Untold Legends: The Podcast

Critically acclaimed author Laura Ruby talks monster girls and more. We do a deep dive into two of Laura's vampire picks: Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black. We ask the question "who is the real monster?" in correlation to Laura's fantastic short story "Beastiary" from Vampires Never Get Old, the anthology.

A two-time National Book Award Finalist, Laura Ruby writes fiction for adults, teens and children. She is the author of the Printz Medal Winning novel Bone Gap, as well as Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All. Other works include the Edgar®-nominated children’s mystery Lily’s Ghosts, the ALA Quick Pick for teens Good Girls (2006), a collection of interconnected short stories about blended families for adults, I’m not Julia Roberts (2007), and the York trilogy. 

Also in this episode: 

• Neil Gaiman
• Salem's Lot by Stephen King
• Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black 
• The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black 
• Lauraruby.com
• Pre-order Vampires Never Get Old 

This week our special guest is New York Times bestselling author Dhonielle Clayton. She is the author of The Belles, Tiny Pretty Things (coming to Netflix Fall 2020), and a contributor in the Vampires Never Get Old anthology. Her short story "The House of Black Sapphires" transforms the vampire mythology and roots it in Black American culture, creating something entirely new. We dig into Black vampires in books and media, as well as Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler! 

Also in this episode: 

• The Originals - Marcel 
• True Blood - Tara 
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Mr. Trick 
• Blade 
• Twilight - Laurent (movie only)
• Stephenie Meyer's stance on POC actors according to Catherine Hardwicke

Special guest Julie Murphy stops by for the Great Twilight Discussion! This episode focuses on the megahit that changed the landscape of young adult literature. We go over the things we love, the things we don't, and how Zoraida ~does~ like that vampires sparkle in this one. Justice for Kristen Stewart!

Julie Murphy is the New York Times Bestlessling author of the novels Dumplin’ (now a film on Netflix), Puddin’, Dear Sweet Pea, and Faith: Taking Flight. Her short story in Vampires Never Get Old is called "Senior Year Sucks." 

Also in this episode: 

• Spoilers for Twilight
• Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer 
• Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy
• Vampires Never Get Old pre-order
• Robert Pattinson
• Kristen Stewart

Zoraida gets nostalgic with the books that inspired her to become a writer and Natalie notes that the villain from book one is the love interest in book two. This episode focuses on In the Forests of the Night and Demon In My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, and the themes of morality and damnation in vampire myth. Zoraida also dramatically reads an Edgar Allan Poe poem. Bonus: we discuss vampire friendship in our story "Vampires Never Say Die" features in Vampires Never Get Old.

Also in this episode: 

• Spoilers for In the Forests of the Night and Demon In My View!
• Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake 
• 'Alone' by Edgar Allan Poe
• 'In the End' by Linkin Park 
• Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
• Vampires Never Get Old pre-order

This week we talk the most BANANAS vampire book in our bunch: The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike (1994). After killing a detective in self-defense, a 5000-year-old vampire returns to high school to befriend his son and definitely left a feeling of "WTF did we just read?" Fair warning, the premise itself if incredibly controversial and appropriative of Hindu & Sikh beliefs. We continue our deconstruction of vampire tropes in classic vampire novels. 

Also in this episode: 

• Spoilers!
• The original cover to The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike, subsequently retitled Thirst.
• Ten by Gretchen McNeil
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 
• Sexy blond vampire in True Blood
• Samira Ahmed
• Manpire 
• Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer

You know the old adage: Vampires Never Get Old. At least, that's our adage. Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite is an anthology forthcoming from Imprint/Macmillan on September 22, 2020. The anthology includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.

Our podcast aims to dig deep into the immortal creatures of the night we love. Each episode will focus on a classic vampire novel or character, as well as feature the contributing authors as guests! 

In this episode, we gush over the OG vampire boyfriend in Annette Curtis Klause's The Silver Kiss, a foundational text in YA paranormal romance. Evil brothers, vampires who mark their territories by peeing, lonely girls, and poetry—this gem has it all! 

Welcome. You're invited in.


Also in this episode: 

• The Shiny Narrow Grin by Jane Gaskell 
• Seafire by Natalie C. Parker
• Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova 
• Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
• The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith