After a student of mine handed me Twilight,
I started reading about vampires for the first time. I had always avoided
reading horror fiction since I’m not into scary things, and to me vampires
qualified as scary things. In my mind, vampires and horror were one and the
same, but Twilight helped me realize that vampires didn’t have
to be scary.
With my new interest in vampires, I began watching True
Blood when it was on HBO.
With Twilight and True
Blood on my mind, I was inspired to start writing my own vampire
stories, beginning with Her Dear and Loving Husband, Book One of
the Loving Husband Trilogy. Then the Loving Husband Trilogy inspired a
prequel, Down Salem Way. I’ve enjoyed
many of the vampire books I’ve read, so it’s hard to narrow down my list of
favorite literary vampires to ten. But I do have a few who stand out from the
crowd.
1. James Wentworth from the Loving Husband Trilogy.
2. Louis from Interview With a Vampire by
Anne Rice
There is something about the inherent humanness of
Louis that drew my attention from the beginning of this story. As he’s telling
his tale in the interview to the young reporter, he’s conflicted about his life
as a vampire, and I liked that about him. I liked that he hadn’t given himself
over entirely to the animal-like vampire nature. Louis strikes me as reluctant
to entirely let go of being human, which is perhaps why he needed to tell his
story. I think this is when I first realized that a vampire might have a conscience.
It’s probably not a coincidence that my own vampire, James Wentworth, is also
conflicted about his vampire nature.
3. Lestat from Interview
With the Vampire by Anne Rice
I had to give Lestat a nod here. He is certainly a
fascinating character in his own right.
4. Dracula from, well, Dracula by
Bram Stoker
5. Bill from True Blood and the
Sookie Stackhouse novels
I’m compelled to give Edward a nod because if I
hadn’t read the Twilight books I wouldn’t have given vampires
a second thought. Twilight was the catalyst for my interest in
vampires, which led me to write the Loving Husband Trilogy. It’s
fair to say that without Edward, James Wentworth wouldn’t exist, the thought of
which makes me very sad indeed. So thank you, Edward.
7. Matthew from A Discovery of Witches
Not many people are familiar with Sheridan Le Fanu’s
gothic novel from 1897 about a lesbian vampire who preys on young women, but
it’s a great example of late-Victorian vampire literature. I’ve heard there’s a
film version of Carmilla out there
somewhere, but I haven’t seen it yet.
I bet you didn’t know that George R. R. Martin wrote
a vampire thriller in 1982 called Fevre Dream. It’s set in a steamboat the Mississippi
River and it’s a great read for Martin’s fans.
10. Amy
Harper Bellafonte from The Passage
The
Passage by Justin Cronin is one of my all-time favorite
vampire books because it’s so different than the others. There’s a virus on the
loose that gives its victims immortality—and bloodlust. Amy has the virus but
she’s not after blood like the other vampires, which makes me like her very
much.
Down
Salem Way
Prequel
to Loving Husband Trilogy
Meredith
Allard
Genre:
historical/paranormal/sweet romance
Publisher: Copperfield Press
Date of Publication: 6/25/2019
ISBN: paperback 978-0578500645
ASIN: B07QPBFYRP
Number of pages: 336
Word Count: 93,000
Cover Artist: LFD Designs
Book Description:
How would you deal with the
madness of the Salem witch hunts?
In 1690, James Wentworth arrives
in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony with his father, John, hoping to
continue the success of John’s mercantile business. While in Salem, James falls
in love with Elizabeth Jones, a farmer’s daughter. Though they are virtually
strangers when they marry, the love between James and Elizabeth grows quickly
into a passion that will transcend time.
But something evil lurks down
Salem way. Soon many in Salem, town and village, are accused of practicing
witchcraft and sending their shapes to harm others. Despite the madness
surrounding them, James and Elizabeth are determined to continue the peaceful,
loving life they have created together. Will their love for one another carry
them through the most difficult challenge of all?
Down Salem Way is the
long-awaited prequel to the bestselling paranormal historical Loving Husband
Trilogy.
Excerpt:
“Would you like
a lesson?” I asked.
“Aye,”
Lizzie said. “Thank you.”
Lizzie has
progressed well in her reading. And quickly too. I believe our nightly lessons
help bond us more quickly than we might have otherwise since our readings
prompt long discussions where we learn much about each other. After we read the
rest of the passage together, I did the impossible: I cajoled my wife into
reading aloud on her own.
“No one has such
a lovely voice as you,” I said.
Lizzie laughed.
“You think your sweet tongue will persuade me to read alone? When you are such
a learned man?” She turned away, her cheeks flushed.
“But you know
how I love listening to you speak. Tis like hearing a serenata by Alessandro
Stradella.”
“Who?”
I reached for
our favorite volume of poetry. “Tis time, Lizzie. Read to me.”
Lizzie turned
the book in her hands, over and over. Finally, she nodded. She tentatively
opened the book. “What would you like to hear?”
“You know.”
Lizzie’s smile
rivals the brightest sunshine. She opened to the page, exhaled, and read,
haltingly, with pauses, some from a struggle to sound out or recall the words,
some from embarrassment that she read alone. After the first two lines, her
voice grew in confidence.
If ever two were
one, then surely we.
If ever man were
loved by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was
happy in a man,
Compare with me,
ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love
more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the
riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such
that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but
love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such
I can no way repay;
The heavens
reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we
live, in love let’s so persever,
That when we
live no more, we may live ever.
Lizzie closed
the book. “Tis true, you know.”
“What is?” I
asked.
“This poem, To
My Dear and Loving Husband. Tis as though everything I feel for you has been
written here, by this woman, a magistrate’s wife I’ll never meet. You are…”
Lizzie blushed, hot along her jaw. I touched her cheek and lifted her head so I
could see into her eyes. “If ever man were loved by wife, then thee. That is
how…”
“Tis all right,
Lizzie. You can tell me anything.”
“That is how I
feel about you. You are my dear and loving husband, James Wentworth.”
I knelt before
Lizzie, pressing her hand to my lips.
“I knew the
moment I saw you over the supper table that you were the one for me. I cannot
imagine waking up every morning for the rest of my life without looking into
your beautiful eyes. I cannot imagine walking through this world without
knowing that you were here waiting for me. I cannot imagine having the strength
to breathe without you. You are my dear and loving wife, Elizabeth Wentworth.
And I love you. I shall never leave you. Ever.”
I swept my wife into my arms and
carried her away.
Meredith Allard is the author of
the bestselling paranormal historical love story The Loving Husband Trilogy and
the sweet Victorian romance When It Rained at Hembry Castle, named a best
historical novel of 2016 by IndieReader. Meredith's latest release is Down
Salem Way, the long-awaited prequel to The Loving Husband Trilogy set around
the Salem witch hunts. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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