Velcome! And no, I don't want to drink your blood lol
Well, maybe later :)
When I saw the opportunity to participate in this blog hop about vampires, how could I refuse? I couldn't! Even though I have another one going on the same day, for Valentine's Day. But double your pleasure, right? So now, on to my second Blog Hop! Stay tuned to find out how to win! And don't forget to check out the other participants of this fun blog hop
here!
So, let's talk about vampires, shall we?
I have had a love affair with vampires ever since I read
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and watched the Bela Lugosi classic film version of the
book. I thought he was intense and very sexy. When the film first came out,
back in the 30’s, so did a lot of women. Bela had the perfect voice and accent
to play the Transylvanian count. He came from Hungary, where he was actually a
very successful and renowned stage actor. He came to Hollywood with high hopes,
but things didn’t quite work out as he hoped, owing in large part to the very
thick accent he could never lose. This was compounded by a drug addiction
gained after surgery, which haunted the rest of his life, forcing him to take
less than stellar roles, as many actors are forced to do to make a living. He
died only a couple of days into the shooting of his last film—Plan 9 From Outer
Space—and it shows. Low budget to begin with, they replaced him with somebody’s
dentist, who was taller than Lugosi, and had him spend most of the film with
his cape drawn over his face. The plot was almost non-existent, and ridiculous,
and this rates as one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.
But I digress.
I also fell in love with Barnabas Collins, the tragic
vampire from the long-ago ABC soap opera Dark Shadows, which was certainly unique
in its use of the supernatural in a daytime series. I devoured the books, and
drooled over the star, Jonathan Frid. There’s a story told in my family that I
scared my little brother (who is seven years younger than I am) with tales of
my vampire friends. So badly that he hung a crucifix from his bed for
protection. Nice story, but patently untrue, and only told years after the
fact. I’d be willing to swear my brother never possessed a crucifix. We never
went to church, even.
But I loved vampires. Very much. So it was only natural that
my first book should feature one. Originally, his name was Derek DeVille. I
chose DeVille because that is the pseudonym that Dracula uses when he goes to
London, in the novel. Derek was the name of a friend of mine’s young son, and I
liked it. The two names fit. Derek he stayed for a long time. But back when I
wrote it, there were no e-books, and getting published was a lot harder than it
is today. So Dark Love was put aside for other pursuits. One of those was role
playing, in games at such venues as Live Journal, Greatest Journal, and now
Insane Journal.
For one of those games, I needed to make a vampire
character. I couldn’t think of another name, so I used Derek DeVille, which was
familiar to me. I figured what the heck, it’s still my character, and nobody
would ever make the connection. Except that a strange thing happened. The role
playing Derek took on a life and character all his own. One distinctive from
the book Derek. And I decided he needed a book of his own.
Fast forward a bit. I’ve begun to be published, and I ask
myself: what about Dark Love? I dust if off and think about submitting it. But
I realize I can’t do it with a second Derek DeVille, not when I want to use the
other one. So I need a new name. The first name I came up with was Gabriel
Brandon, and I tried that, but it didn’t feel right. I finally settled on Eric
Vargas, and I really liked that. So Eric he became and Eric he is.
Eric is blond, with long hair, usually tied in a tail at the
nape of his neck. I love long hair in men—no lie. I find Eric very sexy. So
does my heroine, Samantha Kane. Samantha is the name that would have been given
to my son Chris, had he been born a girl. And as he was the last, I’ll never
have a Samantha, except in this book.
I set the story in St. Louis, because I live there. The
museum doesn’t exist, except in my mind. I used actual settings for parts of
it, including the old Chain of Rocks Bridge. I gave Samantha my interest in
vampires, and the Tarot, and my red hair.
Parts of the book were hard to write. In fact, there’s one
chapter that even I have trouble reading. But sometimes you just have to go
where the characters take you. Sometimes, too, it’s awesome how things work out
when you write. I was stuck on the ending, not sure where to go, when something
that was in the news at the time kept demanding my attention, and my brain put
things together, and wrote an ending. Only after it was written, did I realize
that it had been foreshadowed earlier in the novel. I just love when things
work out like that. I won’t tell you what it was, that would be spoiling, and I
try not to do that.
To this day, I still love vampires and love to write about
them. I have other vampire characters to love and explore. And werewolves too.
It’s a lifelong love, I’m sure.
Dark Love was published in January 2011, but late last year
I pulled it from the publisher, and am currently seeking a home for it.
I’m still fascinated by vampires, in film and books. I’ve
read all the Twilight books (and refuse to watch the films because the casting
for Edward was so atrocious, plus the previews I saw looked like a bad
made-for-TV movie). I’ve read some of the Vampire Diaries books and was talked
into watching the series. I have to say this about that – I really don’t care
for the series. There is only one reason why I even bother to watch, and his
name is Damon Salvatore, aka Ian Somerhalder. He is sex on legs, and to die
for! He is my avatar on FB, and incredibly gorgeous! He is also my dream
casting choice to play Judas in the film version of Revelations. If he ever
leaves the show… well, the show will die, so it doesn’t matter.
Another show I loved that featured a vampire was Moonlight. Mick St. John was to die for! How criminal that the show only ran for one season - which I happen to own, I might add. Good thing Alex O'Loughlin is in Hawaii now, shooting Hawaii 5-0, although I still miss Mick.
And of course, I'd be remiss at not mentioning the vampire whose actor stole my heart almost twenty years ago! I'm sure you'll recognize this very handsome face!
That’s enough about vampires for now, I know you have lots
of other authors to visit, so have a great time! Oh wait, the giveaway, right?
I will give two readers their choice of my books. If you want to play, tell me who is your favorite vampire and why. Don't forget to leave an email address, otherwise I have no way of reaching you! Have fun!
