Why Are Women Attracted to Non-Human Males? Guest Blog and Giveaway with Lynda Hilburn

Today I'd like to welcome Lynda Hilburn back to Fang-tastic Books for the new re-release of The Vampire Shrink. 


I first discovered her right after The Vampire Shrink was published the first time. I fell in love with Kismet and Devereux and was so sad to see them off the radar for awhile. 


So when I heard the book was being re-released after being newly edited, rewritten and expanded....well I couldn't wait to get my hands on it to see what had changed, what was the same- was Kismet still a character I could relate to, was Devereux still a vampire to drool over.


Oh yes, everything I loved was still there with much more fleshed out characters and detail.


If you didn't read The Vampire Shrink the first time, you must read it now. You will become hooked.

I just got back from the 2012 Romantic Times Convention in Chicago, which was a wild, crazy and exciting trip into book-reading madness. It was so much fun! 

Talking to romance book fans as I stood in line for one event or another was one of my favorite aspects of the convention. Paranormal fans wanted to talk about this vampire, that werewolf, or the other demon. 

Excellent topics and all right up my alley! But the non-paranormal readers tended to ask one question over and over: Why do women want to be with non-human males? 

What a great question. Why do we? 

 As a psychotherapist, I hear from women daily who are dissatisfied with their husbands/boyfriends/friends-with-benefits. The men in question don’t pay enough attention to the women, they are looking for a mother, and/or they have negative habits, patterns or behaviors. 

No wonder we find imaginary men arousing. Since I’m a vampire writer/reader, it’s easiest for me to think about reasons I fantasize about being desired by a gorgeous, bloodsucking immortal. 

First, he’s NOT human. He wouldn’t sit drinking beer in front of the television or play games on computer. He’d never abandon his woman to go play pool with his buds. No! Instead, he’d lock his smoldering gaze onto mine, run his tongue over the tips of his sharp fangs, and wrap me into his muscled arms for a slow dance into undead heaven. The fact that he needs my very blood in order to exist is orgasmic all by itself. I would be the center of his world. And he’s mysterious – dangerous. We women love the strong, silent type. 

The one we can make up stuff about. We attribute his silence to inner depth; dark secrets he will share only with us. Unlike his human counterpart, who turns out to actually have nothing to say, we imagine our supernatural male will invite us into his tortured mental landscape in due time. We are willing to wait. As long as it takes. We want to ease his eternal pain. 

Stamina. Whether due to the normal passage of time, poor diet, too much alcohol or other bad lifestyle choices, many human men lose interest in, and the ability to perform, sex. 

And, romance? Not on the agenda. But our paranormal hero? He’s the night-walking energizer bunny. Just provide a little crimson refreshment and he can go for hours and hours. Wow. Did it just get hot in here? 

So, needless to say, answering those questions stimulated many a lively – and loud – discussion! 

If you haven’t attended an RT convention, you owe it to yourself to have a hands-on experience of being in a hotel for five days with 1,500+ women. You won’t believe how much fun it is to get together and talk about romance – and sex. 

What do you think? Why do we lust after non-human, supernatural males? 


I’ll give away a signed copy of The Vampire Shrink, the first book in my Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist series, to two people who leave comments here. 


Thanks so much for participating!

Lynda Hilburn bio: 

Lynda Hilburn writes paranormal fiction. More specifically, she writes vampire books. After a childhood filled with invisible friends, sightings of dead relatives and a fascination with the occult, turning to the paranormal was a no-brainer. In her other reality, she makes her living as a licensed psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, professional psychic/tarot reader, university instructor and workshop presenter. 

Her first novel, “The Vampire Shrink” – which introduced us to Denver Psychologist Kismet Knight and a hidden vampire underworld – was first released in 2007 and republished (the rewritten, expanded version) by Quercus Books 9/2011 and Sterling Publishing/Silver Oak 4/2012. 

Book #2 in the series, “Blood Therapy,” releases Fall, 2012. Several more books are planned. “Undead in the City,” an erotic paranormal novella, “Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker,” a satire/parody, and “Until Death Do Us Part,” a humorous mini-story, are now available in e-form from Amazon.com. “Devereux: The Night Before Kismet” will be available Spring, 2012. 

Her short story, “Blood Song,” is part of the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance anthology, April, 2009. 

Contact info: 

Website: http://www.lyndahilburnauthor.com 

Blog: http://paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lyndahilburnauthor 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lyndahilburn 

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhkVHTlWwVg

Answer Lynda's question for a chance 

to win a signed copy of The Vampire Shrink

(What do you think? Why do we lust after non-human, supernatural males? )

2 winners will be chosen

Open to US Shipping

Please include your email address with your comment

Vampire Lust Guest Blog with Lynda Hilburn

Since the first version of my book The Vampire Shrink came out, I’ve done lots of media interviews. At some point in each talk, the interviewer would inevitably lower her voice (most were women) and ask, “Why would a woman fall for a disgusting dead guy?” which prompted a discussion of zombies vs. vampires, giving me an opportunity to defend the appeal of my bloodsucking – undead not dead – lust objects.

I’ve been a vampire fan since I first read Bram Stoker’s Dracula as a kid, and I stood in block-long lines on Saturdays to buy a ticket for the matinee at my local theater, which usually featured scary vampire portrayals by Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee. I enjoyed the werewolf, alien and general monster movies, too, but nothing could freeze my blood like the sight of those sharp incisors hovering over a quivering mortal’s neck.

Most of the early vampire books I read were of the horror variety: Festering, cadaverous, hygiene-challenged bloodsuckers who crawled out of graves to steal children and drag them back to their filthy lairs in fog-shrouded cemeteries. Hideous, terrifying, long-fingered, dark visions from my worst nightmares — walking corpses. What fun.

Then the Frank Langella version of Dracula appeared. Even though sexuality and sensuality had been attributed to vampires much earlier, I didn’t get a personal clue until I saw this movie. Yikes. I remember my friends and I screaming at the end of the film, hoping Frank would somehow manage to escape and fly away.

Did we find a bloodsucking fiend arousing? What was up with that?

Over the years, I’ve thought about this issue a lot. Not only as a reader and author of vampire books, but as a psychotherapist. You wouldn’t believe how many women share dreams and fantasies of vampires in therapy (and what great book material!).

Here are a few of the reasons we love vampires:

Vampires are the quintessential bad boys of the preternatural universe.

They break the rules, have little – if any – regard for human laws/morals, and don’t even try to be politically correct. They’re the dark, brooding figures hiding in the shadows and we love projecting our secret, forbidden fantasies onto them. Unlike the “normal” men we know, vampires won’t sit around drinking beer and watching television. They’re adventurous. And dangerous – in every way. Imagine the Terminator with fangs. Or, Captain Jack Sparrow rising from his coffin.

Vampires need our very blood to live.

What could be more intimate (especially combined with sex) than the lure of someone who can’t exist without the blood flowing in our veins? In many vampire mythologies, the very act of sucking blood causes a body sensation (for the suckee) more powerful than the most vivid orgasm. Who wouldn’t want that? Where can I sign up?

Vampires can grant us immortality.

Afraid of death? Most humans are. Fall under the spell of a vampire, take his blood, and live forever – or for a long time, at the very least. Worried about keeping your body in shape? Never fear. You’ll never gain another pound and will be eternally young (depending on your age at turning). Existence won’t become boring for at least a century or two, right?

Vampires are extraordinary.

This one is my favorite. The vampires I love in movies and books (and my own vampire hero, Devereux) are brilliant. They’ve used their long lives to gain wisdom and knowledge. They’re usually gorgeous, and have bodies to die for. And, while they have flaws and psychological baggage from their human years, they seek understanding and awareness of themselves and the universe at large (it’s a good thing there are psychologists to work with these tortured creatures!).

Vampires have stamina.

Endless sex? Enough said.
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The rewritten/expanded version of The Vampire Shrink is now available from Quercus/Jo Fletcher Books, UK. The British hardcover and paperback are only available across the pond, but the Kindle version is available everywhere. The USA trade paperback version (yet another version with its own cover!) will be released by Sterling Publishing/Silver Oak in April, 2012.
Links to buy:

Kindle, UK: http://amzn.to/qkjBeZ
Hardcover, UK: http://amzn.to/niYpB2
Kindle, USA: http://amzn.to/qHNTdt
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Bio:

Lynda Hilburn writes paranormal fiction. More specifically, she writes vampire books. After a childhood filled with invisible friends, sightings of dead relatives and a fascination with the occult, turning to the paranormal was a no-brainer. In her other reality, she makes her living as a licensed psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, professional psychic/tarot reader, university instructor and workshop presenter.

Her first novel, “The Vampire Shrink” -- which introduced us to Denver Psychologist Kismet Knight and a hidden vampire underworld -- was first released in 2007 and is being re-released (the rewritten, expanded version) by Quercus Books in 2011 and Sterling Publishing/Silver Oak in 2012. Several more books are planned. “Undead in the City,” an erotic paranormal novella, and “Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker,” a satire/parody, are now available in e-form from Amazon.com. Her short story, “Blood Song,” is part of the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance anthology, April, 2009.

For more information, visit Lynda’s website: www.lyndahilburnauthor.com

Guest Author Lynda Hilburn Talking About Sexy Vamps

Hello, everyone! I’d like to thank Roxanne for inviting me to blog at Fang-tastic Books today! I really appreciate her gracious support of all things vampire.

I’ll admit it: I’m a rabid vampire fan. From the first moment I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula as a kid, I was hooked. My mother was horrified that I read such dark, grisly material. She felt certain it couldn’t be good for me. I don’t think she understood the depth of her daughter’s love of the mysterious, scary and occult. But my weirdness is her fault, anyway! She’s the one who talked to dead people while doing laundry in the basement, so communing with deceased relatives became normal for me, too. With that kind of background, how could I NOT love vampires and the paranormal?

The idea for the Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist series came from a client session in my psychotherapy practice. As I listened to a young woman talk about her paranormal experience and her desire to join an alternative world, I became intrigued. In this case, she talked about being an alien abductee, but the language she used echoed in my mind after the therapeutic hour. It reminded me of scenes from various vampire books I’d read throughout the years.

Prior to that day, I’d mostly written nonfiction: psychology articles, self-help training materials, hypnotherapy guides, newspaper columns, workbooks, workshop information, etc. I’d only branched out into fiction a few months earlier, after discovering a wonderful, new (new to me!) genre called “paranormal romance.”

I went home that evening in 2003, sat down in front of the computer, and began writing the story of a Denver psychologist who thinks she’s discovered a new psychological category: vampire wannabes, but instead finds herself pulled into a dark underworld of real bloodsuckers.

Writing that first book (The Vampire Shrink) was a great experience. Since my main female character, Kismet Knight, is an idealized version of me, I gave myself free rein to live out all my fantasies through her. Not only did she meet frightening nightwalkers, clever witches, a mysterious psychic, a helpful ghost, and a handsome FBI profiler, but her life changed forever when she encountered gorgeous, ancient, magical vampire named Devereux.

The series is reality based. The only aspect of the books that isn’t “real,” (at least I haven’t discovered a real one in my waiting room yet!) is vampires. Everything else exists in the world I’m familiar with. I know lots of witches, psychics, wizards, and ghosts. I wanted my vampires to be hidden from the human world because the unknown, forbidden element of the vampire mythology most appeals to me.

I don’t see vampires as humans with fangs. Due to the mystical transformation they undergo, they’re a separate species – formerly human but no longer. Most of the bloodsuckers have no problem doing whatever they must to exist. They don’t feel bad about being vampires. In fact, some of them view themselves as superior to mortals.

Kismet has a rough time through the first book facing her new reality. The scientist in her refuses to let go of her therapeutic mindset. As a clinician myself, I know there are usually “logical” explanations for every strange symptom and experience presented by clients, so it makes sense to me that Kismet would resist seeing the vampires and vampire wannabes as anything but mentally ill.

But when the proof becomes too overwhelming for her to ignore, the undead fireworks begin!

I’m happy that readers seem to love Devereux. He was a surprise to me. When I wrote the scene where Kismet’s young client describes the vampire master she’s attracted to, I was certain he’d be a dark-haired man. That’s the type I envision when I fantasize about mesmerizing nosferatu. But Devereux insisted on having very light blond hair and blue/green eyes. I even tried to talk him out of it, but – as anyone knows who reads my books – Devereux is a very strong, opinionated fellow, and he refused to be other than he is. But I must admit, he was right. I now dream of that long, silky hair flowing over my body and hearing his velvet voice whispering in my mind . . .

It’s been a challenge to categorize my series. It’s generally paranormal fiction with strong romance elements, mystery, horror, humor, and sex. It can also be viewed as vampire chick lit, urban fantasy and dark contemporary fantasy. It gets shelved in different places in every bookstore: horror, fantasy, romance and general fiction. I just hope readers will keep tracking my books down!

I’m currently working on the third book in the Kismet series, as well as some other book ideas. And my short story, “Blood Song,” is in the recently released Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance.

For more information about my books:
http://www.lyndahilburnauthor.com/
http://paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/lyndahilburn

Now for a contest!

Leave a comment here giving us a description of your ideal, gorgeous vampire. I’ll give away a copy of one of my books (your choice, either The Vampire Shrink or Dark Harvest) to the winner.

Thanks so much for having me!