tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post7704892737288839500..comments2024-03-28T18:54:13.800-04:00Comments on alien romances: The Price of EternityRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-78689375763849580582009-03-19T14:32:00.000-04:002009-03-19T14:32:00.000-04:00"There was even a vampire book a few years ago tha..."There was even a vampire book a few years ago that posited that vampire’s traditional fear of crosses was actually a biological reaction of an infected person’s brain chemistry to right angles, and thus vampires (infected individuals) had to live in all round houses"<BR/><BR/>Yes, I remember that; very ingenious.Margaret Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08293021955480708191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-619192500791995292009-03-18T17:57:00.000-04:002009-03-18T17:57:00.000-04:00This is probably too late for your conference purp...This is probably too late for your conference purposes, but I saw this interesting comment in a discussion at Dear Author.<BR/><BR/>"A writer friend of mine had a copyeditor who kept complaining that one couldn’t keep a vampire in prison because it would just “turn into a bat and fly away through the bars.” Not all vampires in vampire books turn into bats. Some don’t even stay away from sunlight (a’la Twilight). Playing with the “rules” of particular paranormal creatures is often what informs the most fascinating speculative fiction. There was even a vampire book a few years ago that posited that vampire’s traditional fear of crosses was actually a biological reaction of an infected person’s brain chemistry to right angles, and thus vampires (infected individuals) had to live in all round houses."<BR/><BR/>It's comment #16 by Diana Peterfreund at http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/03/16/review-the-forest-of-hands-and-teeth-by-carrie-ryan/MaryKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08682701056706320844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-30943453899904215522009-03-13T12:00:00.000-04:002009-03-13T12:00:00.000-04:00Margaret, having traveled a large portion of the p...Margaret, having traveled a large portion of the period alloted to me on this earth, I have come to the conclusion that immortatity is something craved only by the young and immature. In the summer of one's life, without a bucketful of experience and with parents to solve all difficulties, the idea of living forever with no responsibility or consequences is attractive. However, as autum aproaches, and one sees the world changing into something that is no longer recognizable as being good, immortality in that changing world becomes problematic. The older one gets, the more important love and friendship become to existence. When there is no one left to share love and friendship with, what is the point? My father outlived all of his contemporaries. It was family love which sustained him, and his love which sustained us. Immortaity gets old.Franceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08340332869249455215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-12342471260660542932009-03-12T19:19:00.000-04:002009-03-12T19:19:00.000-04:00"Or, if they directly address the question, do the..."Or, if they directly address the question, do they deny that becoming a vampire necessarily entails soullessness?"<BR/><BR/>I think the more recent vampire romances have diverged widely from traditional vampire lore and virtually abandoned the spiritual aspects. The garlic, mirror, and holy water elements are sporadically used. In the vampire romances I've read, vampires are often treated as another species and are mostly secular; though I have read books where they're specifically characterized as "one of God's creatures." It probably does have a lot to do with society's secularization; but also if you want to have a vampire hero, he can hardly be soulless so that probably has a lot to do with it. Nowadays the price for vampirism is usually loneliness because friends and relatives die, the ickiness of drinking blood and preying on humans, and loss of the sun.MaryKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08682701056706320844noreply@blogger.com