Society Novel Spotlight
Blood Moon - Dawn Thompson

Blood Moon the newest release from Dawn Thompson is this month's Novel Spotlight.

Read the interview, answer the trivia question below and you could a copy of Dawn's Novel Blood Moon and a prize pack consisting of bookmarks and coverflats from our Society Author's.

1. Hi Dawn, please tell us about your novel Blood Moon?

BLOOD MOON, the first in a series, is a vampire tale with a twist, something a little different, and I'm hoping something that will breathe new life into a very old genre. If you are looking for the traditional Dracula, compete with dapper duds and billowing cape, you won't find him here. BLOOD MOON is a tale of faith and evil, of fierce loyalty and unstoppable passion that will surprise you. No same old, same old here.

BLOOD MOON is the story of a young betrothed couple in Regency England who become infected by the vampire's kiss. Ordinary people caught up in a very extraordinary situation that has changed their lives in all but the love that binds them.

Jon Hyde-White represents a vampire's ultimate conquest. The second son of an earl, he has just taken Holy Orders, and plans to settle down with his bride Cassandra as vicar in the living he has been awarded, when they become victims of Sebastian Valentin, a centuries-old creature from the Romanian Carpathians.

Sebastian stalks Jon and Cassandra at home and abroad to finish what he has started in them. He dogs them when they travel to Moldovia to seek help from the clerics there, and when they meet his arch enemy, the enigmatic Gypsy vampire/vampire hunter, Milosh, who offeres them hope, though not without great danger. Handsome still after four-hundred years, the mysterious Gypsy endeavors to save them from Sebastian, and from themselves, when the madness of the blood and the passions of the heart collide in an unstoppable hunger that threatens them all, and the secret ritual of the Blood Moon becomes their only hope.

2. How long did it take to you to research Blood Moon?

The writing of BLOOD MOON has been a passion with me for many years. I've researched the vampire myth extensively, picking and chosing which parts of the different traditions would work for my characters. What I finally came up with was enough of the traditional Dracula mythology, peppered with just a little of the Saberhagian mytique to charge it with new life, then added a mythology all my own.

The nice thing about working with paranormal creatures such as vampires and werewolves is, as long as you don't stray too far from the expected basics, there is room for your creative imagination to soar, which is how all legends are born. A good example of this would be in the person of Sebastian, who in human form resembles the hideous Nosferatu, though he delights in wearing the fashions of the day even though they fit him poorly. You can imagine him a macabre fashionista through the ages. Restricted while he lived to dull clerical robes, he now delights in every aspect that his former life denied him.

All in all, my aim was to satisfy the vampire puirists, while giving the vampire legend a fresh new slant.

3. Where did the idea for Blood Moon originate?

I have always been fascinated with the moon, ever since as a child of five, my grandfather, who told the most marvelous stories, used to hold me up to see if I could reach it, because he fully intended to give me that moon one day. He passed when I was seven. Since then, all the legends and myths surrounding the moon, as well as the scientific aspects of the moon's effect upon mankind, have been of interest to me. The idea for the series was born the moment I first viewed a real blood moon.

4. Sebastian was a terrifying and sinister villain, and the fact that he was formerly a man of the cloth made him even more frightening. How did his characterization come about?

According to legend, not only vampires but all evil entities seek to corrupt the faithful. This is the vampire's greatest conquest. Sebastian is doubly frightening because he was corrupt as a bishop to begin with and was easily turned. He embraced his fate, while Jon refuses to succumb to it without a fight. Sebastian is jealous of the strong faith in Jon that allows him to resist. He becomes obsessed with turning Jon as he was turned, and taking his beautiful bride as his consort among the undead for all eternity.

5. I found the herbs used for the blood moon ritual (and the ritual itself) particularly fascinating. How did you choose which herbs to use in the recipe?

I am an amateur herbalist, which is strange because I have absolutely no luck growing anything else. I've always said I could kill a silk flower. But herbs are a favorite hobby of mine, and I use information I have gathered over the years in all my books. The properties attributed to the herbs in the recipe are accurate, but I've added a totally fictional herb to the mix--barsa weed--the "most important ingredient". So don't try this at home, folks! The scientific information about the eclipse told during the ritual is accurate, by the way. I love a mix of the actual and the outrageous. It does wonders for making the unbelievable believable.

6. I know that this is the first book in a series, can you please give us some information about the next book? Will Jon, Cassandra, and Milosh return? If so, Will we learn more about Milosh (and maybe Sebastian)?

The next book in the series, THE BROTHERHOOD, will be released by Dorchester at the end of August. It will be followed by THE RAVENING at the end of February 2008. If these are well received, I am prepared to do more Blood Moon titles.

Jon and Cassandra make appearances in both THE BROTHERHOOD, and THE RAVENING, and Milosh is a central character in all three books. The books build in intensity, and Milosh's tempestuous and volatile romance is the subject of THE RAVENING. As far as Sebastian is concerned...I'll never tell, but I will say this: Stay with me. You will definitely not be disappointed.