Behind the ideas
This book is a love letter to my husband. It came about because his favorite genre is supernatural fantasy. Anything with fangs, claws, witches or magic and he’s in. After twenty-two years of marriage you start to lean into each other’s ‘likes.’ Most of my other books are women’s literature, but this book was something new and I loved writing it. I enjoyed the research and delving into the world of vampires. My investigation took me all over the globe (metaphorically speaking) from Western Europe in the Middle Ages where plague deaths were blamed on creatures of the night, to Slavic origin stories of the revenants, to the Age of Enlightenment in Eastern Europe when myths turned into increase belief in actual vampyres. I learned of the Chinese jiang shi. The ‘stiff corpse’ who had extended arms, moved by hopping, could give off an immortal green glow and looked more like a zombie. It was clear that blood-sucking creatures of the night were steeped in folklore all over the world, and I was hooked.
There are countless websites dedicated to the lore and what a vampire can and cannot do. (Thank you to the keepers of those sites. They are fascinating.) I went down the rabbit hole of fandom and could have stayed there forever, but the book had to be written. So in order to create the world of Blood Aeternum I took what worked for this story, and tried to honor the genre as best I could while staying true to my characters.
Why opioids? And why make an immortal—susceptible to mortality? I did a ton of research into the origin of opioids, their global history and why they are so powerfully addictive for another book. The horrific on going tragedy of addiction to these powerful drugs was something I couldn’t just let go. With all that’s happening in our world the pandemic of opioid addiction is no longer in the headlines, but it’s still prevalent in our society. So in my own small way I wanted to keep the conversation going, which is why Ambrose was conceived. His plight is meant to mirror the daily, very real struggle of people with addiction.
I needed to accelerate Ambrose’s dependency. So the idea of sheeps blood as a substitute for human blood forcing him into a weakened state was born. He became as vulnerable to the side-effects of the drugs as his human counterparts. This was important for the story, but also for the bigger picture. So forgive me if it doesn’t entirely hold-up to the traditional lore. Ambrose’s journey was important for me to share.
I hope this gives you a little insight as to why this book means so much to me. The love story and the vine are dedicated to my husband. The addiction is a different kind of love story, for those struggling, I hope they find their Locke.