At the moment a pilot script has been ordered. It remains to be seen if it will be filmed, let alone get the green light for a whole TV series. I’ll keep you updated as and when more news is available.

Many moons ago there was a set of Vampire Diaries fanfics known as The Signet Series. To this day they remain some of the most popular fanfics that were ever archived on Twilight Tales, and I get asked about them on a regular basis. Fans of the series were upset to see it vanish a couple of years ago, as River removed it to make some extensive edits in order to publish her original ideas as a series of books in their own right.

Well, that day is here. Queen of Shadows (A Novel of the Shadow World) by River – now better known as Dianne Sylvan – is a very real, very shiny book.

From the back cover:

Spread throughout the dark corners of our world lies the Shadow World, a society of vampires that feeds off the living. In Austin, Texas, one woman’s madness will drive her into a world that few people ever see – or even know exists…

Shortly after she picked up a guitar, Miranda Grey conquered the Austin music scene with a newfound ability to psychically manipulate her audience’s emotions. But as her powers outgrow her control, her mind is increasingly invaded by haunting secrets and overwhelming sadness. Unable to look anyone in the eye, Miranda is fast approaching the edge of insanity – with no one to catch her fall…

When he outlawed killing humans, David Solomon ignited a civil war among Austin’s vampires. As Prime of the South, his sympathy for mortals angered the old guard who refuse to control their violent urges. David has his hands full with the growing insurgency, but he takes in a broken-down woman, a musician in need of supernatural guidance. Little does he know that Miranda Grey has the power to change his world as well…

 
Dianne has spent a lot of time reworking the series into her own original vision. While fans of the fanfic series will certainly recognise much of the story and themes, they will also discover that it’s very different in a lot of other respects, and no longer bears any resemblance to the world of the Vampire Diaries created by L.J. Smith. Dianne will also be taking the series in an entirely different direction than the original version. She’s keeping quiet about where the story will take us, so we get to enjoy all the twists and turns just like we did when we first read The Signet Series all those years ago. Hopefully you’re all looking forward to this new ride just as much as I am.

Read the first chapter of Queen of Shadows on Dianne’s website, and order it from Amazon.

Also, I have been finished with Midnight, the final book in the last Vampire Diaries trilogy about a month ago and am waiting (you can imagine how eagerly or maybe–if you’re not an author–you can’t) for the edits. I’ve also signed on for a new trilogy and finished the first book in it, Phantom. So there is more Vampire Diaries in store for readers of those books.

 
And in Strange Fate news:

And yes, Strange Fate will also come out as soon as I can finish it. The problem was that the Strange Fate contract got delayed and . . . well, just trust me, it’s coming, even if I type my fingers off.

Hang in there, guys. We’ve waited this long, we can make it to the end!

READ L.J. SMITH’S BLOG POST FOR MORE NEWS ABOUT COMPETITIONS AND TALKING WITH FANS…

In other Vampire Diaries news, it transpires that Stefan’s Diaries is actually a tie-in to the TV series, detailing the experiences of the Stefan Salvatore from that universe. It looks to be that it’s a project that L.J. Smith and executive producers of the TV series Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson will all be consulting on, though there are no details on who exactly will be writing it. As L.J. Smith is still involved I’ll post up information on that trilogy for those who may be interested. No details on individual synopses or book covers yet, but there are publication dates:

Stefan’s Diaries #1: Origins: November 2, 2010
Stefan’s Diaries #2: Bloodlust: January 4, 2011
Stefan’s Diaries #3: The Craving: May 3, 2011

Edit: It seems that Stefan’s Diaries is a mysterious TV series tie-in that includes L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec in the credits.

This is, however, not good news for Night World fans still waiting for the publication of Strange Fate. L.J. Smith posted on her blog that the new Vampire Diaries books will be taking priority of the final installment of the Night World series. Given The Return trilogy has been in the works for a couple of years now, it’s difficult to estimate how long it will take for the new books to be written and for Ms Smith to start working again on Strange Fate. Hang in there, though, Night World fans. We’ve survived for a decade waiting, we can survive a little longer, right?DI

Shadow Souls is due for publication on March 16, and you can pre-order it over on Amazon.com. UK fans will have to wait until May 6 for it to be released, but can also pre-order from Amazon.co.uk.

As before, the site still has a fanfiction archive and a fanart gallery. To add your work, you will need to sign up for them – don’t worry, it’s quick, easy and free. I’ll also be available for you if you’re confused or have problems.

I will be working on getting all fanworks transferred over to the new sections, though it will take a long time to get all the fanfiction transferred.

The following information may not be of interest to you if you’re just a regular reader on the site. Archived authors and artists and anyone who plans on uploading work here will probably want to have a read through, though.

 
General notes:

• I will still be posting important L.J. Smith news to this blog, I just won’t be posting about updates to the archives on it any more. If you’re only on the updates list for notification about new fanworks, you may want to unsubscribe from it.

• If you sign up for a name that is already in use in the old archives and hasn’t been transferred yet, I will ask you for a different username and change it for you.

• If your username has already been set up in either archive, you can request your password using the ‘lost password’ function on the login screen. That will send your password to the email address I have on file for you. If you no longer use that email address, you will need to contact me to work it out. You’re going to need to find some way to assure me that it’s you as I don’t want to risk giving someone’s account to the wrong person playing a prank.

• It’s advisable for you to sign up for both the fanfic archive and the fanart gallery at the same time to ensure you get the same username across the site. For reasons of sanity, they don’t share the same user database.

• You are welcome to sign up with a new username to the one you may currently use in the archive. Please be sure to let me know so that I can easily keep track of who you are while I transfer work across. If your account has already been created, I can still change your username for you.

• Fanworks from the Vampire Diaries TV series should not be posted here. You can post fanworks for that (along with fanworks based on the books) over at Fell’s Church Library and Fell’s Church Gallery.

 
The Fic Archive:

• There are over 1200 pieces of fanfiction on Twilight Tales, and you can imagine that it will take a very long time for me to transfer that many by myself. As such, the old archive will also remain intact while this takes place, and is linked on the main page of the new archive.

• Authors can help by signing up to the archive and uploading their own work. I would really appreciate that a great deal. Think of it as an opportunity to give your fics a quick spruce up, and to throw them into the limelight again.

• It’s worth mentioning this in more detail. Because the archive is automated and you add your own work, fanfictions no longer have to be complete before they go on the site. You are more than welcome to add your works-in-progress.

 
The Gallery:

• All categories except for the Night World and the Vampire Diaries have been transferred to the new gallery. The Vampire Diaries art should be transferred over before too long. The Night World category will take longer as there are a lot of images in it.

 
If you’ve still got questions, feel free to leave a comment or get in touch with me via the contact form.

 
Sorry there’s no archive update yet, there are 4 fanfics total, and nothing else. Definitely an update in January to add LJSanta stuff, and hopefully one before then if people submit stuff.sp;

In other fanfiction news, now that the Vampire Diaries TV series is under way, I just want to remind people that while I’m not archiving fanworks for it on Twilight Tales, you are very welcome and encouraged to post them (along with Vampire Diaries fanworks based on the books) in the following places:

Fell’s Church Library
Fell’s Church Gallery
TVD Fic on LiveJournal

And a reminder that the new omnibus reprint of Dark Visions is out now.

In related news, it looks like Night World audio books are on the way. Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness and Spellbinder are being slated for a November 1st, 2009 release, with Amazon stating November for the UK as well. No clue yet what the CD covers will look like, or who will be narrating them. I’ll let you know when I find out.