Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Book Chat: T. Michelle Nelson Talks About the Fascination with Vampires / Smashwords July Sale

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.

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...

To Purchase: Amazon / Nook

Add on Goodreads here.


T. Michelle Nelson became enamored with vampires at an early age when she watched George Hamilton in “Love at First Bite.” As she got older, her tastes leaned more toward the dark and morose, but her love of all things vampire never wavered.  Little has changed over the years, except now T.  makes up her own macabre stories of the undead… mixed with a splash of romance, tough heroines and tons of dark humor.

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 RebornGravity: The Complete Trilogy, and The Nightmare Collection for 50% off their retail prices with coupon code SSW50. The sale ends July 31st.

22 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

To be able to eat whatever I want - I remember those days. Long, long ago...

Christine Rains said...

You're right about the great allure of vampires. Nowadays I feel old when I call college students "kids." Yikes! Good luck, Michelle!

H. R. Sinclair said...

Loved this! I especially like the paragraph about being a good vampire. I can tell from reading this, I will love your books!

M Pax said...

To be able to stay fit easier is attractive. Otherwise, I don't mind aging so much. Congrats, T. Michelle!

Carol Kilgore said...

Love your humor!
Hi, Cherie.

Loni Townsend said...

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!

Cathy Keaton said...

You don't have to sell me on vampires. You're preaching to the choir!

Good luck on your new release!

Vanessa Morgan said...

If T. Michelle Nelson loves dogs and watches B-movie horror, she's absolutely my kind of person/author ;-)

Unknown said...

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!

cleemckenzie said...

There's no doubt the vampire holds a lot fascination for people. Eternal life always appeals. :-)

Good luck with your books.

Unknown said...

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 ;-) )

Chrys Fey said...

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!

DMS said...

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

Jocelyn Rish said...

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. :-)

kimlajevardi.com said...

To eat whatever I want without counting calories. Priceless. Good luck with the book!

Stephanie Faris said...

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...

Anonymous said...

Good post. I'm a fan of Joss Whedon's Angel but not the sparkly variety of vamps.

Anonymous said...

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.

Catherine Stine said...

Yay for T Michelle!
I've got to read her series.

Nas said...

Congrats to T Michelle!

Great news for the sales!

Denise Covey said...

I haven't read a good vamp story for awhile. This sounds pretty cool.

Heather R. Holden said...

I love vampires, but don't think I'd want to be one. Eternity might get boring after a while, after all, haha...