I am working on a science fiction series and readers for that will include fans of Robert Heinlein, Iain M. Banks, maybe those military sci-fi guys like B.V. Larson, Raymond L. Weil and Nick Webb and then even Ernest Cline. So, a spectrum of sci-fi types but anyone who likes spaceships on the covers of their books.
With the historical fiction series I am writing, I know it will appeal to readers of Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, Steven Pressfield and so on.
And yes, by the end of 2016 I will have four series on the go. By 2017 it will be three series.
The Immortal Knight Chronicles, on the other hand… I’m not entirely sure. I have published just Vampire Crusader so far. I am writing Vampire Outlaw right now. I have a whole bunch planned and I’m certain that the readers are out there but right now I’m not entirely sure who they are.
Okay, so the series starts in 1190 England and from there we go to the Third Crusade which was the great, inconclusive but bloody showdown between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. Against this backdrop, our hero, Richard of Ashbury faces his nemesis, Earl William de Ferrers who is kind of a vampire. Richard, too, becomes kinda vampirey. But they’re not – yet – conventional vampires. And that’s part of the problem. The vampireness is subtle, the historical fiction is strong. So, if I call it a vampire novel – and I do, because it has VAMPIRE in the title – then that comes with a certain expectation. Don’t get me wrong, blood drinking and immortality feature pretty heavily but there’s little of the other conventions of the genre.
My vampires are not damaged by sunlight, they have reflections, there’s no steaks through the heart, sleeping in coffins and stuff. They do not have fangs (incidentally, “fang-like” teeth make an appearance in late 19th Century vampire literature, including Dracula but in the movies the classic fangs don’t come in until the Turkish Dracula in Istanbul in 1953 and grew popular only after Hammer’s Dracula in 1958, starring Christopher Lee). But all that’s not so uncommon, now. My vampires also aren’t leering perverts, which does seem to be rather the norm. There is neck biting and gallons of blood. And they of course commit evil deeds, though these were not in short supply during the religious wars of the High Middle Ages (not that such things are confined to such times). Really, I wanted to base them mostly on the original eastern European mythology, with the necessary alterations (e.g, a genetic rather than metaphysical origin and coherent, consistent rules for why blood is needed and what it can do to the vampires and their spawn, etc).
The vampire market is totally saturated. Largely, it seems, by paranormal romance books (thanks of course to Twilight and stuff). So it’s hard to find my way through to the sort of vampire fans who would like this stuff. And if the market is so bloody saturated, why on earth would I want to write yet another book? Wait, not even just a book, a whole series?
I wrote the first few scenes back in 2006. It was going to be a single book. My idea was these two vampire dudes, battling through history. Each chapter would pick up decades or centuries after the last, chronicling their encounters. I plotted out each chapter and started writing (this was a time in my life when I wrote a couple of novels I never published and roughly a bajillion short stories). I quickly realised that each chapter would need to be so very long, if I wanted to create anything more than a fleeting glimpse of the time and place. I wrote the first chapter. I wrote the last chapter. I researched renaissance Italy and wrote some stuff there. I researched the War of Independence and sketched out scenes. The book started to look like it would be at least 200,000 words, if I wanted to do it properly – that is to say, the way I wanted to do it.
It went into a virtual drawer until I got into this whole indie publishing thing. I realised it would be possible to release each encounter as an individual story. So that is what is happening. The first story was set in the 1190s. Vampire Outlaw is 1216-1217. Mostly, I want to take the characters through the rest of the middle ages in Europe. Future stories will feature momentous events like the Black Death, the Peasant’s Revolt, the Hundred Years’ War. We’ll also visit the middle east, China, Africa and other places and times I have yet to see done. I’m not planning dozens of them but I mean to include WWI and WWII near the end. They’re not just “in” those places but the characters are part of the events. In most of the stories, the antagonist, at least, is an actual historical figure.
This all tells you how much the stories are to do with “history”. That’s why I’ve been marketing with taglines such as “historical fiction – with vampires”. Because, that’s kinda what it is. And historical fiction fans, general speaking, might not be in the market for a vampire series. Some are, clearly, as I have had people take the time to email me to tell me how much they loved Vampire Crusader. It might be an issue that many historical fiction fans have a favourite era – be it ancient, Roman, Napoleonic – and the Immortal Knight Chronicles include times that fans of medieval history, say, have no interest in. But I don’t think that’s a huge problem. Generally, I find that if people “get” history then they just get it.
I don’t want to give the impression that the vampire element is incidental, nor even incidental to the immortality aspect. It’s not, at all. I actually love the whole vampire mythology, including many modern incarnations. I love when super powers are combined with weaknesses (vampires can be a bit of a glass cannon). I love the angle they bring to concepts of loss, the nature of mortality, suddenly changed or asymmetrical relationships, the death wish, fear of loved ones, alienation, otherness, domestic good and evil. And, despite all the bullshit, I still think they’re cool. Proper vampires, anyway. And the vampiriness will come out increasingly in the series. In book… 4 I think, I will have an army of undead besieging and storming a central European city. Knights, in filthy half plate armour, fighting off wave after wave of the undead hordes. Who doesn’t want to see that?
So, are the readers of the Immortal Knight Chronicles fans of “vampire fiction?” or is that a term so broad it is perhaps meaningless. What about general “horror” fans? Maybe, but I’m not necessarily following horror conventions. Historical fiction we’ve covered. What about “Dark fantasy”? Maybe, though that’s pretty broad and often is read for the alternative, fantasy universe element rather than the bloody violence. I haven’t quite figured it out.
What books do readers of historical vampire novels enjoy? Perhaps they will include fans of Anne Rice. The good ones of hers are phenomenal – the Vampire Lestat is my favourite of the first three of the Vampire Chronicles. I think so, although mine have a bit more of a military aspect what with the hero being a knight, and all. Brian Lumley’s 1980’s Necroscope stuff, with sort of vampires working for the British and Soviet spy agencies? That has is more metaphysical and mystical than mine but maybe.
Almost certainly, they will be David L. McAfee fans. He wrote about a vampire assassin hunting Jesus (cool, right?). They will probably be fans of Joseph Duncan’s the Oldest Living Vampire Series. And there are others I know of and I’m sure more that I haven’t yet found. What I do know is that there is a place for my stories and there are readers ready to read them.
One thing I thought about doing is reviewing some of these books on this blog. Hopefully, that will attract the right kind of reader and then they can get an introduction to the Vampire Chronicles by getting a free copy of Vampire Crusader.
And I will also have to get on with Vampire Outlaw, which is fully researched, plotted and the first draft begun. I can’t wait, it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Who wants to read about a vampire Robin Hood?
People who really like vampires should welcome a fresh take on them. The alternate history/time travel is an appealing element. People who only want the thrill of forbidden sex might have a harder time. It seems like you should be able to find an audience, though. Just make sure you don’t make them look like urban fantasy in any way.
Thank you, Deby, great advice, as always. I think you’re right that meeting reader expectations is the key. I’ll have to work on the covers and descriptions to ensure they get the right message across… I’m just not 100% sure how to do that yet!
My impression is that your story is trying too hard to be all things to all people, at least vampire people. There’s only so much ground you can cover without completely losing your bearings. Can you sum up your thesis (point of the book) in one sentence? If not, your plot is likely to drag the story in directions you don’t want it to go. Doesn’t mean that you can’t change your mind. But with one main theme, you’ll have a better idea of how to get where you’re going, and not get derailed on the way.
Best of luck to you!
Thank you for your encouraging words. I had forgotten I had written this post! I recently published book 7 in this series and I’m pleased to say it has been very successful for me. It’s interesting to read back over the post where I wonder how to find fans as I found so many that this series enabled me to leave my day job and support my family with writing full time. Thank you for taking the time to comment. All the best!