Mary Abshire - Guest Blog and Contest

Please welcome Mary Abshire who is here to discuss the nature of the vampires who inhabit the fascinating,  erotic world she has created. Mary is also offering an ecopy of her new book Claiming the Evil Dead to one lucky reader.

Take it away Mary!

Hello Everyone! Thanks for checking out my blog post.

I must confess, I'm a bit of a newbie writer. When the first paranormal romance, Claiming the Evil Dead, got picked up last year I was elated. Then Noble Romance liked the second and was interested in a third. I was overwhelmed…speechless. I never thought my books would be released so fast. God bless e-publishing and the Internet!

Going back to a year ago, I wanted to write something that could turn into a series and possibly last. Too many vampire books are on the shelves so I needed my vampire book to stand out. How could I do it?

I thought and prayed. Yes, prayed. I decided not to write solely about a vampire, but one would be a main character. So what kind of heroine did I want? She couldn't be normal. But she could want to be normal. What did I want her to do? What hadn't been done before? I came up with a half-demon who catches souls and sends them to hell. It seemed original to me. And since I have a vamp as main character, one question became, do vampires have souls?

It's my perception vampires are portrayed as dead creatures with cold blood, no beating heart, no need to breath, no bodily fluids, and no need to eat (sucking blood doesn't count). No one talks about vampires having a soul. Perhaps it is assumed the soul left the body at death. Makes sense. They should go somewhere, right? Is it because the body becomes dead the assumption is made?

In my books, vampires have souls. Why? I ask, why not? In my opinion, every creature created has a soul. Now, creation can take place in different forms. Birth is one form. Creation into another entity is another form. Bare with me—this is fiction. I can make up whatever I want.  LOL.

In the world I created, a person dies, but souls don't necessarily leave the body. Souls can have unfinished business. Souls can go to heaven, if called upon. Souls who are strong/powerful can stay behind, walk the earth, and do whatever they want. They can torment humans, possess bodies, and wreak havoc on mankind. Most bad souls don't want to go to hell so they stick around and walk the earth. The devil can call souls to hell whenever he wants and send them back in different bodies. Isn't that peachy? (Hey- it makes for a series.)

In terms of vampires, the person's body dies, but is reborn with vampire blood. Creation once again takes place. Thus, the soul stays with the body. That's my story in my fictional world and I'm sticking to it.

So, I ask, why do souls have to leave the body? Who made the rule—oh, your dead so the soul says good-bye to the body? Am I the only one who thinks about these little details? It's okay to say yes and call me a freak. LOL. I take no offense.

 CONTEST

Leave a comment with your thoughts and you're entered for a chance to win an electronic copy of Claiming the Evil Dead.

Be sure to leave contact information with your comment.

Contest is international.

Contest ends March 22, 2011