New rules for Vampires?

Vampires are not a new concept. They’ve been around forever. And, just like humans, have baggage they carry.

Humans have their faults. Some are scared of heights, some of spiders, some of even leaving the house. Although fears, and not physical blocks, these humans will adjust their lives accordingly by living in single story homes, asking their husbands to kill the dreaded spider as run to hide in the other room, or even by never leaving their home because of the fear of what the outside could be.

Vampires, in the traditional sense, have a lot of issues. Here is a general list:

• Seed, grains, hairs, etc (OCD behaviors)
• Garlic aversion
• Religious objects
• Thorns
• Etiquette
• Daylight
• Flowing Water
• Staying Home
• Destruction

A complete description of the items in this list can be found here.

So, as a novelist whose main characters are vampires, which ones does the Colony Series adhere to?

OCD issues? I think it’s bad enough to have humans in my life afflicted with this. I wanted to escape in my world, not bring my personal baggage into it.

Garlic? Well …. I like garlic. I’m not much into Italian food, and it’s hard to put a pasta dish into a lot of my scenes, so I just skipped over this one.

Religious objects? You’ll see a few religious objects in Sterling’s book (United Service). Sterling is a very spiritual guy. From the cross above his bed, to the pendant of the Saint he wears around his neck … Sterling is a believer. There’s nothing wrong with having a little faith IMHO.

Thorns? I don’t understand this one. I have rose bushes all over the first book (Eternal Service). I like roses.

Etiquette? I really did want this one. In the long run though, I didn’t think kick-butt security guards should be stopped by the threshold of a door. I wanted them to be stronger than this.

Daylight? That’s okay. It does wear them out more so that they’ll have to drink more blood, but other than that it’s okay.

Flowing water and staying home? I still might use this in my fourth book Reliant Service.

Destruction? My vampires can be killed by massive blood loss. Beheading? Sure. A lot of blood loss there. Stabbed through the heart? Ok, but only if the stake stays in long enough to have them bleed out.

And here is one I came up with – Vampire babies! Can vampires procreate other than by turning humans? In my world I do allow my vampires to have natural offspring. After all, for some people having a child is their happily ever after. I do offer a twist though. In my world Vampire men can father children to vampires, half-breeds, and humans. Vampire women can only get impregnated by vampire men or by half-breeds (but only 1/2 their genetic makeup, the vampire side, can get the job done). To explain this further, I’ll have to explain my half-breeds. They can be male or female and can have children. But, depending upon who they are with, only certain genetic material can be passed on. This is a topic for another post which I will write in the near future.

The nice thing about being the author and creating a world is the fact that you can pick and choose what you like and what you want to have in your novel.