Influences: “The Last Vampire” by Christopher Pike

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book series, books, Christopher Pike, series, The Last Vampire, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampires, YA, YA books, Young Adult

When I was in junior high, I read a lot of vampire stories. I read books by R.L. Stine and Anne Rice. I even attempted to read Bram Stoker’s classic novel, but could not get into it. But one book that stands out during my vampire book days was “The Last Vampire” by Christopher Pike.

Here’s an overlook of the book, and the other five that followed it in a series. The books are about Sita, a 5,000 year old vampire who is, seemingly, the one and only vampire left on earth. Although she is tiny, she is incredibly beautiful, extremely strong and quick, and falls in love quite easily. The latter means she falls in love with the son of a detective, mainly because she believes the son, Ray, is the reincarnation of her husband from 5,000 years earlier, Rama.

But Sita is not the last vampire around; her maker, the world’s first vampire, Yaksha, is still out there and is looking to kill her to rid the world of vampires. Yet, Sita survives Yaksha’s attempt and turns a dying Ray into a vampire, to save his life. This breaks a promise she made to Krishna that she won’t create any vampires, and thus will always have Krishna’s grace.

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So begins the adventures of Sita, Ray and Yaksha. The adventures involve a trip to Las Vegas, flashbacks to Renaissance Italy, massive explosions, the death of Ray and Yaksha, Sita meeting a non-vampire who managed to live hundreds of years through alchemy (I forget the character’s name), and being changed back into human form. She also winds up pregnant, Ray comes to back to life as some sort of ghost, the baby grows at an abnormally quick pace and later turns out to be some sort of demon that Sita has to destroy. In the end, Sita meets with space aliens – or something like that – and is able to go back in time to kill Yaksha when he is born, and thus, never becomes a vampire and returns to life as though she never lived for 5,000 years.

At the very end, readers learn that Sita’s human nerdy friend, whom she cures of AIDS, had created the story of Sita in order to cope with having full-blown AIDS, and readers are to believe that the story of the last vampire was a product of his imagination.

Hmm. Sounds like a bad movie, right?

Now that I think of it…

Anyway…

I am aware that the series is being continued, years after the sixth and final book was written. I am not sure if I will ever take a peek at any of these books, especially now that I am aware that The Last Vampire series doesn’t sound very plausible. I mean, it certainly isn’t akin to the Harry Potter series in terms of storytelling.

But I do remember a few years ago, during the Twilight craze, walking through a bookstore, and seeing The Last Vampire being marketed as a new series called Thirst. I was thrilled to see that book cover, and thrilled to have memories of my early-teen days come back to me.

Those memories included chatting with friends about Sita and her adventures, and what will happen to her next. It seemed Christopher Pike’s vampire series was widely read in the mid-90s. Also included was my introduction to Hindu mythology, which these books are heavily based on. It showed me a new world, which back then was largely influenced by Catholicism.

I also grew fascinated with vampires, and wrote little short stories about myself becoming a vampire and what sort of adventures I would have as one.

Clearly, The Last Vampire series influenced me, as imperfect as they are. They also influenced the way I created my vampires. For example, I made my vampires walk around in the sunlight, depending on how old they were. This is all thanks to Sita, who could also walk freely in the sun, although she would be exhausted later on. In addition, my vampires, like Sita, do not sleep in coffins.

Even though The Last Vampire series is not the best one out there, it still has a special place with me. It made me fall in love with vampires, let my imagination run wild, and influenced me as a writer and storyteller. Creating stories are like building blocks, and sometimes there’s just that one book that leads to the foundation stone being placed. For me, it is Christopher Pike’s The Last Vampire series.

Choosing the Name for My Vampire Trilogy

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authors, book series, book trilogy, books, crime, crime scene, indie writers, modern technology, social media, technology, The Dark Proposal, The End of Eternity, Trilogy, vampire books, vampire trilogy, vampires, writers, writing

Happy End of Summer, everyone!

Yes, isn’t sad that summer is over? For me, it went by too fast and I barely had time to enjoy it. But unfortunately, this year’s summer was far too hot and humid, so that experience has me looking forward to the much cooler fall. Seriously, some seasons aren’t worth getting ill over.

In the meantime, I am still working on my sequel. It is a long and hard journey, mainly because of my crazy schedule that has me working hard in an expensive city. But I am making headway, and I believe by this time next year – or maybe sooner – I will be celebrating its release, five years after the first book, The Dark Proposal, was published.

I know, it’s a long time to go between releasing books in a series. In this case, I am writing a trilogy which is quite ambitious and pretty far fetched for someone who has a busy schedule. But I am determined to keep my word and keep on writing. I know I am pulling a George R R Martin here, but it is what it is. I am not a full time writer and it will be eons before I reach that point. I do what I can and I hope the results will be at least descent.

Later this month, I will be revealing the two possible names for my sequel. I’m split on the two, but I’ll reveal them anyway to mark the 4-year anniversary of The Dark Proposal’s release. But before I do that, I want to discuss the name of my books’ trilogy.

I am calling my trilogy The End of Eternity. It may seem odd that I am not calling my books The Dark Proposal trilogy. After all, many books and movies go by the first name of their series. They include The Twilight Series or the Star Wars trilogy. But I see The End of Eternity as fitting, and my apologies if it seems like I am giving away the story.

Image via Pixabay

When I started writing The Dark Proposal, I not only was exploring abusive relationships, but I was also asking the question: how could vampires survive today with so much technology and surveillance? I would imagine it would be far from easy and would be a problem unlike any other for vampires. I would imagine through the centuries, vampires would have dealt with the witch hunts, the Inquisition and other atrocities due to superstition and fear. But crime scene technology, social media, surveillance, and other modern technology would make it difficult for a vampire to get by. It’d be like the supernatural versus science. Who wins?

I originally wrote a story about all of this, but struggled with it because the characters were boring and no real backstory to them, no matter how hard I tried. Writing about Claire and Daniel’s relationship help add some color to the technology vs. vampire issue nicely.

So, The End of Eternity trilogy will answer the question of modern technology vs. vampire, along with what would happen if a young woman found herself in a relationship with a man who turned out to a murderous vampire. See, that’s the fun thing about vampires. There are so many issues and stories to explore with them. The possibilities are endless, and I think there are many good stories still waiting to be written about vampires. Maybe mine will set off a trend!

So, my trilogy is called The End of Eternity. 🙂

Balancing Visions – Yours and Your Readers

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authors, book series, books, Charlaine Harris, readers, reading, Sookie Stackhouse, the writing process

Every author wants an audience. We all want a loyal following, where numerous readers are eager to get our next book. They’ll recommend our work to others, tweet, Facebook and blog about our books, and maybe even leave kind messages to us via email or social media, ever thankful we’ve written books they like.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

But what about when they don’t leave kind messages to us? Especially if they are not happy with one of our books?

You may have heard of author Charlaine Harris, who wrote the Sookie Stackhouse novels which are the inspiration behind the HBO series True Blood. She recently completed the series, with the release of Dead After Ever, and boy, were many fans livid. Some were very disappointed over who Sookie Stackhouse ended up with at the end, and some reacted rather viciously.

I get annoyed with some authors myself. I feel like Anne Rice could’ve written better books. I think Paulo Coelho thinks himself too much as the voice of wisdom, and should stop preaching and just tell a story. But I could never threaten someone’s life because they didn’t do what I hoped they would do – especially if it is an author who has no affect over my life other than my leisure time. It’s scary to know there are people who would go that far over a minor thing.

But this raises the question: should an author consider what their readers want from in their work? If so, how often?

It’s a delicate balance, I believe. I have ideas on how my vampire trilogy should end and how the protagonist, Claire McCormick develops. I think my readers will like them, though it’s possible they’ll be surprised by the direction I take the books. That’s my feeling and I could be wrong. I touched on it in the first book, The Dark Proposal, so I hope it wouldn’t be completely unexpected by anyone. But I have in the back of my mind that some may not be pleased, and that’s just to prepare me for any disappointed reactions I may get.

But if I ever read a review on my book, I am taking into consideration on what my readers would like to see become of Claire. Granted, none are asking for a lot, just to see Claire become a stronger person. That’s fine, and I am working on that. I did intend to make her develop more for the follow-ups, though I admit I wasn’t aware of how weak some readers thought she was. My intention was for her to wracked with anxiety and fear, but I guess I didn’t do that so well. Anyway, I’m working on redeeming that part in my next book.

My point is, it is best to take consideration on what your readers want from your books. They bought it, they read it, and if they liked it, they will be first in line to read your next work. You sort of owe it to listen to them, but I also don’t think you shouldn’t disregard your plans for your characters. Maybe tweak them a little, or let them not do something your fans wouldn’t want them to do. It won’t be easy, I’m sure, because we authors spend hours envisioning what our characters will do. Those characters are very real to us, and to learn that reality isn’t going to be popular is a bit disappointing.

So again, it is a delicate balance. Authors have to be true to their vision, but be considerate of their fans, who make writing worth the time. A good author learns to balance all this well.

But I highly recommend not threatening an author just because a series ended the way you didn’t want it to. It’s just not right. It really isn’t.

Insecure Writers’ Support Group: #2 – On Self-Doubt

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book series, book trilogies, how to write a novel, Insecure Writers Support Group, insecurities, stories, the writing process, Trilogy, writing

I am taking part in the monthly blog hop, Insecure Writers’ Support Group. Started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, it is meant to do the following:

To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

I felt it was a good idea for me to do this. Not only does it give me an excuse to vent my fears the first Wednesday of every month, but it is nice that so many other authors are doing the same.

Entry #2

I really need to shut up and get a life. I keep having doubts over my trilogy and it is starting to get ridiculous. Sure, all writers deal with self doubt, but for me to analyze things to death is absurd.

Sometimes I wonder if I should contact consultants and beta readers, and ask if my story line for my trilogy The End of Eternity is intriguing enough and makes any sense. Of course, that would make me a whiny pain in the ass, and besides, some of those people charge money.

It’s just that while I was writing the first installment, I realize that not everything you think works for a story, will actually be well received. This is probably part of my maturity as an author. You learn to take your ideas and creations seriously and not be flippant about them. After all, they are a reflection of you. Yes, that is the brutal truth. Whether it is a reflection of you as a writer or as a human being in general is up to the individual who reads your work, but storytelling is a craft that cannot be taken casually.  Readers know when someone lazily crafted a novel and feel like they wasted their time with it. No self-respecting writer would want that.

So, how would I know if my idea for my trilogy would actually work? How would I know if I’ll be laughed and scorned by writers and readers alike? Would I ever be taken seriously again or be allowed to write a book again? (NOTE: by allowed, I don’t mean someone will stop me from publishing – what I mean is, would my name and work be so blacklisted as terrible that I could never recover?)

The most I can do is get my work critiqued as much as possible. I already take part in an online critique group that meets twice a month. I’ve joined a local writers group. I was part of a group that was the remnants of last year’s NaNoWriMo, but it conflicted with my schedule. I’m thinking about joining a website called Critique Circle for further help, but I’m a bit unsure of how that site works.

Thing is, I’ve learned the importance of getting as many eyes on your work as possible before you actually publish it. It is also good to find someone who understands what you hope to achieve and is a good beta reader or editor to help guide you. Once you find that relationship, never it let go! That has got to be a match made in heaven.

Anyway, I keep on writing, but I hope someone gives me the proper guidance if I want to continue growing as an author.