Is Glais a vampire?

The following is a small series of ramblings based on the behind the scenes information for Extol of Agnatic Dreams. These blog posts will add background information for the setting, characters, and my own method of approaching the writing process.

Is Glais a Vampire? When I first plotted this book (and once upon a time it was only a single book and nothing more than a short story for a university assignment), I meant for it to be the anti-Vampire love story. Modern literature had turned the vampires into little more than cute bats. Evangeline was never going to love Glais. She would rebel against his vampirism, and never could she come to terms with what he was. That was the original story two years ago.

Vampires - a definition and popular understanding

The story and the characters have evolved little more. I came from wanting to write about the rejection of a vampire to the rejection of a life. As that question came up, I asked myself 'Is Glais a vampire?' and in my opinion, no. Traditionally, a vampire was a corpse that would leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long pointed canine teeth. The traditional myths surrounding vampires are widely known

- can not go in sunlight (direct is the usual quote, but it differs. Anita Blake vampires 'die' during the day and Twilight vampires physically look different in the sun but do not die) - do not eat regular food (we all remember the Louis and Lestat scenes of Interview with the vampire and how they get found out because they don't eat) - Sex (now this is a hot topic. Anne Rice vampires can't get it up, but the new vampires can if they recently feed. Anita Blake goes one step further and newly turned vampires can conceive children) - no reflections - entering a house without being invited (still relevant on Buffy and Twilight) - must drink human blood. (Animal blood is always a poor substitute and useful for emergencies only. True Blood vampires drink a created concoction in place of blood but even that pales in comparison.) - creation (sharing blood with infection of the vampire blood into the fledgling reigns as the method used for creating a vampire) - pretty good looking by all standards (this all started with Dracula. Joss Whedon did give us bumpy forehead transformations for his vampires, but they are still physically appealing) - a stake through the heart (Adam Sandler said it best "who wouldn't that kill?") - immortality (this is almost universal but occasionally we have exceptions. Darren Shan vampires have a slower aging process)

There are others (bats, crossing running water, and keeping soil from their home country) but those are very much only tied to Dracula so I don't count them towards the main vampire lore. They are Dracula specific.

Vampires in Braykith

So is Glais a vampire? Since the book isn't available at time of publishing, you don't know but let me answer it for you, Reader. No. Glais does have some similar traits with vampires, but I do not think he has enough traditional vampire traits to be a vampire. - He can walk in the sun. We see him do this multiple times - He eats usual food. He attends family breakfast and is present for gatherings. - Yes, Glais can have sex. His curse is bound to sex specifically (more on that in a later blog) There is no preparation needed for it to occur beyond general human biology. - His creation is a family ties curse. He can not create others like him beyond having a son. - As quoted in Hotel Transylvania, stake to the heart kills pretty much everyone - Glais is not immortal. (more on this in a later blog)

Really the only thing Glais has in common with traditional vampire myths within popular literature is his need for blood to sustain him, and he is physically appealing. I do argue that Glais only looks good because he has good genetics. The curse is identified in offspring by the shared characteristics of dark hair and eyes. If the first cursed man looked more like Quasimodo than Brad Pitt, then Glais would also appear differently.

But that is just how I see Glais as a character. I would love to hear what readers of the book think. Maybe he is more vampire then man.

To secure a free copy of Extol of Agnatic Dreams check out my Kindle Scout Campaign. (ends 29th March)

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