Vampire Guts?

I've often thought about what makes a vampire... a vampire.  I can describe what my vampire characters look like on the outside, but what about inside?

I've written a little bit about what I think happens inside the body when a human becomes a vampire.  This is my opinion only based on nothing but my imagination and thought.  All of my characters (that have been 'turned') lose organs that will not be necessary for their life as an 'undead' creature.  The reproductive organs are the most visible thing to 'go'.  (i.e, my vampires notice this ;).  Do they care?  No.  Why not?  Because the human sexual urges are gone.  They are now controlled by blood alone.  Having said that, it is very evident in my books that the blood (and lust for it) is all consuming.  The act of drinking blood is indeed sexual to them.  The way it makes them feel physically is ten times beyond what physical sex was for them (or so they have exclaimed in some of my writing.)

Of course there are people today who have studied vampire lore.  They analyze why so many (of us) are attracted to vampires.  They publish papers about the sexuality of vampires, what its supposed to mean, how Freud would see it, etc.  But I say, balderdash!  Unless you are a vampire you have no clue what it feels like or what it means ;)

But you can imagine.

I often think that the circulatory system of a vampire has grown into this enormous tangled mess of arteries and veins.  I think the heart of a vampire grows, and I have sometimes entertained the idea that the vampire might have more than one heart.  I think the bone marrow becomes super charged and pumps out stem cells at an alarming rate, thus enabling the vampire to regenerate quickly, never get sick, never die (unless beheaded, burned, and spread).  In essence I think the inside of a vampire is one huge circulatory system that keeps the body animated and keeps the brain nourished. 

Think on that.  Or not.  :)

What's in a name?

When I sit down to write, one of the hardest things for me is coming up with appropriate names for my characters.  Sometimes it just doesn't gel together until I'm deep into the story.  Often I'll go ahead and write and just call someone "BLANK"  or "PUTTHEIRNAMEHERE" in my manuscript.  It's quite funny to be reading through my manuscripts and still thinking "what in the heck is his/her name!"

 But my characters never fail me.  They always, eventually, come up with their own names.  I'll be writing along and suddenly I realize I'm not writing "BLANK" anymore, but actually writing, "You can call me Matthew."
 
Matthew Trenton is the main character of my novel, BLOOD DIVIDED, (due to be released autumn 2011).  His full name is Charles Matthew Francis Trenton.  He kinda blew me away with that.  Honestly.  But Matthew suits him.  It means, "Gift of God."  I blew him away with that ;)  In a way, I think it's fitting.  Although he's a vampire he is still searching for a way to find forgiveness.  He still believes in God.  He struggles with what's left of his humanity.  And as he does, he endears himself to the reader.

I can't wait for ya'll to read his story.  Available this fall from eveningpostbooks.com

It's After Midnight

I've just created this blog and my brain is fried as I've been trying to learn all the ins and outs of doing blogging and twitters, etc.  It's already after midnight.  I feel like a vampire... which reminds me... I hope to talk a LOT about my vampire novels in this blog. 

 Sorry that this is so short, but I'm going to head out for now and I'll be back after the sun goes down tomorrow to continue.  Until then, wear a turtleneck ;)