Sometimes I think about the fact that when I was 12 I was reading Poppy Z Brite (who is a man now? Did not know that.), and that these days 12-year-olds are reading Twilight. Books about tawdry sex vampires make me nostalgic for the mid '90s—so I learned with interest that we've got a legendary practitioner of the genre living right here in Portland.

The Guardian recently described Todd Grimson as "the greatest horror novelist you've never read":

In Stainless, Todd Grimson set out to write "the Ultimate, Final Vampire Novel" — and succeeded. Set against the backdrop of a 1990s Los Angeles rotten with sex, drugs and indie rock music, Stainless follows the 400-year-old Justine, sufferer of a rare glandular condition that makes her long-lived but dependent on regular transfusions of blood, and Keith, a rock musician with shattered hands and a shattered life following the suicide of his girlfriend.

Grimson lives in Portland—his writing is influenced by a stint working the night shift in the emergency room at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital, though these days he's largely housebound by MS and the drug treatments he takes to control the disease. (Jeff Baker at the Oregonian wrote a lengthy profile of Grimson, if you'd like to learn more.) Publisher Schaffner Press recently began reissuing Grimson's work—Brand New Cherry Flavor hit in October, and Stainless was just released this week, on Valentine's Day.

I've got three copies of Stainless to give away—the publisher will mail 'em to you, just email me your mailing address and the subject line "tawdry sex vampire" by noon tomorrow for a chance to win. (Once you've read the book, if you wanna write up a review I'll post it on the blog.) You can find more info on Grimson's website, right over here.