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Tag Archives: Megan Cashman

IN THE SHADOWS, A VAMPIRE LURKS… by Megan Cashman

13 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Vampire Month

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

books, guest posts, Lestat, Megan Cashman, Vampire, Vampire Month, Vampires


Today we have a guest post from Megan Cashman, author of The Dark Proposal. Here she speaks about the social isolation of vampires.

IN THE SHADOWS, A VAMPIRE LURKS…

                Vampires are often portrayed as living apart from the human world. They have to avoid sunlight, and humans are their blood source. These creatures of the night tend to rarely interact with humans on a personal level, and if they do, their motivations may not be so kind.Image

Which makes one wonder: how would a vampire see the human world? They live detached from it, sometimes for many centuries. Even a newborn vampire would have to eventually let go of their emotional connection to humans so they can adjust to their new existence.

So what does the human world mean to vampires, aside from being sources of nourishment? I would think they obviously see us as being physically weaker, and maybe that would inspire a vampire to see themselves as superior, at least physically. That doesn’t seem avoidable.

What about our intellectual level? If a vampire has been around for ages, then it has consumed enough knowledge and possibly intelligence to outdo many smart humans. Now if that vampire is a dimwit, then it is a question if that can be cured after many centuries.

How about our emotions? I’m sure vampires feel empathy for their own, but it will be hard for a vampire to have much empathy for its source of blood. How many of us think of cows or pigs when we eat beef or pork? You might if you were a vegetarian or vegan. But if a vampire drinks from humans, then it could have the same attitude that we have toward the animals we eat.

This is why vampires can be such frightening creatures. They are definitely stronger, possibly smarter, and less emotionally inclined towards us. Depending on the vampire’s age, there’s a chance that spending centuries living apart from humans has decreased any empathy levels the vampire might have. It certainly doesn’t help if humans are its source of blood, and it certainly doesn’t help that a vampire has more strength and life experience to likely look down at humans. So, I would not be so surprised if a vampire is callous and even brutal towards humans.

If it were compassionate toward humans, I would wonder its age. Is it a few years into its vampire existence? Then it’s still holding on to its humanity. A few decades old? Then its probably being nostalgic. A few centuries? I would say that compassion is an act and I would advise anyone to think twice of ever spending a few minutes with that vampire. Unless, of course, it has enough age and experience to trick anyone into thinking it is not a vampire, and one with ulterior motives.

If you are interested in learning more about Megan, feel free to explore the following links:

Blog: megancashmanbooks.wordpress.com
Twitter: @MeganCashman
Facebook: Facebook.com/megancashmanbooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519000.Megan_Cashman
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AL4RKE
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/276775

[Vampire Month] Megan Cashman interview

11 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Vampire Month

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Tags

Alexander Skarsgaard, Ann Rice, Dracula, Eric Northman, Gary Oldman, Interview with the Vampire, Interviews, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Megan Cashman, The Dark Proposal, Vampire, Vampire Month


Our second Vampire month contributor is Megan Cashman, a New Yorker and former journalist turned author. She is the author of The Dark Proposal.

1)      What is the earliest memory you have of writing? What did you write about?

As a kid, I used to write about kids at school, and their everyday experiences. I was in first grade when I started doing all this, and I think I did it because even then I had fun creating characters. Image

2)      When did you decide to become a professional writer? Why did you take this step?

I wanted to write a book even as a young kid. It took a long time to take that step because I had other aspirations. But when I was one of many unemployed people in the world, I decided it was a good time to finally write that book.

3)      What would you consider to be your greatest strength as a writer? What about your greatest weakness? How do you overcome this weakness?

My strength is that I have good insight as to what makes people tick. I also think I write scenes that provide good visuals for my readers. My weakness is when I think I may be boring my readers, so I end up cutting parts out that may be necessary for them to understand something. I also tend to be very wordy, so I have to do a lot of editing. I try to overcome my weakness by crafting a paragraph or sentence in a way that doesn’t sound very wordy or boring to a reader. I have to keep my readers in mind when I consider cutting out words.

4)      Tell us about the place where you live. Have you ever derived any inspiration from your home or from anywhere you have visited?

I was born and raised on Staten Island, NY. It hasn’t inspired my work yet, but The Dark Proposal takes place a great deal on Staten Island. I have some future ideas that are inspired by other places I’ve lived or visited.

5)      Which book, if any, would you consider to be your greatest influence and inspiration?

That’s hard to tell because there have been so many. I do wish to write as well as Khaled Hosseini, because his two books The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns are written so beautifully. They also draw you in from the very first sentence, so I hope to do the same with my books

TheDarkProposal_Final_small6)      What drove you to write about Vampires?

They are so appealing! Their immortality, their seduction, their longevity, their power, their arrogance and their fears. There’s something about a creature that lurks in the shadows that makes it more appealing than other paranormal creatures, even though they have their merit too.

 

7)      What do you think is the attraction for Vampire fiction? Why is it such a popular topic?

It depends because there are so many different kinds of vampire stories out there. For some, vampires are the most seductive creatures. For others, they are the most frightening. But others see vampire stories as an opportunity to tell other stories as well. The film, Byzantium, comes to mind.

8)      In a fight between all the greatest Vampires of fiction, who do you think would come out on top?

Oh boy, that’s tough. Dracula is what really brought the creature into the mainstream. Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire humanized it, and influenced vampire stories today. It’s so tough to decide.

9)      What about in some other contest such as sexiness or dress sense? Who would win that one?

I actually found Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula to be both sexy and well dressed. I think the accent helped. But hey, even Alexander Skarsgaard as Eric Northman is good competition for Oldman. Oh jeez, how can I forget Jonathan Rhys Myers as Dracula?jonathan-Rhys-Meyers-in-Dracula-nbc-ftr

10)   How well do you think one of your characters would fare against the winner(s) of the above?

I think Daniel Bertrand, the boyfriend to my main character, will be tough competition for all three. However, once his true nature is revealed, his sexiness plummets quickly.

11)   Tell us the basic premise behind your latest novel.

The Dark Proposal is about a college graduate named Claire McCormick who thought she had the perfect boyfriend in Daniel Bertrand, until he reveals that he is a bloodthirsty vampire with the intent on making her one too. Frightened, she desperately tries to rid herself of him, only to painfully learn that he is too malicious to defeat. She struggles to come to terms with reality as she discovers how unstable the vampire world is in the modern age, and how some of them don’t realize how cruel Daniel is even to them. It is the first book in a trilogy, called The End of Eternity. I am working on the sequel right now, and plan to have it out later this year.

Megan Cashman is a former freelance journalist living in New York City. Always asking, “what if?” she turning toward fiction writing in order to explore our world, and many other worlds. Always analyzing and daydreaming, Megan looks forward to sharing her worlds with many others.

Blog: megancashmanbooks.wordpress.com
Twitter: @MeganCashman
Facebook: Facebook.com/megancashmanbooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519000.Megan_Cashman
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AL4RKE
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/276775

[Vampire Month] Third time’s a charm

01 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Vampire Month

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

IIsabella Favilli, Jonathon Ferguson, Leeds Armouries, Megan Cashman, Vampire Killing Kits, Vampire Month, Vampires, Zoe Adams


So, here we are in the third year of Vampire month. It does not seem like three years since I first had an idea to bring together three authors who all had Vampires in common, ask them some questions and get them to write me a guest post. However, that is how long it has been.[Guest Post] What is Horror? by Rebeka Harrington

For those new to this, Vampire month is dedicated to all things vampire and takes place over the month of March. I could have been predictable and had October be Vampire month, and lost it among a plethora of ghouies, ghosties and long leggity beasties. I could also have thought slightly out of the coffin* and played on the angst ridden romance side of most Vampire stories and had February as Vampire month – tying it all to Valentine’s day. However, I looked at March, all alone and bereft after Valentine’s day, with only a single mentally challenged hare to keep it company while everyone wishes it would just hurry up and finish so they can concentrate on Easter properly, and thought: There’s a month that need some love. Some dark, angsty, abusive Vampire love.

Or maybe, you know, I actually had the idea too late to get everything ready in time for February and really could not wait til October to do it and dumped it all on the first available month I could find and now I am stuck with it.

Decide for yourself which of the above stories is true…

2013-10-30 20.17.06So, on with the month. This year I have what can only be described as an eclectic mix of contributors in that we only have two of them who are actually authors and one of them is being brave enough to submit herself to the process a second time. The other two slots are taken up with an artist and the very left field addition of a museum curator. I’m very excited by both these additions.

So, here is the lineup:

Artist and Digital Imager Isabella Favilli

Author Megan Cashman

Author (and returning alumni) Zoe Adams

Curator of Firearms (and expert on Vampire killing kits) Jonathon Ferguson

Look out for post from all of them as the month progresses.

*like thinking outside of the box but with an undead bias, obviously…

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