Everywhere I go I see, in the YA sector, people going, “NO MORE VAMPIRES!” and other words to that effect.
Every time I see that, though, I just want to yell back, “BUT MINE AREN’T IN HIGH SCHOOL!”
Delia’s over eighteen for a reason people. Just as Daniel looks about twenty-five.
Definitely not in high school, y’all.
Oh, and mine also have fangs. Coz the biting is the fun bit, right? I like my vampires grey and walking penetrative sex metaphors.
To bring you a very important youtube video.
In other news, I’m wading my way through some awkward scenes for Lionheart – they’re awkward because my brain wants to get to the awesome scenes but I know I have to do these scenes for context, world-building and to start peeling away at the backstory of a main character. Also, everyone needs a wash. Gross. So we’re going to be taking advantage of that.
Plus I am having fun having unintentional (but appropriate) subtext pointed out to me by my betas. 
Anyway, I’m at 39 000 words, so expect a “Yippee! Halfway there!” post very soon. In the meantime, some early form of celebration in the form of a new layout. The tag line is going to be my new motto to keep me motivated and positive.
As per usual, if there is something borked in the layout and I haven’t noticed, drop me a line so I can fix it right away.
The right-inset image was brought to my attention via the Allison and Busby blog. It’s a t-shirt from CafePress with the phrase “vampires prefer brunettes”1 – a reference to the line said by Edward in Twilight2
And it made me think, on characters, author appeal and funny.
Now, while one of my vampires (the adorkable perfumer-slash-assassin Daniel) does have a preference for brunettes, it’s more a case of a particular brunette. It’s made very clear that Charlie’s weakness is redheads, while Lauren’s current partners have leaned more towards brown/black. Rivka’s longterm3 lover (the one she turned) is a blond.
As for Jared and Athanasios… they’re like Captain Jack Harkness. Anything with a zip code.
But really, in the end the only colour that really matters is red… because when it comes to vampires, it’s what’s inside that counts.
While watching my Twitter feed go by, I noticed that Robbie was posting tiny snippets from the work he was currently reading. Since I was on a big Lionheart kick at the time, and we had been discussing Doctor Who and concepts like the TARDIS being bigger on the inside, I decided to post a tiny snippet of my LH draft.
Unfortunately, Twitter has a limit of only 140 characters. So when I cut down the fragment I wanted to post, it ended up having an… alternate interpretation.
“Unless it’s bigger on the inside?”
“”That it is,” he said, sliding his hand inside so far it went up to his shoulder.
As you can imagine, removing the context took it into what could be interpreted as Rule 34 territory.
Here is what the scene actually looks like, when it has context – as allowed by being able to have more than 140 characters.
“Nah, no problem,” Will replied. “You’re able to carry all your baggage?”
Leander reached under the table to pull out a shoulder bag. It was a smooth, black leather, with several pockets on either side and a long strap to carry it with. “This is all I have.”
Will scoffed at the sight. “No way you have all your stuff in that. Unless,” here his eyes narrowed, “it’s bigger on the inside?”
Leander flipped open the flap that covered the main compartment. “That it is,” he said, sliding his hand inside so far it went up to his shoulder. It was impossible for it to fit in the bag without some magic cast upon it.
And this is why context matters. Because without it, even I have naughty-tinted glasses.
This is the homepage of Catherine, a 22 year old New Zealander who writes novels, reviews books and designs websites.
