What’s the Deal with Fangs Anyway?

 by Catherine Peace

Vampire fiction is all the rage these days. Since Twilight made our fanged friends exponentially more popular with Broody Brooderson, Jr. and Dr. Fangy, and then True Blood graced us with Eric Northman, Ed Quinn in a cowboy hat (be still my heart), the glorious Russell Edgington, and that other guy (Bee-yill?). And even before that, we had Broody Brooderson, Sr. and Lestat thanks to Anne Rice.

With the influx of vampire-related stuff filtering into our pop culture, I began to wonder how to tell if someone you know could be a vampire. So I sat down with renowned vampire expert Dr.Vladimir von Drahk to get the scoop on all things fanged.

CP: Thanks for joining me, here in this very dark restaurant, Dr. Drahk.

DD: It is my pleasure. *Dr. Drahk removes his sunglasses, revealing pale, pale blue eyes.*

CP: *Clears throat* So, Doctor, what do you think is responsible for the influx of vampires into mainstream pop culture?

DD: My professional opinion iz zat more and more vampahrz are entering ze media.

CP: Okaaaay…. How do you mean?

DD: Take a look at ze hours and ze people who are working “behind ze scenes.” *Dr. Drahk makes air quotes with very long fingers* Ze ones who subsist on coffee and broken dreams? Zey are drones for ze larger hives.

CP: Really.

DD: Yessssssss. *He leans forward.* Look into my eyes.

CP: You’re starting to freak me out a little. Are you even eating your entrée?

DD: *sits back, starts examining his long fingernails.*

CP: Um, okay…. Since we’re on the subject, what are the signs of vampirism? What should people be on the lookout for?

DD: I do not believe we were discussing ze topic.

CP: Just answer the question, Doctor.

DD: Fine. Increased nighttime activity, tendency to sleep through ze day—

CP: Uh huh….

DD: Total aversion to sunlight and religious artifacts such as crosses, excruciating thirst zat no normal liquid will quench—

CP: Oh crap.

DD: Deathly pallor, appearance of agelessness—

CP: *GULP*

DD: Are you all right, Ms. Peace?

CP: No. No, I’m not.

DD: *smiles like a predator that’s cornered its prey* Whatever could be bothering you?

CP: *leans forward* I think I might be a vampire.

***Disclaimer***

Author Catherine Peace is not a real vampire—though she too has an aversion to sunlight and her Irish pallor makes her look like the undead—but she likes to write about them. Her debut novella This Time Next Year is all about vampires. And chemistry. And sex. There’s sex, too. Also, it turns two years old today. Happy birthday, TTNY! To celebrate, Catherine is giving away a copy of TTNY to a loving e-reader. Just leave a comment!

When not writing about vampires, Catherine is kicking butt via her Playstation 4 and pretending her dog is a Russian spy sent by Putin. Catch her at authorcpeace.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

About This Time Next Year:

Vampire Kiernan Shaw has never forgotten the night twenty years ago when he’d been forced to stand by while another vampire killed a six-year-old girl’s parents in front of her. He’s spent the better part of the last two decades watching over her, protecting her and hoping for an opportunity to make amends one day.

Ever since surviving the vampire attack that killed her parents, Moira Curran has dealt with the resulting nightmares and abandonment issues the only way she could—by throwing herself into her biochemistry career, preferring a life of a hermit in her lab to facing the reality of her lonely life.

Madame Eve brings them back together for one fateful night. An immediate bond of sizzling chemistry and respect forms, but can it heal her fears and his guilt?

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