 15 thru 31st, I will post a true confession of a Vampire here on my blog, Kelly's Fishbowl. Please join the fun and share your Vampire Baby anecdotes. Enter the Contest as many times as you like--watch the trailer, post a comment, your entered to win! It's that easy!!!
Confession of a Baby Vampire #1
I didn't have Vampire fangs. But I was a biter. I bit my big brother, Joe. I bit my mother. And one day, when my grandfather, Poppy, came to pick me up at school, he found my teacher in tears. Why? Because I bit and kicked her... Then I climbed to the top of the monkey bars I wouldn't come down . . .
Whoops! I didn't mean to hurt her....honest!
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!