Mar 1, 2011

Theresa Meyers - Guest Blog and Contest

Today PVN is delighted to welcome back author Theresa Meyers who writes about vampires in a "fresh", appealing way.  Her latest book The Truth about Vampires proves that point. A year ago she visited PVN for an interview. Check it out here
[See contest details at the end of the post] 

Making the Undead Fresh Again

I know, it sounds like I’m touting some kind of super-power deodorant, but really I’m hear to talk about vampires, and how while everyone says they are so popular that the genre should be dead, it’s really anything but. I mean we are talking the undead here.

Yes, I’ll admit, for those of us with Buffy-love in our heart, Twilight brought vampires to a whole new audience and between that and HBO’s TrueBlood, vampires do seem to be everywhere supersaturing the market. But that doesn’t mean everything that can be done with these fascinating denizens of the dark, has been done. Case in point, my new mini-series for Harlequin Nocturne, the Sons of Midnight. The first book in the series, The Truth about Vampires, just hit store shelves this week and already reviewers like Harriet Klausner, Seriously Reviewed and RT Bookreviews Magazine are commenting about how it’s something fresh and different than they’ve seen in vampires before, but appealing to those of us who dig fangs.

Our ability to create something fresh is only limited by imagination. When I was creating “Theresa’s version of vampires” I tried to keep the myths that made biological sense to me and discard the others, making up some that were knew along the way. For instance, my vampires can certainly withstand sunlight, but it gives them one heck of a migraine, similar to what you might get if you left the eye doctor’s office after having your eyes dilated. This made biological sense to me. My vampires’ vision is sharper, so like other predators in nature, wouldn’t their eyes be more sensitive to light?

I also looked at garlic and stakes and thought, hey, really, I’m half Italian (and my hero in The Truth about Vampires, Dmitri is full Italian), is it fair to have to cut out garlic? No. So my vampires can eat it if they choose to, but they do have preternaturally sharp sense of smell, like other predators in nature, so it could be obnoxious to get close to a clove. As for stakes, they are going to sting, but if you’re talking about a creature with a fast healing ability and superior strength a little stick is going to be annoying but not take them down.

Sure there are a few things, however, that do impact my vampires. Silver acts as a disruptor to their nervous system’s electrical impulses. Dead man’s blood is a swift acting poison if it gets beneath their skin or is ingested (which makes sense if you consider there’s no life force left in it, so it’d be like snacking on out of date cheese which could make you sick.) My vampires are also impacted by a precious metal called orichalcum. We’ve forgotten how this alloy is produced, but it was originally mentioned by Plato in his writings about Atlantis.

My vampires also possess a venom that can liquefy flesh like some species of spiders. And perhaps the biggest nod to biology of all was the fact that my vampires are created by means of a virus. In nature viruses can take down even a top predator. It made sense to me that they could change humans. I also gave my vampires the ability to change themselves to suit the most intimate fantasies of their prey. And why not? If you’ve got a superior predator, shouldn’t they have superior skills?

I also happen to be a bit of a history nut, so I took bits and pieces of mythology, Minoan, Etruscan, Greek and blended them together to form a history for my vampire culture, explaining how it all started and the involvement of the gods in the creation of vampires in the first place by means of the virus. And my vampire society has different facets that are somewhat medieval in nature. Most of the civilized vampires live in clans with a laird and a council that lead them. The laird and council answer to a knight which in turn answers to vampire royalty. But there are those outside these structured societies – reviers, who like the Scottish border reviers merely subsist on the fringes of good society by taking what they need and moving often.

Mix in the whole revelation to humanity that vampire do exist by an investigative reporter determined to win a Pulitzer, and you can see that The Truth About Vampires is only the beginning of how these two societies will learn to live with one another out in the open and that my take on vampires is a little bit different.

As I said, a fresh take on a genre of characters we already love is only limited to imagination. Writers can make the undead fresh again. We just have to love them and embrace the unknown.


 CONTEST

*Theresa is offering a copy of  The Truth about Vampires to one lucky reader. [US/Canadian winner has a choice of paperback or ebook edition. An international winner will receive an ebook.]

*Leave a comment about this post for a chance to win. 
*Contest ends March 15 at 11:59pm EST

*Be sure contact information is included with your comment. 

26 comments:

Sandy Jay said...

I'd love to have a paperback copy of this book. Thanks for the giveaway.

forwhlz at gmail dot com

SiNn said...

just wow what a cool concept with how you formed ur cultures it sounds like an awesome read would love a chanceto win and read it if not ill deff be adding to my wish list ty for teh give away great post


mortalsinn@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

This looks great! Would love to be entered!!!

hnwhitlock2000atgmaildotcom

Jud said...

Superbly atmospheric author photo -- can't stop looking at it. Was it taken professionally?

I live in Japan and buy most of my stuff through amazon.co.jp, but none of Theresa's books show up in the listings. This is strange, as almost all amazon.com books are available here if you're prepared to wait a couple of weeks for delivery. Does this mean there's some kind of regional distribution arrangement?

I'm debating whether to go for the e-book or order from amazon.com and pay the extra shipping charges...

booklover0226 said...

Hello, All.

Theresa, you have a unique on vampires; I find that very interesting.

I love your book covers. Do you work one particular artist?

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com

Andra Lyn said...

sounds good :) I myself have gotten a little tired of vamp lit, even though its like...my favorite. You can only read about the same teenage girl vamp were triangle so many times before you snap ahah glad this one is different! I hope I get a chance to read it

hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu

JenM said...

I like vamp books, but I especially like it when they can go out in the daytime so I'd be very interested to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway.

jen at delux dot com

debbie said...

I like how the vampires sound a bit different in this book. I would love to read it.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

SandyG265 said...

I liek the unique twist you've put on vampires.

sgiden at verizon.net

Julie S said...

I like when authors give a fresh twist on old lore.
I've heard great things about this one.
juliecookies(at)gmail.com

Unknown said...

I love reading about vampires. Please enter me in contest. Your book sounds really great. Tore923@aol.com

Dot S.(ladeetdareads.wordpress.com) said...

I have been hungering for a new bite on vampires. Theresa, your book sounds delightful.
salvagin@verizon.net

Heather said...

what a great post. I love the concept and would love a copy of the book.

Thanks for giving us a chance to win it.

Unknown said...

Fantastic post! Love your rationalization for the vampire weaknesses.

robin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com
USA

latishajean said...

This book sounds so good I love all vampire books. I can't wait to read this one. Thanks for the giveaway!
tishajean@ charter.net

Mariee said...

Congrats on your new release! The whole series sound really interesting. I would love to win a copy!

marieimy (at) gmail (dot) com

Soli said...

Please enter me, I would love to win this book! Thanks so much for the contest!

artificial-sweetness@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

I think this is such a great book to win. I rented "Buffy" to watch from the start to the end. After that I just had to rent "Angel". These were my very first vampire adventures.

Jay said...

Id love to read this :)

-Jamad
jazzy_jay673@hotmail.com

Barb P said...

Count me in on the paperback copy. I have read a few of Theresa's previous books and would love to read this one. Thanks for the contest. bpatrick64113@sbcglobal.net

Unknown said...

This book looks awesome. Please enter me in the giveaway.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

Pam S (pams00) said...

Thanks for sharing the great post! This sounds like it will be an awesome read. I am a big vamp fan and love the world you have created.

Pam S
pams00 @ aol.com

Jess (The Cozy Reader) said...

Love me some vampires!

Thanks for the giveaway!

thecozyreader @ gmail.com

jen said...

sounds great! jenlopez1283@yahoo.com

The L-I Headmaster said...

I want to join~ International tho. But an ebook is fine. :)

Gian Faye
mynameisgianfaye *at* gmail *dot* com

Meredith said...

The new series sounds great! I'd love to read it. I like that some history was used and unique characteristics for these vampires were used for this story.

meredithfl at gmail dot com