I'll Take Mine Tall Dark and Deadly, Please

I was recently asked to guest blog as a part of a weeklong event celebrating the thrills and chills of Halloween. I decided to write about my love of vampires—what attracts me to them, and why so many of my works involve a vampire hero. Many authors have a niche, and while we might occasionally stray, it’s difficult to let go of something for which we have such passion. Personally, while I enjoy short writing interludes or novellas with characters living in the “real world,” I much prefer fantastical backdrops, characters, or both.

For those of you who have a niche, what is it? Why do you find yourself drawn there again and again? What attracts you? For me, it’s the dark, redeemable character, so long as he’s sans the angst prevalent in a lot of vampire novels. Not that there’s anything wrong with it—it is popular for a reason—but I like my heroes to be confident, snarky, but not infallible. Waiting for the right woman to turn them to mush. I can’t explain it—other than it terrified my mother until I met my sweetheart nerd of a husband.

We write what we want to read, and writers tend to read what they want to write. So what draws you to your favored genres and heroes? What gets your muse cranked? What gets you excited? How did you find your passion?