Here’s a novel idea: Vampires in San Jose
I think we knew Silicon Valley has plenty of corporate vampires, but in M.D. Neu’s new novel, “The Calling,” readers will discover the supernatural variety call the South Bay home, too.
David and Khanh Russo hosted a book launch party at the Axis in downtown San Jose last week for Neu’s book, a romantic paranormal thriller — I have to believe there’s a aisle for that at Recycle Bookstore — with LGBT themes. It’s the debut novel for Neu, who works at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.
The book’s main character, Duncan Alexander, is a gay man who happens to be in San Jose when he is “called” to meet the mysterious Juliet de Exter — a wealthy and powerful supernatural being. Complications ensue, as they often do.
Inspired by the work of Anne Rice and a host of other authors who specialize in science fiction or the supernatural, Neu says he has been drawn for years to the idea of vampires walking among us, especially in an age when everyone carries around a camera.
“They’ve always been very interesting to me and very cool,” he said. “You read anything about supernatural forces and you think, ‘How could that work in our society?’ ”
Neu had other goals, too. While he grew up in a family accepting of his sexuality, he was disheartened by the dearth of stories reflecting who he was as a gay man and wanted to change that with his work. Neu also wanted to focus on a nontypical location — his hometown of San Jose.
“I wanted to spotlight San Jose and the South Bay, places like Saratoga, Los Altos and Morgan Hill to really show our home as an exciting and interesting place to live,” Neu said. “And since it’s the heart of the technology world, I thought it would be fun how vampires — or ‘immortals’ as they’re called in the book — use technology to their advantage to stay out of the media.”
So the book contains locations that will be familiar to South Bay residents, and the Party Helpers — a San Jose catering company owned by Kristin Dickens — gets a shout out. I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into the book soon — bad pun fully embraced — and if you’re interested in checking it out, the Nine Star Press book, which carries a warning for sexual content and graphic violence, is available in paperback and e-book formats.
GET ACTIVATED >> A collaborative performance will be held tonight at Cafe Stritch called “Play On Words: Activists Unite,” featuring the work of eight South Bay writers.
The 7 p.m. event is a partnership between Play On Words, a literary arts series that pairs performers with writers, and the San Jose Flash Fiction Forum, a reading series based at Works/ San Jose that showcases both emerging and established writers and short, short pieces. Following the 2016 presidential election, the two groups decided to team up on an activist chapbook called “Activate.”
Tonight’s performance will feature selections from the book, which includes work by Tarn Wilson, Lyra Halprin, Arcadia Conrad, Cindy StewartRinier, Leah Griesmann, Lita Kurth, April Halprin Wayland, Ken Weisner and Christine Stoddard.
RUNNING START >> San Jose Water CEO Eric Thornburg, who arrived from the Connecticut Water Co. to replace the retiring Rich Roth in November, will be spending his Super Bowl Sunday morning taking part in the annual Super Guadalupe River Run. Thornburg has been an avid runner for the past seven years, with the New York and Boston marathons under his belt, so he should enjoy this tour through the Guadalupe River Park in downtown San Jose.
San Jose Water is also the main sponsor of the Feb. 4 run, which includes a 10K, 5K and a kids’ fun run. Get registration information at www.grpg. org.