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Margaret L. Carter - Dark Changeling

© Linda Suzane

Margaret L. Carter confesses that when she read Dracula at the age of 12, it changed her life. A lifelong vampire fan, she earned a Ph. D., with a dissertation that included a chapter on DRACULA. Her scholarly works include DRACULA: THE VAMPIRE AND THE CRITICS, THE VAMPIRE IN LITERATURE: A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, and SPECTER OR DELUSION? THE SUPERNATURAL IN GOTHIC FICTION. She hosts a vampire book review site called the Realm of Vampires and each January produces a vampire fiction bibliography update. She also edits a semiannual magazine of vampire literature called THE VAMPIRE'S CRYPT.

A SHORT INTERVIEW

For you, what is it that makes vampires so interesting to write about?

While I can enjoy a traditional undead, evil, delightfully terrifying vampire if done well, I have a special fascination with fiction that gets into the mind of the "monster" (in quotes because many contemporary vampires turn out not to be monsters in the traditional sense). I see the appeal of the vampire as much like that of Spock in STAR TREK -- a being who looks human but is not quite human, capable of giving us an alien perspective on human existence. Also, the vampire, to me, has an exotic sexual appeal similar to that of Spock or any other not-quite-human, mysteriously aloof and powerful but potentially vulnerable creature, with whom intimacy will be hard to achieve but very rewarding when attained. And the erotic symbolism of blood in the vampire's feeding/lovemaking (overlapping or even identical for most fictional vampires, which is how they differ from the undead of legend) has always attracted me.

Are you currently working on any new vampire projects?

SEALED IN BLOOD, a romance set in the same universe as DARK CHANGELING, will be released by Dark Star Publications this year (2001). This book is currently available from Amber Quill. http://www.amberquill.com Also, I have completed another vampire romance and am working on a new one. Meanwhile, the Hard Shell Word Factory is considering the sequel to DARK CHANGELING.

Any other projects you want to talk about?

There's a nonfiction study of what I call "the vampire as alien," i.e., another species living among us, which I hope to get into print within about a year. I will probably offer it as an e-book while waiting for the print version to be published. This book is now available from Amber Quill. Also, Nocturnis Publications, a small press in

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