Calling All Aussies!

Though I dearly love and enjoy all of my fanged fans overseas and across national borders, Australians have held a special place for me ever since I first brought the Hollywood Vampires to the internet in February of 1998 . . . one of my very first international e-mails (if not the first) came from an Aussie, and much of my early encouragement came from several Australian fans whose kindness, eloquence, and support really helped me stick to it when things seemed like they weren't going anywhere.  One of them, a rocking and rolling fellow by the name of Nick Mann, once even went so far as to compare me to Isaac Asimov (an incredible compliment, no matter what!), and while I don't know if I'd go quite that far, it was a vastly appreciated and savored remark, one that I'll never forget.  Then there was Dana, aka Sexy Vampire, who amused me on many occasions with tales of her friend Lee, who was a fellow who reminded us both very strongly of Stacey, and she even wrote an engaging little tale involving vampires and Jesse James.  And that's just to name a few; these were some of my very earliest fans, and because of them, I've got a particular fondness for fanged fiends from Down Under.  Besides, any country that can produce a band like AC/DC is waaaaaaay up there in my book!

Now, as a new era dawns for the Hollywood Vampires (want some wine with all that cheese?), the Aussies are at it again, this time in the form of an industrious and amiable gal by the name of Callie Merritt, who is looking to do her absolute best to help promote the Hollywood Vampires Down Under, with eventual plans for world domination.  Who am I to argue with that?  Callie is very much like my American friend Bob Long, who seems to know EVERYBODY and has connections everywhere, not to mention having a great deal of spirit, and like Bob, she's offering her services to help spread the word of the Hollywood Vampires as far as possible, and like Bob (again!), I can't thank her enough for her assistance and enthusiasm.  Right now, she's still in the process of getting everything together (along with working on other non-Vampire-related things), but the wheels are slowly starting to turn, and when I offered her the chance to speak to you guys directly about her plans and ideas, she jumped (and very high, at that!) at the chance!  Down below you'll find a message from her outlining some of her ideas, and she's also made it clear that she'd like to hear from other Aussies about the Hollywood Vampires as well, whether it be ideas, opinions, or offers of help . . . who knows, maybe someday a whole underground Vampire network might emerge from all of this babble!  Take it away, Callie!

A Note From Down Under

Friends, fiends, fans, fangs, lend me your ears (eyes?) . . . 

I don’t know where to begin as there are so many things I wish to rant about yet so little time to do it in, especially with a magazine editorial breathing down my neck, making my creative juices disperse so to speak . . . 

From the last newsletter I gather you all know that I’m the resident Australian Hollywood Vampires promoter (gawd, I like the sound of that) and I’m beginning world domination over here . . . well, national domination, at least . . .  Although I’m focusing on WA at the present time, I’ll be organising promotions for the eastern states as soon as I can or find away where I can escape over there . . .  (I’ll just call it something like an extended holiday ;) ) And since I’m working on a magazine at the moment, that has my full attention, so things are moving rather slowly but eventually once this issue is out I’ll be an extremely happy camper and have plenty of time to burn . . . 

As for the grand scheme of all things vampiric, I hope to have the books in Australia by December at the latest and hopefully that will give me enough time to promote its arrival, and also find bookstores to carry it . . .  I’m working on a way for those who are in the eastern states to obtain the book; either I will send them via post or I’ll find a couple of bookstores that will hold them over there . . .  Actually any suggestions on this matter would be greatly appreciated since I absolutely hate ordering online . . . (My friend had a little incident where someone else online had obtained his visa card number and made rather expensive purchases nearly $2000 worth!!) 

Aside from that I have many plans for Gutter/Matt and the Vampires.   Soon I hope to have him on Triple J and get him exposure there, and I’m also approaching other radio stations and seeing what or if they can offer anything.  Speaking of which, what would you Australian fans say to have a set time where you can ask Matt any questions you wish to know in chat room?  Or if I can pull a few strings, we can have a phone-in and you ask your questions on radio or something of the sort?  

As for other ideas, there could be a Hollywood Vampire music night, a vampire movie marathon, and several other interesting things I have simmering in this mind of mine.. All ideas are welcome as I’m open to many things and if you’d like to lend a fang as Gutter/Matt likes to say, please do! 

Well, now it’s time for things to come to a close, but I’ve got a few ideas to run past you before I head back to the piles of paperwork and text . . . 

As I’ll be doing many things in the following months I was curious as to your opinions . . .  Would you all like a monthly update on what’s happening?  Or e-mails when certain things are happening, e.g. radio interviews?  I’m open to any ideas and I look forward to (if any) receiving feedback upon it all.  Might make my e-mail a lot happier, with it being put to good use… 

That’s all the goss from here for now till next I grace (annoy) you with my rambling, farewell!

--Callie (calliem@iinet.net.au)

I'll update this little message as new things occur, so check back periodically . . . she never seems to run out of ideas!  Also, if there are other industrious fans out there overseas or in different parts of America (Canada, Mexico, and South America included, of course!) who are looking to get things going where you're at and would like to make your intentions known, I would be more than happy to put up a little section like this for you in the Promotions area, as well as putting you in the newsletter, so you can help get things organized.  Remember, whenever one of you does something like this, you're helping me out a great deal, so it'd be my pleasure to help you spread the word of your ideas!