The Writer's Life
Just came back from mailing the galley for The Becoming. I was very impressed with the thorough job done by both my editor and copy editor. They picked up on things I hadn't, even after reading the book about a thousand times. The comments were thoughtful and most involved expanding descriptions and clarifying some point or another. One particularly good catch was that if one of my characters played for the Raiders when they were Super Bowl winners, the way I said, he'd be in his fifties now! Shows how long ago I wrote the original of this story. So I did what any red blooded Denverite would do, made him a Bronco. That cut a few years off him!
Mario asked a very good question in his last post. What attracts me to the paranormal? Vampires. Immortality has been the secret longing of humans since the beginning. Even some early expeditions were motivated by a search for the fountain of youth. Vampires were a target of the crusades, the subject of speculation since scribes began recording words, feared and hunted throughout history. And their allure is as compelling now as ever. Vampires are powerful and sexy. The combination of blood and sex is the ultimate sexual experience.
In Anna Strong's world, my protagonist is a vampire still clinging to what makes her human. I've tried to blend elements of the traditional mystery story with the fantasy world of vampires. I've tweaked the legend to fit my ideal--a contemporary world in which vampires walk among us, not necessarily as hunters, but as a species trying to survive.
In case it's not clear, I wouldn't want to write anything else....