Midnight's Daughter, by Karen Chance:

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I'm thrilled that Midnight's Daughter is finally being published (October 2008). It was written all the way back in 2006, so I was beginning to wonder if it would ever see the light of day (so to speak). Dorina Basarab is a dhampir, with a human mother and a vampire father. She's also stark staring mad. It's the result of a human body combined with the vampire killing instinct, and while she isn't insane all the time, she does have frequent psychotic episodes. She doesn't normally remember what took place during these, but the body count that she finds on waking usually gives her a clue.

Dory's unusual psychology made her both fun and a challenge to write. How does a crazy person think, anyway? (The rumors that I'd know all about that personally are, of course, vicious lies). Exploring her father issues was another interesting aspect-dysfunctional doesn't start to cover it when one part of the family is naturally designed to prey on another. And just to make it a little more complicated, how would Dory handle being forced to take on a dangerous assignment with a master vampire for a partner? Especially if said vampire was dug up by her estranged father and was one to whom she felt a very unwilling attraction?

Ah, fun times.

The book was interesting for me personally because I had long wanted to include more back story on Mircea, a central figure in the Cassie Palmer novels, but hadn't had an opportunity. This book gave me one, and I took full advantage. Mircea is an example of a character that was lifted (aka stolen) from the pages of history. Of course, I'm in good company there. When Bram Stoker heard about Vlad III Tepes, the fourteenth century Wallachian ruler who reputedly liked to dine amid the bodies of the captives he'd impaled, he just had to make him the centerpiece of his groundbreaking novel Dracula. After all, why make up a character when there's a perfectly serviceable one just hanging around, not doing anything? And if it was good enough for Bram, it's good enough for me.

Of course, Vlad was just a tad too gory for a convincing hero, but fortunately, he had an older brother who fit the bill perfectly. First, Mircea was killed early in life, so he'd be the right age for my character (as opposed to Vlad or Radu, the youngest brother, who both died in middle age). Second, a lot less is known about him, which gave me some leeway in creating my own character. For example, there are no paintings of him extant, so I could (within reason) have him look the way I wanted. And third, neither Vlad Dracula nor Radu were exactly nice guys. Mircea comes across better in the little information we have on him, as a loyal son and an excellent battlefield commander, and so fit the type of person I wanted.

I hope you'll find Mircea and Dory's story to be well worth the wait.

Tomorrow: Novel vs. Short Story!

View more information on Karen Chance's Embrace the Night.

Embrace the Night, novel, urban fantasy, vampire, thriller, Cassandra Palmer, Penguin Books, books