About

Welcome to my WordPress.com homepage and blog.

I was born in England, grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, and live now in Newcastle upon Tyne with my beautiful wife and daughter. I feel Scottish but can’t claim to be so. My claim to Englishness is not very certain either… So I am both, and I am neither.

I have written and self-published (on Amazon for Kindle) two novels, a short novella, and a collection of short stories and poems; I have two short stories in charity anthologies.

I enjoy writing, and I am interested in unusual human nature, such as non-binary gender and sexuality, or the interplay of dark and light in the transformation of human to vampire.

Critics can be fierce!

Want to know even more? Here are some interviews with me that other bloggers have kindly given:

• Aromancing Cinderella – an aromantic interpretation of Cinderella, over at Elaine White’s Vampires, Crime and Angels blog
• Vampires and the Heroic Feminine – my inspirations and obsessions, over at Dyane Forde’s Dropped Pebbles blog
• Damn Straight – musing on identity and orientation over at Adrian Smith’s blog
• Michael Brookes’ The Cult of Me
• Alexandra Butcher’s Library of Erana
• Alana Munro’s Reach for the Stars
• Emily Birch’s Afternoon Bookery

This blog started out last September on goodreads as a place for me to discuss my books and other subjects of interest to me. At the start of November, having become rather frustrated with the limited flexibility of the goodreads blog, I copied everything over to WordPress.com and started exploring other blogs.

My blog, despite its vampiric subtitle, has a number of themes:

1. My novels, etc. – of course.
2. Popular tropes – especially romantic, sexual and superhero – in vampire fiction.
3. Reviews and discussion of vampire fiction.
4. Reviews of erotic poetry.
5. My poems.
6. My short stories.
7. Iphigenia.

I think most of my followers are more interested in my poems and poetry reviews than in anything else. There are a few people with an interest in vampires, and a few with an interest in the reviews of F/F erotica and discussion of sexuality tropes. I don’t know whether anyone cares about Iphigenia…

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My Top Ten … Most Viewed (newer posts)

Hardcore Lesbian Pornstars

You know, this is funny. My most-viewed post is probably my least-read post. Which is a shame, because it’s a story both sweet and sexy.

The people who might actually enjoy this are probably put off by the title, imagining that they will find lots of images of generally offensive and disturbingly graphic lesbian sex. The people who do actually visit the page are probably doing so for exactly the same reason – and are almost certainly disappointed with what they find.

My Top Ten … Modern Vampire Novels

This gets a fairly steady stream of views, maybe 2-3 each week on average, and it’s interesting to see which links people follow (usually the links to other people’s lists of vampire books). It also got a few mentions on Twitter and Facebook, which really boosted the views initially.

Free Vampire!

A combination of a catchy title, the promise of free stuff, and a mention on Facebook (this post on What to read after Fifty (50) Shades of Grey, I think).

Red Stilettos

A post about stilettos, particularly red stilettos, and ending with a review of Xia Devore’s From Pink Bows To Red Stilettos. This received a huge number of hits in a very short space of time after Xia notified her fans of it. It still gets one or two posts trickling in now, but perhaps these are general curiosity. After all, who doesn’t love red stilettos?

The Female Vampire

This was a very important post for me – I spent a long time putting it together. It’s nice to see it getting an occasional view, and sometimes a link or two being followed.

First Person, Present Tense and POV

This is a long article talking about writing. There are many other articles out there with people talking on the same subject, of course, but this gets an occasional view.

Blood, Sex and Inhumanity

This is another one of those posts that I think gets attention for the wrong reasons. The title refers to the title of my novel Suzie and the Monsters – a fairytale of blood, sex and inhumanity… but I think most random views are picking up the inhumanity and looking for something else.

Interview With Two Sexy Vampires

This was fun to write. I find most character interviews to be tediously dull, and I had no real intention of doing one. One concern is the question of when the interview takes place. Is it after the events of the novel (uh, oh – spoilers)? Before (additional backstory)? During (er…)?

But then the idea of doing an interview with my two main characters chattering away in a fun, sexy way, on subjects that had nothing to do with the novel itself… well, that could be kinda fun, and I think the result is well worth the major spoiler.

More Free Vampires!

Once again the catchy title and promise of free stuff.

Brandy Nacole – Uniquely Unwelcome

It’s nice to see my only guest post so far has managed to make this list.

 

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My Top Ten … Most Viewed (older posts)

Romantic and Sexual Orientations

Homosexuality is merely the first step into a wide spectrum of possible sexual orientations, and romantic orientation doesn’t necessarily match.

Hymen Enraged

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that the hymen is a partial barrier somewhere, you know, up there, that, er, must be broken when the woman loses her &c.

The Inevitability Of Evil

This is just a short post, but I think the title is luring people in for a peek.

Toothless Vampires

Definitely the title… What, no fangs? Or just no real bite?

The Romantic Spellchecker

I have no idea what brings people to this post, but I’m glad they come.

Bisexual Vampire Stalks London Town!

Catchy ‘bisexual’ title. Links to YouTube videos – come and watch!

The Bisexual Question

Catchy ‘bisexual’ title again. This is one of a series of posts looking at sexuality tropes in vampire fiction.

The Hunger – Vampire Music?

There’s a lot of beautiful music in The Hunger – I can’t be the only person wondering what it all is.

Iphigenia at Brauron

Given the apparent lack of interest in my other Iphigenia posts, I’d love to know why this one pulls in the views.

Tired of all the sex?

Gotta love that title… But haven’t you ever found yourself skimming the sex scenes so you can get back to the story?

Cosmic Vampires

Sex, superheroes and vampires… Read all about it!