Josette

Josette Delacore is the centerpiece in my series of vampire novels set in eighteenth century France and modern day Manhattan. She was very young when her path crossed with not one, not two, but three vampires - all of whom loved her and whom she loved for very different reasons. She is dark-haired, petite, adventurous, kind, smart and way ahead of her time. As I write her profile, who emerges is someone with tremendous power, a power that comes from self-knowledge and a passion for all things in life - food and drink, knowledge and learning, music and art, sex and love.

She does the unthinkable and learns much more than she bargained for in her short life. In my first novel she is just a memory for Christian. In my second novel....let's just say her presence is more acute. She is beautiful, wise, cultured and extremely powerful; like an enchantress, she captivates one too many vampires and like all of us, karma is sometimes a hard thing to face.

Bobby

One of my brothers called me this morning to let me know someone from my past died on Halloween. This is someone I met just as I began high school at the age of fourteen. He had just transferred from another middle school as a sophomore. We were both new students in what felt at that moment like a huge high school. (My high school had twenty five hundred students.) Anyway, our lockers were close to one another and on one of the first days of school he asked me for directions. I had no idea where anything was myself. I was just as new! But we talked briefly and I happened to notice how blue his eyes were, how his long blonde hair hung past his shoulders. He was tall and tan wearing overalls and a tee shirt. Yes, I am going back to the early seventies here!

My mother loved him, in fact, he took a photograph of her which sits in my dining room to this day. He was artistic yet wreckless. We dated briefly but after a short while I broke things off. He was way too fast for me. Several years later we tried again but too much had changed. Our lives had gone in very different directions and after a while we lost touch. Sometimes my mom would run into him and he would always ask about me but too much water had passed under our bridge and there are some wounds that time cannot heal.

He is the second "boyfriend" of mine that has passed away in four months at such a young age. Suddenly, time is divided into decades and death has a funny way of bringing someone back to the present. Back in memories and photographs. God bless him. I know he is now in a better place, no longer suffering.

Back at Square One

Recently I blogged about an agent who was interested in a partial (50 pages) read of Immortal Obsession. While I was excited about it I am also a realist. While I consider Immortal Obsession a paranormal romance, it is erotic and dark. I tend to like to read novels that portray the struggles of characters, whether they are humans or vampires. Too much romance and fluff negates the respect and the fear we should have for this supernatural being. The last thing I want to do as a writer is contribute to the homogenization of this archetype.

So, I am back at square one, having queried more agents in the hopes that someone will want to read more than just my query letter. Perhaps an agent will want to take a chance on me and my world of beautiful seductive vampires with their power struggles, love triangles, lust and betrayals. It is also a world full of morality and hope, not unlike ours.

My muse leans over my shoulder and whispers "just write" and so I do and book two in my vampire series unfolds.

There is hope for our nation

This was my journal entry for yesterday, Election Day 2008:

Election Day is finally here. It seems to be a quiet day as our nation hopefully is poised and ready for change. A nation that has not lost sight of its history, goals and beliefs. I have not been able to think about much else today as I wait for the evening news and the Election coverage to begin at 5pm EST. I pray that everyone who can vote will come out today to participate in this historic election.

I get chills when I think about the last eight years and how our country has fallen from grace. I believe Barrack Obama can bring respect and dignity back to the office of President. He is presidential, reminding me of John F. Kennedy. He is smart, articulate, poised, young and ready to do the work our country needs in order to unite again, to grow and to have a positive presence on the world stage. Oh, and he is African American.

This is the most exciting election I can remember and I cannot bring myself to project what will happen to our nation if the Republicans stay in office. Obama gives me hope; hope for our nation, hope for the future and hope that the American people will work together to make our nation great again. I am once again excited about politics and I believe we can rewrite history and alter the course of our destiny as a nation.