And now back from that (month-long) commercial break. During my blogging hiatus, I ventured down to the wonderful literary city of New Orleans. First, on a non-literary note, I purchased my second mask from a great shop right off Jackson Square. The first time I was down there I got a purple and gold beauty with gorgeous black and purple feathers. This time, it was all about the red and black. Makes me think of The Phantom walking down into the crowded ballroom dressed as the Red Death… except I’m pretty sure I’m less scary than him. And if you’re all lucky, maybe I’ll post a photo. I’ve got quite the little collection started.
A year ago when I visited good ol’ NOLA, I was trying to find my way to Bourbon Street and overshot by just a bit. (This is shocking, I know, but for some reason the smell of stale beer and nudie bars hadn’t quite reached me). Anyway, I was wandering down those gaslight alleyways and stumbled upon a tour of literary and not so literary ghouls, ghosts and vampires. I stuck to the shadows and listened to the guide wind a tale of blood and intrigue in 1800s homes that looked then just like they do today. And it was awesome.
When I was back down in NOLA just a couple of weeks ago, I found a little shop a la Vampyre. It was a little trinket-y for my taste—what with the TruBlood wares and all, but it was cute. I mean, who wouldn’t want the bottled spirits of long dead Vamps?
The reason I’m bringing this up is that I have a confession to make. It’s important that you all know: I dig Vampires. I dig ‘em, and I write ‘em. I will qualify that I’m more of an Anne Rice and Charlaine Harris fan than certain other popular authors. I’ve loved and read vampire (and other similar supernatural series) since I was in high school. It was my form of YA lit, and I couldn’t have been happier. In fact, these authors and others, including the amazing Sherrilyn Kenyon, are a big part of the reason why I write today, and a HUGE reason for the big news I’m going to be sharing very, very soon about my writing.
I didn’t have too much time to explore NOLA Vamp culture, but if you’ve gotten to take the tour and really dig in to it all, let me know. I’d love to hear your stories!
Suzanne Rigdon 