Writing this week, we welcome author Ashlynne Laynne, giving us her purist views on penning vampire fiction.
I am passionate about changing the persona of the vampire.
I’ve been obsessed with the horror genre since my grandmother took me to see Creepshow when I was very young. I’m a horror movie fanatic, and I watch everything—slasher, cheesy b rated, zombie, vampire, witches. You name it; I will or have already seen it. My movie library is more than half horror.
My Progeny Series is about a family of vampires and one within their family who is different, yet the same. Ascher is a half-bloodling (half-human and half vampire). His skin possesses the warmth of a human’s, yet he lives off blood and is immortal like his family.
New wave authors are bringing forth a new breed of vampire. The days of the cold-blooded, garlic fearing, cross-avoiding fiends of old are slowly giving way to a new type of warrior. The new blood is tougher, meaner, more human-like and fall deeper in love than any of their predecessors. These guys have the gentle touch of a feather but can tear an enemy apart with the same hands. They’re as passionate about their clan ties as they are about the women who stir their blood.
They’re bold, sexy warriors with hearts of gold and wills of steel. Their bodies are lean, sculpted immortal vessels of paranormal strength and ability. They’re devoted brothers, enemy slayers and erotic lovers capable of completely satisfying their chosen mate.
An author’s imagination dictates a character’s world and we empower ourselves to freely interpret our mythical beings—even if it goes against the grain of traditional vampire roles. For me, creating feeling and intense vampires that are outside the typical vampire box is important. My vampires love passionately, have a strong sense of brotherhood and feel the full gamut of human emotions.
While I’m not one to conform, I subscribe to the fact that vampires are pale and blood drinkers. I, however, don’t have mine running around draining the life out of poor, unsuspecting victims. I’m a purist in believing that they are cold-skinned and burn in sunlight, but I’m not one to believe that vampires are emotionless, evil fiends who sleep in coffins and plan the demise of us warm-blooded humans.
The humanization of the “undead” makes for more interesting and intense love stories with the ability to suck the reader in, while fueling the imagination.
And really…why is it so hard to believe that a vampire might have the emotional capacity to love as much as a human? They typically were human once and surely felt the full range of emotions during that time. So, why wouldn’t that carry over into immortality?
With the Twilight craze, True Blood and the Vampire Diaries (all of which I find fabulous) vampires have taken on a sexy, new persona becoming objects of longing and lust for young and older women alike. And who could blame us? I mean…if a vampire that looked like Ian Somerhalder wanted to bite me, I wouldn’t say no.
He wouldn’t need his vampire mind control for me to comply.<<<<>>>>
About Ashlynne
Ashlynne Laynne has always had a soft spot in her heart for vampires but grew tired of the garlic fearing, sun-loathing creatures of old. An avid horror movie fan, she tends to enjoy media and music that is of a younger, more eclectic nature. This was the catalyst for her writing The Progeny. The vampire/witch pairing is unique and different when most books pair vampires with werewolves.
Ashlynne loves writing on the edge and teetering between the erotica and romance genres, and thinks of Ascher and Shauna as the wicked, damned version of Romeo and Juliet. She is currently working on books three and four of her Progeny Series, book one of her upcoming Rocker Series, and an untitled novella WIP. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with her family. She juggles the hats of wife, mother, full-time employee and part-time writer, hoping to write full-time one day soon.
Ashlynne lives in North Carolina with her husband and teenage son.
Ashlynne’s Links
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