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Megan Cashman

Tag Archives: vampire books

Are Vampires Passe?

27 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by Megan in Vampires

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Anne Rice, entertainment, paranormal, popular culture, trends, True Blood, Twilight, Twilight books, Twilight movies, Twilight series, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampires

We all remember the vampire craze was not too long ago. With “Twilight” being all the rave, vampires were surely in style. Vampire books, movies and TV shows – particularly HBO’s True Blood – were very popular, and there was a wonder when the bubble would burst.

Eventually, the bubble did burst, or rather, the craze died down. It’s been several years since the last Twilight installment, “Breaking Dawn Part 2” was released in movie theaters, and since then, vampires have been off the radar in popular culture.

Or are they?

gothic-1482950_960_720

Image via Pixabay via Creative Commons

While there are no mainstream vampire movies and TV shows out right now, and vampire books are not as popular as they used to be, there still is an audience for vampire lovers. That is my belief. I believe that there would always be readers of vampire books because some people simply adore the genre. For example, I just did a blog book tour specifically meant for paranormal book readers. That includes vampires. Even though these blood-suckers are not the trend at the moment, there are still those willing to read vampire stories.

That being said, though, it will be tougher for vampire books to sell these days. That is because they are not in style right now. That is discouraging, especially since I am almost done with the sequel to my vampire book.  I dread the fact that when I self-publish the sequel, it will not sell very well mainly because vampires might just be passe.

But are the passe for ever? Of course not. Trends come and do, and pop culture goes around in circles. Right now, vampires may not be as popular as they used to be, but eventually they will make a comeback and be popular, though to some degree. After all, there is talk of making Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles into a TV series. Now, if that happens, vampire will have a surge in popularity. Anne Rice is synonymous with vampires and just hearing her name again with these creatures will create high ratings for the TV series. I predict it may not be as popular as the Twilight series, but there will be an excitement for them.

I remember when I was in junior high, there was a strong popularity towards vampires. That was when Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire came out as a movie, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula was also released into a movie with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder. Vampire books were popular at this time, particularly “The Last Vampire” by Christopher Pike, which served as an inspiration for me. There was a craze then, but that also died down, so to speak. And then came the Twilight books and movies, and we all know what happened next.

Trends come and go, but there will always be people doing their own thing. Vampires may not be as popular as they once were, but there are still people reading vampire books, watching the movies, and re-runs of the TV shows. Some people love these creatures of the night all on their own, and don’t need a trend to follow them. That gives me hope, and makes me realize vampires will always have a following, no matter what.

 

Why Do I Write?

23 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by Megan in Being an Author, On Writing

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am writing, author, Being an Author, paranormal books, PNR, vampire books, vampires, why write, writing, writing a book, writing a novel, writing fiction

Happy (belated) New Year everyone! Sorry I’ve been off the radar lately. I was overwhelmed with end-of-the-semester work last month, plus I had flu-like symptoms. Then came the holidays and all the craziness that comes with it.

But here I am, and I have a little update for you regarding my WIP, the sequel to “The Dark Proposal”, “Between Light and Dark”: I have about two or three more chapters left in my draft! Isn’t that exciting?! There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears with this book, so I am thrilled to have gotten so far with it.  Pictofigo_Frustration

However, there have been times when I wondered why I was writing this story and putting so much effort into it. That led to me asking myself, ‘why do I write?’

Seriously, why do I tear myself apart over something like this?

Now, the first simple answer is, because I can’t not write.

Honestly, that is what drives me to some degree. I am constantly filled with story ideas and have been since I was a little girl. The slightest moment in life, song, TV show, movie, scene in a book, etc., can set off excitement in my brain as I think about a story idea I’ve had in my head since God knows when. Or it could give birth to a whole new story idea. And if I don’t write them down, I might actually burst. It actually feels that way.

OK, so that’s half the reason. That’s like the creative, spiritual-ish reason. But what is the more logical reason?

The logical reason would because I have something to say. When I wrote “The Dark Proposal”, I had something to say about abusive relationships and evil vampires. When I first set out to write “The Cats” (which I’ve set aside), I intended to address bullying. There are some things that need to be said and some things that need to be explored. That is the logical, more down-to-earth reason why I write.

And I plan to do a lot of writing this year. Once I finish “Between Light and Dark”, I am going to take a break from “The End of Eternity” trilogy, and go back to “The Cats”. I also intend to jump on the screenplay bandwagon, and work on a love story idea that has been nagging me for a while. And then I have other ideas for novels and screenplays.

So many ideas, so little time it seems.

But it is still January, and I have plenty of time to get these three writing projects off the ground. I fully plan to make writing stories my career someday. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that, though it would quadruple the amount of blood, sweat and tears that I am currently experiencing. Writing a story is hard work, and there’s no easy formula to it. Sometimes I feel like I’m crazy for wanting to do all this.

But I also know that I can’t imagine doing anything else.

In other words, I didn’t choose to write – writing chose me. Frankly speaking, but it certainly feels like that.

So, getting back to my first reason – I can’t not write – no matter how often I want to give up, I know there’s no else in the world I’d rather do.

So be it.

“The Dark Proposal” – on tour at Bewitching Book Tours

15 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Megan in My Books, The Dark Proposal

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authors, blog tour, Book tours, books, paranormal, paranormal books, PNR, urban fantasy, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampire novels, vampires

Hey everyone!

This week, “The Dark Proposal” is out on tour at Bewitching Book Tours! This is an opportunity to get the word out about my book, as well as stir up excitement for “Between Light and Dark”.

Special thanks to Roxanne Rhoads for arranging this tour 🙂

Here’s a look at the schedule. Please stop by to show your support!

January 15 JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder (Interview)
https://jbbookworms.blogspot.com/
January 15 Fang-tastic Books (Interview)
http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com
January 16 I Smell Sheep (Guest Blog)
http://www.ismellsheep.com/
January 16 Paranormalists
https://paranormalists.blogspot.com/
January 17 Roxanne’s Realm (Guest Blog)
http://www.roxannerhoads.com/
January 17 Share My Destiny
http://sharemydestiny.blogspot.com
 
January 18 Urban Fantasy Investigations (Guest Blog)
https://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com
January 18 Lisa’s Loves Books of Course
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
January 18 Supernatural Central (Interview)
http://supernaturalcentral.blogspot.com
January 19 SImply Kelina
http://simplykelina.blogspot.com/
January 19 Lisa’s World of Books
http://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/
January 22 Lisa-Queen of Random
http://www.Lisas2900.blogspot.com
January 22 Rabid Readers Book Blog
https://www.facebook.com/RabidReadersBookBlog

The Theme Song to The Dark Proposal’s Sequel

05 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by Megan in My Books

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authors, BlutEngel, book sequels, books, eBooks, goth, goth music, Gothic, indie authors, Indie books, songs, theme songs, vampire books, vampires, videos

I love creating playlists to all my story ideas; my iPod is full of such playlists. In the past, I have discussed what songs would play if “The Dark Proposal” had a soundtrack, and the song that inspired its sequel.

By the way, the title of the long-awaited sequel is “Between Light and Dark” 🙂

Anyway, I recently got into the music of BlutEngel – a German goth band that sings a lot about vampires, darkness and other goth topics. One of their most recent songs, “Welcome to Your New Life”, really seems to capture what Claire faces in “Between Light and Dark” as she is now a vampire, and is struggling to adjust as one.

Now, there doesn’t seem to be an official music video of the song, but I did find this on Daily Motion. I really like this song, especially as the music intensely builds and builds, and the singers tell about the new life – one that Claire now has.

Enjoy!

Being a Vampire Would Probably Suck

28 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by Megan in My Books, The Dark Proposal, Vampires

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

death, hedonism, immortal, immortality, life, meaning of life, philosophy, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampire novels, vampire trilogy, vampires

Before I begin, I want to give a huge thank you to The Indie Book Butler for featuring The Dark Proposal on its website and social media, as well as interviewing me for its site. Thanks Paul!!!

OK, here goes…

Vampires seem to be the envy of many humans. They get to be immortal, have superpowers, be beautiful and sexy, and have access to endless wealth and glamour. Being a vampire sounds fun, although it some cases you miss out on the sunlight.

But what if being a vampire is not what it is cracked up to be?

A couple of years ago, I came across an article on how death makes life more meaningful. Without it, life is pointless. In other words, immortality brings on aimlessness, boredom and humility. After all, if you were to live forever, what would you live for? Most people hope to achieve certain things before they die, and spend their lives working on their legacy. If you were always going to be around, then what’s the point of leaving behind a legacy? Instead of being concerning about how you’d be remembered, probably all that will concern you would be your reputation. And that will depend on the politics and social norms of the vampire world.

Photo by
Rikard Elofsson
via Flickr

I found this PDF from the Journal of Philosophy of Life, which most likely discusses the article I found two years ago. In it, the belief that death gives meaning to life are discussed. Although it is pointed out that many people spend their lives running away from death and live like they’ll always be around, the idea that death haunts us into making our lives purposeful is seriously pondered. Such suggestions as death being a motivator for us to do something with our lives, or to do good towards others, or to be less bored with living in itself, are talked about here. Give it a read, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, finding and reading that article two years ago motivated me to work on the sequel to The Dark Proposal. Because it got me thinking on what would it be like if you were immortal. I had always thought if I were to be immortal, I would have endless fun and live a hedonistic, laidback life. I would have nothing to fear because death will never come to me.

Now, I portray my vampires living that way. They’re very hedonistic and don’t have much goals except for defending their kind, becoming as rich as possible, drinking blood every night, having sex in so many styles, and so on. Yes, some have jobs or live artsy lives, but that is seemingly to pass the time, to blend in with humans, and to make money legitimately. But they have no goals to work their way up the workplace ladder or anything. If any of my vampires had such goals, it would be to work their way up the hierarchy to become Defenders of the Blood (more about that another time).

But that’s about it, though. When it comes to love and relationships, there is no “till death do us part” because death just isn’t thought of for vampires, even though it is a possibility. Therefore, there probably wouldn’t be a lot of relationship goals, so to speak, since these beings have eternity. There is also no children to bear and raise, so nix that idea. And since there’s no pregnancy or threats of STIs, then there’s hedonistic sex galore in this world!

With that in mind, it sounds like a vampire would be coasting along in life, doing a few things here and there just to pass the time and to secure the existence of vampires. Their world is completely separate from humans, and they don’t think much of the humans they are feeding on. Humans are the source of consumption; no need to get involved in their world unless it benefits the vampire’s.

So, with all this mind, what would be the meaning of life for a vampire? What would be the point? Endless fun may get boring after a while, especially with nothing being taboo. Defending the existence of vampires may prove worthy, but then comes the question of what is the point of being a vampire? The way I wrote my vampires, it is to escape death and be godlike. Basically, vampires live in fear of death and being weak. That is what motivated the Five Brothers to bring forth vampirism, though they didn’t realize what they were getting themselves into; they just thought they were going to be blessed by their ancient tribal gods to be just like them. Instead, they were cursed with not being in the daylight for many centuries, and to spend eternity warding, and fighting, off humans. All for what?

Furthermore, it also must be lonely to be a vampire. Being surrounded by the same group of people for centuries must get irritating, though I could also imagine, it would be heartwarming since you’d have a long history with all these beings. As Daniel told Claire, they are a tribe.

So, living in harmony, side by side, for centuries, living in complete hedonism and on guard to defend their kind. And once it is safe to venture into the sunlight more and more, a vampire would discover humans are evolving in a way to fight them off more and more. Technology and knowledge keeps developing, and soon, a vampire finds they are unable to fight off humans, and the true death awaits.

That’s basically the crux of my vampire trilogy. I cannot imagine life being a charm for a vampire. It could be on the surface, and on a shallow scale. But deep down, at its core, a vampire’s life has little meaning.

In that way, the vampire is cursed. Cursed to live a life without life.

 

The Song That Inspired the Sequel to “The Dark Proposal”

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by Megan in My Books, The Dark Proposal

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authors, books, Evanescence, inspirations, muse, sequels, songs, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampires, writing, writing inspirations

This week will be five years since I self-published “The Dark Proposal”. It was the first book I’ve ever written, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment and excited as I sent my baby out into the real world.

Five years since, I have grown so much as a writer and person. It’s hard to recognize myself during that time, honestly. That is why it has taken so long to write the sequel to “The Dark Proposal”.

But I’m not going to ramble on why and how the sequel has been delayed. I’ve done that enough times on this blog.

So, I’m here to present one of the inspirations behind the sequel. A few years ago, I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to write the sequel. And then I heard the song, “Lost in Paradise” by Evanescence, and it blew me away. For a while, I could see Claire saying the words to the song to her friends, Samantha and Monica. Or I could see Hilde telling Claire those words. Or any of the vampires. After all, my vampire trilogy is about the vampire world being in trouble with modern technology and surveillance threatening their existence. And also, there is a wonder among the vampires if their own existence is worth it. After all, what are they truly living for?

But that’s for a later blog post. For now, enjoy this beautiful song, “Lost in Paradise” by Evanescence:

Influences: “The Last Vampire” by Christopher Pike

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by Megan in On Writing, Reading, Storytelling Musings, Vampires

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

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.

Click here to find on Goodreads

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.

You’re All Going to Think I’m Crazy…

04 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by Megan in My Books, The Dark Proposal

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

authors, Being an Author, books, eBooks, indie authors, Indie books, Kindle, novels, On Writing, sequel, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampire novels, vampire trilogy, vampires, writing

Seriously, you are.

And I’m pretty sure you know what I am talking about.

It had been on my mind for a little while, and took a good butt kicking to get the drive going again. But I am glad that engine is roaring once more, and I doubt I am going to look back.

I am once again working on the sequel to The Dark Proposal.

Yeah. I’m certain some of you are rolling your eyes now.

After stopping, restarting and stopping again, I am giving it another go. And this time I am going to go all the way with it.

The last time I stopped was, as I explained, mainly for financial reasons. As much as I wanted to keep working on the sequel, I was concerned about how expensive it is to self-publish. But after doing a little research, I found it is not that unusual for writers to do crowd-source funding for their work. And that is what I plan to do. By the time I am done with the first draft of this book, I will start a campaign to raise money to get my book edited, get the cover made, and a few other promotional things to get the word out about it. But that won’t be until the fall, perhaps.

Some of you might be thinking that I am struggling with the main character, Claire McCormick, because I portrayed her as insecure, naive and kind of foolish, which is not easy to follow-up to in the sequel. While my intention was never to make her a strong, kick-ass female, I am finding ways to develop her strengths as well as have her face her weaknesses. Claire’s story is about personal responsibility, which ties in with the vampires’ story.

Some of you may also be wondering about my other WIP, “The Cats”. That I am setting aside until I complete my vampire trilogy. I may work on it from time to time, but my priority is my vampire stories, so once I complete them, then I’ll continue on with “The Cats”.

Yeah, being an author can be a mindboggling thing. You have to weigh-in writing what you want versus what makes since business-wise. After all, writing books is a business, whether you self-publish or go the traditional route. Money talks, and you have consider how you’re going to spend your money, or obtain the funds, to get your work out to the world. But sometimes passion talks to, and if it’s in your gut to write something, or finish something, than there are times when you have to give in. Besides, going with your gut works all the time.

So, without any further ado – onward with the sequel to The Dark Proposal.

BTW, I’ve already given it a working title: “A Light in the Darkness”.

Choosing a Sequel’s Title…Plus an Excerpt!

15 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by Megan in My Books, The Dark Proposal

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authors, blood, book excerpts, books, Indie books, novel, novels, On Writing, The Dark Proposal, The End of Eternity, vampire, vampire book, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampires, writing, writing a book, writing a novel, writing a story

Yesterday marked the four year anniversary that I self-published The Dark Proposal. Since then, I’ve been taking my sweet time writing its sequel. It’s been a long road working on it, with a lot of doubt mixed in. But I’m happy to say that I’m finally getting somewhere with it, and even have a title in mind!

Actually, I have two in mind. I am split between the two prospective titles, because they both represent the story.

One of them is, Blood Ties, which illustrates how torn Claire is between the vampire world and the human world. She now has vampire blood in her, yet she is trying to hold on to her humanity. As the vampire world becomes more and more troubled, where would her loyalties lie?

The other is Between Light and Dark, which also illustrates how torn Claire is. But in this case, she is also haunted by the mistakes she made that led her to become a vampire and is seeking some hope, hence the light. Furthermore, this title goes hand in hand with its predecessor – light, dark.

The more I write, the more I will figure out the title. Who knows, I might come up with something totally different.

In the meantime, check out this excerpt! Enjoy!

She grabbed her bathrobe, and went to the bathroom. She first started a shower, but switched to the bath once she realized Daniel would want to know why she was doing that. She was a vampire, no need to cleanse herself of anything, including him. So, her bubble baths would have to do. This was something she had begun doing since returning from Paris, and was one of the rare freedoms Daniel allowed for her. These baths weren’t just moments of indulgence for her. They made her feel clean, physically and mentally.

As she stripped off her bathrobe, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Did she recognize that person looking back at her? That person was a young woman with eyes that seemed as dead as the body she inhabited. Did she know she was staring back at herself?

Repulsion rose again and Claire had to calm down before she smashed the mirror. She let the tidal wave come, and it poured out in silent sobs. The blood tears came and flooded down her face onto the pristine sink. She didn’t care if the tears were really the blood of her victims or not. She just wanted a release.

After a few moments, she gathered herself enough to step into the tub. As she lied in the rosewood scented bubbles, the tears flowed more and she even choked a bit on her sobs. She made sure she did this quietly enough with the faucet running and the shower doors shut, so Daniel’s sharp hearing wouldn’t alert him. Luckily, he probably wasn’t even thinking about her right then.

Tilting her head back against the tub, Claire sighed and shook her head to herself. Her friends and family had no idea what she had become. She had rarely spoke to them since moving in with Daniel. The last time she spoke to her mother was on the phone two weeks ago. It was to wish her a happy birthday while explaining that she was too busy to visit. Her mother sounded frustrated, as she lately had been. But Claire also heard something else: helplessness. Her family had no clue on what was going on with her. It had to be agony for them to be lost like this. But if they ever found out, that agony would be replaced by outrage. She had put them in danger and she was now a monster. That would be it.

The same reaction would come from her two former best friends. Samantha would sound off obscenities while jabbing a finger at her, and Monica would storm off without saying a word. Claire would be left with only to turn to the vampire world she despised.

And she had to accept being a vampire.

She closed her eyes as a sob shook her. There was no way out of this. She had to be a vampire. She had to accept and live what she was now. No use in trying to maintain her humanity. Daniel was painfully right.

Claire’s body tightened. She could still feel him inside of her, using her like a masturbation device.

And she was attached to him for eternity. No matter what, he would be a big part of her life. The mere thought sickened her right to the bone, and she wanted to vomit.

A single blood tear rolled down her face, and she roughly brushed it away. Opening her eyes, she saw the bubbles and the water were tainted with blood. Blood from her tears.

Stunned, Claire stared at the bubbles and water around her. The blood was like ink, with its redness swirling around in the water, or relaxing to dye it faint red. Some of that inky crimson hue was caught in the bubbles. A large one rested near her left knee and it had that thick redness inside. It looked trapped, stuck in endless whirling, with no way of getting out, unless the bubble would burst.

Claire blinked a few times to rid herself of the shock. Even her cherished baths were blood stained. Her life was now bound by blood. Blood would be everywhere for her. Her very existence will be consumed by blood, and she will consume it, too. Blood and her were forever entwined. There was no more room for denial.

She gritted her teeth. There was no way she was going to live her life like that. She was so much better than this. She was not the sadistic killer Daniel wanted her to believe. She was not going to relish in human blood, no matter how much her new nature insisted. She was not going to embrace her vampire self.

Claire unplugged the drainer and stood to turn on the shower. Using her supernatural speed, she rinsed herself off of the ugly bubbles and water. Not only didn’t she want Daniel to hear the shower and get curious, but she also wanted to be rid of the redness as soon as she could. Claire’s anger began to crash down her regret and gain more steam. She was angry at Daniel and herself, and that anger was getting stronger with each rough stroke of her skin.

Once relieved of the bloody filth, she turned off the faucet. Glancing down at the floor of the tub, she saw the remaining bubbles and water were not fully rid of their redness. Worse, the tub’s porcelain now had a faint pink hue and might need some cleaning to be white again.

An ache suddenly came from her upper arms and torso. When she looked, she saw she had scratched herself while rubbing her skin in super-quick speed. Thin lines of blood had formed on her arms, stomach and chest.

Claire’s anger disappeared as quickly as the water going down the drain.

Letting out a sigh, she hung her head.

She was unsure of what to do that very minute, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year…

The only thing she was certain about was to lower herself onto the floor of the tub, pull her knees up, bury her forehead on them, and lose herself in her thoughts.

Blood had bound her to this world is more ways than one. She didn’t want either, but had no other choice. Only she didn’t want to follow through on that choice.

But what else could she do? There was no way out of this. It was permanent, and likely eternal, whatever that meant. She would never again be human, no matter how much she wished she still was.

All she could really do was get used to it.

But how?

 

 

 

Choosing the Name for My Vampire Trilogy

01 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by Megan in My Books, The Dark Proposal

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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

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. 🙂

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