The original idea for the Emma Andrews series began as a historical detectives series! No vampires in sight, believe it or not.

I was reading historical novels—lots of them—and I felt inspired. As I began to formulate the structure of the series, I couldn’t get a handle on the “hook,” that is to say the unique quality of my series or lead character that makes it special and different from anything else. Meanwhile, I kept being drawn to the concept of a gothic novel. I grew up reading the books of Victoria Holt¸ Daphne de Maurier, Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney—and I still love them. My favorite parts were always the spooky elements. So, I thought maybe a little touch of the supernatural would be the ticket for my detective—as if she were a medium who was helped by supernatural forces when solving crimes. (Terrible, I know, but at least it was a start.)

Then a stray comment from a friend brought it all together for me (thank you Donna!). She mentioned how many successful novelists have taken a concept or a character and pushed it way over the top. I had an ah ha moment and the idea for the series veered drastically off course from its original trajectory. Suddenly all the ideas I’d been tossing around combusted into something very hot. I decided the series would have a full-on supernatural theme and, naturally, my mind went to that penultimate of all evil beings, the vampire. I had the idea that my heroine would be a neophyte, an underdog who has to navigate the repressive society of the Victorian England and find a ways to fulfill her destiny as a vampire hunter.

Now, I had not read many vampire novels at this point, save the seminal DRACULA by Bram Stoker and a few of Ann Rice’s early works. I knew there were currently all kinds of vampire and vampire hunter series out there, not to mention the absolute plethora of vampire romances. (I had not yet read the TWILIGHT series, nor Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series—both of which I am a rabid fan of now.) What I saw on the shelves looked largely like slick, urban, sexy vampire type books. My series was going to be different, which might mean it was not sale-able. However, I had to write it. If it got published, then great. If not, then that would be great too (although, admittedly, not as great) because I had to tell this story, even if only to myself.

Once I started writing, it became apparent that some of the problems Emma faces in DESCENT INTO DUST would not be resolved by the end of the book. That surprised me. It also became apparent that her core group—Sebastian, Valerian, and Father Luke—began taking on proportions of larger prominence as I developed the plot, with exciting stories of their own. I began to look at the series not as simply episodic, although I still intend for each book to still be a separate “mystery,” but as an ongoing quest of wider scope. It was unbelievably exciting trolling the internet and pouring over books to get the rich details that would comprise my vampire world. I culled inspiration from established Catholic traditions, world folklore, Romantic literature, as well as drawing on my own psychology background to map out an exploration of human emotion and the complexities of real relationships. The result is, I hope, something you will find as thrilling to read as I did to write it.

I hope you will enjoy accompanying me into the dark, mystery-steeped world of vampires and hunters. Don’t forget your sharpened stake. And a little holy water never hurt.