Paranormal Romance Blog

Everyone has a slightly different take on vampires these days — including author Alexis Morgan, whose first Silhouette Nocturne Bites story THE VAMPIRE’S DESIRE is on-sale now. Alexis posts at Harlequin’s Paranormal Romance blog to tell us more about why vampires captured her heart and imagination…

by Alexis Morgan, author of The Vampire’s Desire (Silhouette Nocturne Bites, Nov. 2009)

One of the most frequent questions I get asked as a writer is why I write the kind of hero that I do. You know the kind I mean—the ones who aren’t quite human. Some can die and come back from it. Others can suck the life energy right out of their victims. And most recently, my heroes have fangs and find a woman’s pulse points most riveting.

The truth is that I’ve always loved vampire stories. Over the past few years the genre has grown beyond anyone’s wildest imagination—with imagination being the key to the entire phenomenon. Storytellers everywhere are taking the basic vampire mythology and tweaking to make it their own. There are stories where vampires are a separate species and just as many where they are made. In some, vampires live a secret life, and yet in others where they live openly among the human population.

How they view their human counterparts is another variable that authors play with. Some vamps see humans as cattle, an inferior species that they feed from. Others have sworn a vow to protect, serving as secret guardians of the human race.

I love it when a vampire hero who is hundreds of years old finally meets his soul mate. Trusting a woman with his secrets is a major decision for him, one that he struggles with as she turns his world upside down. She, on the other hand, has to decide whether or not to give up her human existence for him. All great stuff with room for a lot of passion and emotion.

I also think that paranormal stories, and vampires in particular, allow the author to explore interesting themes. For example, how about the question of what is it that makes a man a monster? Is it fangs and the need for blood? I personally think that the issue goes much deeper than that. To me, it’s an innate sense of honor that makes a man a hero, regardless of his appearance or species. That he’ll go into battle time and again at great personal cost, not because others expect it of him, but because he expects no less of himself.

When I created my own vampire world, I decided that there were actually three different groups that lived side by side. The first were the vampires, who were a separate species from their human neighbors. To make it more interesting, I added the Chancellors, who are a vampire/human hybrid. They have characteristics of both the other species, but are looked down upon in some corners because of their mixed blood. Despite that, they’ve carved out a niche for themselves in their world, acting as judges, arbiters, and law enforcers for all three species. The interactions between the groups allows me to also explore themes about prejudice and acceptance.

In THE VAMPIRE’S DESIRE, Ambrose O’Brien is a Chancellor in love with a full-blooded vampire named Miranda. He’s the most powerful Chancellor of his generation, a man with a powerful sense of honor and the need to protect those he cares about. I couldn’t resist him any more than Miranda could.

So, how about you? What is it about vampires that draws you to read their stories? Is it that you love alpha heroes? Or that such a powerful being who has lived for centuries can suddenly see the world with new eyes because of love? Maybe it’s that you love stories about powerful warriors who risk everything to protect those they care about.

So tell me, what is about those guys with fangs that you love so much? I’d like to know.