NOT About Home Improvement for a Change...

Believe it or not, I actually have other hobbies and activities that do NOT include tearing up, rebuilding, sanding, or slathering nasty chemicals on my house. I have been a writer since I could hold a pen upright, and I have several novels in the works right now.

My main WIP (work-in-progress) is a fantasy novel that is temporarily on the back burner so that I can re-approach it with a fresh eye. I've got several (about 2 dozen, actually) others that I'm fiddling with, all in various states of completion from outlining to 1st draft. My main WIP is on its 4th draft, and THIS close to being complete. What can I say? I work slowly.

Today I was in a creative mood and had a few ideas rolling around in my head. I have resisted jumping on the vampire bandwagon for a long time, especially since some of the vampire fic that has been popular in recent years has been...yeeeeah. While I can't stand most vampire fic that's out there, I have always been fascinated by the vampire archetype.

So...today...*takes deep breath*...I started a vampire novel. I've modified a few of the "rules" of the vampire archetype, while still maintaining the essence of a vampire, and come up with a story that I THINK will work. I've written a couple of chapters so far, and it's looking like it might work.

Updates to come as I find out whether or not my characters decide to cooperate. My characters have a nasty habit of getting minds of their own and stealing the reins. This particular vampire already has quite an attitude and has been known to kill people for lesser offenses than writing her into a sticky situation. I only hope she doesn't come after me.

So anyway, there you have it...my first foray into the Land O' Vampires. I just hope it doesn't suck. ;)

(And no...I am NOT jumping on the sparkly Twilight bandwagon. I'm really not even sure what all the hype is with that series. Srsly.)

EDIT: I completely neglected to mention this, so apologies to all involved: Though the vampire archetype has been floating around in my head for some time, I must give credit where it's due as far as the catalyst for actually starting to WRITE the damn thing. Nichola and I had spent a couple of days e-mailing about much of the tripe that passes for vampire fic these days, which led into a conversation about what we like and dislike about the vampire archetype, what is cliche' vs. tradition, etc. This of course led into jokingly saying "Well *I* am going to write about a vampire that does THIS...and THIS...but NEVER that..." And the next thing you know, we're both scrambling to write down legitimate story ideas.

So...thank you, Nichola, and 1,000 apologies for forgetting to mention it. :D