Ask the Author: Rudy Stankowitz
Answered Questions (4)
Rudy Stankowitz
Writing is a lot like trying to be witty. If you're trying to hard you'll get crickets. It's not something you can force, it needs spontaneous generation. That, for me, can be extremely random. Inspiration can come at anytime and from anything.
Rudy Stankowitz
Break the routine. Do something drastically outside your norm. Staring at a blank sheet of paper is a bit like a watched pot reaching a boil. It's not just a walk away and come back to it later ritual. I'm talking about a complete system reboot. If you don't normally, run; If you have never fished, fish. Rent a motorcycle for the day and head down to the shore. I may try a zip line next, I've not done that before.
Rudy Stankowitz
I stumbled into the kitchen this morning after a hard sleep. I went to make a pot and discovered we were out of coffee ☕
Rudy Stankowitz
I'd heard about clinical vampirism decades ago. I found it intriguing that such a condition actually exists. It bounced around my thoughts a bit during every vampire book I would read, every vampire movie I watched. Documented in psychiatric literature for well over a century, this disorder would undoubtedly be the origin of the folkloric tales.
All of the books and movies I have watched would always favor the myth over the actual mental illness. I suppose it is slightly more romantic. With each novel I read, I began to wonder, "What if?". "What if a person with this disorder came to believe they were an actual vampire?", "What if they needed blood, where would they find that?", "What if blood became scarce, would they turn to harm people?", and more began to flood my mind.
Naturally, I started to develop answers. I began to research available case studies, medical conditions, protocol. I realized that I had the beginnings of a story that was different than I had ever heard, so I took it from there. I wanted something that felt real. Something that would have my readers looking over their shoulders, or afraid to shut off the lights. So the idea for Blades of Glass comes from a part of the story that everyone omitted, the actual mental illness.
All of the books and movies I have watched would always favor the myth over the actual mental illness. I suppose it is slightly more romantic. With each novel I read, I began to wonder, "What if?". "What if a person with this disorder came to believe they were an actual vampire?", "What if they needed blood, where would they find that?", "What if blood became scarce, would they turn to harm people?", and more began to flood my mind.
Naturally, I started to develop answers. I began to research available case studies, medical conditions, protocol. I realized that I had the beginnings of a story that was different than I had ever heard, so I took it from there. I wanted something that felt real. Something that would have my readers looking over their shoulders, or afraid to shut off the lights. So the idea for Blades of Glass comes from a part of the story that everyone omitted, the actual mental illness.
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