Surviving the Bite-geist

 

Zeitgeist in German means “the spirit of our times.” Clearly the current “spirit” is a hot, blood-sucking vampire. So what does one do if he/she’s not writing about Vamps or Shapeshifting Werewolves, or Ghosts, or Demons, especially ones who are desperately trying to remain on the side of good, or gleefully enjoying playing on the side of bad, or just floundering around in between? You got me.

I haven’t been completely immune from this trend. Although I withstood Anne Rice (despite her time of living in New Orleans, (her Halloween parties were the stuff of legend)), avoided Stephanie Meyer, dodged the allure of True Blood and Vampire Diaries, there was a charming little pair of shows that engaged me like no other: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

I loved them and was influenced by them in my subsequent writing, but I was never interested in writing about vampires, which makes me woefully out of step with the current market.

So what else is new?

What to do? Try to find the next “Spirit” and surf my way to stardom? Lessee, what will be the next evil, night-stalking creature seeking redemption? Bankers? Stockbrokers? CEO’s? Oil Company Execs? Politicians? Now we’re talking REAL evil. Am I up for the challenge? Probably not. Unlike vampires and werewolves, those guys aren't really capable of change.

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