Guest post & contest: Toni LoTempio, author of NO REST FOR THE WICCA

My Love Affair with Vampires

By Toni LoTempio, author of No Rest for the Wicca

I've had a love affair with vampires ever since I saw the original Dracula with Bela Lugosi when I was a kid. There was just something about those ebony eyes, sparkling, commanding, as they peered over the rim of his black satin cape, that took my breath away. In my later years, I was introduced to the world of Stephen King through Salem's Lot, which still today remains my very favorite King book. King took us through the world of vampires with eerie ease, and while the Rob Lowe telemovie was a bit truer to his tome, I have to confess I'll always be partial to the David Soul two parter (who could ever forget Bonnie Bedelia in that coffin, trying to seduce her ex-lover into getting—gasp—THE BITE?).

When I was a teenager I was obsessed with a certain gothic soap opera—yes, that's right. I was—and still am—a confirmed Dark Shadows addict. I've even gone to the conventions! I was such a freak I even managed to wangle myself an invite down to the studio where I met my biggest star crush of all time, Jonathan Frid. I was, of course, tongue tied (what do you expect, I was 15?), and I think the thing that amazed me most was the fact his real voice was NOTHING LIKE BARNABAS'S! (can't wait to see what Johnny Depp does with this role!). Ben Cross was good in the 1991 nighttime remake, but oddly, it just wasn't the same, although now I watch the old DVDs and think "they actually got paid for this? Cripes, I can see them looking at the teleprompter!"

But you know what? I didn't care!

Vampires in paranormal romance today are steamy and sexy, and there really are no hard and fast rules. Like Angel, some can walk in daylight (just not direct sunlight) some prefer the nightlife, some are just damn bloodthirsty, while others fight on the side of humanity. I have a few vampire heroes in my books—in Soapsuds, Sex and Silver Bullets (yet unpublished) Logan Slade is a detective. In No Rest for the Wicca (indie, published through Amazon, details at the end of this post) Cole St. John is a special forces agent for the PFSU—Paranormal Forces Special Unit. What do these two men have in common, besides hotness, you ask?

They're a breed of vamp known as INHERITOR.

Now, I'd like to take credit for the breed, but I actually came across the information on the Internet. To wit:

Inheritor vampires TYPE ONE: These vampires are much like the Genetic vampires, except they are born. Like Sanguinarians, the vampire trait will lay dormant inside them until around the age of 13-26, when they awaken. When the body reaches the late stages of puberty, it releases a chemical that awakens the vampire and begins many physical changes in the body. As a result of this, most Inheritors look around 19-20 years old their whole life. Most of the time the parents of the vampire will be human and vampire, or both vampires. There must be one vampire parent. Inheritor vampires live to around the age of 350-400 years old.

Inheritor vampire TYPE 2: Sanguinarians are the "mortal version" of the Inheritor vampires. They still require and crave blood, are sensitive to sunlight, and have many of the traits of the Inheritor and Classical vampires. However, Sanguinarians do not live much longer then the average human being.

Of course, to make it my own, I've taken some liberties—my Inheritor vamps are more human than humans, and age to a VERY HOT mid-30s, but you get the idea. There are more types of vampires out there than just the typical Dracula/Barnabas sleep-in-the-coffin-during-the-day, rise-at-night-to-suck-a-maiden's-blood type. As a matter of fact, that type (referred to now as "Classical") is getting pretty passé. After all, didn’t Angel show us just how a vampire can survive among humans, and how hot one can be?

The mystique of "the bite" never changes. Considered the ultimate sexual experience, in old lore people thought after three bites the victim turned into a vampire. Other mythology had the victim rising as a vamp after the vampire drained them of their blood. Another way to "turn" someone was to bite them, then have them drink their blood.

In summation, there are no hard and fast rules concerning vamps anymore—or any other type of creature for that matter!—and isn't that great for us writers? We can create whole new worlds of vampiric hotness for you, the reader! (And for us, too!)

In my book, No Rest for the Wicca, half-Wiccan witch Morgan Hawkes is recruited by the PSFU to help solve a string of murders with a voodoo slant (yes, her other half is voodoo, if you haven't guessed). Cole St. John's a hot, hottie Inheritor vampire, and I’m not being prejudiced (read some of the reviews on my site if you want). So, if you're interested in another type of hot vamp, I hope you'll give NO REST a whirl!

Happy reading!

No Rest for the Wicca at Amazon
My website: www.freewebs.com/toni1953
My blog: tclotempio.falloutentertainmentgroup.com
To find out more about types of vampires:
wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_there_many_types_of_vampires#ixzz166aONWLg

Win a copy of NO REST FOR THE WICCA!

Let us know your favorite vampire! Who in film or fiction do you think is “vampire hot”?  Head to the comments section of this post to respond, and we’ll select two lucky winners at random to receive a pdf or coupon to Smashwords for No Rest for the Wicca!  Good luck!
DEADLINE:  Wednesday, December 22, 2010, midnight PST.