How to Love a Vampire

Do you love vampires? Are you fascinated by the mythology of these creatures, who present as human but can cause so much death and destruction? I studied vampires in popular culture for my bachelor’s degree at university many years ago, and that brought me to the point of writing my first vampire novel, Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel). I am now writing the last book in the series, and my vampires have battled with hunters, werewolves, witches and their own kind. To love a vampire is to enter a world of danger. Part of their allure is the promise of magic and power, but truthfully vampires exist only to feed. They can feed on more than human blood, but feed they must, and when they don’t, the consequences can be very dangerous. Here is an excerpt from book 5 in the Redcliffe novels series, Heart of the Vampire:

 “You have to feed, Jack,” I insisted, “And you cannot use me. We tried that before and you almost killed me, remember?”

“You found a way to survive,” my vampire replied gruffly.

I laughed, but it was not amusement that brought such a reaction.

“I survived,” I said, emphasizing the word, “because of your brother. Danny saved me. He sacrificed his wolves so that I could claw back some human strength. Maybe that’s what caused this…” I gestured to the empty space on the bed behind me, “thing with Suri.”

“Perhaps,” Jack replied quietly, “But the point is, you survived.”

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When a Witch Falls in Love

Have you ever met a vampire? I was never quite sure whether they existed, despite what my family said. My parents warned me never to get close to a vampire. They told me that it is dangerous for witches. Vampires would seek to seduce us and feed from our power as well as our blood, and we could not compromise our coven by allowing such an attack. But I always felt like my family didn’t quite understand vampires. They feared them, even though they told me we could defeat them. The more they tried to persuade me not to seek out vampires, the more I wanted to find one, to see for myself exactly how cold and calculating they could be. And then I met Meredith Hanson, in Blackpool of all places! I moved to a new hospital for work, and it was only a few months into my job that I met her. She was in my local pub one night, The Raven. I had made some friends there, and the pub landlord had decided he must watch over me on behalf of my coven. He was a powerful witch, and I knew immediately when the vampire entered his pub, because I felt his energy and I saw his reaction to her presence.

Meredith quite literally took my breath away. I had never been in love before, and I had no idea what these strange feelings were. My heart flipped, my pulse raced, I felt both hot and cold, and I had to speak to her. She tried to ignore me, and then she tried to frighten me away, but I was smitten. I felt like a giggling schoolgirl in her presence, especially when I sensed how old she was. Paul, the pub landlord, tried very hard to send her away, but she refused, because she was in the mood to play. Eventually she decided to go hunting, and I stupidly followed her outside. That first night she nearly drank my blood, but I was strong enough to stop her with my magic. And then she decided that I was interesting, when she recognised my strength as a witch. And our game began. I knew she was only playing, but I also knew I had to see her again. We began dating, but not in the traditional sense. We just seemed to bump into each other, and eventually she accepted that we needed to be together.

It wasn’t an easy start to a relationship, but then it never is when you deal with supernatural creatures. Our moods are far more extreme than humans, and of course we have magical abilities and additional strength to contend with. Meredith and I battled quite a lot in those early days, but that just made me want her more, and it made her even more hungry for me. Then she met the vampire hunter that had been sent to kill her, she put him in the hospital, and he ended up on my ward. I had to help her before he completed his job, but I didn’t want her to kill him either. I’m not a violent person, that’s why I trained as a nurse. But when a witch falls in love with a vampire, you must expect violence eventually. I helped Meredith to deal with the hunter, and we tried to continue our relationship. It was tough, and my coven certainly did not approve. They still hate her now, and they have pretty much excommunicated me. But I don’t care. As long as I am with her, I am happy. She is my lover, my other half, my best friend. And I am hers.

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Refuse to Accept Failure #WritingCommunity

I have been thinking about what it means to accept failure in today’s world. We hear stories of people who failed at their business ventures, failed in their marriage, failed to succeed with a challenge or adventure. And we hear about the “failed writer.” But what exactly does that mean? What is failure, and who determines it? I heard somewhere that a failed author is one who has sold less than 10,000 books. Well then, that would be me. And what about freelance writers and journalists? Are they failures if they don’t earn a required threshold of money for their writing and their investigations? I don’t know.

All I do know is that I refuse to accept failure in my career. I have been working as a freelance writer for almost ten years now, and so far, I have not earned anywhere near a living wage. Some months I might earn a few hundred pounds for some articles, other months I sell nothing at all. And my lack of book sales is just ridiculous. I know that I am a good writer. I know that my stories should be told, and that people do enjoy reading them. My problem is making people aware of those stories and books that I write. I don’t have a vibrant personality. I am not the type of person to tell everyone I meet that I have published novels. I do not light up a room and command attention when I enter it. Most of the time I am invisible in a crowd. But I am still a writer. And I refuse to give up. Who is with me?  

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