Since the cover reveal for my upcoming book, Conspiracy of Angels, I’ve gotten a number of questions about the series — what’s it about? have you stopped writing non-fiction? who’s that hot gal on the cover holding the big knife? — but the most consistent question has been about vampires. Specifically, Will there be vampires in this series?
The short answer, of course, is yes.
I mean, how could I not have vampires in my series? I’ve spent over two decades of my life hip-deep in the modern vampire community, appearing on everything from the History Channel to CNN to talk about it. I’ve lectured at universities around the country on vampires in fiction, folklore, and pop culture. And I’ve written foundational works on the phenomenon of psychic vampirism that have helped to shape an entire generation of practitioners. Vampires are, as they say, my thing.
On the other hand, expressly because I have done so much on vampires since the early 90s, I didn’t want to make vampires the sole focus of the Shadowside world. So, while Zachary Westland’s world definitely includes vampires, they are not the only things my main character encounters, nor does that main character sport fangs himself.
Fans of vampires in fiction will, I think, be delighted and intrigued with my take on this immortal archetype. I’ve held off talking about the vampires in the Shadowside series until now, however, because I’m not so certain what the vampire community itself is going to think. As a writer who addresses paranormal and supernatural topics in both my fiction and my non-fiction, I’m aware that, for some readers, the lines between real life and the story might seem blurry — but those lines are not blurry for me.
Certainly, in crafting the world of the Shadowside, I have drawn upon my extensive knowledge of psychic phenomenon, occult practices, and paranormal events. The verisimilitude that drives the Urban Fantasy genre is part of its allure to me as a writer — the technique that weird fiction author H.P. Lovecraft called “supernatural realism.” Simply put, with supernatural realism, a generous commingling of facts wedded to the fantastic helps to make the fiction that much more immersive and exciting.
That said, the vampires in Conspiracy of Angels and the later books of the Shadowside series are not based off of anyone in the modern vampire community. Satire — even self-satire — was not my goal with this series. The vampires of the Shadowside instead draw upon the vampire archetype as it has been expressed in the time-honored fiction that I love. They have fangs. They drink blood. They wear their sunglasses after dark.
They do not sparkle.
The vampires of the Shadowside are not the good guys. Most are right bastards. They weave skeins and skeins of intrigue, manipulation, and betrayal — because any being that long-lived would have to — both in order to survive as well as to alleviate the boredom of an endless march of nights.
There is a distinctly monstrous element to my vampires, and while they make an effort to pass as human, they absolutely do not function on human rules — as main character Zachary Westland discovers swiftly and to his detriment.
Of course, Zack isn’t exactly your garden variety mortal either. As he learns more about who he is and what this means for him, he discovers that, even against ageless, scheming vampires, he can hold his own.
–M
Stories and Dreams 
Can’t wait to read this