Behind The Book (A Silver Kiss)
Scribbling away every night until 1am for about 3 months was nothing short of a challenge. My family were forgetting who I was... but my vampires were always very pleased to see me.
My vampiric influences began at a very young age, with Count Dracula from Sesame Street. I'm sure this must have have been the deciding factor in my subsequently finding vampires cute and cuddly more often than not!
I never held any fear of them, just open fascination. When I was about 6 years old, my mother was open minded enough to buy me a Dracula head that gave a cackling laugh and flashed red eyes whenever a cord was pulled. I loved it. It had the pride of place above my bed where I'm sure my grandmother would have rather I had a crucifix.
In creating this book, I wanted to bring together all the vampire books, films and legends that have affected me greatly, into a gothic, lyrical delight. Within A Silver Kiss, you will find references and indications to traditional, vampire lore, spattered with (often very subtle) elements of Joss Whedon's Buffyverse, Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Murnau's Nosferatu and, of course, True Blood.
My motivation was a desire to explore the darker aspects of our minds and how we think, both as individuals and within society. Vampires are a huge hit; everybody seems to have room in their psyches for a vampire. Why the fascination with the parasitic undead? What do vampires teach us about ourselves? What places within us do they reach that other monsters cannot?
Most of the verses within this book are lyrical - they tell a story - but not all the stories end well, even when the hero of the piece has defeated the hunter. The poems Another Face and Just A Scratch are prime examples of how, when it comes to the darkest parts of who we are, there is no good or bad. 'Winning' is not as simple a task as beating the bad guy; it is only achieved by searching deep within and asking, why does my shadow exist? The vampire, I believe, holds the answer."
Dianna Hardy
12th October, 2010
My vampiric influences began at a very young age, with Count Dracula from Sesame Street. I'm sure this must have have been the deciding factor in my subsequently finding vampires cute and cuddly more often than not!
I never held any fear of them, just open fascination. When I was about 6 years old, my mother was open minded enough to buy me a Dracula head that gave a cackling laugh and flashed red eyes whenever a cord was pulled. I loved it. It had the pride of place above my bed where I'm sure my grandmother would have rather I had a crucifix.
In creating this book, I wanted to bring together all the vampire books, films and legends that have affected me greatly, into a gothic, lyrical delight. Within A Silver Kiss, you will find references and indications to traditional, vampire lore, spattered with (often very subtle) elements of Joss Whedon's Buffyverse, Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Murnau's Nosferatu and, of course, True Blood.
My motivation was a desire to explore the darker aspects of our minds and how we think, both as individuals and within society. Vampires are a huge hit; everybody seems to have room in their psyches for a vampire. Why the fascination with the parasitic undead? What do vampires teach us about ourselves? What places within us do they reach that other monsters cannot?
Most of the verses within this book are lyrical - they tell a story - but not all the stories end well, even when the hero of the piece has defeated the hunter. The poems Another Face and Just A Scratch are prime examples of how, when it comes to the darkest parts of who we are, there is no good or bad. 'Winning' is not as simple a task as beating the bad guy; it is only achieved by searching deep within and asking, why does my shadow exist? The vampire, I believe, holds the answer."
Dianna Hardy
12th October, 2010
