Last year, D.B. Reynolds introduced a vampire-laden world to her own take on the genre with her first novel, Raphael. Featuring a savvy female PI, an intriguing vampire society and mythos, fast-paced action and some steamy, blush-raising encounters in sundry bedrooms, Raphael -- and its sequel, Jabril -- have built up an enthusiastic following in the rather select paranormal romance/urban fantasy/erotica community, and Reynolds’ reputation for slick, seductive and suspenseful tales featuring her haughty and all-powerful bloodsuckers is growing amongst the vampliterati. The third novel in the Vampires in America series, Rajmund, will be released July 30.



Here, we talk to D. B. Reynolds about vampires, NaNoWriMo, vampires, getting published, vampires, her upcoming projects and sex (with vampires)…

GS: First, the big issue of this, uh, issue: why vampires? What is it about them that makes them so endlessly fascinating?

DBR: That’s a question a lot of people would like the answer to. For women, I think it's because they're the ultimate bad boys, and a lot of women love bad boys. Not all women, mind you. But many of us. Vampires combine sexuality, danger and pure power. The idea of having someone like that as your lover and defender is pretty appealing. For guys? I guess it’s the blood and violence, right?

GS: And what makes them so... sexy?

DBR: The permanent youth doesn't hurt. And, of course, in fiction the vampire lovers are all not just young, but good looking. But the myth of Vampire has always been tied in with sexuality, the idea that vampires use some sort of hypnotic power and seduce their victims into giving up blood. Modern fiction has taken that basic principle and made them not just seducers, but skillful lovers, as well.

GS: Can you sum up your Vampires in America series for us?

DBR: It all begins with the Vampire Lords. They’re a very few extremely powerful vampires who literally hold the power of life and death over every vampire in existence. A Vampire Lord can, with a single thought, snuff out the life of any vampire who is pledged to him, and a vampire cannot live in a territory without “belonging” to its Vampire Lord. The lords rule the territories with an iron hand, although some are more benevolent than others. North America is divided into eight territories, each ruled by a single Vampire Lord. The series is designed for eight books, each one representing one of the eight territories. The first two books focus on Raphael, the most powerful vampire lord in North America and possibly the world, and Cynthia, the human woman whom he wants for his lover and mate. Those two characters will appear at least peripherally and sometimes centrally in every subsequent book. Although each book has at its center a romantic/sexual relationship, it is in the context of some larger story, usually a crime or mystery to be uncovered.

GS: Your vampires are definitely evil; unapologetically violent and quite brutal. Even your vampire hero, Raphael, is a ruthless badass who kills with impunity and isn’t above using his vampire mojo to put women at his mercy. And Raphael’s badassery pales in comparison to the eponymous vamp Jabril of your second novel. Was this a conscious decision?

DBR: This was most definitely a conscious decision on my part. I wanted my vampires to be real vampires, not sensitive guys who drink blood. But, I don’t consider Raphael to be evil. He is ruthless, violent and quite brutal when he chooses to be, and he has absolutely no mercy for anyone who dares to threaten Cynthia or anyone he considers “his.” He does kill, but generally only those who betray him or who are responsible for the deaths of his vampires. Jabril, on the other hand, was pure evil with no redeeming qualities at all!

GS: What do you think about the kind of defanged vampires showing up in chick lit and teenage fiction throughout the last decade or so?

DBR: One of the motivating factors for my books was precisely the prevalence of those defanged vampires! I was tired of seeing alpha male vampires emasculated by human women, or vampires who hated being vampire and only drank blood because they had to, vampires who were ashamed of what they were. I wanted to create a series about vampires who not only accepted themselves for the superior predators they are, but who saw themselves as superior to humans, who embraced their power and used it to build empires.

GS: Your vampires’ mojo seems almost like it should be illegal; even a hard-bitten, liberated and independent woman like Cyn is unable to withstand its force, and ends up doing things -- bad, bad things -- her uninfluenced mind perhaps would have prevented. Is this a metaphor for something?

DBR: That's really only true of the Vampire Lords and to a lesser extent, the vampires around them, many of whom are quite powerful in their own right. And, of course, these are the vamps who make for the best stories, so that's what readers hear about. But there are plenty of vampires who don't have much mojo at all. A good example of this is Lonnie from the first book. He's the vamp who runs the Malibu blood house for Raphael. It's Lonnie who knows Cyn and who arranges to meet her for Raphael. As for Cyn not being able to resist, Raphael says early on that Cyn is very strong willed and less susceptible to his vampire wiles. And Cyn is a bad girl all by herself, very anti-authority, the-hell-with-the-rules kind of a woman. She falls for Raphael because of who he is, not because he influences her in some nefarious way.

GS: Do you have a favorite vampire movie?

DBR: I personally think Frank Langella’s Dracula is the sexiest vampire on film. I also really loved the first Blade movie. Wesley Snipes was a great badass vampire, even if he didn’t want to be. The Underworld movies are fun to watch, although their vampires are kind of campy, especially the old ones. I like the wolves better in that one.

GS: TV show?

DBR: Generally, I think TV has done a better job than movies of bringing vampires to life. Buffy was terrific, just the right mix of humor, action and a little pathos. Spike (James Marsters) and Angel (David Boreanaz) were both sexy as hell, although my preference is Spike since I love the bad boys, and Spike embraced what he was. Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid) on Blood Ties was great. I’ve read all of Tanya Huff’s Blood Books and thought they did a good job of bringing it to TV, although Fitzroy’s casting was the only one I really loved. Moonlight was a good interpretation. I loved the interaction between Mick St. John and his old buddy Josef (Jason Dohring), who I thought was excellent. Alex O’Loughlin as Mick made a very sexy vampire, but I didn’t like that he was constantly looking for a “cure.”

GS: Book, and/or book series?

DBR: I’m a voracious reader, so there are very, very many books and/or series I love. But let me just say that Adrian Phoenix has taken the myth of vampire in a whole new direction with the nightkind in her Maker’s Song series, and especially her character of Dante Baptiste, who is completely fascinating. J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood is unique and wonderful--I’m a Wrath person myself, with Zsadist a close second. And Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series is a classic--once again, I’m rooting for the bad boy Eric.

GS: And from within those, who is your all-time favorite vampire?

DBR: Excluding my own characters, of course. Of those above, I’d have to say Dante Baptiste, because he’s such a complex character and just sexy as hell, with Eric Northman a close second because he’s a great mix of humor and strength.

GS: What about a least favorite vampire mythology? Is there any take on vampires that you find unappealing?

DBR: I don’t like the old, classic movie vampires, the Nosferatu types who look like they literally rose from the dead after too many days in the grave. I don’t believe for one minute the fair maiden would be seduced if Max Schreck woke her up in the middle of the night!