Viktor Brandewyne, Main Character of the Waves of Darkness series by Tamara A. Lowery

Hi, Pat and thank you for providing this platform. After much fuss and cajoling, I convinced the main character from my Waves of Darkness series, Viktor Brandewyne, to do an interview for you. —Tamara A. Lowery

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Hello, Pat. Allow me to introduce myself: Captain Viktor Brandewyne, at your service. Perhaps you have heard of me. No? I am more commonly known as Bloody Vik Brandee by those who ply the seaways and am a pirate by trade.

Please to meet you, Captain. What is your story?

My story begins in Blood Curse, the first book in the Waves of Darkness series by Tamara A. Lowery, and is continued in Demon Bayou.

In 1771, at a time when piracy had nealry been purged from the Atlantic and the Caribbean, I was one of the most feared pirates in those waters. Naturally, that did not sit well with the Royal Navy. They shot my ship to shivers and chased me into a hurricane.

The lads, what were left of them, and I made it to a small port on the north shore of Hispañola. Whilst we shopped for a new ship, I killed a local lad in a disagreement over a tavern wench. The fool was in love with her and got drunk enough to insult me in public.

How was I to know he was a favorite of the witch, Juma? She sent zombies to fetch me the next night, and she cursed me to become a living vampire.

Where do you live? I live aboard my ship, but I hail from Savannah, in the thirteenth colony, Georgia.

Are you the hero of your own story?

Aye, although there are those who would object to the word “hero” being applied to me. (smiles wickedly) I am not a nice person.

Do you embrace conflict?

I am a pirate, pet. It would be hard to avoid conflict. I do strive to always be victorious, with varying degrees of success, however.

Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?

Aye, a little too accurately, sometimes. Tamara has entirely too ken of an eye into my psyche. She shows almost all the aspects of my personality without bias of judgement and doesn’t shy away from my darkness or my weaknesses. Only a few times have I had to remind her of my character and “voice.”

I would demand more loyalty of her, but she enjoys immunity to my power and influence. The willful wench insists on keeping a full-time job to “pay the bills” and divides her writing time between my story and another series she is developing. She posts updates on http://facebook.com/Waves.of.Darkness .

While she is not as devoted to my story as I would wish, she is a diligent scrivener. Blood Curse and Demon Bayou, the first two volumes, are available as ebooks from Gypsy Shadow Publishing and can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and other purveyors of fine ebooks. They can also be found in .pdf form at http://gypsyshadow.com/TamaraLowery.html#BloodCurse and http://gypsyshadow.com/TamaraLowery.html#DemonB .

Silent Fathoms, the third volume, is being prepared for submission to the publisher after New Year, volume four is in its first draft, and she is drafting volume five now, with two more after that to round out the series.

Do you have a goal?

Aye, my curse will eventually destroy me unless I can find the Sisters of Power and earn a portion of theri magic from them. it is not an easy task. They make themselves difficult to find, try to trick, trap or destroy me, and delight in setting seemingly impossible tasks as the price for their help. I have learned that anything dealing with the Sisters that seems easy is usually false dealing.

There are seven of them, eight if you count my foster mother Celie.

Do you have any special strengths?

Besides my ability to ruin a woman for any other man? (chuckles) Yes, I do. I am no ordinary vampire. I never died, nor was I bitten. I have all the abilities of a vampire but none of the weaknesses… save for the Hunger and one other that even most vampires do not know of, which I will not name here.

Do you have any special weaknesses?

(smiles and waggles a finger) Yes, but I would be a fool to name that, pet. I was 32 when I became a vampire. That is old for a pirate; most of us never live past our mid-twneties. The rigors of shipboard life and any number of tropical diseases, not to mention the pirate hunters, tend to take their toll. I did not survive so long by revealing weaknesses.

What, if anything, haunts you?

(solemnly stares off into the distance for a few moments before reponding) You tread dangerous waters with the question, but I will answer: the death of my former first mate, Jim Rigger, by my hand. He had been my first mate since we were lads and I took my first command at age 17. Jim was like a younger brother and one of the few men I ever trusted enough to call friend.

He was my second blood meal.

Has anyone ever betrayed you?

None that still draw breath.

Do you keep your promises?

Aye. I keep my promises, and I repay my debts.

Do you have any distinguishing marks?

I’ve been told that my eyes are a striking shade of emerald green. Mother Celie says my glossy black hair and bronze complexion come from my mother’s people. I stand 6’3″, which is tall for a man of my era. However, a couple of my crewmen are taller than I. Thanks to my father’s heritage, I can and do maintain a beard and mustache. I prefer a neatly trimmed goatee.

Have you ever had an adventure?

I plunder and pillage at will. I bed any wench that striked my fancy. I brave raging hurricanes, the Royal Navy, and other pirates. I keep company with a man-eating siren and a shape-shifting cat. I seek seven very powerful witches. I Blood Curse, I face carnivorous plants and hunt mermaids. In Demon Bayou, i encounter smugglers and other vampires, and I battle an ancient demon.

Have I ever had an adventure? (strokes beard thoughtfully) No, nothing spectacular comes to mind.

What is you favorite food/beverage?

I am partial to a 30/70 blend of brandy and blood. The brandy gives the blood an interesting flavor and keeps it from clotting during long voyages. My favorite would have to be fresh human blood, however. (eyes start to glow with an emerald fire… smiles wide enough to reveal fangs) Oh, and I am always Hungry, pet.

Then let’s call this interview to a halt. Thank you for talking with me.

Kaycee Nilson, Author of Night Falls On Chicago

Welcome, Kaycee. What is your book about?

Night Falls On Chicago is about a group of vampires that converged together in order to stop one of their own. The difference between my vampires and others you have read about, the ones that I wrote live by a code of ethics. Also there is something “other worldly” about them.

How long had the idea of your book been developing before you began to write the story?

Probably all of about 15 minutes!

What inspired you to write this particular story?

My middle child was sick and he had to undergo all kinds of testing. There was one doctor that was followed by seven student doctors and when all eight swarmed around my son, they looked like a pack of vampires about to feed.

Did you do any research for the book? If so, how did you do it? (searching Internet, magazines, other books, etc.)

When I started writing Night Falls On Chicago, Yahoo Chat rooms were still the big thing to do. So I went into a local room, I lived in Chicago at the time, and met a person who claimed he was centuries old and was a PSI vampire. But the locations I write in and around Chicago, they are my most favorite places about Chicago. So I did a ton of time in those spots and actually getting ran off by a couple of police in one of the areas!

What are you working on right now?

My second novel is called I’ll Love You ‘Til You Die, plus I blog hosted by Lunatic’s Folly and I have columns that I submit to Useless Knowledge website.

Do you have a favorite snack food or favorite beverage that you enjoy while you write?

Yes! I love coffee and Funyuns and Cheetos, I guess I’m not the most healthiest of snackers while I write!

Do you have mental list or a computer file or a spiral notebook with the ideas for or outlines of stories that you have not written but intend to one day?

A BIG thick spiral filled to the brim with ideas that will one day become stories or blogs.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Not really, when I was a small girl, I wanted to be a Rockette in New York City, but when I realized I’d never be taller than 5’4″, that dream went out the window! But I did learn I have a knack for writing when I was in tenth grade.

Where do you get the names for your characters?

Some of the names in my first novel are either the first or middle name of close friends and family that for years I’d been threatening to kill off. My therapist says that this is probably one of the healthiest ways to deal with the frustrations that I often have.

What has been your greatest internal struggle to overcome in relation to your writing career?

Inihibitions and self judgement. I am my own worst critic!

What are your future plans? What will you bring to the literary world besides more stories?

Hopefully I would like to bring to the WORLD in general that a person can have a mental illness but turn it into an asset instead of having people pity me.

Where can people learn more about your books?

Right now, my book is on http://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/buynow.htm or you can go to my website, http://www.kayceenilson.com/ for more information about not only my books, but everything I have written for the past 5 or 6 years.

Paul Priestly, Hero of Disco Evil: Dead Man’s Stand by Rod Marsden

Bertram: What is your story?

Paul: I was straight out of high school. I had an okay job as a bank teller. Then I visited a disco one night and became one of the undead. I got revenge on some people who had wronged me but I have made a lot of enemies. I once wanted to believe in superheroes. I once believed with all my soul in make love, not war. The disco destroyed that belief and I want it back. I know now I cannot get it back. I will continue to fight those who took it away from me. I will also fight those who will strand against me and defend those against make love, not war.

Bertram: Who are you??

Paul: I am a vampire.

Bertram: Where do you live?

Paul: I do not live. I unlive where I can. I am neither alive nor dead. I must find shelter during the day or be destroyed by the rays of the sun.

Bertram: Are you the hero of your own story?

Paul: I am the tragic hero of my own story. Others may not agree with this. I must have blood. I try to only kill those I see as undeserving of life. In this way I try to make the world a better place.

Bertram: What is your problem in the story?

Paul: My problem is that I am always being hunted. Members of the Secret Compass, an outfit out to destroy all vampires, are after me. I am also being pursued by the Rising Sun Group, an Asian concern also out to do me in.

Bertram: Do you have a problem that wasn’t mentioned in the story?

Paul: No problem I can think of off hand. Maybe I need love and I need to move away from violence but both are impossible for me to achieve.

Bertram: Do you embrace conflict?

Paul: I didn’t embrace conflict at first but now I have developed a death wish and want to take as many of the enemy with me as possible. I will die my second death with some sense of honor.

Bertram: How do you see yourself?

Paul: I am the victim of circumstance suddenly given the opportunity to right the wrongs I was afflicted with when I was human. I have destroyed many who would spit upon make love, not war.

Bertram: How do your friends see you?

Paul: My only friend was Lilith. She sired me. She was given her second death in New York. She went out in a blaze of glory. I miss her. I know she saw me as the ally she needed. She wanted to destroy brutish men who could have been Nazi thugs in another life. She destroyed men such men. She also realized brutish women were to blame for there being brutish men in this world. She needed me to take out the brutish women.

Bertram: How do your enemies see you?

Paul: My enemies should see me as the great avenger of wrongs but they don’t. One sees me as the killer of his niece. Most see me as simply another vampire that has to be slain.

Bertram: How does your author see you?

Paul: I think the author sees me as a troubled soul…maybe a reflection in some ways of his own troubled soul. He doesn’t agree at all with my methods but he understands where I am coming from.

Bertram: Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?

Paul: The author did his best. If he was undead he might have done a slightly better job.

Bertram: What do you think of yourself?

Paul: I am an avenger! I right wrongs! I try to only hurt those who deserve it. The thoughtless savage woman dies at my hands and I lift the thoughtful angels among women up onto my shoulders to where they can see and experience the beauty of our world. I destroy their enemies…Well, some of their enemies…I wish Lilith was still around to take out the male trash.

Bertram: Do you have a hero?

Paul: Lilith was my hero. She’s gone now.

Bertram: Do you have a goal?

Paul: I will make those who spat upon the Hippy ideal of make love, not war very sorry.

Bertram: What are your achievements?

Paul: I have taken much blood from women who, in my opinion, did not deserve to live. I have also recruited, sired women over into vampirism so they might join me in my quest to make the world a better place. I have not been entirely successful in this last regard but one does one’s best.

Bertram: Do you keep your achievements to yourself?

Paul: I do hide dead bodies so the vampire hunters don’t catch up with me if that is what you mean.

Bertram: Do you have any special strengths or weaknesses?

Paul: I am much stronger than a human and my senses are far more developed. I can change form and also summon vermin to my aid when I am under attack. I have the usual vampire weaknesses. Not to be discussed with you. Now if you were not human…

Bertram: Do you have any skills?

Paul: In bat form I can fly. I can also mesmerize my victims.

Bertram: What do you want?

Paul: I want the Hippy paradise promised to me that was taken away by the Disco scene and the people undeserving of life!

Bertram: What do you want to be?

Paul: I want to be cared for, I want to feel like a superhero.

Bertram: What makes you sad?

Paul: I am saddened by the fact that I have never experience human sex and, being now undead, never will. I gain whatever sexual pleasure I can from the taking of blood.

Bertram: What do you regret?

Paul: I regret not being able to save Lilith.

Bertram: What is your biggest disappointment?

Paul: I am disappointed by the Disco. Promises were made but not kept.

Bertram: What was your childhood like?

Paul: It was a quiet childhood. I grew up in a good household. I miss my family.

Bertram: What in your past had the most profound affect on you?

Paul: My first visit to a disco. Also the night at a disco Lilith came into my existence and took my life. Three nights later I was undead and the avenger you see before you.

Bertram: What in your past would you like to forget?

Paul: My family. in my present condition I cannot be with them. Also the night Lilith died her second death. It was horrible!

Bertram: Who was your first love?

Paul: I would like to say Lilith but it’s not true. She was more like another sister to me. I suppose I have never had a first love.

Bertram: What is your most closely guarded secret?

Paul: The fact that I cannot really turn back the tide of time and mend what the Disco has broken.

Bertram: What is your most prized possession?

Paul: My honor. I need it to continue my work.

Bertram: What is your favorite music?

Paul: Goth nowadays. I grew up on the Beatles.

Bertram: What are the last three books you read?

Paul: They were vampire novels written by women I had sired into vampirism.

Bertram: If you had the power to change one thing in the world that did not affect you personally, what would it be?

Paul: Kill Disco completely and create a world where women are beautiful, happy and have flowers in their hair and they are not cruel to men because men in this world would never, ever be cruel to them.

Bertram: What makes you think that change would be for the better?

Paul: Everyone would be happy and those that wouldn’t…well, I could dance on their graves!

Bertram: If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you rather be stranded with, a man or a woman?

Paul: A woman. I only drink blood from a woman unless it is bottled blood or plasma.

Bertram: How do you envision your future?

Paul: I will soon die my second death. It will be glorious!

Henri Forain, a Vampire from Chronicles of the Undead by A. F. Stewart

Bertram: I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Forain, I think. You claim to be a vampire?

Henri: It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, and feel free to refer to me as Henri.  As for my claims, I make none.  I am a vampire.

Bertram:  Do you really expect me to believe that? Isn’t it more probable that you are suffering from delusions?

Henri: I realise the concept is difficult to comprehend for those with diminutive minds, but that does not make me delusional.  Your inability to accept does not alter the truth.

Bertram: What is the truth?

Henri: How many times must I repeat myself?  I am a centuries old vampire!

Bertram: When did you become, ahem, a vampire?

Henri: I was born in France, in the year 1527.  I have been a vampire since the year 1557.

Bertram: How did you become a Vampire?

Henri: I came from a reasonably well-to-do family, two parents, two brothers; we were wine merchants in the Bordeaux region.  I became a vampire when I met a woman; she made me a very seductive offer and I have never regretted anything.  I consider choosing to be a vampire the true moment my existence began.

Bertram: Interesting. How do you justify this existence? Don’t you have to kill to feed?

Henri: Of course I kill, that is part of the pleasure. But, many men kill; at least I have better reasons.

Bertram: What has been the worst thing that you have done to another person? 

Henri: I truly do not believe your readers wish to hear such terrors.  I am quite fond of playing with my food.  Repeatedly, and intensely.

Bertram: Oh. Perhaps we better avoid that subject.  Have you ever harmed someone you loved?  Have you loved?

Henri: Yes, I loved the woman I spoke of, the sweet one who brought me to my destiny.  And yes, I’ve harmed her; we have delightfully harmed each other quite often.

Bertram: Ah, yes, well; perhaps on to the next subject.  What is your religious view of things?

Henri:  I have no quarrel with religion, though I hold no beliefs myself.  When one lives through the conflicts caused by religious differences, you cease to put faith in doctrine.

Bertram: What about other aspects of faith? For instance, do you think redemption is possible?

Henri: I have no idea. I have no interest in it.

Bertram: What do you believe is your responsibility to the world?

Henri:  My responsibility is to myself, the world is capable of destroying itself adequately without my aid.

Bertram: What is the most frightening potential deformity or defacement you can conceive of?  What makes it so frightening?

Henri: Being mortal.  It is weakness, my existence is far superior.

Bertram: I never had any desire for immortality. But each to his own, I suppose.

Henri: I must be off about my business. If you wish to know more about me, you can find me at Squidoo, whatever that is.

The Vampire Eleanor de Burgh from Chronicles of the Undead by A. F. Stewart

Bertram: Who are you?

Eleanor: I am misunderstood.  Your human idea of vampires is so limited, you still insist on portraying us as evil for merely surviving.    I have lived for centuries, through years of your history, watching and learning.  I have adapted to changing culture, always with impeccable taste.  The parties I used to throw in Paris were the toast of the city; even a Dauphin attended one.

Bertram: What is your story?

Eleanor: I was born in 1291, in England.  My life was typical of the time, married off young to an older man.  My life was under the total control of a rather abusive husband, until I choose to embrace life as a vampire, and became liberated.  I had to kill my husband to achieve that, but I did enjoy that piece of sweet revenge.

I fled to France to avoid any messy accusations of murder, and lived there for several centuries.  I met Henri Forain there, in 1556, and fell in love.  At the time it seemed a wonderful thought to turn him, and we would live forever as vampires; alas the romance did not last.

Bertram: Do you embrace conflict?

Eleanor: Not as a rule, I prefer to settle things amiably. I much prefer seduction to conflict, but I am not adverse to violence when the situation is in need of it.  It is very unwise to cross my wishes, very few individuals try.

Bertram: How do your enemies see you?

Eleanor: As a killer, I would suppose, at least the ones that still breathe.  Not entirely untrue, but still a quite harsh description. 

Bertram: What are your achievements?

Eleanor: My greatest achievement is surviving:  my husband, war, fools, death, even my relationship with Henri.  I am also well read, quite musical, and the perfect hostess.

Bertram: Do you have any special strengths?

Eleanor: Immortality, strength, speed, all the usual vampire enhancements.  I am also very good at lying.

Bertram: Do you have any special weaknesses?

Eleanor: Do you honestly think I’m going to enlighten you on that topic?  Do not be absurd.

Bertram: Do you have any skills?

Eleanor: Oh many.  I paint, embroider, cook, play the pianoforte and the lute. I also have skills a lady does not discuss in an interview.

Bertram: What do you want?

Eleanor: Blood.  Preferably warm.

Bertram: What do you need?

Eleanor: Blood.  Oh, and perhaps a few more pieces of expensive jewellery for my collection.  Money is always welcome as well; a lady must pay the bills.

Bertram: What do you regret?

Eleanor: Not killing my husband sooner.  And turning Henri into a vampire; he caused a great deal of trouble over the years.

Bertram: What is your biggest disappointment?

Eleanor: Henri, I wish he had been a better man and vampire.  I truly did love the man, in the beginning, but he changed as the years passed and became such a displeasure to me.

Bertram: Has anyone ever failed you?

Eleanor: A long list of men, most of them are dead now.  Some of them were even tasty.

Bertram: Has anyone ever betrayed you?

Eleanor: One or two souls; they did not survive to do it again.   As I said, it is unwise to go against my wishes; it can even be fatal.

Bertram: Have you ever betrayed anyone?

Eleanor: Yes, but they were only human; mere food.  I do not feel guilt over betraying the trust of prey.  And there was Henri, but he deserved it.

Bertram: Do you keep your promises?

Eleanor: Sometimes, when it suits my purposes.

Bertram: Are you honorable?

Eleanor: No, quite the opposite.  You are a fool if you trust me.

Bertram: Are you healthy?

Eleanor: I do not age, I do not become sick.  I am far better than healthy, I am flawless.

Bertram: Was there ever a defining moment of your life?

Eleanor: Becoming vampire certainly defined, and enhanced my life.  I highly recommend it.  There is nothing quite so sweet as the taste of blood after a good chase.  And a lady never has to worry about aging.

Bertram: How do you envision your future?

Eleanor: Endless and decadent, full of poor souls to feast upon. I have nothing else to say to you, but if you insist on knowing more about me, you can get the information here.