Monday, August 22, 2011

Vampire Monday: Arial Burnz

Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog, Lynda! It’s a great privilege to be here to talk about my favorite subject . . . VAMPIRES.

To answer the question posed for this Monday blog, I had to think back on the countless vampire novels I’ve read—romance as well as horror, including Lynda’s Vampire Shrink -- and to the reasons that motivated me to write my own vampire tales.

Immortality is a big factor. Who doesn’t wish they could live forever and cheat death? However, there are plenty of stories about immortals out there. What makes vampires so popular? I believe there are a few reasons.

Take a walk on the dark side and explore the danger of immortality. I believe one of the reasons vampires are so popular is the forbidden aspect of vampire lore. Most vampires have chosen this way of life, be it for revenge, a longer lease on life, or for love. As such, it takes a dangerous personality to choose such an existence.

But other creatures of the night share this similar “bad-boy/girl” feature. What’s the additional lure of vampires? Hands down, I believe it’s the overt sexuality of the crimson kiss. Dracula was a monster, and he wasn’t the first in vampire fiction of his time. Yet Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the true immortal over his peers . . . because of the intense sexuality associated with him. The vampire’s kiss is usually through a bite on the neck. One must surrender to a vampire . . . either by psychic charming or a willing gift to the immortal. And vampires in fiction today are more about seducing your blood from you versus taking it by force. The hunt for such an intimate encounter drips with sensuality and intimacy, appealing to our sexual natures.

That’s my two pence on the subject. Thanks again, Lynda!

Arial Burnz has had a love of paranormal and fantasy fiction since childhood, scratching out her stories on her lined notebooks and getting in trouble in class for daydreaming. Today, she is an author of paranormal and fantasy tales, writing for young adults, children and adults. She lives in Southern California with her husband/romance novel hero (DeWayne), their two cats (Nicodemus and Cody) and their dog (Zeddicus Drool Zorander).

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Conquest-paranormal-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0053PVHTU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

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Arial will give away one copy of her book to a commenter. Check back to see if you won!

4 Comments:

Blogger Lynda Hilburn said...

Arial: Thank you so much for guest blogging today. Great post!
Lynda

6:15 PM  
Blogger Arial Burnz said...

Hey, Lynda!

Thanks so much for having me on the blog. I was out most of the day, so just now getting to this.

Cheers!!
Arial ;)

10:39 PM  
Blogger Bets Davies said...

Ever hear the theory vampires get hot when sex and death are close? Like Dracula was a huge hit right about the time syph was ravaging sex. Having sex means you might die. It's a dark, seducing pull to risk of your own life. Or, do you cheat this chance at death, and become the sensuous immortal.

So we cured syph, and of course vamps are always in literature, but the craze that followed Dracula calmed down as we were able to cure syph.

But then AIDS came along. Once again, to have sex, to give in to the seduction, could mean death. To cheat it repeatedly even if you were unsafe became immortality. And with Ann Rice, vamps hit it big again and have been going strong ever since.

That's the theory, anyway. Anyone have an opinion?

10:42 AM  
Blogger Arial Burnz said...

Very interesting observation, Bets! Never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Many instances in history affect literature. Nice comment!! ;)

2:22 PM  

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