Margaret L. Carter, Revisited
They are another humanoid species, evolved naturally. Well, they do, in fact, originate as aliens from a distant planet, but since only a few of the very oldest vampires are aware of this origin, I can ignore it for purposes of my fiction. (For one thing, it would bring up the question of how they're able to interbreed with human mates.) These vampires first appeared in a story by my husband, "Vanishing Breed," published in 1970 in my first book, a paperback anthology, CURSE OF THE UNDEAD. "Vanishing Breed," in which the vampires' extraterrestrial ancestry is revealed and they decided to flee from Earth to escape persecution, was reprinted in TOMORROW SUCKS, edited by Greg Cox, which is still in print (it's on Amazon.com). When I decided to adapt characters from my older vampire fiction to fit into this theory of vampirism, I fiddled with them for years until I got the characteristics of the species established in the way that worked for me. I find it fascinating when authors produce plausible natural explanations for supernatural creatures, so I enjoyed trying to fit as many traditional vampire traits as possible into my blood-drinking species. The animal kingdom includes creatures capable of many weird and wonderful feats, which can explain vampire traits at least to the satisfaction of a non-biologist such as me, and, I hope, to readers. As my vampires evolved within my fiction, I couldn't help picking up ideas from fantastic books such as George R. R. Martin's FEVRE DREAM, Elaine Bergstrom's SHATTERED GLASS, Jacqueline Lichtenberg's THOSE OF MY BLOOD, and above all, THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY by Suzy McKee Charnas, one of the dozen or so great vampire novels of the 20th century and the ultimate vampire as alien story. As for the milk, it's not uncommon in folklore for vampires to be accused of drying up cows by stealing their milk. It also appears in a classic tale, "The Horla," by Guy de Maupassant, in which the invisible vampiric creature drinks milk.
Why did you choose to have most of their problems centering around their addictions, addiction to blood and particular human donors? Is this a romance gimmick or something more?
It's partly a romance gimmick, of course, because the vampires need a reason to be drawn to human lovers rather than just taking blood and energy from random victims and otherwise ignoring them. The theme has a precedent, however, in the classic CARMILLA by
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