A Brief "Bite" About Laurell K. Hamilton
On February 19th, 1963 the New York Times #1 selling author Laurell Kaye Hamilton was born. She has said that the moment she decided she wanted to write was when she was 13 years old and read the short story collection "Pigeons From Hell". She has done just that (and very well I might add).
Laurell has two main series. The first one she became well known for was her Anita Blake series. This series was originally supposed to be based on a woman who just strictly raises zombies and helps police detectives on occasion. However, it evolved into vampires, werewolves and other things that go bump in the night (Oh my!) with a dash (OK, maybe more than a dash) of sex. And the main character has evolved to much more than originally intended, though I won‘t mention how so as not to spoil it for everyone. Let‘s just say that the metaphysics have gone through big changes. Now onto her 16th book in this series, Blood Noir, Ms. Hamilton has said that she has no specific end in sight and has 15 more plot lines just waiting to be put in to print if she wants. If you want to read a series with a smart, witty and plain old kick-butt female protagonist in it this is definitely the series for you. You‘ll want to read every book one after another non-stop. I know I did!
Her other popular series, featuring the half fae private investigator Merry Gentry, is based around the power struggles in the two courts of faerie, the Seelie and Unseelie court, in which Merry is a potential heir to both. Surrounded by a guard (though more like a harem) of yummy fae men we watch her struggle through the series to stay alive in a court that wants her dead. Only when she comes into her hand of power does she possess a fighting chance and boy does she fight. This series reads more like a fairy tale (no pun intended) with the magic and battle scenes but with a modern twist. Laurell K. Hamilton has said that this series, like any fairy tale, will have an ending (hopefully happily-ever-after) and she only plans to keep the series going through 7 - 11 books. For a modern adult fairy tale give her Merry Gentry series a try. It gives a whole new meaning to the term "fairy tale".