Great Literature Of The 20th Century: Sweet Valley High – Kiss Of A Killer

Jessica wants to be with Jonathan… forever. But is Elizabeth strong enough to stop a creature of the night?

Today’s Great Literature entry looks at the 128^th instalment in the Sweet Valley High series, Kiss of a Killer by Kate William. It’s the one with a vampire in it. The concept of “jumping the shark” is now well known, but I think “adding a vampire” should be added to the artistic lexicon.

I first heard about this book at the Paranormal Fiction and Romance Forum at Dymocks, and was very keen to read it. I hadn’t expected it to be so hard to find a copy – I’m sure there’s a mathematical formula that explains why you can find any Sweet Valley High book in any op-shop, but a specific Sweet Valley High book can only be found in a single library in a small town near Ballarat.

Book Learning: The Art Of Destruction

Narrelle M. Harris is the author of four novels, including the Witch Honour series and the acclaimed Melbourne-based vampire novel The Opposite Of Life. She spent a year writing the follow-up to that novel, only to finally scrap the entire book. The Outland Institute asked Narrelle to talk about starting over and the art of editing.

I wrote my vampire book The Opposite of Life in something of a blitz. It came about after I saw Underworld. It was a fun film, but I was sick of glamorous, sexy, skinny vamps. Why was it that a set of fangs came as a package deal with ultra-coolness, great hair and a stunning all-leather outfit?

If I was ever turned into a vampire, I figured, I’d still be me. Still a big girl with a daggy streak a mile wide. That was the story I wanted to read, about the kind of vampires real people would be, in this real world where old-fashioned skulking in castles and eating the peasants wasn’t really an option any more.