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MLCVamp: Normally I couldn't come Tuesday. This is normally a work day for me.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: I'm sure glad you could make it today.So without any further delay...let's get started!Our guest today is Margaret Carter, author of EMBRACING DARKNESS, who will talk about "Writing a Vampire Novel."

MLCVamp: I work in proofreading for the Maryland General Assembly. The legislative session just ended, so we are entitled to down time.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: We're in protocol now. Margaret, tell us a little about yourself and your books, and give us your website URL--and then you can launch into your talk.

MLCVamp: www.margaretlcarter.com Our third son redesigned it a few months ago. I love the way it looks. My most recent novel is EMBRACING DARKNESS, a vampire romance published by Silhouette Intimate Moments last month. It's still available for order online. I also have vampire novels from Amber Quill (www.amberquill.com), the Hard Shell Word Factory (www.hardshell.com), and Ellora's Cave (www.ellorascave.com) The ones from EC are novellas, and they specialize in erotic romance. Except for a couple of anomalous short stories, all my vampires belong to another species that shares Earth with us, not supernatural. They feed on emotions as well as blood, so their feeding is usually very erotic.

HOST WPLC Race: By feeding on emotions do you mean like a psychic vampire?

MLCVamp: Yes. They get nourishment from animal blood, but they need small amounts of human blood regularly, for the psychic nourishment. They also drink milk (taken from actual vampire folklore of drying up cows, etc.)

ClayWrite: Your website says your vampires are not supernatural but are another species sharing earth with us. Do you delve into sci-fi with this?

MLCVamp: IMO, this approach to vampires is SF by definition, because there is an attempted scientific explanation (though I am an English major, not a biology major, so don't delve too deeply into my rationales.) Suzy McKee Charnas' THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY is the best example of this approach, the vampire as ultimate predator at the top of the food chain. See also FEVRE DREAM by George R. R. Martin, the Austra series by Elaine Bergstrom, and of course Christine Feehan. Susan Sizemore also has a series along this line, I BURN FOR YOU, I THIRST FOR YOU, and I HUNGER FOR YOU. Very good books!

MLCVamp: I have a nonfiction book from AQ on this theme, DIFFERENT BLOOD: THE VAMPIRE AS ALIEN, tracing other-species vampires in fiction from the mid-1800s to the 1990s.There's also a paperback anthology of SF vampire fiction, TOMORROW SUCKS (Baen Books), still available, which includes a story by my husband, "Vanishing Breed," that inspired my series.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: So, are your vampires a species that developed on earth, or are they from another planet?

MLCVamp: Well....in my husband's story, they originally came from another planet, about 10,000 years ago.However, all but the very oldest members of the race believe they evolved on Earth, because the elders want them to blend in, so they conceal the truth from all the younger generations. Therefore, I never have to mention the extraterrestrial origin in my own books, which evades the issue (never addressed head-on by Elaine Bergstrom, for instance) of how ET vampires can interbreed with Earthwomen.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Thanks, Margaret. Very interesting.

ClayWrite: Some years ago I read an article about vampires.... the idea was they were an alien species who could not tolerate our environment that well...

MLCVamp: Well, actually, it's almost unknown for a male vampire to impregnate a human female -- needs medical help. Female vampires can, rarely, get naturally pregnant by human men.

ClayWrite: and that's why they avoided sunlight...and drank blood because blood was about the only earth-food they could use.

ClayWrite: more... btw, it was written as a non-fic but speculative article

MLCVamp: Neat theory, Clay! My vampires, like Dracula (and the other classic 19th-century vampires) can be active in daylight. It just makes them very uncomfortable and limits their powers. Wish that article were available. Where was it?

ClayWrite: it was years and years ago in one of the "mens adventure mags" True, Argosy, or Saga

HOST WPLC Race: Welcome to Writing Right! Maragaret Carter, author of EMBRACING DARKNESS, speaks about "Writing a Vampire Novel". We are in protocol.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Any more questions for our guest before we continue?

ClayWrite: What is the general location of your stories? or do these change?

MLCVamp: In the U.S., because that's the locale I'm familiar with, and usually present day. I have a couple of stories set in the 1890s in my collection HEART'S DESIRES AND DARK EMBRACES (AQ). My Hard Shell novels, DARK CHANGELING and CHILD OF TWILIGHT, take place in 1979 and the early 1990s, respectively.

ClayWrite: Does working with the Maryland General Assembly give you ideas for blood-sucking vampires? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: LOL!

MLCVamp: LOL! Actually, I have a tangentially related werewolf novel whose heroine is a proofreader in the same office I work in. Her psychiatrist, who helps her discover the truth about her werewolf heritage, is the heroine of DARK CHANGELING. As for locales, I do have a novella called "Payer of Tribute" which is a vampire "Beauty and the Beast" adaptation set in 11th-century England.But it's not available. It was published decades ago by a fan press and is supposed to be in GOOD GUYS WEAR FANGS 4 *if* that zine ever gets printed.

ClayWrite: Does your co-worker know she's a template for your heroine?

MLCVamp: Oh, I wasn't clear. The werewolf isn't based on any particular person. I just gave her my job and local setting.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Margaret, can you tell us a little about how we would go about writing a vampire novel? I.e., do we need to do lots of research first? Do we need to come up with a "world" for our vampires? Etc. What do YOU do?

MLCVamp: I think it would help to do some research, mainly to learn what aspects of vampire fiction are based in folklore and which have been invented by individual authors.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: We're talking with Margaret Carter about vampire novels, and we're in protocol.

MLCVamp: E.g., someone whose main knowledge of vampires comes from the role-playing game "Vampire: The Masquerade" or Anne Rice's novels should read more widely before creating her own vampires... or else hers will probably turn as recognizable imitations of one of those sources. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has spoken of how she turned the historical character Count Saint-Germain into a vampire. She researched vampire folklore from all over the world....and made a chart of which traits appeared universally or very frequently. Those were the ones she used (if they fit her vision, of course).

MLCVamp: You don't have to be THAT systematic. Whether you create a "world" for your vampires as in Hamilton's Anita Blake series or Susan Sizemore's Laws of the Blood, I think, depends on where your own vision leads. My vampires blend into human society. They are basically solitary predators. They do have a ruling Council, but it doesn't micromanage their lives, and they don't spend much time with their own kind. How did I create my vampires? Well, I wrote my first vampire storyat age 13. It was traditional supernatural. Later, when my husband's "Vanishing Breed" (published in my first anthology, CURSE OF THE UNDEAD, 1970)....inspired me to make my vampires another species, I adapted much of my existing in-the-drawer fiction. Sylvia in DARK CHANGELING is a survivor from that first story I wrote at age 13.

MLCVamp: I considered each of the best-known vampire traits and tried to come up with plausible biological explanations for them. The psychic powers (such as hypnotic mind control and projecting illusions) would probably be considered......fantasy by hard SF readers. However, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover uses psychic powers, and it's classified as SF. I am always on the lookout for phenomena in the animal world that are analogous to vampire powers. The Animal Planet show "The Most Extreme" includes some amazing examples of weird animal powers.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: I guess it's not a good idea, then, to get all your knowledge from watching "Dark Shadows" as a kid. :-D

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Do you recommend any particular research books? i.e., do you have any favorites?

MLCVamp: Then your vampire would look recognizably like Barnabas.:-)

MLCVamp: Rosemary Guiley recently published an encyclopedia of vampires, werewolves, etc., can't remember the exact title.One very comprehensive guide is J. Gordon Melton's huge encyclopedia THE VAMPIRE BOOK. I even have an entry in it.:-)

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Thanks, Margaret!

ClayWrite: Does Guiley give sources for her info? (follow up) you need to know the source so you don't plagiarize

MLCVamp: OK, I went to get my copy. It's called VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, AND OTHER MONSTERS. She has an index and a long bibliography. Also, many of the entries include a "further reading" list. I haven't had time to read it yet, but it looks like a very good reference. She edited an earlier book about vampires in pop culture years ago.Don't know whether it's still in print -- good old Amazon will tell you.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Sounds like two great references. Thanks! Any more questions for our guest?

RCS1738: I apologize for being late. Have you tried to create a new monster or mythical creature? If so, what attributes must it have to be of interest to the reading public?

MLCVamp: I have thought about it but never managed to come up with one. To do that and make it "stick" (i.e, get adopted by popular culture) takes genius. E.g., H. P. Lovecraft and J.R.R. Tolkien accomplished it. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos became a template for many other authors. And Tolkien of course needs no introduction.

RCS1738: I'd think it must be able to stalk, and be charismatic and need something from a human to survive. Thank you.

MLCVamp: I think a "new" mythical creature would have to share some of the familiar traits of monsters that are already archetypes. Like the traits you mentioned, RCS. Although I'm fond of werewolves, for instance, I think vampires have inspired more wide variations in fiction because they are so adaptable and variable -- and "charismatic."

RCS1738: And "Human"

MLCVamp: Werewolves have not generally been viewed as seductive, only frightening, although that's changing with the many recent werewolf romances, and of course Angela Carter's "In the Company of Wolves"...which celebrates the allure of the wild. Yes, I think it helps if a monster has a human dimension. Otherwise they are just something to destroy.

ClayWrite: Do you have specific traits in your stories which you carry forth from one work into the next?

MLCVamp: Since all my vampires belong to the same species, they share the same powers, needs, and limitations. Could you clarify the question?

ClayWrite: traits that are unique your work and not other writers

MLCVamp: Are you asking what some of their traits are? Oh, I see. Many of my vampire traits are based on other fiction sources, though mine aren't exactly like any one other writer's. The psychic power of disguising his/her appearance or becoming "invisible" by projecting an illusion is one I haven't seen much elsewhere, but I know it's not original with me.

MLCVamp: OK, one that I think is unique, which I was "stuck" with from my husband's original story: His vampires could sprout wings. So I decided this was one of their innate psychic powers -- to take on a winged shape that's stored in the DNA from their remote semi-humanoid ancestors.

MLCVamp: Since a human-size creature is too heavy to fly like a bird, they don't literally fly; they levitate and then glide. Like a psychically-powered hang glider. By using their illusionability, they can make their transformed shape look (to human observers) more monstrous than it actually is.

MLCVamp: Their wings are very sensitive, because the molecules are in flux. An erogenous zone and also an easy place to cause pain.I haven't seen this particular feature in any other fictional vampires. Roger in DARK CHANGELING, BTW, is a hybrid, so he can't change shape.!

MLCVamp: One thing I wanted to mention about creating vampires before I forget: The sympathetic ("good") vampire, to me, falls into 2 categories, ethically: Vampirism itself is evil, and a "good" vampire is one who overcomes his "curse" to behave morally (or even be "cured," which I dislike). The other type: Vampirism is morally neutral; a vampire can be good or evil in the same way as any person. My vampires fall into this category, like Elrod's and Bergstrom's.

ClayWrite: A few observations that will take more than one line, so bear with me, please... Your comment of your husband's vampires coming to earth 10,000 years ago...there has been quite a bit of discussion and research that an advanced civilization was on earth... 10,500 years before present perhaps you've heard of this it might make a good premise for vampires storiesbased upon what some paleontologists think is fact

MLCVamp: Cool! Like Von Daniken and the other "ancient astronauts" advocates?

ClayWrite: yes follow up

MLCVamp: Wouldn't fit in with our theory, though, because our vampires didn't use their advanced technology to change Earth in any way. ClayWrite: this is based on alignments of ancient structures matching star alignments of 10,500 years ago

MLCVamp: They hid the starship where it would never be found, probably with detection-blocking equipment (maybe in the Bermuda Triangle?:-) and ...

HOST WPLC Race: suggestion-- Clay and Margaret come and discuss this further for us :-)

ClayWrite: and the Sphinx now being thought of as being much older than said by Egyptologists

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: I hate to say it...but our time is up. Thank you so much, Margaret, for being our guest today.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: We would LOVE to have you back again, any time you can sneak away from work.

MLCVamp: ... made sure even their own children didn't know about it. Elaine Bergstrom's novels tell a little about how her vampires...

HOST WPLC Race: I am really enjoying hearing their discussion on this.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Please give us your URL again, so we can check out your books.

Satin Puzzle: Excellent, Margret....thank you

Satin Puzzle: Thank you, Liz and Race

RCS1738: Thank you for an informative session.

MLCVamp: ....came to Earth, but they concealed themselves, too. Still it WOULD make a great story premise.

HOST WPLC Race: thank you ... this has been excellent fun!! applause applause

ClayWrite: Margaret, thanks for the chat.

MLCVamp: www.margaretlcarter.com (that's an L in the middle)

ClayWrite: Liz, Race, thanks for hosting.

HOST WPLC Race: Thanks Clay for sharing, too.

MLCVamp: You're welcome, and thanks to all for being here! This has been great fun.

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: It's been great fun. Thank you, Margaret!

ClayWrite: this has been a great session.

HOST WPLC Race: this has been great!

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Hope to see you all back here next week....

HOST WPLC Race: See you all next week

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: first, at 11 a.m. for Race's "Realities of the Paranormal" chat, and then at noon for Writing Right.

HOST WPLC Race: I'll be here at 11 and Liz at noon

MLCVamp: Hasta la Bye-Bye as they say on FOREVER KNIGHT. :-)

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Have a great week. See you next Tuesday!

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: LOL!

Satin Puzzle: I loved Forever Knight...

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: See you later. Bye!

Satin Puzzle: Now she got my brain working..dang it.

Satin Puzzle: Bye Liz

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: LOL! That's good, Satin!

HOST WPLC MmeLiz: Bye.