Immortal

So, I woke up one night from a dream that I wasn’t sure was a dream…  Okay, I’m just joking.  It wasn’t that simple or dramatic. 

I found a job I really liked (much to my surprise).  There was/ is a lot of downtime at my job and I wanted to do something to fill it.  I didn’t feel comfortable watching anime and movies all the time.  Reading was great, but I wanted to create something.  Enter the writing bug.

I started my first real story. It wasn’t very good, but I liked the characters.  I reached a crossroad and couldn’t decide how to precede so like many other times… I gave up.  I didn’t write for another year. 

Then New Year’s 2009 came.  I was stuck in a rut at home and work.  I didn’t want to make the same old tired resolutions.  I decided to commit, really commit, to writing a novel.  After trying so many times before and failing or giving up, I didn’t think I would actually be able to do it. 

I proceed a little more methodically this time.  I thought about the type of books I like to read.  I’m a sucker for vampires (I made a funny).  I started with that in mind.  I considered the traits I found appealing in lead characters and came up them.  Once I had the cast in place I formed the plot around them. 

I also knew that there are a ton of vampire novels in the world.  It seems like every other book has at least one in it.  I didn’t want mine to be the typical vampire novel.  Since I work in the medical field I checked with blood bank personnel to see if you could obtain blood illegally.  It’s not that easy.  I also looked into the differences between human and animal blood.  Not that many, but enough that it could not logically be used as a substitute.  That’s when I threw the whole blood consumption thing out the window.  After all in most novels it is a metaphor for sex and as a society we are not quite as prickly as we used to be on that subject. 

I also researched viruses and sexually transmitted diseases.  Most viruses are transmitted through touch, air, or bodily fluids.  I wanted something that could only be transmitted directly by saliva to blood.  I thought of rabies.  That’s when I got it.  After a lot of research, I found that the only confirmed transmissions have been a bite.  There have been no documented cases of rabies being transmitted through sexual contact or even blood. Perfect I get my vampires, but without the nasty side effects like eating your neighbors.

I took it further.  I decided the virus was the reason for all of the myths.  Why there are demi-gods and gods.  Why there are demons and angels.  It explained the reasons for so many of the fairy tales and myths that propagate the world.  Everyone reacts differently to viruses, so everyone would have different powers and abilities even if they were infected with the same virus.  But like most viruses it changes with time and not everyone can survive the infection. 

After a year and a half I hit the print button for the last time.  Immortal was finished.  I tried the traditional publishing route, but I had little patience for it. I don’t know if it was fate, but I happened on a blog post about Amanda Hocking and the fact that she self published with success.  Now, I don’t think or know if I can reach her level, but it gave me enough encouragement to look into it.  I again researched it (I like research, okay not really).  It actually seemed like a viable option.  After another month of figuring out how to format everything, I released Immortal into the world.

It has been an interesting journey so far.  I hope it continues with Forever the second book in the series.