I was thinking about Heart of Darkness yesterday morning on the way to work, and realised that it’s like Pride and Prejudice but with vampires. He’s a haughty, proud noble who has slightly backwards attitude towards women and sees the heroine as something to be won, something to just reach out and take, because he’s been out of society for so long tracking vampire hunters that he hasn’t quite realised that women in this century are a bit more independent. She’s a feisty, strong woman who isn’t about to let any man, not even a prince, treat her like an object, and she certainly doesn’t need protecting. She’s always stood on her own two feet and never relied on anyone. If he wants her, he’s going to have to clean up his act and take the right approach. Of course, it takes her refusing his advances several times for him to realise that he’s taking the wrong approach entirely and needs to take a new tack with her! Just the sort of story I like, and with an added level of darkness that I think will make it plenty different from every other vampire romance book out there.
I do like to be different with my stories, and I think it really shows in the comments I’ve had with my Seventh Circle and Love Immortal posting on Authonomy.com. People are commenting on how refreshing it is to have such a different vampire story on the site.
Since the advent of 2009, and the rise of the vampires again in books and movies, I’ve been worried that agents and publishers will be sick of vampire romance or paranormal romance novels, and that I won’t stand a chance because everyone and their dog is trying to get in on an already crowded market. But seeing the posts from other authors and hearing the feedback from my readers, gives me confidence that my books are different from every other story out there. They’re a new take, a new approach, and something I truly believe that readers will adore in this time of same-old, same-old. In this market, if it isn’t different, it’s dead.
I’ve always tried to stand out and give readers something new, and I think my stories do that, and judging by the number of you wonderful readers that follow my stories and send me emails about them, you think they’re new and different too.
I’ve finished planning Heart of Darkness now, and I’ll begin writing it on Monday. It will probably take me 5 weeks to write during my journeys to / from work and lunches, but I might get it done quicker. My novels these days are more complicated, which means longer. This one looks as though it’s going to be 120,000 words, like Forbidden Blood was in first draft!
Happy reading everyone!
