A tanned, sexy vampire sweat under the Texas sun while waving at passing cars, many of which sounded appreciative honks, but in the end it was the clown suit-clad representative of the werewolves that came out on top in the first Vampire vs Werewolf event organized by authors Gabrielle S. Faust and Steven E. Wedel.

On July 18, Faust and Wedel visited Eerie Books of Wylie, Texas, to read, autograph books, and raise money for bat and wolf charities.

“I feel like it was a pretty good event,” Wedel, from Moore, Okla., said. “Randy Ray’s Eerie Books was a great host site. People came for the reading, bought books and donated money to our causes.”

Faust, from Austin, Texas, agreed, saying “I was unsure as to what to expect in such a small town, but the turnout was wonderful. Everyone who attended seemed genuinely interested in our work and enjoyed the readings. Books were sold, a bit of money was raised for our charities. Over all it was a great day!”

Faust’s charity for the event was the International Bat Conservatory, based in Austin. Readers donated $23 for the vampire team, not including the several Adopt a Bat contributions made directly through the official organization website. Wedel’s fans contributed $34 toward Mission: Wolf of Silver Cliff, Colo., making the werewolves the winner of this first battle.

“Was it as much as we’d hoped to raise? No, of course not,” Wedel said. “But in this tight economy, every dollar helps and I’m sure both organizations will be grateful for everything people donated.”

Both Faust and Wedel contributed four books each as prizes for those who donated to the charities. For every $2 given, donors’ names were put into a pot and winners for both the vampire and werewolf teams were drawn after the event.

Faust, author of the Eternal Vigilance series of vampire novels, said the werewolves got lucky this time. “What can you expect? It was a signing held in the day. Of course, the vampires were sleeping. I challenge the werewolves to have the event at night sometime and see who the winner is then.”

Wedel, author of the Werewolf Saga books, said he welcomes the challenge.

Donations are still be taken at www.vampirevswerewolf.com and more prizes will be awarded at a later event.