For today's Book Chat, T. Michelle Nelson is talking about vampires and her fascination with them. Death Warmed Over, book three in her Lily Drake series, is now available.
THE FASCINATION WITH VAMPIRES
Last year I spoke at a conference about the fascination so many of us have with vampires and the evolution of the vampire in literature. Vampires are incredibly easy to glamorize and romanticize.
Of course, there's that sense of danger. No woman wants to be bored, and vampires don't have mortal vulnerabilities. However, in my opinion, the vampire is the paranormal creature of choice for one reason alone. Eternal youth.
As I get older, this concept becomes more and more attractive. I went out last week to one of my favorite restaurants, which is owned by a friend, and my waiter appeared to be around 17. I asked the owner how old my server was, and to my dismay he was actually a year older than the fake age I use. I apparently have forgotten completely what 22 actually looks like.
What I would give to be eternally 25 years old, healthy and have that twenty-something metabolism. Yet another huge reason I'd love to be vampire - I could eat without the guilt. I love food. Tasty food. You know, with fat, carbs and calories. Unfortunately I rarely enjoy that type of food because my almost forty year old body renders fat faster than a sauté pan full of bacon on high heat.
I'd make a great vampire. I'd appreciate so much - the halting of the cruel aging process, good health, and immortality. But should vampires turn out to be real and are actually reading this... give me a couple weeks before you turn me. I've got five pounds of winter weight I'd like to get rid of before I'm stuck with it throughout eternity.
Of course, there's that sense of danger. No woman wants to be bored, and vampires don't have mortal vulnerabilities. However, in my opinion, the vampire is the paranormal creature of choice for one reason alone. Eternal youth.
As I get older, this concept becomes more and more attractive. I went out last week to one of my favorite restaurants, which is owned by a friend, and my waiter appeared to be around 17. I asked the owner how old my server was, and to my dismay he was actually a year older than the fake age I use. I apparently have forgotten completely what 22 actually looks like.
What I would give to be eternally 25 years old, healthy and have that twenty-something metabolism. Yet another huge reason I'd love to be vampire - I could eat without the guilt. I love food. Tasty food. You know, with fat, carbs and calories. Unfortunately I rarely enjoy that type of food because my almost forty year old body renders fat faster than a sauté pan full of bacon on high heat.
I'd make a great vampire. I'd appreciate so much - the halting of the cruel aging process, good health, and immortality. But should vampires turn out to be real and are actually reading this... give me a couple weeks before you turn me. I've got five pounds of winter weight I'd like to get rid of before I'm stuck with it throughout eternity.
In the conclusion of the Lily Drake
series, Lily must choose not only what is best for herself and her son, but for
her people. Her sword will be stained with blood through her efforts to
preserve the lives of the people she loves, but she won’t be able to save them
all.
When a devastating loss crushes her
will to live, can Lily go on and be the leader she has to be? What is she
willing to sacrifice to save others?
Death comes to everyone...even the
Queen’s house...
What
doesn't kill you will make you wish it did...
Add on Goodreads here.
T. Michelle Nelson is a native of
Benton, Kentucky and a graduate of Murray State University. Currently she
resides in a small town in Ohio, which is also the setting of her Lily
Drake series. The first two books in the series, Life and Death of
Lily Drake and 'Til Death Do Us Part, are currently
available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon or any of your other favorite online
bookstores. A short story prequel The First Time is also available. Death Warmed Over, the third and final
book of the series will release in late June.
When she isn’t writing, you can
usually find her spending time with her son, singing out of key, watching
B-Horror movies or discussing world problems with her little dog, Toadie.
Website / Facebook / Twitter
Smashwords is having its annual Summer/Winter sale. You can purchase Reborn, Gravity: The Complete Trilogy, and The Nightmare Collection for 50% off their retail prices with coupon code SSW50. The sale ends July 31st.
22 comments:
To be able to eat whatever I want - I remember those days. Long, long ago...
You're right about the great allure of vampires. Nowadays I feel old when I call college students "kids." Yikes! Good luck, Michelle!
Loved this! I especially like the paragraph about being a good vampire. I can tell from reading this, I will love your books!
To be able to stay fit easier is attractive. Otherwise, I don't mind aging so much. Congrats, T. Michelle!
Love your humor!
Hi, Cherie.
I sometimes think my son is a vampire because he (only 9 mos old) keeps trying to eat my face. No, strike that, more zombie than vampire.
Woot, that's great news about the sale!
You don't have to sell me on vampires. You're preaching to the choir!
Good luck on your new release!
If T. Michelle Nelson loves dogs and watches B-movie horror, she's absolutely my kind of person/author ;-)
Sounds like a very interesting series. If I didn't have so many books on my TBR list, I would check them out. But I will definitely pass along the information=)
Like many, I've always been fascinated with vampires. And I can totally relate to wanting a 20-something body forever with skin as soft and gentle as snow and a metabolism which could allow me to eat whatever I wanted... forever! How awesome would that be?
At least we will always have these ideas living in our imagination. But for now, the gym and cutting calories is the reality!
There's no doubt the vampire holds a lot fascination for people. Eternal life always appeals. :-)
Good luck with your books.
I haven't come across this series before, but that is a REALLY cool cover! (And it's always great to discover a series once all the books are out already ;-) )
Maybe your waiter was a vampire. ;)
It is easy, and fun, to make vampires seductive in our stories. And who wouldn't like eternal youth?
The cover for "Death Warmed Over" is stunning!
What an excellent post! It does seem the older we get the more we appreciate some of the parts of our youth. I remember feeling so old at 21 and 22 and now that I am slightly less than double that- I think people that age look sooo young. ;) Lucky them!
Death Warmed Over looks and sounds great.
Thanks for sharing!
~Jess
Yep, you definitely nailed the appeal of vampires. I've always been fascinated by them and even wrote a paper in high school comparing vampire types in several fiction books. And let's just say this was waaaaaaaaay before the sparkly vampire craze. :-)
To eat whatever I want without counting calories. Priceless. Good luck with the book!
I definitely think the concept of living forever and never aging has increased people's fascination with vampires. Plus there's the idea that vampires are sexy. I've never been a big fan of vampires, but I can certainly appreciate other people liking them. What I really don't understand is people thinking they're real-life vampires and getting their teeth changed to be sharp and such...
Good post. I'm a fan of Joss Whedon's Angel but not the sparkly variety of vamps.
I love that George Hamilton movie. I watched it so many times as a kid. Maybe today I'll find it cheesy, but I'd like to see it again.
Vampires are fascinating. I love the cover.
Yay for T Michelle!
I've got to read her series.
Congrats to T Michelle!
Great news for the sales!
I haven't read a good vamp story for awhile. This sounds pretty cool.
I love vampires, but don't think I'd want to be one. Eternity might get boring after a while, after all, haha...
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