Guest: Rosemary Laurey

Welcome Rosemary Laurey to our little corner of the web today.  She's not always Rosemary, though, because she also writes the Brytewood vampire series as Georgia Evans.  She's got a copy of BLOODY AWFUL to give away to one lucky commenter!

WHY VAMPIRES?

That’s a question I get asked a good deal, No doubt from people wondering why a mind-mannered grandmother spends her days writing about the blood sucking undead. One often gets asked, too, What’s the appeal? Why are so many readers and moviegoers (and writers, of course) drawn to vampires?

Speaking for myself, the vampire first chose me, unexpectedly announcing around about chapter five, that he was actually Kit Marlowe, and not dead as had been supposed for 400 years.  After that, the undead sucked me in (forgive the pun, it just came out, these things happen). Whether heroes, heroines or villains, - they never seem to have walk on parts-  vampires are fun to write and add a diension to the story that mere mortals couldn’t possibly manage.

In my WW2 set  ‘Bloody’ Series,  (See www.brytewood.co.uk ) I wrote the vamps as villains. Of course from their point of view, they are heroes fighting nobly for a cause, aided and abetted by the German High Command.  The Others of Brytewood -being on the receiving end so to speak- see the whole scheme of things very differently and one by one, with a few casualties, deaths and close calls along the way, they eliminate the enemy.  As villains, the vampires  had to be eliminated but while they wreaked havoc among the Surrey hills, they added interest and tension to the books.  In fact without them and their mission of sabotage and subversion, there wouldn’t have been much of a story.  

In my Rosemary Laurey books, ( See www.rosemarylaurey.com) my vamps are romantic heroes and heroines. Very different and remarkably odd, if you think about it. Vampires as villains pretty much fits the notion of a bloodsucker preying on the living but the metamorphosis from horrific figure to romantic hero is an incredible leap. Or is it? He fits many of the parameters of the genre. He’s the ultimate dark and dangerous hero. Messing around with a vampire you are playing with the ultimate risk. He might be good in bed but his kiss could kill. Plus, no matter how desperate your mother might be to see you settled for life, she would not want you bringing a dead man home for Sunday lunch. Then there is the fantastic sex (although, strictly speaking, aren’t we skirting around necrophilia here?). On the other hand, by the time a man is a few hundred years old or more, he’s no doubt learned a thing or two and with a vampire’s stamina, he won’t fall asleep afterwards.

I’ve also written a few vampire short stories and novellas.  One, Turkish Delight,  is out from Elloras Cave on December 18th. In this novella, my vampire is a female secret agent. Being a vampire rather gives her an edge against the bad guys. And being an Elloras Cave story, there's some nice, steamy sex as well.

Details of the other stories,  set in varied worlds and times, can be found on my Rosemary Laurey web site.