Why Does the South Inspire Vampire Writers?

I'm at the World Horror Conference 2015. Tonight I was on a discussion panel, the topic Weird South: I Will Never Go Hungry Again: Why are So Many Contemporary Vampire Novels Set in the South?

Good Question!

My fellow panelists were:

• Charlaine Harris, a native Southerner and author of the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series on which the TV hit True Blood was based. Her latest novel is Dayshift, the second in her new Midnight Texas series.
• Dacre Stoker, co-author of Dracula, the Un-dead (a sequel to Dracula , written by his great-grand uncle, Bram Stoker) and co-author of an England/Romania travel guide. A Southerner by marriage, his wife is from Charleston, South Carolina.
• Carl Alves, author of Blood Street, a vampire mobster blood feud novel set in Philadelphia.
• Jess Peacock, author of Such a Dark Thing, a theology of the vampire narrative in popular culture.
• Andrew Greenberg, one of White Wolf's original game developers on Vampire: The Masquerade -- and a Southerner.
• And me! Author of Bloodroom and The Bad Death, vampire novels set in South Carolina -- and a damned yankee (a yankee who stayed, since I was 11 years old).

Ok, what is it about the South that inspires vampire writers? Charlaine Harris pointed out that the South is often economically depressed; really chronically depressed, and that people in peril develop rich, supernatural beliefs to explain the unpredictability of the human experience. (Charlaine doesn't really speak this way; this is me paraphrasing her. She's much more plain spoken, charming, and funny. When describing Southern traditions, such as "the nice lie", her turn of phrase made us and the audience laugh out loud.) Dacre Stoker compared Romania to the Southeast US, in that their cultures were infused and enriched by immigrants over the centuries -- Romania by Romans, Turks, Romany gypsies, and Europeans; and the South by Scots, Irish, Native Americans, Africans, French, and West Indians -- and suggested that the influx of so many different cultures brought a crazy quilt of legends. Andrew Greenberg stressed that the influx of cultures did not make the South a melting pot; rather these cultures, by not blending, created tension that results in legends built (as all good novels are) on conflict and tragedy (and sometimes, though rarely, triumph). Jess Peacock built on this idea, emphasizing the vampire as the Other; an invading entity that is foreign, mysterious, dangerous, and tempting; saying that Southerners' clannish nature identifies anyone whose great-grandparents weren't born in the South as a suspicious Other. (I can attest that this is true -- after living here for 25 years, they'd still say to me, "You're not from around here, are you?") Carl Alves suggested that the Southern personality itself -- reckless, passionate, and romantic -- embodies the traditional vampire mystique. He invited us to imagine Bram Stoker's Dracula coming of age and being turned into a vampire in urban London instead of isolated, exotic Romania (Transylvania). It would have been a completely different novel! I suggested that the vampire's obsession with his (or her) prey -- that hypnotic, relentless, possessive hunger -- mirrored the South's climate and nature, its vibe. There is something about the South that gets inside you, clings and holds you, just as the Kudzu vine grows until it completely covers the building in its clutches, pulling it to the ground in the span of a few years. I have found that the South, though maddening in many ways, has wound itself around my heart. I will probably never move away. Like a vampire, the South is beguiling, entrancing, and seductive. There are logical reasons to run from a vampire, but logic can't hold out against his allure.

Why do you think the South is so inspiring to vampire writers?

Resources for Self Publishing Your Book

I started self-publishing in 2011. At first I knew nothing about how to do anything! Now, it's pretty easy. I enjoy self-publishing for the creative control it gives me and the direct payoff in higher royalties vs. those I'd get from being published by someone else. Here are the resources that either helped get me on my way or help me turn my ideas into real print books, ebooks, and an audiobook.

Formatting

In 2011 Steven Lewis had online tutorials on formatting for Kindle. I believe he focuses more on social marketing today. I found his books about the self-publishing industry helpful, too. http://taleist.com/#home

 

I use the free formatting software, Calibre, to format my ebooks in formats for all readers and devices (ePub for iPad and Nook, mobi for Kindle, etc). Its UI has options for building a Table of Contents, testing your format out in a device simulator, and so on. I test drive all my ebooks with Calibre before actually publishing. The Calibre ebooks are also the files I give to reviewers. http://calibre-ebook.com/

 

Social Media and Marketing

 

I built my author platform across social networks mostly through Shelley Hitz's webinars. For instance, I learned how to set up a Facebook Fanpage and Twitter presence, and use tools to streamline my social marketing efforts. She packs extras into all her service packages and recently expanded her service offering. http://www.trainingauthors.com/

 

Guy Kawasaki is a social media guru. The best advice I got from him was on what and when to tweet. http://guykawasaki.com/

 

On my blog, for publicity purposes I have events that include random drawings for prizes. Rafflecopter is the web service that powers that: https://www.rafflecopter.com/

 

My New Releases Newsletter is facilitated with MailChimp: http://mailchimp.com/

 

Book Production

 

I cannot stress the importance of hiring an editor, getting professional cover design, and having a great back jacket book description. If you're going to spend money, spend it on this and don't flinch at the cost. I mean, don't you want your book to be the most professional product possible? Think how much brain sweat you put into writing your book. Don't you deserve to see your idea beautifully polished? Some reviewers of my books say that my book cover or my book description made them buy the book (and that's some motivator, considering that they'd never heard of me).

 

Derek Murphy designed for my vampire novels, Bloodroom and The Bad Death. He's stopped taking new clients (for now, anyway) but is branching into DIY design advice. http://www.bookcovers.creativindie.com/

 

 Daniele Serra designed covers for my short stories and my anthology Night at the Demontorium. His work has won several awards. http://www.multigrade.it/

 

Editing! OMG don't you dare publish your book without one! Pick up a book published by a big NYC publisher, read the acknowledgements, and you'll probably read the author thanking up to three editors. At least do yourself the favor of hiring one.

 

Glen Krisch edited my novel, The Bad Death, and my anthology, Night at the Demontorium. He cured me of some bad habits. He's also a writer. https://glenkrisch.wordpress.com/

 

Linda Wasserman edited my novel, Bloodroom. She's a grammar and sentence master. She's also a publisher. http://www.pelicanpresspensacola.com/id4.html

 

ACX is the audiobook wing of Amazon's publishing services. In a way it's like match.com for writers and narrators. You can call for auditions or you can browse for a narrator that offers the type of voice you're looking for and then listen to their audio samples. I'm not gonna lie; it was expensive, but I'm so happy with my audiobook! http://www.acx.com/

 

Marketing and Publishing Industry Wonks

 

I follow the blogs of writers who keep their ear to the ground in terms of how the big publishers are doing business, how self-published authors can get noticed in the ocean that is Amazon, and issues related to these topics.

 

In addition to crusading against sharks and reporting on latest industry developments, David Gaughran writes weird, thoughtful short stories and wrote a South American adventure novel. https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/

 

In addition to advising on writing and making money from writing, JA Konrath writes thrillers and is hugely successful. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/



 



NIGHT at the DEMONTORIUM: The Complete Anthology

Read a sample at Amazon.

 

Psychological meets supernatural in a room without dimensions known as the Demontorium. This hardcore horror bundle includes Aunt Téa's Addiction, The Entrepreneur, and other Kindle bestselling singles from the Demontorium Series. Nine cautionary tales meant to tighten your grip on the thin layer that separates you from inhabitants of the Demontorium.

 

***

I'm pleased and proud, but don't take my word that it's awesome ...

 

"In her latest book, Naima Haviland takes the reader on a wild, psychotic ride to where the dead and the living are interchangeable and sometimes hard to distinguish. Haviland pulls no punches as her collection of short stories steamroll you from start to finish. So be sure to buckle up—it’s going to be a bone-shaking ride."

~Chuck Walsh, author of A Month of Tomorrows and Shadows on Iron Mountain

 

Available in print and e-book.



Win Books on Valentines Day!

My vampire novel, Bloodroom, is an extremely dark and twisted romance. For Valentines Day, I give you an excerpt where two vampires, Julian and Swisher, argue about what love is.

Join their conversation on Valentines Day, 4PM CMT at the For the Love of the Written Word Facebook event.

What's your definition of love? Tell us for a chance to win one of these great prizes:

1) Bloodroom -- in audiobook
2) Bloodroom and The Bad Death -- a two-fer e-book bundle 
3) Night at the Demontorium: The Complete Anthology -- e-book ARC (or if hardcore horror isn't your thing, an e-book of one of my novels)

See me at 4PM CMT Valentines Day. I can't wait to hear what love means to you!

Bloodroom is now an Audiobook!

Who could resists those eyes! Wait'll you hear him speak! Yes, Julian Mouret now has a voice, courtesy of award-winning narrator, Paul Heitsch. Bloodroom is now a downloadable audiobook. You can listen to a sample at Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.

For a synopsis and character bios, visit my website's Bloodroom page.

Audiobook reviewers, contact me at http://naimahaviland.com/ for your review copy.

 

Lighting Pallas: A Photoshop Trick

I recently altered some photos for a cast-of-characters animation on my site thebaddeath.com (the landing page for The Bad Death, the first in a historical trilogy and the second in the Bloodroom series of vampire novels). This blog post explains some tricks I used in Photoshop to make an image more atmospheric. First of all, meet Pallas, as pictured in the image I got from 123rf.com. Pallas is the best friend of the trilogy's heroine, Anika. Pallas is either a victim, a predator, or both. To know for sure, read The Bad Death  ;-)

Once in Adobe Photoshop, I used the Apply Image feature to replace the black backdrop to an image of an outdoor setting. To learn more about this step, read my post called A Photoshop Trick for Book Marketing. After Applying the image to Pallas, I decided to change the lighting on Pallas' image. You see the image above shows the woman in warm lighting. I wanted Pallas to look moonlit because in The Bad Death, Pallas is almost always sighted at night.

To cast a blueish moonlight glow over Pallas, I selected Image from Photoshop's top menu, scrolled the dropdown menu to select Adjust, then chose Variations at the bottom of Adjust's dropdown menu. The Variations pallet visually shows color adjustments. I chose "More Blue" and "More Cyan" to give Pallas a blue cast that would imply moonlight.

I wanted to make the moonlit sky more dramatic, so I copied the layer, cut out Pallas till I had only the sky on the copied layer, then used the blending feature of that layer to alter the sky. The blending feature causes the layer in question to react against the layer beneath it to produce a visual effect. If memory serves, I chose the Hard Light blending option. You can see in the third image how Pallas' background has more contrast between highlight and shadow, resulting from my choice of blending option.

So, there you have it, boys and girls!

South Carolina Gold Rice Cultivation, A Woman's Experience

From findagrave.com

Elizabeth Allston Pringle was a Southern belle at the time of the American Civil War and the daughter of the Governor of South Carolina. When the Civil War ended, leaving her family impoverished, she and her mother opened a school. Motivated by sentiment, Elizabeth bought the plantation she grew up in, White House, and the plantation, Chicora Wood, where she lived as a married woman until her husband's untimely death. Both plantations still exist in Georgetown County, South Carolina, an area known as the Lowcountry. It was in hopes of paying the plantation mortgages that in the early years of the 20th century, she decided to re-cultivate old rice fields that had long since succumbed to the encroaching wild. She was a farmer, a foreman, and an entrepreneur at a time in history when women did not hold such positions.

We might have forgotten Elizabeth Allston Pringle if her journal hadn't been serialized in the New York Sun. This was another way Elizabeth made money to pay the mortgages on her beloved properties. The Sun journal was later published in a book called A Woman Rice Planter. The 1992 edition, published by the University of South Carolina press, is illustrated by famed artist Alice R. Huger Smith (whose paintings are in Charleston's Gibbes Museum of Art) and has an introduction written by South Carolina historian and writer Charles Joyner.

Reading A Woman Rice Planter, you may find the humor in some stories involving black characters to be condescending. I believe the Jim Crow era in which it was written had an unfortunate but partial influence on the author's outlook. However, if you read it thoroughly, I believe you'll also see Elizabeth's respect for blacks rising through this surface attitude. I get a sense that she felt they were all in this together, enjoying the bounty of the Lowcountry and enduring the caprice of its climate with faith and cheerfulness. I read A Woman Rice Planter as research while writing The Bad Death, an antebellum vampire novel set on a Lowcountry rice plantation. Two things stay with me from repeated readings.

Rice Barn at Chicora Wood

One is its detailed description of old rice-growing practices. Second is Elizabeth's love for the beautiful world around her. She was an excellent writer. Her descriptions shine through, transcending ink and paper and time. Here's an entry from June 1, 1903:

"The evening is beautiful; the sun, just sinking in a hazy, mellow light, is a fiery dark red, the air is fresh from the sea, only three miles to the east, the rice-field banks are gay with flowers, white and blue violets, blackberry blossoms, wistaria, and the lovely blue jessamine, which is as sweet as an orange blossom. Near the bridge two negro women are fishing with great strings of fish beside them. The streams are full of Virginia perch, bream, and trout; you have only to drop your line in with a wriggling worm at the end, and keep silent, and you have fine sport. Then the men set their canes securely in the bank just before dark and leave then, and almost invariably find a fish ready for breakfast in the morning. There is a saying that one cannot starve in this country and it is true."

Elizabeth's accounts of her workers' labor, their hunting and fishing, socializing, and storytelling helped me give life to The Bad Death's Gullah heroine, Anika, and her friends and neighbors. The Bad Death's antagonist, Julian Mouret, relies on his working partnership with his mother, Elisabeth. She shares her son's respect for the Lowcountry's wild strength. I'd be lying if I said Elizabeth Allston Pringle didn't partly inspire me when writing Elisabeth Mouret. Elizabeth Pringle was strong, independent, spiritual, and wise. So is Elisabeth Mouret. Anika finds in Miss Elisabeth a formidable foe and improbable ally. Miss Elisabeth is one of my favorite characters in The Bad Death. And Elizabeth Allston Pringle is one of my favorite characters in US history.