An awkward confession…

It’s strange, but whenever a vampire starts talking about their ‘Sire’, my immediate reaction is, ‘Oh, God.’

I’m not sure why. Perhaps because the use of the word ‘sire’ this way is a little artificial, a little trendy even; more probably because that one word carries a whole burden of vampire culture and society on its back. Starting a story with the the phrase My Sire … drops the reader kicking and screaming into a fantasy reality where vampires call their makers ‘Sire’, implying a hierarchical society of ever more powerful, ever more ancient vampires.

I suppose it’s a bit like starting a story with, for example:

The dragon crashed down onto the town square, its fire wreathing in a sinuous dance about the thatched wooden houses, lingering playfully in the dark alleys for a bated instant of frozen time.

Hmm, that’s not bad…