Guest Post & Contest for Marie Treanor's BLOOD SIN

Blending the Vampires
by Marie Treanor

Hello again, and many thanks to Catherine for having me back at Suburban Vampire! I’ve come with a question that’s been exercising my mind over the last year:

If you were a vampire, how would you hide? Would you hide? Or would you rampage?

One of the problems I’ve found in writing vampire stories is how to make my vampires blend into the community. Where do they live, and who with? If they can’t stand the sunlight, how do they function in society? Do they have night jobs to pay for their homes, cars, clothes, etc.? Why does no one notice that people keep getting bitten or even dying around these people?

Of course, vampires don’t always need to blend in. Some books have humans already aware of vampires, who live among the rest of society, whether as friends or enemies. Others have no problems with the sun and function in daytime. At the start of my Awakened by Blood series, the vampires – who are traditional in that they burn up in the sun - live largely where no one else would: sewers, cellars, and disused buildings. Being nocturnal, they don’t bother people during the day, and during the night they tend to blend with the seamier side of life, finding victims among the denizens of nightclubs, pubs, brothels, and the criminal underworld. If too many deaths are traced too close to them, they disappear and move on.

But Saloman, my princely vampire hero, doesn’t care for such a paltry existence. He prefers to live in a palace and tries to raise the ambitions of his people to at least strive for a better life and live in comfort. If they drink from humans but don’t kill them, they won’t attract unwanted attention; and with mesmeric/suggestive powers, they have no need to steal with violence. Saloman himself has a hidden hoard of gold from his previous existence, which he converts into modern currency and invests to make more in the business world. He travels around in cars with blacked-out windows and walks under an umbrella to avoid daylight. He drinks from people who rarely remember – and if they do, they come back for more.

Of course, the irony of all Saloman’s “blending” is that he doesn’t actually want to blend at all. His goal is for vampires to live openly, with Saloman as overlord. And he stands out in any crowd by his looks, charisma, and sheer overwhelming personality. His blood of choice for drinking is Elizabeth’s, his Awakener’s – he needs it to get all his old strength back – but he hasn’t yet killed her. There is too much feeling between them that six months apart has done nothing to quash. In Blood Sin, sequel to Blood on Silk, many things will come into the open.

Anyway, back to my question! If you were a vampire, would you hide, and if so, how? Answering – or indeed commenting at all on my post! – will get you entry into my contest to win a copy of Blood Sin, second of the Awakened by Blood novels, out today, April 5th!
DEADLINE: Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 8:00 AM PDT. 
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MARIE TREANOR lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.

You can find out more about Marie and her books on her website: www.MarieTreanor.com.
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Read excerpts from Blood Sin: www.MarieTreanor.com
Buy Blood Sin (Awakened by Blood 2) at Amazon
Buy Blood on Silk (Awakened by Blood 1) at Amazon
Watch out for Blood Eternal (Awakened by Blood 3, coming October 2011)