Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Vampire Week - Guest Post J.K. Beck

I’m so psyched to be part of the Blog With Bite vampire event for a lot of reasons, but one is that the timing totally rocks, as I have a new series launching in just a few days and—you guessed it—the hero in Book 1 is a vampire!  (The series is the Shadow Keepers, and Book 1 is When Blood Calls). 

I’m writing this late at night in my dark office, with only the glow of the computer to illuminate the room.  It’s pretty cool, actually, and I don’t usually write that way (the dark makes me sleepy, and sleep tends to be counterproductive to the creation of words on paper).  But tonight, the atmosphere is inspiring as I try to think of what to write about—because I want to try to get across some of what I share with the book’s heroine, Sara, about the way we look at vampires.

When Blood CallsI should probably point out that Sara didn’t come into the story knowing everything that I know (and when you get right down to it, I didn’t come into the story knowing everything that ultimately happened; that’s the fun of writing books.  The characters drag you along!)  You see, Sara is a prosecutor, and a damn good one.  And when she’s recruited into a special division, she’s astounded—and ultimately excited—to learn that her new job involves prosecuting paranormal creatures who break the Covenant.  What really blows her away, though, is the scope and breadth of this world she’s stepped into.  Because it’s ancient.   Really, really ancient.  Even though Division 6 (where she works) now exists as a secret part of Homeland Security, its roots go back before even the founding of Rome, when the dark creatures realized that they had to self-police if they were going to keep chaos at bay.  And that history fascinates her.

It fascinates me, too.  That was, in fact, the kernel of inspiration for this entire series—a self-policing paranormal world that’s essentially been around since the beginning of time.  And that fascination became more concrete when I started writing Lucius Dragos, the hero.  A man who is on trial for murder—who’s confessed to it, no less—and also happens to be the man with whom Sara had a passionate fling only a few nights before. 

When Pleasure RulesHow wild must that be, to have watched the world change over more than a thousand years.  It’s the kind of thing that us mere mortals can’t even really get our head around, but someone like Lucius, for him, a year is like a day.  An hour, even.   And what does that mean for dreams, regrets, loves, feuds?  Do they fade into the past?  Or is the past so much the present that even something that happened five hundred years ago is fresh and raw?  That idea fascinates me, and it’s one of the themes I play with in When Blood Calls, because Luke is definitely a man with some serious baggage—and Sara is a woman fascinated by the allure of history.

When Wicked CravesBuilding their world was a bit like an archeological dig, only backwards.  Or maybe forward and backward at the same time, crafting a piece of the past and seeing how that forms part of the puzzle in the present.  It was great fun writing it—and I hope you’ll have just as much fun reading it.

I hope you check out When Blood Calls, it’s definitely a dark, edgy, sexy romance, and you can read excerpts at my website, www.jkbeck.com (you can also see what contests I’ve got running, check out my blog, and sign up for swag and my newsletter!)

Obviously, I’m doing this blog tour to get the word out about the book and the series, but there are other ways to get the word out, too.  Check out my book trailer and you’ll see what I mean!



And, of course, there’s a contest!  I’m giving away bound galleys of books two and three (When Pleasure Rules & When Wicked Craves), along with a $15 Amazon gift card!  So leave a comment and be in the running to win! {Contest Post Click Here}

Don’t know what to say?  Say anything! But if you want a jumping off point, how do you feel about the whole immortality thing?  Thumbs up?  Down?  Do you think five hundred years ago would feel like yesterday?  Would you miss the way your room looked in candlelight and think harsh fluorescents are just plain evil?  Come on, you can tell!

And thanks for reading…and thanks to the folks at Blog With Bite for having me!

Contest Deets:
Comment and answers Ms. Beck's questions for extra entries into the contest. Don't forget to stop on by the contest post and let us know that you commented here! {Contest Post Click Here}

16 comments:

Teril said...

Immortality: well I'm not sure if 500 years would be like a blink in an eye, but forever is a long time. Time passes differently though so it would be neat to appreciate the new inventions. Plus you can still have candles in the modern era. Of course for love you either spend eternity trying to find it, or spend eternity with it.
the book trailer was great!
I would love a book ;)
terilhack(@)yahoo.com

DforDarla said...

Immortality. 500 years is a long time, but it would be kind of cool to see how inventions came along. I completely agree with Teril about love.

Anonymous said...

Seems to me that the longer you live, the faster time passes. I know a year used to last soooo long, and now it's over before I know it. I figure that's because a year is a smaller percentage of my life than when I was 10 and it was a full 10%, you know. So how small a percentage must a year be to someone who's been alive a millenia? Anyway, cool existential thoughts in the morning!

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I'd want to be immortal. I'd definately like to live longer, because I don't see how we're supposed to figure everything out in 80-or-so years. Maybe that's the point. Maybe we're not supposed to know everything?
The worst part about being immortal...no matter how long you live, how you live, or who you live with, you still have to bring home enough bacon to pay the utilities! Forget immortal. I want my gift to be a lifetime of no bills. I know it's not as sexy as immortality, but by gosh it does it for me! :)

jeanette8042 said...

Hahaha that trailer was awesome! And immortality? I don't think i could handle it just because it would be difficult watching everyone I love grow old and die.

Anonymous said...

Ah, bryansjenn, I think you have REALLY hit on something with the bills thing :) And yeah, it would be so hard to see everyone you love die. That scene in Highlander when he sits by his wife's side as she dies...OMG, I tear up just thinking about it!

Marq said...

I think being immortal would get old (har, har) after awhile. Having to constantly adjust to the changing times. You wouldn't be able to have human friends because you'd outlive all of them. I think I'd get tired of living. I mean unless the world gets better as I got older, I'd rather have an unknown expiration date. Now, I would like to have a special power like being able to teleport or hear people's thoughts. I'd take that over immortality any day. But would having a special power automatically require immortality? Hmmm. Okay I am definitely thinking a little too much.

booklover0226 said...

Being immortal, I would be able to witness the advancement of technology and see the world and society evolve. But... I would lose my loved ones and all the folks I care for.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com

Pamk said...

I follow your blog and like you on facebook. My first vamp book was Maggie Shayne twilight vamps. They were my first and I love them.

Anonymous said...

I think hearing people's thoughts would drive you mad (unless you could shut it off) but teleportation would be a dream super power!

Maggie S rocks! I was trying to remember my first vampire book, and I think it was Salem's Lot for scary vamps, and Interview with the Vampire for alluring ones...

donnas said...

I think with immortality over the amount of time it consists of 500 years would be almost like a brief second in time. But while actually living them they can be both cool and challenging. It would be awesome to see how things change and new things are invented.

And harsh fluorescents are already plain evil. :)

Salem's Lot is the first book that really freaked me out. I even re-read it a few years later and it still did. The first time I was reading in my dorm room and I so did not want to see outside the window.

Giada M. said...

Thank you for the interesting post!
I wouldn't want to live forever and never change. Immortality can be scarier than death for many motives like losing your loved ones, loneliness, never experience a real and full life.

Please enter me in the contest only if it is international. Thank you! :)

Giada M.

fabgiada (at) gmail (dot) com

Virginia C said...

"It's not the years in your life that matters...it's the life in your years!"

If you are a soulless supernatural being, time is irrelevant. If you don't love, then you don't lose loved ones. All of my immediate family was gone before I reached the age of 50, and I would not want to live for centuries without my family. On the other hand, I would not want to contemplate eons of arguing with my mother : )

US Resident, GFC Follower, Subscriber

gcwhiskas at aol dot com

Anonymous said...

"On the other hand, I would not want to contemplate eons of arguing with my mother : )"

LOL! So very true!

Cathy M said...

The immortality gig would have to be a package deal for me to want it. That means hubby and my two man/children. Out living them into eternity would bring too much pain and loneliness.

Thanks for the contest JK.

caity_mack at yahoo dot com

JenM said...

I'm an early adopter, so I'm not worried about changing technology, but I don't know about the whole immortality thing. On the one hand, you'd have a chance to learn so much stuff, but on the other hand, you'd never want to get close to someone who wasn't also immortal, because you'd constantly be losing people you cared about.

jen at delux dot com