Fangs for the Memories

Many, many years ago, when the world was new...

Well. Maybe not that long ago. But back in the day, I used to write vampire stories. I was a young writer then, and I wouldn't call my prose so much purple as ultraviolet. I had a serious fascination with all things vampire. My friends all called me "Batty" or "Fangy". I had a ring that said "Vampire" on it. I had stickers with quotes from vampires.

Small press magazines were all the rage. People typed things up and photocopied them, or a lucky few had the funds to print them nicely. I'd type up my stories on an old Brother word processor, sort of an early pseudocomputer, which occupied the table of the RV my husband and I lived in. Later, it was a Macintosh in the corner of our old apartment. Then I'd ship them off to magazines that paid me a whole dollar a piece and some contributors copies.

I still have these stories. Reading them now, I kind of want to curl up and die. Wow, have I come a long way.

To me, the Vampire Oracle series is a way to come back where I started. It's finishing a circle. Late nights in front of an overglorified typewriter with mix tapes blaring through my Walkman have become late nights in front of a flat panel monitor with my MP3 player going. In some cases, the music has changed. But sometimes, an old song from the Cure or Sisters of Mercy comes on, and I remember those times years ago, when I'd first started thinking I could have a career as a writer.

Vampires will see me my first print publication, and next to the likes of Lyric James, Deanna Lee, Sable Grey and Eliza Gayle. Funny how it all comes back around.