After feeling like a pariah amid most of my fellow Christians because of a subject I write about and feeling the sting of rejection from those I wish would encourage me—after learning to hide the subject of my novels-in-progress from acquaintances—I’ve found out I’m not alone. And I haven’t been alone for years as a Christian writing—and publishing—vampire fiction.
The Portland Writers’ Mill, an Oregon group I’ve been part of since 2016, hosts a monthly writing contest, each month utilizing a different theme. Many members know something about my vampire stories because I have shared some offshoots of the AVS series with the group. Some don’t care for vampires but don’t condemn these writings of mine as sacrilege. Under my contest entry for April, one member commented, “I was surprised to learn that Christian Vampire Romance is apparently materializing as one of the newer genres in Christian bookstores.”
I was floored. This is very good news for me!
Not sure my series qualifies as “romance,” strictly speaking, I googled “Christian vampire fiction.” I found quite a bit of information, to my delight. The first things I read were articles dated 2009. These articles led me to author and book names. One was an interview of Tracey Bateman, who wrote a novel titled Thirsty (WaterBrook Press), at her publisher’s request. She followed it with a sequel, Tandem. I soon ordered Thirsty from a local library and am reading it now.
Other Christian vampire books include Beth Felker Jones’ Touched By a Vampire (Multnomah Books, a very well-known Christian publisher); Eric Wilson’s “Jerusalem’s Undead” trilogy (Thomas Nelson), composed of the novels Field of Blood, Haunt of Jackals, and Valley of Bones; Ted Dekker’s Green (also Thomas Nelson) followed by Black, Red, and White; John B. Olson’s Shade; and Sue Dent’s Never Ceese, Forever Richard, and Cyn No More.
I bought Field of Blood and Shade from Amazon. If I get around to it, I’ll review all these books once I’ve read them.
Robin Layne, Author 