Guest Blog and Giveaway with Susan Blexrud

Is there no end to this vampire craze?

As a writer of paranormal fiction, I am posed this question frequently. There are those of you who don’t ever want the vampire craze to end, yet you wonder if the statute of limitations is running out on options.

Let me assure you, the options are limitless, and hence, there is no end to this vampire craze. If you consider vampire characteristics, you soon realize that the combinations are akin to lottery odds. You have about a one in nine million chance of creating a vampire character that already exists.

You know what would be fun? Let’s make a list of all the characteristics, tear up the list with one attribute per piece, and put all the pieces in a fish bowl. Then, gather round the fish bowl all ye writers and other vampire aficionados, and dip in. Each participant is allowed seven pieces to create his or her vampire.

Here are some possible combinations. Your seven pieces could reveal a vampire who morphs to bat form, has no reflection in mirrors, is capable of living in daylight hours (with good sunscreen and high UV-rated sunglasses), is noble, funny, romantic, and looks like Gerard Butler. Or, your vampire could be a diabolical, fat, night-roaming ONLY, fond of sucking on babies, morose, bald, Alfred Hitchcock look alike.

The vampire hero I created for Love Fang is the first variety. He can be dark and threatening, but he’s also tender and loving. His 500 years of fangdom began during the reign of King Henry VIII, who he served as a barrister. Now he’s an intellectual property attorney and a member of the Florida Bar. His law practice brings him some interesting clients, among them is his nemesis, the Mafia kingpin.

Whether you’re a fan of Anne Rice or Charlaine Harris (or like me, both), your preferred vampires could be sinister (Lestat) or kind of wacky (Bubba). I loved Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian for the great background she provided to the historical vampire, Transylvania and all. Chelsea Yarbro’s European and Russian backdrops are chilling and thrilling. On the other hand, when Laurell K. Hamilton set her story in my town, Asheville, I thoroughly enjoyed the notion of paranormal creatures roaming the Grove Park Inn.

If you compare the way vampire writers deal with how vampires are made and their abilities to reproduce, you’ll find no two writers handle these issues the same way. In my vampire world, three bites works the magic of transformation, and my vampires make babies the old-fashioned way, just like humans. Other writers require everything from a small nip to a full drain for transformation, and rarely do their vampires have children. In fact, many of the vampire men are shooting blanks. J. R. Ward’s vampires in her Dark Brotherhood series don’t transform to their creature of the night state until they’re around 25 years old, which I find an interesting take.

The possibilities are endless. I just read a news report about high mortality rates in bats caused by a white fungus. Hmm. I think John Wright, my vampire vigilante, will need to investigate. And in the process of aiding the Department of Environmental Protection, he’ll encounter a covert government agency responsible for the bats demise. The storyline is jelling.

What do you think about the vampire craze?

Leave me a question/comment, and one lucky respondent will receive an autographed copy of LOVE FANG.

Shipping to US and Canada only please

Be sure to leave contact info in post

P.S. from Susan: Our lovely hostess, Roxanne Rhoads, noted on a guest blog at SciFiGuy (love that Doug) that the world is cultivating a whole new generation of paranormal romance readers through the maturing YA demographic. So, there’s another reason that vampires are here to stay.

Susan Blexrud’s first print book, LOVE FANG, is now available online

through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Susan welcomes your comments at: http://www.susanblexrud.blogspot.com/.

And just for fun this is a photo of Susan and her vampire cover model Julian.