Paranormal (Vampires)
Date Published: June 21, 2021
Publisher: ZB Publications
Issaquah, Washington, USA
1951
My name is Norma Mae Rollins. I’m fourteen and an illegal vampire. I miss my mom, but new ghoulish appetites force me to remain with my creator.
Bill didn’t mean to transform me. At least, that’s what he claims. His frightening temper, relentless lies, and morbid scientific experiments makes it hard to know what to believe. However, someone snitched about Bill’s experiments to a nearby coven. Now both of our corpses will burn.
Bill won’t run. He is curious what happens to a vampire after final death. I don’t want to die again. It hurt so much the first time. Bill thinks his vampire boyfriend might shelter me. I must brave an eternal existence with elder vampires and other monsters who don’t think I ought to exist. Oh and figure out who I am allowed to eat.
A vampire’s reality is nothing like the movies.
1. Favorite childhood memory involving books?
I remember the first time I learned I didn’t have to read aloud. I was five, maybe six.
I was reading a book to myself, and my elder bother told me to be quiet. I told him I was reading. He said I didn’t have to read aloud. So I tried it. He accidently opened a whole new world to me. You see the other thing I realized is that I knew more words than I thought I knew. I started reading his books shortly after. He had several choose your own adventures (it was the early 80’s) and I started reading them.
2. Did you want to be an author when you grew up?
Yes, I did. I told my family, I wanted to be an author at
age 12.
3. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what
would they be?
Determined, optimistic, diligent.
4. What would you consider to be your Kryptonite as an
author?
I tend to overwrite in early drafts. I sometimes have pages
of dialogue I need to shorten and add action to.
5. If you could tell your younger writing self anything,
what would it be?
Keep going. Your current goals might not come true, and it’s
a ton of work, but you’re at the start of a great fun and terrifying adventure.
6. What is your most unusual writing quirk?
Like many authors, I talk to myself. However, when I am
stuck, I go a step farther and act out scenes. I literally go step by step:
saying dialogue, sitting, standing, hugging no one, pretending to hold a sword
or whatever else is applicable.
When I do this, my dog stares at me in a way that I know is
judgmental.
7. How long, on average, does it take you to
write a book?
18 months from first idea to finished product – obviously
that’s longer for my traditionally published works since I must sell the
project to someone else.
Normally I get the first draft down in a month. Then I spend
a few weeks researching topics that came up during my first draft. I add my
research to my second draft. Then I do a rewrite focusing on character voices
and action. I have also changed character names at this point as sometimes I
realize I have a bunch of M names or something.
Then I do a grammar edit and sent it to a beta reader. I do
another rewrite based on whatever plot holes they have found. Then I do another
rewrite focusing on character.
This is also when I read it aloud then I do a rewrite
focusing on diction and style. And then it goes to an editor!
Okay this is two movies.
So I watched a TON of 1930 & 40’s vampire movies when researching Accident
Among Vampires (Or What Would Dracula Do). I needed to know what the
average movie-loving teen in 1951 would know about vampires.
There are many which are very good, but I love to recommend Dracula’s
Daughter and Son of Dracula. Both sequels are just as strong, if not
better than the 1930’s Dracula staring Bela Lugosi.
They are both original stories though Dracula’s Daughter
is said to be based off Dracula’s Guest or Carmilla. It has very
little in common with either story.
Dracula’s Daughter, 1933, is a direct sequel starring
Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska, a reluctant vampire. Following
Dracula’s death, the countess steals the body to burn it as she believes this
act can free her from vampirism. When that doesn’t work, she seduces a
psychiatrist to help her stop her urges. The film is shot with gorgeous with
deep shadows and darkness as if it was a crime noir film.
Now Son of Dracula, 1943, is harder to recommend due
to the blatant racism. It is set in the American South. All Black actors play
servants. However, this is a movie where the lead female, Kay, seduces and
marries Dracula for his immortal life and powers. However, she is in love with
a different man and wants to pass on Dracula’s gift to him.
On a personal note: Son of Dracula is the film which
gives my character, Norma, daymares after she is transformed into a vampire. In
the novel, Norma uses the climax of that film as an example of why she can’t
sleep in a coffin. Her guardian, Derrik, (who has never even seen a modern film)
is not impressed.
9. What are your top 5 favorite movies?
Alien, 1979: Ripley was smart and steady and
believable.
Princess Bride, 1987: I saw this as a kid in the
theater and overall, it still holds up. Also it has one of the best sword
fights ever filled without aid of wires or CG.
Cthulhu, 2007: Set on the Oregon Coast, it is the
story which explains why one can (and should) never go home – especially if
your dad is a cult leader.
House of Dracula, 1945: This is the sequel to
House of Frankenstein, but it is simply a better story. Both are some of the
first creature mashups on film.
Universal made many monster movies to keep their rights to the
characters and this is one of the best.
Interview with a Vampire, 1994: When all the
principle actors take the work seriously and the costuming and makeup effects
are on point, we get to watch a lush take on the book. Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt
and Kristin Dunst have wonderful chemistry with each other.
10. What is your favorite genre to read?
I love horror and dark fantasy and all types of
mysteries.
One of the best books I read this year is Melmoth
by Sarah Perry. Set in Prague it follows an ex-pat Englishwoman punishing
herself for her cowardness in an earlier part of her life. Her life changes
when she is exposed to the myth and lore of a watcher: Melmoth.
Perry’s narration is so gorgeous, I recommend the
book on that alone.
11. Tell us 10 fun facts about yourself!
1) I married a boy I met
at a rock concert - a friend of a friend of a friend. I hugged him because he
was shy. I was 18, he was 21. We married two years later and have been married
for 25 years!
2) I love dogs. This is
Walnut, she is our current dog.
3) I love watching professional wrestling and watch three different programs a week. Some people say WWE, some love AEW. I say watch them both!
4) I collect dragon statues.
5) My favorite daily chore
is cooking for my family.
6) My least favorite is
laundry – because it never ends.
7) I read a book every two
weeks or so and my favorite place to read is the bathtub.
8) I also love to draw
illustrations.
9 I hope one day to live
in a small village where I can solve murders. That’s where authors go to
retire, right?
10) Beyond writing books,
I also write comics and a podcast!
About the Author
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