Vamp

ForewordWelcome to Vamp! Just a few words before the insanity begins. This novel pays homage to one of my favorite authors, Christopher Moore. Moore has long been popular for writing comic gems where his characters frequently jump from one book to another, perhaps having a minor role in one and a major role in the next or remaining minor from story to story. If you’re familiar with the returning characters, you get a nice surprise out of seeing them again, revisiting their narrative, but if you’re not familiar with them, then there’s nothing lost since each of his books are stand-alone novels. Vamp continues in this tradition. My previous novel, Queerwolf, had a distinct ending; there was no need for a sequel, but there were characters in the book whose stories I wanted to continue with. As with Moore’s work, Vamp is also not a sequel. This is not a continuation of Blake, the Queerwolf’s, story. Vamp has a whole new set of zany, memorable characters to contend with, a new story to tell, but with a few of the minor characters in Queerwolf now rising to the forefront as major ones. You don’t need to have read Queerwolf to enjoy Vamp—not that I wouldn’t appreciate it, though. In fact, the back-story is told whenever appropriate throughout the book. Still, here’s a little synopsis to catch you up, just in case: Blake, the Queerwolf, has powers beyond the norm of his ilk, owing to his unique genetic make-up. He’s also an alpha male, which doesn’t sit too well with the alpha male, Steven, leader of the gay pack in San Francisco. Since difference is dangerous to the pack, to their ways, and since the Queerwolf can never truly fit in with them, Blake, along with his boyfriend, Ted, must create a new pack, a pack with powers similar to his own. But there’s simply no room for two packs in San Francisco, or so Steven thinks, and so he tries to obliterate this new pack, to wipe out these new powers of theirs which threaten to bring their very existence to the light of day. Steven returns in Vamp to atone for his sins. The minor characters, Ralph and Mack, are now major ones, while Blake and Ted and Gramps shrink into the background. And they, as I’ve said, are joined by a whole new roster of crazies, brought to life—or in their cases, death—all for your amusement. So, dear reader, I hope you enjoy what is to follow. And perhaps, just perhaps, maybe someday the minor characters in this book will shine yet again, their stories told in greater detail, one window closed, another gladly opened. Fingers crossed. All the best, Rob