Author Daven Anderson

I met Daven almost two years ago. He’s first novel Vampire Syndrome is pretty awesome. You should read it. I’m confident the second novel is the same. He’s given us an excerpt. Thank you Daven for coming by. 😀

Jack Wendell:

The good news: Zetania’s still alive.

The bad news: The Pures want to trade her for me.

I’ll do it. I can save Zetania and prevent a war between the
Human Vampires and the Pures. She can’t declare a war if the Pures keep their bargain. I wouldn’t let her. I might have to be a servant to those shark-toothed monsters for the rest of my life, but thousands of human Vampires will get to live in peace because of my choice. At least I will know in my heart that I am a hero. Sometimes heroes don’t get recognized for what they did, but a real hero doesn’t care about that.

Damien’s not gonna like this. He wants to go into the Pures’
hideout with me, to “keep me safe.” Hah. He wants to attack them. I saw how he looked at Gl’Ag on the video screen. I told Damien we’d be way outnumbered in the cave, but he didn’t seem to care. Problem is, he might not be planning to get out of the Pures’ hideout alive. I’m afraid he’s gonna hide a big bomb in his leather coat. Then we’d all be dead. Zetania told me about how she visited heaven and saw her family after the car crash. I’d want Coach Ron and Diane to be in heaven with me after I die. But that could take a long time, since they’re Vampires now.

Or maybe not. Coach Ron and Diane just told Damien they’d be
willing to go in the Pures’ hideout with us.

“No, don’t do it!” I yell. “Please, I beg you. Stay
outside and be safe.”

“Zetania would do it for you,” Diane says.

A tear slides down my cheek. Diane’s right. I know Zetania
would. Damn it all, we’re doomed.

BIO
Daven Anderson spends his nights modifying cars for the Council of Thirteen’s elite Venator law enforcers; because when you’re a Vampire, there’s no such thing as “too much horsepower.” Daven brings supercharged concept cars to life, so the Venators have the power they need to chase rabid vampires, chupacabras, cattle-mutilating aliens, vampire hunters, and whoever or whatever else the Council deems a threat to the security of the Vampire community.

The Venators love to have long conversations with Daven while he works on their cars. Unbeknownst to them, Daven has been secretly recording the Venators’ tales, using them as the basis for the Vampire Syndrome saga. After a long night’s work, Daven plays back the tapes, transcribes the best excerpts and sends them as “fiction writing” to the unsuspecting staff members at PDMI Publishing, LLC.

The normal people’s constant misrepresentations and misunderstandings of Vampires over the last three centuries, culminating in the most recent shimmering, over-emoting caricatures of “vampires”, finally motivated Daven to “hide the truth in plain sight” with the Vampire Syndrome saga. Thanks to Daven’s transcriptions, with the assistance of PDMI Publishing, LLC, the normal world can at long last read the tales of the Vampires’ elite law enforcers, without the sugar-coated glittering stardust that passes for modern “vampire fiction.”

Daven has just finished his second volume of transcriptions from the Venators’ tales, soon to be released as a “fiction novel” titled “Vampire Conspiracy” (coming soon from PDMI Publishing, LLC)

Available now: Vampire Syndrome (Kindle) http://viewbook.at/B00AMRGKZU
(Paperback) http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Syndrome-Saga-Book-Adult/dp/1940812135/

Today I have a really special treat for all you vampire-philes!! Daven Anderson from “Vampire Syndrome” agreed to write a special article for Vampire Wednesday. I’m honored to present. . .

“Vampires versus vampires”
Daven Anderson

One of my main motivations when crafting the Vampire Syndrome universe was to create a world where vampires make sense in both scientific and folkloric terms.

This was not an easy task.

Making sense of science’s yin and folklore’s yang ultimately required two types of vampires. Human vampires, and alien vampires.

A spaceship full of carnivorous predatory humanoids crashes in what is now Romania 25,000 years ago. A number of normal humans are suffused with the aliens’ DNA over time, creating mutant hybrids known as human vampires.

Many science fiction authors would say that aliens are a “convenience” for writers, allowing them to explain almost anything scientifically. And they’re right.

But when you analyze existing life forms on Earth, and compare them to many folkloric attributes of vampires, you find many things that simply do not apply to any animal on Earth.

Does any animal on Earth disintegrate to dust in direct sunlight? Does any animal above the jellyfish level lack an “end-of-life” aging sequence in their DNA? Can large animals cling to flat-surfaced walls and ceilings without the aid of claws or tools?

The human body has millions of years of evolved tolerance for direct sunlight. Could even DNA mutation change this (without killng the host)? I don’t think so. Thus, my human vampires can go about in daylight, just as normal human beings do.

The aliens, or “Pures”, are another story. Since the Pures evolved on planet Sek’Met, which has full cloud cover, they have no tolerance for direct UV radiation. Or for acidic plants such as onions and garlic (!!) which don’t exist on their home world.

Ironically, a scientific case could be made for “immortality”, as it may become possible in the future to slow or stop humans’ end-of-life DNA programming through scientific means. In my case, the infusion of the “immortal” alien DNA merely slows down the humans’ aging process to one-tenth its normal rate. A personal choice here, as I could have gone for “immortality” by this means. Folklore is reconciled by the fact that normal humans would not live long enough to see human vampires age very much, hence the presumption of immortality.

The Pures’ immortality reflects the conditions of evolving on Sek’Met, where all life forms are predators. Evolution has gifted them with inner gravitational forces, an important advantage for survival on any planet. An advantage no life form on Earth enjoys.

However, the human vampires’ evolved tolerance for sunlight and normal food (among other things) give them a huge advantage for survival on this planet, consequently they far outnumber the alien vampires.

The human and alien vampires are also metaphors for the vampires of modern fiction and the vampires of ancient folklore respectively. A conflict has arisen in the last century as the vampire has evolved from the revenant to the revered. Many readers long for the “good old days” when vampires inspired terror instead of teenage lust.

With “Vampire Syndrome”, I give my readers human vampires that are fully human, far beyound simply being “goody-goody” paranormal romance tropes. And the fans of the classic “monster” will take delight in the Pures, the human vampires’ terrifying yet realistic foes. The demon bloodsuckers that haunt your dreams, at last reconciled with science.

Vampires versus Vampires. And you, the reader, win.

***Daven Anderson Bio***

On June 13, 2009, Daven Anderson’s life changed. After forty years of reading other people’s stories, the impetus to create finally struck. Daven set about to fill two large “voids” in the field of modern fiction. One; to create a story where a person with special needs is portrayed as a wise, dignified hero, without being bogged down in a mawkish sentimentality that turns many readers away. The other; create a new class of vampire book where the back story makes complete sense in both scientific and folkloric terms. Where the conflict betweent two types of vampires, human and alien, lets readers explore (and debate) what it really means to be “human.”

Many would see the concepts of “a wise hero with special needs” and “vampires struggling to define and maintain their humanity” to be mutually exclusive, yet “Vampire Syndrome” proves these pair of concepts can be seamlessly integrated, and complementary. People with special needs struggle to define and maintain their humanity on a daily basis. As Daven’s main character Jack Wendell finds out, becoming a human Vampire besets him with a myriad of new problems. The challenges he faced in becoming a record-setting Special Olympics champion athlete pale next to the road he now must run. The hidden world of the Vampires, where even living to see the next sunrise will be a challenge for him. Even if he survives the challenges from other human Vampires, Jack will also have to deal with the alien Vampires.

When Daven first submitted his novel to publishers, his “pitch” drew widespread attention. PDMI Publishing LLC was able to see beyond the single-sentence “Forrest Gump meets War Of The Roses” pitch, and appreciate the true meanings behind “Vampire Syndrome.” To deliver the message of “a dignified hero with special needs” to those who would never read a book like “Forrest Gump.” To build a vampire world free of the “plausibility holes” that pause many readers dead in their tracks. And to be the first book that offers a sensible explanation for the menacing Blue Mustang statue at Denver International Airport. Unlike many other vampire novels, You do not have to check your sense of humor at the door to read “Vampire Syndrome.”

Daven’s writing credo is simply this: “Build the world first, and the writing will follow.” All too many speculative fiction writers build their stories’ universes as the writer goes along, and it shows. As several readers have said, “The scariest part of Vampire Syndrome is that everything makes sense.”

***Links***
Meet The Vampires

Vampire Syndrome

Vampire Syndrome.org

Muse With Coffee book review

Purchase on Amazon Links:
Paperback (YA)