Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Guest Post: Christopher Farnsworth


Today I'm really excited to welcome author Christopher Farnsworth to the blog to share with us just a little information about what sets his vampires apart from their literary contemporaries and predecessors. Book two in his Blood Oath series, The President's Vampire, releases tomorrow so be sure and add it to your lists. Thanks so much for stopping by Chris!

WHY MY VAMPIRES DON’T SPARKLE

Let me start by saying thank you to Stephenie Meyer. Seriously, I owe that woman big time. If she drank, I would buy her a beer. (I’m sure she’s too busy lounging on furniture stuffed with $100 bills to take me up on it but still, the offer is out there.)

She tapped into something primal and powerful, and she helped bring back our cultural obsession with vampires. She woke the worlds of publishing and entertainment to the huge audience waiting for stories that played with this archetype. If not for Meyer’s Twilight saga, I don’t think I would have been published, even though our vampires could not be less alike.

I’ve said before that vampires have never been romantic figures in my mind. They simply scared the crap out of me when I was younger. That’s the kind of vampire I set out to create when I began writing about Nathaniel Cade, a vampire who’s bound to serve the President of the United States by a blood oath.

In other words, he doesn’t sparkle.

Meyer has already gotten a fair amount of derision for this – there’s even a mini-industry dedicated to mocking sparkly bloodsuckers – but I’m really not trying to make fun of her variety of vamp. There have been weirder ideas in vampire fiction. (Check out Brian Lumley’s much darker take on the genre to get an idea of what I mean.) I just want to get to the bottom of the feeling that Meyer evoked and discover why vampires still have such a powerful attraction for us.

Like the rest of his fictional brethren, Cade has an options package that most of us dream of – superhuman strength, senses, speed, and a near-immortal lifespan.

But none of a vampire’s capabilities are as interesting without his limitations. If you have a vampire who can walk around in daylight without sunscreen and can skip blood for a cheeseburger, there isn’t much downside to being an unholy terror of the night. How much sympathy can any reader muster for a superhuman, even if he has fangs? If he can know real love, then he might as well be human.

Vampires, in my writing, are predators. They don’t see humans as love, but as convenient snack-packs. There is nothing actually stopping Cade from killing and feeding on humans – as long as they don’t work for the president and haven’t betrayed the United States – except his own iron will. He refuses to give in, even though he believes he’s already irrevocably damned.

That’s what gives Cade his edge. If Cade were able to walk in the light, he wouldn’t be a vampire anymore. More important, he wouldn’t be very good at his job.

He knows what evil really means, because, down at a cellular level, he is evil. And he knows the necessity of fighting evil, no matter what the cost. We’re simply not built for that kind of ruthlessness. Cade is.

Because in Cade’s world, vampires are not the worst things that threaten humanity – not even close. He’s prepared to do the unspeakable to kill the unthinkable.

That’s not something a human being can do, not without losing his soul.

Fortunately, we’ve got Cade to face the darkness for us.

Christopher Farnsworth is the author of THE PRESIDENT’S VAMPIRE, the second in a series of books about Nathaniel Cade, a vampire sworn to protect the United States from supernatural threats. It will be available everywhere on April 28, 2011 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Learn more at presidentsvampire.com

THE PRESIDENT'S VAMPIRE (from Goodreads)

For 140 years, Nathaniel Cade has been the President's Vampire, sworn to protect and serve his country. Cade's existence is the most closely guarded of White House secrets: a superhuman covert agent who is the last line of defense against nightmare scenarios that ordinary citizens only dream of.

When a new outbreak of an ancient evil-one that he has seen before- comes to light, Cade and his human handler, Zach Barrows, must track down its source. To "protect and serve" often means settling old scores and confronting new betrayals . . . as only a centuries-old predator can.

27 comments:

  1. I'm really looking forward to sinking my teeth (wink wink) into this series. I need some SERIOUS vampires in my life =)

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  2. A vampire who’s bound to serve the President of the United States and doesn't sparkle - I think I might give this a try :)

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  3. Wish the President had Cade now so he could drain some GOP blood, plus I bet a vamp could find Bin Laden and make short work of him too. Great premise for a book!

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  4. Great post :) I've never heard of this series before but it sounds like something I might enjoy.

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  5. This is the first I have heard of this series too. Cade sounds like a dark, dangerous and interesting character :)

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  6. This is the first I have heard of this series! The storyline sounds great! I love dark characters!

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  7. I loved this book! I really think Nathaniel Cade is more what I think a Vampire would be like if they existed. I love that Christopher thanks SM, she really did make it possible for us to have more of the Paranormals we love in our life!

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  8. I've been intrigued by this book ever since I saw it a few months back on another blog. I must admit, while I don't go for sparkly vampires, I do like a hot bad boy but and romantic vampire. While THE PRESIDENT'S VAMPIRE is very different from my usual fare, it still sounds like a really cool story.

    I've not read book one in the series, do the books have to be read in order?

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  9. ooh! This sounds seriously intriguing! Thanks so much for sharing and thank Chris for writing it!

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  10. O great post! I like how he thanks her but explains how his characters are different.

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  11. Sounds like a darker read. I'm going to have to look into this series.

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  12. I just finished Blood Oath and i LOVED it! I am going to be reading The President's Vampire this week!! Even more excited now!

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  13. Thank you all for the kind words. And Jan, check out the first chapter of PRESIDENT'S VAMPIRE, and you'll see exactly how Cade handles Osama Bin Laden.

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  14. @Jan von Harz... ROFL!

    Oh great post. Yes, I'm familiar with Cade. No outward sparkle (poor guy... lol) but was a great hero. Loved the first book and I have this one on the tbr.

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  15. The first book in this series, Blood Oath, was a fantastic read. Can't wait to pick up this new one.

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  16. Lol, great post, and what an opening ;)

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  17. What an awesome guest post! Love your opening about Twilight and that your vampires don't sparkle. Yes, Meyer helped pave the way with Twilight for the paranormal genre, especially vamps. This book has been on my radar. I'm glad to hear there's a first one. Totally checking it out!

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  18. Christopher's vamp comparisons to S. Meyer's were fascinating. As a fan of hers and A. Rice, his series will be a must read for me. Awesome post.

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  19. Love the new header, it's gorgeous!

    Also, Christopher has a point about vampires and what actually makes them vampires. It is their limitations that offset their amazing abilities. I love how he put it. This is definitely a series for the TBR. Thanks Jenny!

    Jen
    http://intheclosetbibliophile.blogspot.com

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  20. Loved the post! I am adding this to my TBR/ Mother's Day wish list :)

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  21. I totally agree that sometimes we have a tendency to romanticize the vampire to the point where they are no longer scary anymore. I have read Brian Lumley's Necroscope series all the way through "Blood Wars" and I have to say that those are vampires that you should definitely be VERY afraid of! If Cade is anything like that then I'm totally looking forward to reading your series!


    Great post!

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  22. Your blog is different!

    & on that note...

    I'm trying to think if I've read a book where the vampire is not someone to fall in love wither, I know I've read at least one, but I can't remember, haha.

    Loved the guest post! I was laughing at many parts!

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  23. Fascinating post. I love vampires. All types. And I have since 1997, because of BtVS! Those vamps scared me more than a few times, even though they could 'love'. Still, it is so interesting to me to see how different writers develop their own lore for vampires.

    I'm also very thankful to SM! The vamps she created make sense in her stories.

    I've already read some amazing reviews for The President's Vampire. Cade seems to have many qualities that definitely set him apart from some of his other brethren. I even read that he could tear off his own face, which is a factoid that makes me shudder every time I think about it.

    Thanks for the awesome post. I love reading about vampires. I think it would be interesting to see just how that blood oath came to be.

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  24. Love the guest post! Christopher Farnsworth is awesome! This book is on my wish list!

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  25. This is the first time I've heard of the series but it sounds like an interesting take on vampires. I also like Christopher's voice and so will consider the series. Have you read the first book and if you did, what did you think about it?

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  26. I was the first person to buy this book at my Borders today! They weren't even out on the shelves yet! That is how much I was looking forward to this book, I can't wait to crack it open! Great guest post!

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