Ask the Author: Raven Belasco
Answered Questions (6)
Raven Belasco
Well, I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but part of the story came to me in a dream. Really!
It was a sex dream, which is probably why the series had a sexy component to it from the start. It's one of the sex scenes in Blood Ex Libris.
When I woke up, the whole scene was vivid in my mind, and I knew all sorts of things about Noosh and Sandu. And so that morning I just sat down and started typing it up, because you really can't ignore a gift from the muses like that!
It was a sex dream, which is probably why the series had a sexy component to it from the start. It's one of the sex scenes in Blood Ex Libris.
When I woke up, the whole scene was vivid in my mind, and I knew all sorts of things about Noosh and Sandu. And so that morning I just sat down and started typing it up, because you really can't ignore a gift from the muses like that!
Raven Belasco
Trae, you're my kinda fan! 😍
You've actually almost answered your own question: the fact is that I went over the vampire myths from around the world, and I decided what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to discard. The stuff I kept all worked with the "vampire science" that I was working up with a biologist and other experts. What I like about doing it that way is that it becomes a way to differentiate the "real" facts about my "real" vampires, as opposed to what us silly humans have made up in stories.
I felt that I kinda had to do it that way, because I was playing in the sandbox of something everybody knows about. I'm not creating some new kind of aliens or other beings--vampires are one of the supernatural creatures that are the most written about. So I had to find a way to stay within the basic definition of a vampire, and giving something recognizable to readers, while at the same time clearly putting my own stamp on it.
It wasn't easy--but was (and continues to be) fun!
You've actually almost answered your own question: the fact is that I went over the vampire myths from around the world, and I decided what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to discard. The stuff I kept all worked with the "vampire science" that I was working up with a biologist and other experts. What I like about doing it that way is that it becomes a way to differentiate the "real" facts about my "real" vampires, as opposed to what us silly humans have made up in stories.
I felt that I kinda had to do it that way, because I was playing in the sandbox of something everybody knows about. I'm not creating some new kind of aliens or other beings--vampires are one of the supernatural creatures that are the most written about. So I had to find a way to stay within the basic definition of a vampire, and giving something recognizable to readers, while at the same time clearly putting my own stamp on it.
It wasn't easy--but was (and continues to be) fun!
Raven Belasco
That's a great question, thank you so much for noticing!
Yes, I do massive research for these books. I've had long and detailed discussions with biologists and forensics scientists working up the hows and whys of my "am'r" (vampires) (every detail you read about has been explained in my head, even if those details never make it into the books). In that case, it's to ensure that I'm always consistent with the am'r, and that their strengths and limitations fit within their universal rules.
I also deep-dive the history of all the historical figures who go in the books. For my longer-live characters, I have time-lines that I work on of all that has kept them busy over the centuries. So if one of the am'r tells you a story about their past, that is on their timeline. Again, that's for consistency as the series continues. I don't want to say in one book that Sandu was Italy in the 1600s, and then in another that he was in Mongolia.
But you totally saw right through me that this is a bunch of subjects I'm super into. I'm a huge geek. I love vampire myth and tradition, and having to think about the science of why someone would (and could) survive and become stronger ingesting only blood is a pleasure for me. And to "have to" research history for my books is really just an excuse to spend hours reading history books. This is me getting to have the most fun I could doing my job! 🤓
Yes, I do massive research for these books. I've had long and detailed discussions with biologists and forensics scientists working up the hows and whys of my "am'r" (vampires) (every detail you read about has been explained in my head, even if those details never make it into the books). In that case, it's to ensure that I'm always consistent with the am'r, and that their strengths and limitations fit within their universal rules.
I also deep-dive the history of all the historical figures who go in the books. For my longer-live characters, I have time-lines that I work on of all that has kept them busy over the centuries. So if one of the am'r tells you a story about their past, that is on their timeline. Again, that's for consistency as the series continues. I don't want to say in one book that Sandu was Italy in the 1600s, and then in another that he was in Mongolia.
But you totally saw right through me that this is a bunch of subjects I'm super into. I'm a huge geek. I love vampire myth and tradition, and having to think about the science of why someone would (and could) survive and become stronger ingesting only blood is a pleasure for me. And to "have to" research history for my books is really just an excuse to spend hours reading history books. This is me getting to have the most fun I could doing my job! 🤓
Raven Belasco
Easy! People getting excited about my characters, or the worlds I've created, and wanting to geek out about that with me, or otherwise telling me that I have given them a good distraction in a hard time.
Raven Belasco
I take my Dire Terrier for a walk. So far, I haven't yet found a plot problem that couldn't be worked out while going for a long walkies in the woods with my wee man.
Raven Belasco
I'm working on Book Two! Blood Ex Libris is just the first book in the Blood & Ancient Scrolls Trilogy. And I'm honestly surprised right now at what's happening in the story -- I wasn't expecting things to take the turn they did!
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