Fanged Mania #7: So you think you want to be a vampire…

To join in, copy and paste these rules and the above banner into your Fanged Mania post and add your link to this week’s Fanged Mania post at Elisabeth Wheatley’s Blog. Fanged Mania is a Friday meme counting down to the release of Fanged Princess and displaying all things vampire and awesome. Fanged Mania posts can be a review of a vampire book, a quote from the latest Vampire Diaries episode, a showcase of a cool vampire book’s cover, or whatever you like so long as it is vampire related. Don’t forget, participants will be entered in the drawing to win a fanged-abulous prize pack!

I love writing about vampires.  Of all the fantasy and paranormal genre’s out there, I think vampire related stories have the most versatility.  They can be anything!  A love story, a chilling horror tale, a narrative of a tortured soul, and everything in between; when you write about vampires, those characters become a “safe metaphor” in your stories, your worlds.

Would I ever want to be a vampire, or one of my own characters?  No, no, and…umm, NO!  Yes, they have immortality, but still…

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think longevity necessarily means vampires have to be unhappy.  I love the movie adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire.  It’s one of my favorites.  It’s supposed to be the story of Louis and his 200ish years of vampirism.  As a writer, I think Louis is a fun character.  He despises his cursed existence.  You can feel his anguish, his pain.  That’s awesome, but I’m not inviting his self-loathing tush to a party.  It’s not going to happen!  My characters and Anne Rice’s characters see immortality very differently, and that’s OK.  That’s what makes these characters have so much versatility.

When I began writing about vampires, I asked myself, “What would it look like if I lived to be one hundred?  Two hundred?  Longer than that?”  I’m not wealthy.  Far from it!  Would I be wealthy if I lived to be one hundred?  Probably not.  Sorry Hubby!  😉  Would I curse my very existence?  Hmm…I doubt it.  I’m fairly upbeat, though I’m sure I’d find a bit more sarcasm along the way.  That led to more questions:  How would I feel about music?  Technology?  Current events?  One hundred years seems like a long time, however, my great-great grandfather, on my father’s side, lived to be one hundred, and my great-grandfather, on my mother’s side, was only a week away from his hundredth birthday when he passed.  I’m sure that’s skewed my perspective.

When I began creating characters, I was able to choose men and women from many different time periods.  I asked them questions about their lives.  They all have slightly different outlooks, based on their backgrounds and the amount of years they’ve been on the planet.  They’re a motley crew, but they do share some common threads, like the importance of family.  That doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and rainbows.  Far from it!  Think of an annoying family member, the one you can’t get rid of.  Now, imagine spending eternity together.  He! He!  Yeah…

What would your life look like in 200 years, if you could be a vampire?  Me?  I’m not that exciting.  I’d probably be cracking jokes while the other vampires scratched their heads and rolled their eyes.  I’d be the annoying family member!  LOL

Have a great day!

Juli