Day 5: Aaron Marcusson - Christianity and Vampires

     Welcome to Miss Lovely Lacey's October blog event! My name is Aaron Marcusson and I will be your guest blogger for today. I am excited to talk to you and I want to thank Lacey for the opportunity!
     I am the author of Chronicles of the Twelve, a series of vampire novels unlike any you have read thus far. "But Aaron, I've read everything from Stephenie Meyer to Anne Rice, from Richard Laymon to Bram Stoker - I've read everything vampire!" Well, vampire fan, you have not read everything vampire until you have read Vampire Redemption, and its sequel, Vampire Rebellion. My vampires at least the ones in my Chronicles series . . . more on my other vampires later) are deliciously predatory and remarkably . . . human.
     You see, as an author I have a dilemma. I love horror. I love being scared and on the edge of my seat. Most of my best story ideas come from sweat-soaked nightmares (I have a very active imagination that, like a vampire, gets really active at night). So what's the dilemma? I am a Christian.
     Okay, I realize I probably lost half my readership right there. If you are on the fence about jumping off this blog right now, let me assure you I am not going to preach to you. I am guest blogging, not standing in a pulpit.
     I am a man of science; I hold two degrees in science and teach it at the high school level on a daily basis. That does not preclude me from studying magic and myth, the occult and the paranormal. I actually had a student ask me a few weeks ago about my personal beliefs if I planned to teach the Big Bang Theory (the actual theory, not the sitcom). I did not go into detail as that was not the right setting, either, though I did assure him that believing in science did not mean a person could not believe in a reason for the science. Anyway, I have been interested in various legends from around the world since well before I was a Christian, and that has not changed.
     The main crux of my being a Christian who has gruesome nightmares and writes them down for profit is the fact that I write what comes to me and do my best not to edit it into the family-friendly edition. As a matter of fact, I don't sanitize my writing when it comes to blood and gore. Nor do I edit out the sex - these are vampires, after all. They are sexual creatures and I choose to portray them as such. I tend to write more on the sensual side than the graphic, but I've had several readers tell me they really liked the sex scenes. So what do I tone down? The language, a bit. Where it would be easy to spout obscenities at every turn, I feel my vampires are more refined and I try to get that to show by creatively crafting their curses and jibes. My vampires are biological, created from the coupling of human mothers with demon fathers. At times I fear I may have written myself into a corner as a religious people may not like the sex and death and demons, and non-churchy people may not like the Christian aspect. Honestly, I don't know of any other authors who have blended these ideas so seamlessly. All I ask is for readers to give it a chance and let me know what they think.
    So why would a Christian want to write about creatures of the night? I can't help it, to be honest. That is what interests me. Perhaps somewhere down the road I will go more C. S. Lewis, but for now I am happy writing about my vampires and their internal struggles, my zombies and their perverted lovers (Drinks Before Dinner & Dinner Before Dancing, my duet of zombie shorts), and a few other shadowy horrors that have shambled or scratched their way out of forgotten legend and into my laptop. I even have starts for two other vampire stories that have nothing to do with my Chronicles series (and the vampires in them will not fit the mythos I have established in Chronicles so I get to create new rules of conduct for them!). That my be the best thing about writing about vampires: They are so adaptable, physically and mythologically. From brutes with visages even a mother couldn't love to dreamy emo sparklers and everything in between, vampires can pull it off. I can't limit myself to writing about just one version or one universe, either. I feel the need to explore everything vampires can be.
     Thank you fro reading and getting to know me a little better. If something I said piqued you interest, you can check out my Chronicles of the Twelve series anwhere ebooks are sold. I am working on the third and final book in the main series when the other ideas aren't clawing their way to the front of my brain like a ravenous zombie. I hope you enjoyed taking a few minutes to read this blog - I truly appreciate it, and thanks again to Lacey for letting me talk to you!

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**Note: There is a HUGE giveaway at the end of the month after Halloween!!! To enter for the giveaway, comment on the blogs. The more you comment, the bigger chance you have at winning!!! There will only be 1 winner, and the winner will be announced 1st week of November!!! Good Luck!!!