Linda Winstead Jones is Hooked on Vampires for the Holidays!

Author Linda Winstead Jones didn’t used to be a vampire fan…until she wrote a vampire novella for the Holiday With a Vampire III anthology! Linda joins Harlequin’s Paranormal Romance Blog to tell us more about how she became hooked on vamps this holiday season…

by Linda Winstead Jones, author of “Sundown” in Holiday With a Vampire III (Silhouette Nocturne, December 2009)

Vampires. There was a time when I swore they weren’t my thing. I like my heroes to be warm-blooded. A heartbeat is always nice. How can you really trust someone who doesn’t consume ice cream and coffee? And it seemed like there was always a lot of unnecessary angst where vamps were involved. I’m not an angsty person, so again, it was tough for me to relate.

One Saturday morning a while back, over breakfast with writer friends, I mentioned what I’d do if I wrote a vampire story. It was a line. Maybe two. A passing thought. And without searching for an idea, without trying, there it was. Abby and Leo and the others were there, in my head, insisting that their story be told. I didn’t write the story right away, I kept expecting it to fade away. It didn’t.

Now I’m hooked. “Sundown” won’t be my last vampire story.

So, after all that time insisting vampires weren’t my thing, what changed? What did I find in the lore that appealed so much to me that I changed my mind? The idea of living forever is a fascinating one. Always has been. What challenges does one face when life continues without a set end, when mortals in their circle all grow old and die? I know as I grow older the years seem shorter. Christmas comes more quickly every year. I wonder where the time went, how a season could pass by so fast I almost miss it. How would a vampire truly grasp time when it’s potentially never-ending?

Of course, even vampires can die. Immortal doesn’t necessary mean, well, immortal. Maybe it was their otherness that appealed to me. Who wouldn’t want to be stronger, faster, or have special powers that sets them apart from mere mortals? Can you imagine having hundreds of years to perfect a talent? Writing, painting, playing the piano.

In the end, I have to admit that I don’t know why these characters spoke to me, I don’t know why I decided to write about vampires when for years I’d insisted they weren’t in me to write. Like in the movie Shakespeare in Love (one of my all time favorites) it’s a mystery.

I hope you enjoy Abby and Leo in “Sundown,” my contribution to Holiday With a Vampire III and the story that got me hooked on vampires.

Note: In addition to Linda’s story “Sundown”, Holiday With a Vampire III also contains the novellas “Nothing Says Christmas Like a Vampire” by Lisa Childs and “Unwrapped” by Bonnie Vanak. Use the Browse the Book widget below to read the first chapters of each story!

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