by
Toni LoTempio
So far I’ve written about Shapeshifters but my real love affair has been with vampires ever since I saw the original
Dracula with Bela Lugosi when I was a kid. There was just something about
those ebony eyes, sparkling, commanding, as they peered over the rim of his
black satin cape, that took my breath away. In my later years, I was
introduced to the world of Stephen King through Salem's Lot, which still today
remains my very favorite King book. King took us through the world of
vampires with eerie ease, and while the Rob Lowe telemovie was a bit truer to
his tome.
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with a
certain gothic soap opera. I've even gone to the conventions! I
was such a freak I even managed to wangle myself an invite down to the studio
where I met my biggest star crush of all time - Jonathan Frid. Big thrill
for a then-15 year old!
When I world-build my paranormal novels,
vampires (naturally) play a huge part. Vampires in paranormal romance today are
steamy and sexy, and there really are no hard and fast rules. Like Angel,
some can walk in daylight (just not direct sunlight) some prefer the nightlife,
some are just damn bloodthirsty while others fight on the side of
humanity. In Soapsuds, Sex and Silver Bullets (yet unpublished) Logan Slade is a detective. In No Rest for the Wicca Cole St. John is a special
forces agent for the Paranormal Forces Special Unit. What do these
two men have in common, besides hotness, you ask?
They're a breed of vamp known as Inheritor.
Now, I'd like to take credit for being totally
original and making up this breed, but the truth of the matter is it’s the
product of extensive research on the Internet.
Inheritor vampires TYPE ONE: These vampires are
much like the Genetic vampires, except they are born. Like Sanguinarians, the
vampire trait will lay dormant inside them until around the age of 13 - 26. When they body reaches the late stages of puberty, it
releases a chemical which awakens the vampire and begins many physical changes
in the body. As a result of this, most Inheritors look around 19 - 20 years old
their whole life. Most of the time the parents of the vampire will be human and
vampire, or both vampires. There must be one vampire parent. Inheritor vampires
live to around the age of 350-400 years old.
Inheritor vampire TYPE 2: Sanguinarians are the
"mortal version" of the Inheritor vampires. They still require and
crave blood, are sensitive to sunlight, and have many of the traits the Inheritor
and Classical vampires have. However,
Sanguinarians do not live much longer then the average human being.
Of course, to make it my own, I've taken some
liberties - my Inheritor vamps are more human than humans, and age to a VERY
HOT mid-30's, but you get the idea. There are more types of vampires out
there than just the typical Dracula/Barnabas sleep in the coffin during the day
rise at night to suck a maiden's blood type. As a matter of fact, that
type (referred to now as a "classical") is getting pretty passé.
After all, didn’t' Angel show us just how a vampire can survive among humans,
and how hot one can be?
The mystique of "the bite" never
changes. Considered the ultimate sexual experience, in old lore people thought
after 3 bites the victim turned into a vampire. Other mythology had the
victim rising as a vamp after the vampire drained them of their blood.
Another way to "turn" someone was to bite them, then have them drink
their blood.
In summation, there are no hard and fast rules
concerning vamps anymore - or any other type of creature for that matter!
Isn't that great for us writers! We can create whole new worlds of
vampiric hotness for you, the reader! (And for us, too!)
Raven's Quest
A Raven Grace Novella
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| Amazon.com Amazon.UK |
Shapeshifter Raven Grace and her psychic lover, Finn McPhee, are back, traveling to parallel time in search of a demonic killer.
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| Author Toni LoTempio |
In addition to being a vampire addict, Toni is also a freelance writer and the author of several paranormal romances, the latest of which, RAVEN’S QUEST, RAVEN’S KISS AND NO REST FOR THE WICCA, can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.com. She lives with her muses, ROCCO, MAXX, LJ and TRIXIE in New Jersey where she is at work on two more projects. Sometimes ROCCO will let her on his blog, www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com and assist him in the charity work he does as the official spokescat for KIDS NEED TO READ, a charity co-founded by Nathan Fillion of CASTLE fame.
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