July 25th, 2009 — Guest Blogger, J-L, Paranormal, Vampire
by Christina Kelly, guest blogger
Christina Kelly, Author of The Eternal Kiss, interviews Allurius LeBeau, Dresden Hawthorn and Alana Sheridan, the Main Characters of The Eternal Kiss
Allurius shifts impatiently in his chair. “Will you hurry up?” He says to me very snidely. Like I’m not the one who created him. Characters can be so ungrateful. I eagerly oblige since he is not the type to think before slaughter.
Christina: Okay, what is that you do for a living?
Allurius: (laughs) I kill to live, if that’s what you mean.
Christina: Right. Do you kill with some remorse?
Allurius: (scoffs) Do you have remorse for the hamburger you eat? I don’t think so.
Christina: But when you stumbled across Alana you didn’t feed from her.
Allurius: I wasn’t hungry.
Christina: Well why did take her in the first place? Why not just leave her there unharmed?
Allurius stands up indignantly. “I don’t see why I have to answer to you or anyone else.” He huffs and leaves the room. Soon after Allurius makes his exit Dresden Hawthorn comes in with Alana trialing behind him.
Dresden, my favorite for the record, takes my hand and brings it to his lips before taking a seat in the stuffed velvet chair across from me.
Dresden: I apologize for him. He is-
Alana: A bit impatient. He didn’t want to come here in the first place.
Dresden: Yes, I made him come.
Christina: Well we can continue on with just the two of you.
Alana: Yes lets. Allurius is just a big-
Dresden: Alana, please?
Alana becomes quiet very reluctantly.
Christina: Um, All right. Who is your favorite author?
Dresden: You of course.
I smile even though I know the true answer is Oscar Wilde.
Alana: (laughs) He’s lying. But mine is Lewis Carroll.
Christina: Where do you currently live?
Dresden: Lake Forest, Illinois.
Alana: But we’ll be relocating soon.
Dresden frowns but doesn’t reply.
Christina: Why?
Alana: The Webbs are why. And don’t even get me started on The Protettori. I tell you-
Dresden: (cutting Alana off) Next Question please.
Alana: (continuing on) Not that we couldn’t take them on The Mother told me-
Christina: The Mother told you what?
The eagerness in which I asked caused Dresden to glare at me.
Christina: (stammers) Not that it’s any of my concern. . .
Dresden: I’m sorry but we’ll have to be going now.
Alana seemed reluctant but rose to stand when Dresden did.
They left me behind with my sheet of unanswered questions. Damn, I was hoping I’d get the plot of the sequel out of them.
Buy: The Eternal Kiss
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July 23rd, 2009 — Guest Blogger, J-L, Paranormal, Vampire
By Christina Kelly, guest blogger.
In 1999 I was just a little fifth grader attending Oakton Elementary when my teacher, Ms. Brady, pulled me to the side. This was the moment I had been waiting for since the second my class started to keep story journals. Ms. Brady had even read one of my short stories aloud. I just knew she was going to tell me I was a prodigy, a genius! I waited to hear that my stories were the works of a truly mature mind. I’d always gotten accolades from teachers for my love of books so Mrs. Brady’s opinion was very expected.
“Christina.” Ms. Brady began. I smiled and leaned closer toward her. “Yes, Ms. Brady?” I replied as the heavens opened up and angels began to sing in praise.
“I find some of your stories to be rather disturbing. Is there anything you’re trying to tell me?” She asked with her blue eyes full of concern.
My heart shattered in front of me. How could anyone see a gem like “The monster under the bed” as disturbing? If anything it was a cautionary tale! I shook my head ‘no’ and walked back to my desk heavily disappointed. From that day forward she always gave me a picture, usually of a garden or something equally cheery, to base my stories off of. (Talk about stifling my creativity!)
From then on I dubbed myself a misunderstood artist. I began to dress in all black and devour books by the whole. I read everything in our school library from Paul Zindel
to Harriet Beecher Stowe
. Soon I graduated to John Grisham
novels that my 8th grade teacher found around the school for me. I hadn’t written a full story since 5th grade instead I wrote really god-awful poetry. I didn’t let anyone read my journal because I was so misunderstood.
When I was a freshman at Evanston Township high school I considered myself very deep and mysterious (even if I was on the cheerleading squad) I wrote poems about the dreariness of winter and how unfair the world was. I painted my nails black while listening to Bauhaus
and stopped talking to the same friends I’d had since kindergarten. Looking back now I realize I was dying for an outlet, a book that would speak to me personally.
I was just browsing the ETHS library (well one of them, the school has a few) when I stumbled upon The Vampire Lestat
The title literally screamed out at me. “Well hello hello!” I thought. Where have you been my entire life? I read that book in a day in half then promptly turned it over and began again. It was love, absolutely and completely.
After finishing all of The Vampire Chronicles
I moved on to the Anita Blake
series and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters
.
The summer before my sophomore year my family relocated to Kenosha, Wisconsin. I didn’t know a soul and I had mostly let all my friendships in Evanston fade away. Having little else to do I began to sleep all day, from 8am to 7pm. Consequently I was up all night. It was a curious thing to wake with the sunset and sleep while the sun rose. And it does affect the way your mind works. The first draft of “The Eternal Kiss” (then titled Eternal Dusk) was born out of that sheer boredom. I didn’t write it with the intention of ever getting it published though I did work on it feverishly.
No one beside myself had ever read any of it and everyone I lived with became irritated at the sound of computer keys clacking away during all hours of the night.
Then my great-aunt Barbra died and my cousin Darrielle (we are about a year apart in age) came to spend the night at our house after the funeral. I have to admit I was very uninterested in being social, until she asked about the two DVDs on my dresser, The Crow
and Interview with the Vampire
. I found her to be in apt pupil as I explained the movies while we watched them and she even wanted to listen to my Queen CDs. Still I didn’t mention my near completed novel until she began to talk about her own writing.
After showing her the first chapter, which she responded very well too, I eagerly let her read the rest and she raved about how great it was. A very curious feeling blossomed in my chest: I really liked when people enjoyed the things I created. I REALLY liked it. I even made sure we only talked about my story and it’s potential for the rest of her stay. Her genuine excitement over my story and it’s characters made me realize If I wanted to get the story published it needed to have an actual plot.
Knowing I’d have to rewrite the whole thing I abandoned it completely. I began to work on other stories and didn’t even bother to save any of them. Then our computer crashed and I lost all of my hard work. I spent so much time agonizing over this lost that I didn’t realize I had all of my notes and even had some of the chapters printed out and laying around.
I didn’t come back to “The Eternal Kiss” until I moved out of my parent’s house the day before I turned 18. The story I started when I was 16 benefited from my maturity at the age of 18. Some parts I found to be really ridiculous and just the sort of thing a 16 year old would write. During those years I had also read nearly any vampire novel I could get my hands on. And much of the lore in Dracula I assimilated into my own.
But over all I knew I wanted to share this story and it’s characters with others.
The process of re-writing and then re-writing again was very long but I love this story. A writer really has to love the story they’re telling to get through the process of writing it and preparing it for submission. It was a long journey to get “The Eternal Kiss” where it is today but I wouldn’t change any of it.
Buy: The Eternal Kiss
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