The Lessons of Twilight or Avoidable Mistakes in Vampire Fiction

In the world of vampire fiction, there are several names that loom large.  There's Dracula.  There's Anne Rice.  There's Sookie Stackhouse.  And, of course, there's Twilight. 

In writing She Dies at the End, one of my goals was for it to be the anti-Twilight.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I read all the Twilight books.  They are page turners.  There's no denying that they're fun.  But there are some things about them that really bother me. 

First, I shall complain about the romance.  Edward emotionally abuses Bella.  He's incredibly controlling, and her worship of him is disturbing.  Her total nervous breakdown after he leaves her paints a terrible picture to young girls of what it means love someone and of how you process your feelings after it goes bad.  This is one reason that November goes through a failed romance in Book 1 of my series.  I wanted to show that a girl can be sad about a first love gone wrong but still stand up for herself and move on.  I also wanted to acknowledge the fundamental creep factor of an ancient vampire going after a teenage girl.  The power dynamics of that are really unacceptable, no matter how much you try to gloss it over by saying that he's a virgin or that she's his one true love.  

The vampire-human romantic situations in my book are portrayed as sketchy because they are, in fact, sketchy.

Another thing that irritates me about Twilight is the lack of diversity in the main cast.  You do have Native American werewolves, but otherwise, it's white people as far as the eye can see.  The only Black dude has a handful of pages and then dies.  Why are all the Cullens white?  There is no reason for that.  Representation matters.  When the default race for every character is white, that sends a strong, negative message to people of color, especially young people.  I deliberately create my characters to reflect the diversity of the world around me, here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I think that makes my books more interesting and sends a positive message to all readers.

Finally, there's the total lack of any consequences for bad decisions.  In the Twilight series, Bella knows that if she becomes a vampire, she is likely to kill someone.  Her vampire friends tell her this over and over again.  Some of the Cullens even take bets on how high the body count will be.  And yet, Bella wants to become one anyway, so she can be with Edward forever and never get old.  And instead of having to face the consequences of what is fundamentally a selfish decision, she's conveniently such a special vampire snowflake that she can resist her urge for human blood with no mistakes.  I find that to be an unsatisfying cop-out, one I try to avoid in She Lights Up the Dark.  

My mixed feelings about Twilight have definitely informed my writing, and serve as an example of how helpful it can be to read within your genre.  It helps you to see the elements you love as well as those that are more problematic.  I will likely never have the level of success achieved by Stephanie Meyer, but I'm proud of the story I've created.  I think it is enjoyable, interesting, and socially conscious.  I hope you'll agree.

Read more about my vampires, fairies, and werewolves in She Dies at the End, She Lights Up the Dark, and She Marches Through Fire.

New November Snow Trailers

As you may have noticed, I recently updated the covers for my November Snow novels.  For the sake of consistency, I wanted to update my trailers to match.  Check out the spiffy new trailers for She Dies at the End, She Lights Up the Dark, and She Marches Through Fire.

New November Snow Covers

You may have noticed the little makeover I've given my November Snow series of paranormal fantasy novels.  Thanks to Eeva Lancaster over at The Book Khaleesi, my favorite doomed psychic has a new look for the new year.

I just love the colors on this one!  There is an innocence about it, which seems appropriate as November enters a new and dangerous world.  It also has a bit of a romantic feel, which makes sense to me because there is something very seductive about the supernatural powers and individuals she encounters in Book 1.

This one communicates heat and danger as November copes with all the changes to her existence.  I love how the background reflects the Gothic feel of the church where she hides at the start of the book, and the way it looks like she is heading into danger.

I love the regal power this one communicates, as November strides into danger with her head held high.  The details of the scepter and the trees correspond so well to the story.

All in all, I'm pretty thrilled with the new look.  Hopefully a few new readers will be enticed to leap into the story.  Happy reading!

Luka's Dawn, Episode 1 Available for Pre-order

The first story in my short story series about our favorite vampire villain is set to drop on Amazon on June 27th!  You can pre-order it for $0.99.  Or you can sign up for my newsletter and download it for FREE on June 22nd.  You know you can't resist reading it five days early.

I intend to publish three of these stories this summer, releasing them about every two weeks.  My subscribers will be getting the first crack at them, so don't miss out!

Luka's Dawn, Episode 1 picks up between the end of the final chapter of She Marches Through Fire and that novel's Epilogue.  So if you haven't gotten around to reading  November Snow Book 3, you'd better get cracking.  And if you have finished She Marches and haven't reviewed it yet, I would be most grateful if you would take a moment and drop by wherever you purchased it to do so.  Even one sentence makes a big difference.

November Snow Celebrates Read Self-Published Month

I've been participating in a wonderful event all month long. Read Self-Published Month celebrates the creative work being done by indie authors in all genres. Led by Zach Chopchinski, we are enjoying events galore, including this blog tour, giveaways, read-alongs, and Facebook takeovers.

And it's not too late for you to get in on the fun! Join the Facebook group for Read Self-Published month and discover a wealth of talent producing amazing work outside the traditional publishing system. Tomorrow, the blog tour continues with Lucy Felthouse, a U.K. writer of erotic and romance fiction.




Today, I'm sharing a short excerpt from the first novel in my November Snow Series, She Dies at the End. I recently completed the series with the release of my third novel, She Marches Through Fire. I want to give you a taste of my writing style. My protagonist, November Snow, is an eighteen-year-old carnival psychic who winds up in the middle of some very dangerous and supernatural shenanigans. I like to think of it as vampire fiction for the intellectual. ;-)  If you'd like to hear me read all of Chapter 1, click here.


From She Dies at the End (November Snow Book 1), Chapter 1

She watched them bury her again.

Four people stand in a garden. The short redhead, an impatient fireplug, has a dusty shovel in his large hands. His wide shoulders stretch his clothes. A tiny teenager with caramel skin stands beside him and places a hand on his arm, her tunic marred by drops of blood. A tall waif stands apart, distraught, shaking; blue tears fall from her eyes, eyes the same shade of electric blue as her hair. Closest to the grave is the bloody businessman: his dark suit stained darker still with blood, his white shirt ruined, his shoes dusty, his designer tie twisted, now turned more noose than accessory.

His face is stone. His eyes scream. His fangs catch the light. A girl is dead because she tried to help him. His girl is dead, just like the ones before.

Her corpse waits patiently, cradled in the gnarled roots of an old tree. Blood has soaked through her blue silk dress. It stains her mouth, covering the blue tinge of death. The businessman bends down and kisses her forehead. He lifts her up, leaps gracefully into the grave, and places her carefully into her resting place. Her dark blue eyes are still open, but she doesn’t look frightened. She looks relieved. He closes them gently, touches her cheek. A drop of blood wells in his eye, rolls down his cheek, falls silently onto her dark hair, evidence of his grief: her killer's grief.


She watched them bury her again.


***

November Snow awoke with the certainty that she’d overslept and promptly bashed her head against the bottom of her table. That was the one drawback to her little nest, but she’d take a sleeping bag on the ground and a knot on her head any day. It was far preferable to sleeping in her mother’s trailer and the consequent possibility of waking up to sounds she'd rather not hear. It was rather cozy, actually, along the lines of a blanket fort.

The girl crawled out into the dim light inside her tent and began to prepare for another day of work. She jumped to her feet; a quick glance at her watch confirmed that she had better hustle. Her oversleeping was no surprise, really, after the previous night’s shenanigans. She sighed inwardly and ran her hands through her long black hair, yanking out the worst of the tangles and steeling herself to face the day.

Her first task was to wash off the previous day’s dust and sweat, which she did with a quickness as the shower in her mom’s motor-coach lacked hot water. What I wouldn't give for a scalding hot bath, she thought. Pulling on her thrift store jeans and t-shirt, she caught brief glimpses of their former owners. Detergent could wash away many things, but not the imprints of those who'd previously worn the clothes. Thankfully, such visions tended to fade with time as she made her the items her own, but the first few days in someone else’s castoffs were always a real headache. She then attempted to wake her mother from her stupor, which this morning was a futile effort. Not that I'm surprised. The next job was breakfast.

She walked quickly down the midway toward the food stands. She grabbed an apple from Sally’s candy apple counter. Most everyone was busy preparing their games and rides for the influx of marks soon to ensue. Her few friends greeted her. More, however, crossed themselves, called her a freak under their breath, and kept on working.



Here's the blurb:

Bronze medalist in the Reader's Favorite Book Awards
Finalist in the IAN Book of the Year Awards
Short-listed in the Chanticleer Paranormal Awards
Finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Second Place for the Rave Reviews Book Club Book of the Year

November Snow has seen her own burial a thousand times. It is the only thing she knows about her future.

In a war amongst vampires and fairies, a small advantage can mean the difference between victory and defeat. And a psychic who can peer across the globe, unspool the past, and probe the future is more than a small advantage. Everyone wants to use her for his own ends: the ancient king, the black sheep, the dutiful son, the lost boy.

But November Snow wants things, too, before death comes for her. She wants purpose. She wants friendship. She wants love. She wants happiness. She wants respect. And she will not settle for less.

Pulled into the midst of a royal family feud centuries in the making, she must forge her own path through violence, betrayal, first loves, and mortal peril as she struggles to come to terms with her gift and her destiny, even as she knows this for certain:

She dies at the end.


I hope you'll give my books, as well as those of the other participating authors, a try.  You can read She Dies at the End for only $0.99.  Happy reading!

Character Interview with November Snow

My newsletter subscribers got first crack at this a few weeks ago, but now it's time to share this interview with the rest of you.  Get a peek into November's thoughts at the start of She Marches Through Fire (November Snow Book 3).  Be warned that there are minor spoilers.  If you like to go in blind, save this for after March 28th.  Happy reading!

So, what’s it like being a vampire with superpowers?

The saving the world part is good.  The teleporting does make me feel like kind of a badass.  Things still somehow manage to go wrong, though, even for a teleporting psychic.  I don’t regret it, though.  Winding up like this, I mean.  This is still a better life than I had before I met all these crazy people.

Better how?

I guess it’s just more honest.  I’m more honest with the world, with myself.  I always had to hide my visions before William found me at the carnival.  I had to lie to almost everyone about what I was going through, every single day.  That’s no way to live.

What is the hardest part of being you?

I suppose that it’s living with the guilt.  I’ve killed people— out of necessity, mostly, not desire— and that is hard to carry around.  The other tough part is the expectation heaped upon me, by others and by myself.  It’s a lot of pressure.

How’s your love life these days?

Ha!  I don’t have a love life.  I have ill-advised flings and doomed romances, also ill-advised.  I’m not really in the right headspace for an actual relationship, nor am I convinced I’m going to live long enough to see one through.  Maybe someday.

How are you feeling?

Like I’m being continuously run over by a bus.  A bus with claws.  William poisoned the heck out of the bullet he shot me with, and we’re frantically trying to find an antidote before I bite the dust.  I’m stuck drinking a ton of vampire blood to try to stay alive.  It’s a pretty discouraging situation.

What are your hopes for the future, aside from saving the world?

I hope I get to see Eden.  It’s this community of fairies, humans, werewolves, and vampires living together.  I know the guy who founded it, and after all the violence I’ve seen lately, it sounds like absolute paradise.

What do you regret most?

I regret killing that boy in Oakland who was attacking my friend Jaime.  It was an accident.  I wish I’d had more self-control. 

I regret how things ended with Ilyn.  I wish we’d had more time together.  Not that I think we would have necessarily wound up living happily ever after, but I would have liked the relationship to begin and end on my terms, you know?  Instead of having him stolen from me because of other people’s machinations.

How’s the vampire family?  Is there drama?

Oh, jeez.  How much time do you have?  We’re driving each other nuts, living in close quarters like this.  Getting to know Raina a little has been good, though.  She’s a hoot, and she doesn’t put up with any nonsense.  Swears like a sailor.  She’s got Luka locked up in silver stocks that he evidently gave her for Christmas, like, 500 years ago or something.  I don’t know where the hell Nigel is.  I hope he’s okay.  William is, presumably, doing something terrible as we speak.  Gregory and Savita are on their way to Eden.  Savita is a total wreck, or so they tell me.  So am I, I guess, when you come down to it.  I’m just trying to keep my head above water. 

I notice you left out Luka.  How is he doing?

Yeah . . . Luka is awfully chipper for a prisoner who has lost almost everything.  He is all up in my business, all night long, every night.  So eager to “help.”  It’s infuriating.  He’s like one of those plants that works its way into the cracks in the wall, and before you know it, it’s knocked the whole damned thing down. 

Intrigued?  Grab your copy of She Marches Through Fire, and find out just where November’s story goes.

She Marches Through Fire Blog Tour

With March 28th around the corner, I'm embarking on my release blog tour for She Marches Through Fire.  You'll want to hit every stop so you don't miss any of the sneak peaks and exclusive bonus material I'll be revealing this week.  If you haven't yet grabbed your copy, you still have time to pre-order!

Here's the schedule:

March 20 Hosted by S.J. Hermann

March 21 Hosted by Pandora Spocks

March 22 Hosted by Jolie Mason

March 23 Hosted by Patient Lee

March 24 Hosted by Mae Clair

March 27 Hosted by Lincoln Cole

March 28 Hosted by Yvette Caillero

I'm so grateful for the talented authors who are hosting me!  Hope to see you there!

Early Review of She Marches Through Fire

I received this lovely early review yesterday from fellow author Stuart Kenyon.  If you've never tried his books, you should.  Swiftly Sharpens the Fang is brilliant, and I'm looking forward to trying his dystopian Subnormal series.  He is a top quality indie author, so his good opinion of She Marches Through Fire means the world to me.  Read on below:

"Author Ms Manay had a tough job if she wanted to top book 2 of the November Snow Series, She Lights Up the Dark, especially given its climactic ending. However, she's done so in style: Book 3 is even smarter, even more compelling and even more powerful than its predecessor.

Young vampire prodigy November begins proceedings in dire straits, poisoned by her new arch enemy, William. Robbed of her myriad powers, she must find an antidote, because so much more than her own life is at stake. The fate of the whole world, of humans and supernaturals alike, hangs in the balance, as a family dispute threatens to trigger all-out race war. November needs not only to regain her strength, but also to realise her full potential, the majority of which remains untapped.

Characterisation is as sharp as ever, and the dialogue is wickedly humorous. Interplay between the unlikely allies is inspired, with bad-boy-forced-to-be-good Luka stealing most scenes. Most impressive for me is the novel's ambition. Time travel, teleportation, alternate realities, time freezes - somehow, Manay crams all of them into a book without slowing or confusing the plot. Furthermore, she manages to make a salient point about the era in which we live. There are too many Williams in the world today, but not enough Novembers, Guls or Savitas, and if we continue to allow the war-mongers to enthrall us, dark days are ahead.

Usually, books are plot-driven, character-driven or theme-driven. Rarely have I seen all three facets combined with such skill. I take my hat off to the author; SHE MARCHES THROUGH FIRE is an outstanding piece of literature."

You can see why this review made my week.  :-) Now that you've got his endorsement, pretty please head on over to your ebook retailer of choice and pre-order She Marches Through Fire so you can see what the fuss is about just as soon as March 28th rolls around.

Favorite Moments in the November Snow Series

As the release day for She Marches Through Fire fast approaches, I’ve found myself thinking back over the series, recalling some of my favorite moments.  Some are moments of triumph or catharsis.  Others are scenes that, while dark, were a heck of a lot of fun to write.  I thought I would share some of my favorite scenes with you, in no particular order.  There may be some spoilers for books 1 and 2 below, so perhaps you should avert your eyes if you aren’t caught up on my supernatural oeuvre.

1) November’s Visions

I have a lot of appreciation for November's visions.  After all, the first book is built around her only vision of her own future.  They are fun to write, I think, because they are so visual and descriptive.  Which of November’s visions is your favorite?  Mine are probably the burial visions.

2) November Meeting Luka

The moment in the back half of She Dies at the End when November finally comes face to face with Luka is pretty epic, if I do say so myself.  After lurking in the shadows and looming over the action for hundreds of pages, there he finally is, in all his gleeful, sociopathic glory.  He is a villain who likes to speak, and to speak well.  His dialogue, in general, is probably the most enjoyable thing to write in the whole series.

3) November saving Nigel from the Werewolves

In She Lights Up the Dark, November and Nigel have an unfortunate run-in with some hostile lycanthropes.  In order to save Nigel, November manages to teleport herself across town to get a weapon.  This is her first time accessing that particular power.  I enjoy scenes when November grows into her abilities, using them in a new way in order to save the day in the nick of time.

4) The Battle Scene at Luka’s Arizona Fortress

Writing the rescue/battle scene toward the end of She Dies at the End was great fun.  It felt quite cinematic to me.  I am very much influenced by film, and I prefer action, heist, and comic book movies to chick flicks.  In addition, the chance to finally release the tension of the captivity chapters comes as a relief, as a writer and as a reader.

5) The Capitol Attack

I do like the climax of She Lights Up the Dark, in spite of the heartbreaking death contained therein.   (You know what I’m talking about.)  Watching November manage to kick butt and foil evil plans is always satisfying.  And I do love to spring a surprise.  I also like the fact that things don’t go exactly according to plan for our heroes.  People make mistakes, and there are negative consequences.  The other thing I like about that chapter is the revelation of the supernatural world.  I knew when I started the series that I wanted the ordinary and the supernatural worlds to collide in the second book, so to get to that point was satisfying for me.

Now, I would love to review my favorite moments in She Marches Through Fire, but I don’t want to spoil your fun.  We’ll have to wait to discuss them once you’ve had a chance to read it.  You have pre-ordered it, right?  Well, then, what are you waiting for?

Before you go, what are your favorite scenes in the November Snow Series?

Trailer Tips

Book trailers are practically required these days for book releases.  Those who have the money spend big making videos to rival major movie studio trailers.  The rest of us do what we can with what is available to us for free.  Take a look at the trailer for SheMarches Through Fire here.

This is my third time making a book trailer, and I’ve learned a few things along the way that I thought I would share with you. 

1) Keep it short.  You don’t want to go much over a minute.  You don’t need to describe the whole plot.  Just tell people enough to get them interested and give them a feel for the book.

2) Find good pictures.  Pixabay is a great source for royalty free images.  Think about the images you want to represent your work.  Learn to use a simple photo editor like Canva or Picmonkey to tweak the details to match what you need.  For instance, that green gem up there was pink when I found it.

3) Find a good song.  I sing, so I usually record something in the public domain, like a folk song or spiritual.  My microphone of choice is the Yeti.   Recording your own music may not work for you, but there are plenty of sites with royalty free music available.

4) Get your friends to critique it.  Are the words going by too fast?  Does the music work?  Are you lingering too long on some images and not long enough on others?  Are there typos?  Get some feedback before you share it with the whole world.

With this final volume of the November Snow Series, I wanted to give potential readers a sense of the dire nature of November’s situation and just what is at stake for her, her companions, and the world at large.  What do you think?  Does my latest trailer pique your interest enough to make you want to order She Marches Through Fire?  What are your book trailer tips?

Another Award for She Dies at the End

It's horn tooting time!  Last Friday, I was thrilled to find out that She Dies at the End is a finalist over at the Wishing Shelf Book Awards in the adult fiction category.  This news was some much-needed encouragement at the end of a very challenging week.  The winners will be announced in April.

If you have not yet read my first novel, it is available for free for one more day over at Instafreebie.

And if you haven't pre-ordered She Marches Through Fire, please do so!  Pre-orders are so vital for increasing the visibility of unknown writers.