Stephenie Meyer, author of the bestselling teen vampire romance novel and its three successors: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn….possibly a fifth, Midnight Sun. Meyer visited the set of Twilight during filming and was even asked to give notes/suggestions once a rough cut of the film was put together. According to the novelist, she was included in the process and believes director Catherine Hardwicke found the right actors to bring her vampires, and the humans they interact with, to life on the big screen.

Stephenie Meyer Interview

Why would you say is the reason for the incredible popularity of the series that you started? What do you think the essence of why so many 12 and 14 year old girls cannot live without reading every one of these books?

Stephenie Meyer: “I don’t know. It’s hard for me to answer that because for me it’s an absolute mystery. I read a lot of books and some of them that I love are really popular and there are just others that I just think, ‘Why isn’t everybody in the world reading this book? It’s so amazing.’ So when one book takes off it’s, ‘Why? Why does it ever happen?’ I don’t know why people respond to these books the way they do. I know why I do, because I wrote it for me. It’s exactly what I wanted to read so of course I’m really hooked on it, and for other people it’s kind of bizarre actually.”

Did you write it with the idea of it was going to be sort of like preteens or young teenage girls? That was going to be your audience?

Stephenie Meyer: “No, I had a very specific audience and it was a 29 year old mother of three. No one was ever supposed to read this except for me and if I’d had any idea that anyone else would ever see what I was doing, I would have never been able to finish it – way, way too much pressure.”

I’m curious about how much input you had with the script and how much they listened to you as far as lines that you needed to keep in or events.

Stephenie Meyer: “It was a really pleasant exchange from the beginning, which is I think not very typical. I don’t know. They were really interested in my ideas and I didn’t go in thinking… I really didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I don’t know how to make a movie, I didn’t want to get in the way and make it worse or, you know, screw it up somehow. So I let them come to me, and they did. And they kept me in the loop and with the script, they let me see it and said, ‘What are your thoughts?’ And so they really opened themselves up there, and I sent them back the script with red marks, the whole thing. And it was stuff like, ‘Wouldn’t Bella say this more like this? Wouldn’t this sound more like her voice?’ It wasn’t like, ‘This whole scene needs to go,’ because it was in really good shape from the beginning. But they let me have input on it and I think they took 90 percent of what I said and just incorporated it right in to the script.”

There was a key line about the lion and the lamb that you insisted they keep.

Stephenie Meyer: “You know, that was an interesting thing because I actually think the way Melissa [Rosenberg] wrote it sounded better for the movie. It really did. It was just a little bit more relaxed, but the problem is is that line is actually tattooed on peoples’ bodies and, you know, which I don’t approve of by the way. But I said, ‘You know, if you take that one and change it, that’s a potential backlash situation.’ And if there’s a place where we can make it, you know, give a little shout out to the fans, do something for them, that was what I thought about that.”

Is it true that you didn’t want to commit to the film until they promised you there would be no fangs?

Stephenie Meyer: “Yes. It was an interesting thing because when we started out with this I actually sold the rights to a different company. I got a look at a script that, you know, objectively [was] probably a decent vampire movie that had nothing at all to do with Twilight. It was just you could have produced that movie and never given me any credit because it wasn’t anything to do with the books. And that was kind of a horrifying experience. Like, I had realized it could go wrong and that they could do it badly, but that they would do something that had nothing at all to do with the story, it was kind of shocking to me. And I know that’s because I’m really naïve. So when I went back in to this and I had learned and Summit said, ‘We really want to do this.’ And I was weary and I said, ‘You know, I’m just not sure.’ And they said, ‘What can we do for you?’ I said, ‘What if I give you a list of things that absolutely can’t be changed?’ And I’m not talking like I said, ‘Okay, you have to read…and it has to be exactly like the book.’ It was very fundamental outline things like, you know, the vampires have to have the basic rules of the vampire world I’ve created, which means no fangs, which means no coffins, which means they sparkle in the sunlight. The characters have to exist by their present names and in their present forms and you can’t kill anyone who doesn’t die in the book, and just basic things like that that were really just the foundation of the story.”

And you got that in writing?

Stephenie Meyer: “I got it in writing. That’s the best thing about working with a new company, is they’re really open to working with you. You don’t get that with, you know, a big, huge group.”

How did you get the rights back?

Stephenie Meyer: “The option period was up and they weren’t going to use it, and that’s actually where Summit came in and said, ‘Can we roll over your option? Can we have it?’ And I wouldn’t have done it because I, you know, I’d learned my lesson except that they, I could tell, if I’d come to them and given them this list and say, ‘Okay, these are the things I want,’ and they had hesitated or put on the breaks and said, ‘Wow, I’m not sure about this…’ But they were like, ‘Oh, of course.’ And so I knew that they wanted to do it the way it was in my head.”

You were approached before you were actually published, so did that change the way you wrote the next few books? Did you write them more cinematically thinking they might turn into films?

Stephenie Meyer: “No. What’s funny about that is when I was writing Twilight just for myself and not thinking of it as a book, I was not thinking about publishing, and yet at the same time I was casting it in my head. Because when I read books, I see them very visually. I cast every book I read pretty much. I’m like, ‘Who could play this? Who would do this?’ I did exactly the same thing when I was writing it. So if I hadn’t had that feeling about it, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to do a movie in the first place because it’s a huge risk. And it was that sense that this was a natural step for the story that made me feel like I could go ahead with it. With the others it was very similar but I had already had a movie, it was like a movie anyway with the first one, and so the others were very similar but it was the same experience.”

Did you have any direct interaction with the actors and what did you think of Catherine Hardwicke? She’s kind of an interesting person as well as a director.

Stephenie Meyer: “You know, Catherine’s fantastic. The first time we started talking to each other about things I was surprised because I knew this was the person whose focus was going to shape this film. And so if this person had a different idea from me, it wasn’t going to turn out very much like how I had seen it in my head. And we were on the same page from the very beginning and things that I was worried about, she was already on top of. And I would be like, ‘Hey Catherine, you know, about the wardrobe, I’m a little worried that this is going to go all chokers and leather and everything.’ And she was like, ‘Oh no, I’ve already talked to the wardrobe person and we’re thinking ice and this is what we want it to look like,’ and it was exactly what I wanted. So she was great because she got it the same way I got it and I just really loved working with her. And, you know, we’re kind of buddies. She’s really cool to hang out with. She’s just an awesome person. But tell me the first part of your question again because I have lost it.”

Dealing directly with actors, did you have any connection with Robert Pattinson?

Stephenie Meyer: “A little bit, a little bit. With Rob actually, we sat down and talked about Edward’s character before the filming started and I’d just come in and met everyone. It wasn’t an argument, but we actually disagree on his character. I’d be like, ‘No, this is how it is.’ He’s like, ‘No, it’s definitely this way.’ And the funny part about it, you know, is here we are arguing about a fictional character and yet in the performance he did what he wanted and yet it was still exactly what I wanted. So that was really cool.”

When you saw the finished film what was your most significant moment where you sort of felt dislocated from the finished film as opposed to the world you had in your head? And was there also a similar moment where you also felt there it is, the world in your head?

Stephenie Meyer: “You know, it was a funny experience and it’s hard to pull out a moment because as a whole it was just so overwhelming. I think probably if you just said the first scene because it took me a minute, you know, and I was so braced for it because what if it was really horrid? So I was just like all ready for it to be bad, you know? Almost watching through my fingers and I had my little notepad because it was a rough cut and I was going to give them the notes on what I wanted. So after a couple of minutes and you start getting into this voice and you start hearing Kristen’s voice and then it becomes Bella’s voice, and you see it in the scenes, it got to where I completely forgot why I was there. And all the scenes, there were so many things that were like déjà vu to see them that when the movie was over and the producer, I was with her, she said, ‘Okay, let’s have your notes,’ and I said, ‘Give me a minute. I really have to just…’ I was so overwhelmed. I had to just have a moment to just sit and think because there was so much to take in and it was so many scenes were the way I had envisioned them. There was partially creepy and partially wonderful.”

Could you tell us a little bit, since you wrote this for yourself, what was the day you sat down and said I’m going to do this, and how did it get published and how did it all work?

Stephenie Meyer: “You know, I don’t think many authors have as specific an answer to that question as I do. It all started June 2nd 2003 and I have the exact, I know the exact date because I have all these other things on my calendar that I had to do that day. And I had this really great dream. I tell this story a lot and I think it starts to sound like I’m making it up, but I’m not. I had an awesome dream and it was odd because it was coherent, because it was a really complicated conversation, and because I don’t ever dream about vampires. So that was also very odd. And I woke up and I just was wrapped up in this idea of what was going to happen next. You know, was he going to kill her or were they going to be together, because it was fifty/fifty at that point. And I wrote it down because there were a lot of nuances to the conversation I didn’t want to forget and I knew they would go. I forget everything. And once I got started within that day I was completely hooked on writing, and this was something brand new to me. I had no ambitions for a writing career. I had a career and I was really busy with it.”

Your full-time career was being a mother?

Stephenie Meyer: “Being a mother, which is about the most full-time job you could have. And I had three little boys and there was no time to do something else, but I was obsessed with it from the first day. I mean here, I’d painted before, I’d done a couple of other little creative endeavors that always, they were good, you know? It felt good to be creative but it wasn’t completely fulfilling. And then writing, it was like I just found it, you know? Like you just found your favorite flavor of ice cream, all of a sudden there it is. ‘This is what I should have been doing for the last 30 years. What was I thinking?’ So I was, then I was in and then I had to just keep going with it.”

How did you get it published?

Stephenie Meyer: “Sheer luck or fate or what have you. I had the easiest publishing experience in the entire world. I sent out 15 courier letters to agents, got five no replies, nine rejections and one I want to see it. A month later I had an agent. Another month later I had a three book deal with Little Brown. And it does not happen that way. If you expect that going in, get ready for heartbreak.”

Did you believe this was happening?

Stephenie Meyer: “No, I still don’t.”

You listened to Muse a lot when you were writing this. How important was it to you that they be on the soundtrack in some form?

Stephenie Meyer: “You know, I knew that that was out of my hands with the music. I think I would have always felt like there was something lacking in the soundtrack if they hadn’t been a part of it. And then even more so knowing what I know now, having seen how Muse brings that scene to life and how just, that’s a moment when everything – music, action, atmosphere comes together so perfectly. I mean how could you not have that? I mean it would just not be right if you didn’t have Supermassive Black Hole playing in that scene. It was so perfect. So, you know, watching that, I think that was one of the most surprisingly enjoyable things. I knew I was going to enjoy it but not that much. That was cool.”

Why this enduring interest in vampires?

Stephenie Meyer: “Well my answer here has to be hypothetical because I am not a vampire fan and I never have been. I don’t do horror. I’m an enormous scaredy-cat. Hitchcock is about as much as I can handle and I love it, but anything more than that and you’re not going to see me in the theater. And I have never gotten it – why are people obsessed with vampires, you know? I know a lot of people who are. I’m actually surprised now I know how many more people are, and so the fact I would write about them is wildly out of character for me and bizarre. And nobody who knows me believed it for a really long time. But this is my theory, having talked to a lot of people about why do you like vampires so much. Besides myself, it seems like everybody really loves to be scared in a controlled environment. Horror movies do really well, you know? It’s a big industry. People read a lot of scary books. So I’m missing that gene, but clearly we like to be scared and they look at the monsters we can scare ourselves with and most of them are disgusting and, you know, gruesome and they’re covered in nasty things. We don’t want anything from them; we just want to get away from them. They’re just there to scare us. And then we’ve got vampires who are often beautiful and eternally youthful and rich and cultured and they live in castles. There are so many things that are ideals in our culture that we want that they have. So there’s this double-edged sword – they’re going to kill us and they’re terrifying and yet maybe I even want to be one. I don’t want to be a vampire. A lot of other people do and I think it’s that duel nature we have - you know, terrifying/intriguing.”

Have you had any other dreams that have fueled future projects? And the second part of that, now you’ve had a taste of the Hollywood system would you think about doing a screenplay rather than writing a book first?

Stephenie Meyer: “Okay, with the screenplay, I may have to ask you for the other one because I get going and I forget everything else. Like I said, bad memory. I don’t think I could do that unless Hollywood is ready for a 14 hour movie experience. I tried once to write a short story and it was a horrible thing. I just, I don’t think in short. I have to explore every tiny, little detail of things. I really admire people who can come in and streamline it and get all the information across but they do it so simply. That’s not my talent so I can’t imagine doing that. Although my ideas are often very visual I’d have to have a partner who would know how to do it. Now give me the first one again?”

Have you had any other dreams…?

Stephenie Meyer: “Oh dreams. You don’t get a dream like that twice, you know? I got my chance and I do feel like I was supposed to be writing and this dream was my kick in the pants to get going. And once I started it I didn’t need another one because once I discovered how wonderful writing was for me, I was ready to go with it.”

What sets your vampires apart?

Stephenie Meyer: “Well in general, because I know there’s a lot of varying legends, you know, and there’s the ones that turn into bats and mist and there’s the ones that are more concrete. In general, my vampires don’t have fangs and they don’t need them. You know, strong as they are it’s kind of unnecessary. They’re fairly indestructible. Wooden stakes and garlic are not going to get you anywhere. They don’t sleep at all. They’re never unconscious. They have no periods of unconsciousness. And the sunlight doesn’t harm them, it just shows them for what they are because they sparkle in the sun.”

How about reflections?

Stephenie Meyer: “Oh they totally have reflections and you can take pictures of them. All of that is kind of these myths, in my world these are myths that vampires actually anciently spread around so that people would say, ‘Oh this person can’t be a vampire because I can see them in the mirror so I’m safe.’”

As the fan base grew for the series and then it became more of a phenomenon, did that change in any way how you approached the later book? And also what was your response to the fan response of the fourth book?

Stephenie Meyer: “Well as far as changing things, it couldn’t because I actually had the first three books and a rough draft of the fourth one written before Twilight ever came out, so the story was there. And it’s funny, I had this conversation with a friend of mine who wrote nonfiction, like obscure historical stories, and she was saying how it must be so hard for you because when my editors come in they can’t change anything. This is what happened. And it kind of clicked in for me because that’s exactly how I feel, like it’s historic, like this is what happened. It’s not like I can just change things. This is how it went down. And that’s a kind of awkward position to be in when your editor does want you to change things.”

“So the fan expectations…I already knew the story. It did add a little bit of pressure and it was particularly difficult when, you know, when I’m writing I tune that out and I don’t think about it at all. But when I’m editing, I get online and I see one blog that says if A and B don’t happen I’m burning this book, and then on another page if A and B do happen, this is going to be the worse book ever. So you know going in and there is no way I can please everybody. I can’t even please half the people because everybody wants things that are so different, and they’ve written this story in their heads to a way that they are happy with.”

“I read an interview that George Lucas did about Indiana Jones and how all the fans have already written their sequel and if they don’t see that sequel, they’re going to be upset. And I really found myself in that same position. So I was braced going in. I knew that this was going to be bad, and it was also good. That was the thing about the fourth book, is it was so much more in every aspect. It was bigger than I ever would have dared to imagine. It was better in a lot of ways and it was worse in a ton of ways. And it was a lot of overwhelming stuff that I couldn’t really take in. I found that it’s easier for me, when I’m at home and I don’t have to talk into a microphone in front of a bunch of people, I just forget that this is all going on and I just live my life. And the writing’s a part of it, but I don’t think about this part because it’s too hard.”

What did you think when you went to the set? How often did you go?

Stephenie Meyer: “I think I went about four times.”

You were on the set in Arizona?

Stephenie Meyer: “It was actually California and Portland. I was in Portland about four times, in and out, and probably a total of about two weeks altogether.”

And what did you think of the filmmaking process?

Stephenie Meyer: “That was one of the coolest things that agreeing to do a movie gave me. You know, because I’m right in the middle with this, I had two book tours this year and all kinds of crazy stuff going on. The movie was just fun. I found it fascinating. One time I had my brother with me for a couple of days and I know he was bored stupid. That poor kid, he was just like, ‘Huh, how can they say the same line again for the 16th time?’ And for me every time, that was with the humans that week, and every time Anna Kendrick said it she added a new little twist or her eyebrow raised just a little bit differently, and the nuances were fascinating to me, and that’s because it was mine. I don’t know if I’d be that way on another film, but I was riveted on the edge of my seat looking at the monitor and, ‘Oh I love that,’ and just thrilled.”

Did the cast embody your vision?

Stephenie Meyer: “Yes. I mean if someone had pulled me in there and said, ‘Okay, we’ve got a roomful of your characters. Let’s see if you can pin the names on them.’ Oh it would have been cake. It would have been so easy. They were so clearly who they were. And, really, I think the acting in this movie is something special. It’s amazing. Here’s all these people, really people you haven’t heard of yet, I mean some of them to an extent, but a lot of these kids are new and they’re so good. I mean they’re just so believable and you feel like yes, you’re just sitting there with a bunch of kids from high school because this is how they sound. It didn’t sound like people acting. It sounded like people being people.”

So what is the status of Midnight Sun?

Stephenie Meyer: “Oh Midnight Sun is not on my schedule right now. It’s part of my writing process that for me to really write a story, and like I was saying before, I can’t think about what other people want and what other people are thinking, and what the editing is going to be and what the expectations are when I’m writing. Because it’s paralyzing to do that - you really can’t put a word on the page. I have to be very alone with a story. It has to be just me and what’s happening, and I just can’t feel that way about it right now. And it’s a weird thing and I’m not sure what it’s all about but I think that, you know, this is going to die down. This is like what, two months old? People are going to forget about it. It’s going to go away and that’ll be, you know, the time when I sneak back in and give it a try again. But it’s going to have to be after everything is, it’s not writing in a fishbowl because I can’t work that way.”

It’s a given that the rest of the books are going to get made into films. Which one do you expect to be the most challenging to adapt?

Stephenie Meyer: “That’s a given, huh?”

Yes.

Stephenie Meyer: “We’ll see. If it were a given that every one of these will be made, book four without a doubt is the hardest thing to do and there’s a really simple reason for that. You have a character in that and you almost have to do a CGI. And while CGI can do dragons and it can do almost anything in the whole world, the one thing that I’ve never seen is a completely realistic CGI human. So that’s something that either groundbreaking technology will have to develop in the next couple of years or it will be impossible. One or the other.”

There’s a very critical moment in the film when Bella said, “I’m thinking radioactive plasma and Kryptonite.” Did you sort of think it would be tough to switch the teen pop culture away from the superhero and back towards the supernatural or did it feel like something kids were going to be into?

Stephenie Meyer: “You know, I never worried about that for a second. I was into it and I am much more drawn to superheroes than I am to vampires. And I really think there’s a closer connection with my vampires, between superheroes and them than traditional vampires and who they are. So I really, with my writing, what it comes down to was I getting a kick out of this? Then, ‘Okay, we’ll go with it.’ And if somebody else is not clicking for them, you know, that’s why there’s 40 billion books in the world, because there’s something for everybody.”

Has your writing process changed since your first dream prompted you into writing?

Stephenie Meyer: “It has. It’s gone through some evolutions as I experiment with different ways to do things. With Twilight, I didn’t know it was going to happen when I wrote it. It just was writing to find out the answer. With the others I had to start outlining. I had to be more careful because I knew when I started the sequel, New Moon, where it was going to end, so that takes a lot more work to tie up the threads. And I’ve experimented with a couple of other things on the side, so I haven’t really consolidated what I do. The biggest change is that when I started writing I had three kids under the school age all day. All my kids are in school full-time now so that really has been the biggest change in my writing style.”

How old are your kids now?

Stephenie Meyer: “My kids are eleven, eight and six. And if I could freeze them there, I would because they’re perfect.”

How did you find time to write the book?

Stephenie Meyer: “I lost sleep to write. I mean you had to give something up and I wasn’t giving up my time with my kids and I couldn’t give up the things I had to do, so it was sleep.”

Was there a certain song on the soundtrack that specifically spoke to you in a really personal way?

Stephenie Meyer: “Aside from the Muse song, which was already part of what I listen to all the time, these songs were all new for me. And I have to say the Iron & Wine song was really the one that just made me an instant fan. Probably because the first time I heard it was when I watched the movie and in that scene it’s just so perfectly melted in with the feeling. And so that was when it got me.”

Can you talk about shooting your cameo?

Stephenie Meyer: “Yes, but it’s painful. It was not my idea to do the cameo. They talked me into it. They thought it would be, you know, cute for the fans because most of them would recognize me. I was thinking it was going to be more like a Where’s Waldo thing. Like I walk by for one second in a crowd and if they can find me, cool. That’s the one scene in the movie I would happily cut, the first five seconds, and the one that I had to watch like, I mean like this [covering her eyes], ‘Ah, is it over yet?’ It was really hard for me.”

How many takes?

Stephenie Meyer: “Well I did however many takes they were doing. It wasn’t about me. It was about the actors and such.”

What’s your cameo, for those of us who have no idea?

Stephenie Meyer: “Oh, didn’t you recognize me? Really? No, it was in the scene when Bella and Charlie are at the diner and the waitress is asking them, ‘What’s the news about Waylon’s murderer.’ There was a woman sitting at the counter and for some reason the camera focuses on her for like a good five seconds, and you’re like, ‘Why are we looking at this person?’ And that was me.”

Is the series over now for the books? Are you done?

Stephenie Meyer: “It’s done for now. I mean I can’t promise that I won’t get lonely for the Cullens and come back to them in 10 years. But right now I feel really satisfied with where it is so I’m not planning on doing anything with it. But, you know, no guarantees.”

posted by kimmie under Celebrity In The News Twilight & Vampirism 0 comments

I wonder if I dreamed of you-

if you would appear?

To make my nights full of love,

and always hold me near.

I wonder if I thought of you-

if you would feel it in your soul?

Like two spirits in the universe,

who always seem to know.

Even if the stars went black

and the sun were to shine no more.

They could find their way to each other,

no matter how far the shore.

Safely in each other’s arms,

to bid the rest of time.

Finding Eternal Love

so many seek to find.

Caring for each other

through the worst of storms.

Leaning on the arms of love

and never needing anymore.

This is how I feel for you,

I’ve known it all along.

You are my one true love

My world.. My heart.. My soul!

posted by kimmie under Love Spirituality & Mysticism 0 comments

 In the wake of the cultural phenomenon of the Twilight Saga I have found my share of questions and answers concerning vampirism. I am quite interested in Mysticism, parapsycholgy, astral projection and psychic empowerment myself so I found this information interesting.  Here is an informed page that I found for all you “Twifans”. Thank you to Vampires Among Us:

)Q: Do vampires exist?
A: Yes and no. If by the term ‘vampire’ you mean the ‘undead’ kind seen in literature, movies and folklore, then I really couldn’t say. Personally, I have never encountered such a creature, but that is not to say they do not exist. After all, there are stranger things on Heaven and Earth as they say. Now, if on the other hand you refer to a living vampire, then yes, they do exist.

2)Q: So, what is a living vampire?
A: Living vampires are those who are, well, alive, yet carry a disease, affliction, blessing (call it what you will) which makes them different than your average mortal. Though there is no fixed definition to what actually makes a living vampire, there are basically three categories into which they fall. These are (1)Blood vampires (saguivores), (2)psychic vampires (energy vampires/”soul suckers”) and (3)social vampires (vampyres/vampyre lifestylers).

3)Q: What is a blood vampire?
A: A blood vampire is a living vampire who drinks blood out of need. Blood usually arouses them sexually, revitalizes them and/or gives them extra strength. For all sanguivores, blood is a strong craving and need. Some feel imbibing blood is necessary for them to feel good and well, while others claim it merely makes them feel better in general, but is not a necessity.

4)Q: What is a psychic vampire?
A: Psychic vampires, or psy-vamps, feed off of and manipulate energy and aura. Whether they take it from human beings, living organisms or even other psy-vamps, the effect on the victim is one of weakness and draining. The Vampire takes the energy into himself, thereby gaining vitality and strength. Many psy-vamps also use empath, an ablity to read a person’s emotions and feelings with very little effort. Also, usually psy-vamps possess a skill almost like ESP, in that most can sense things with uncanny accuracy. In addition, there are also psi-vamps, which use energy in much the same way as psy-vamps, but can also feed off of other energy sources (electricity, storms, even sunlight).

5)Q: What is a social vampire/vampyre?
A: A social vampire of vampyre is also a living vampire who acts and dresses like a sterotypical “undead” vampire. Some vampires of this category are more involved than others, drinking blood, getting their canines elongated and even sleeping in coffins. They do this if nothing else but to mimic an undead vampire’s lifestyle. They may or may not possess the taint of vampirism, but have no special abilities or needs such as psy-vamps or blood vampires might.

6)Q: How do you know if you are a vampire?
A: There is no exact way to tell…the mark of a vampire reveals itself in various manners. Sometimes a person will have their own nature revealed to them by another vampire’s telling them so. Other vampires know intuitivly of their nature. If you think you might be a vampire, some common signs include desire for or stimulation by blood; over-sensitivity towards sunlight or other intense sensations; a zeal for vampires from puberty (or eralier) onwards and a constant feeling of loneliness, even when surrounded by friends, to name a few.

7)Q: How does one become a vampire?
A: There are several ways actually, though none of these can actually be proven and occur differently depending on the individual. Most living vampires are born “into darkness”, although some do not discover their true nature until a later time in their life…usually following a traumatic experience (such as puberty, the loss of a family member, suicidal tendencies,etc.). This is the difference between concious and unconcious vampires. As far as I am aware, blood vampires can make other blood vampires by an exchange of blood, although this has been debated. Whether this same method holds true for psychic vampires remains debateable also. Another method to become a vampire is by witchcraft. There are several spells which are supposed to turn a regular mortal into a vampire, but whether this actually works or not…well, I’ll let you be the judge. Again, as to ‘undead’ vampires I am unsure as it varies from myth to myth (some need three bites, some need a blood transfusion, some require sexual intercourse, etc) …but if you ever find one, do let me know. Also, if you are seriously considering becoming a living vampire, please consider what you are getting yourself into. The lifestyle is lonelier than any mortal can comprehend and the lust for energy and/or blood can be torture.

8)Q: Okay, so what is a cyber vampire?
A: A cyber vampire is a person who claims to be a vampire on-line. This does not necessarily mean that the person is a vampire in real life, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t, either. Usually, a cyber vampire is just a character created in the mind of the person behind the keyboard, much like roleplay.

8)Q: What is a blood fetishist?
A: Blood fetishists are mortals whose fetish (fascination and/or turn on) is blood. They derive sexual pleasure out of taking blood of others and/or being cut themselves, or bloodplay of other types. Fetishists of any type (people into the BDSM scene, people with foot fetishes, sexual-roleplay fetishes, drag, go-go, etc) including blood fetishists have nothing to do with vampirism. It is true that the BDSM and blood fetish scenes as well as some others tend to crossover into the vampire scene from time to time. As you might imagine, the bloodplay attracts blood vampires in need of donors, while the BDSM scene (which involves energy and power based on who dominates and who submits) attracts psychic vampires in need of energy. But this is not always the case, and many fetishists are simply fetishists and nothing more.

9)Q: What is a RPG?
A: A RPG is a roleplaying game. These are games which allow a person to act out various different fantasy situations and characters, usually with a troupe of other players. Some RPG’s are played around a table with ten or more sided dice, others are acted out as in a play (Live action roleplaying). Some are played with cards, and still others are played with a mixture of all of the above. There are several different companies which design RPG’s. Among them are Dungeons and Dragon (wizards, knights, shape-shifters,etc), Ravenloft (Vampires, but you play the enemy of the vampire), White Wolf (the “world of Darkness” series includes Vampires, Werewolves, changelings, Mages and ghosts), Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The gathering, Vampire: The eternal struggle) and countless others.

10)Q: What is a goth?
A: Goths are mortals who dress in blacks, reds and other gothic colors and styles. Usually, they follow Wicca (witchcraft), Vampirism, the occult in general or all of the above. Most goths are simply mortals, but some may be unconcious vampires as well.

11)Q: Who is this Anne Rice person and what’s so special about her?
A: Anne Rice is an author who lives in New Orleans and has written numerous bestsellers about vampires, witches, ghost, mummies and other creatures of horror and fantasy. She essentially revolutionized the neo-vampire fictional movement with her wickedly romantic dark characters of Lestat and Louis, etc. The reason why most fans like her is because she makes herself so easily accesible…writing newsletters, allowing tours through her home and doll collection, doing booksignings, and showing up every year at the ARVLFC (Anne Rice’s Vampire Lestat Fan club) gathering every year.

12)Q: I keep hearing something about vampire breeds…what is meant by this?
A: To my understanding, these breeds are some of the sub-categories of folkloric vampires, around the world. To read more about these breeds, Click here

13)Q: What is the difference between a clan and a breed?
A: Well, clans are for the vampires of roleplay as well as vampyres, in a sort of hierachial order. Breeds apply to folkloric vampires.

14)Q: What is the difference between the term “Vampire” and “Vampyre”?
A: The term “vampire” refers to psychic vampires, blood vampires as well as supernatural, undead vampires such as seen in fiction. A “Vampyre” (also known as a social vampire or vampyre lifestyler) is someone who simply mimics the life of vampires and enjoys the sense of “bonding” created by the vampyre community. It is also noteworthy that there are hierachies within vampyre “families”.

15)Q: Why would you not recommend becoming a living vampire?
A: I would never condemn a non-vampire to a life of endless cravings which can never really be satisfied, the loneliness and exile one feels because you hurt your friends and loved ones, not to mention you can never truly trust anyone. Living vampires are not immortal, all can go out in the sunlight but usually the effects of the light cause headaches and burning eyes. Living vampires who drink blood can contract diseases from the blood they drink, and they always have to worry about where their next donation is coming from and what it will do to the victim. Psychic vampires are usually overly sensitive, which includes sometimes frightening rushes of emotion and mental anguish. In the long run, you are much better off as what you were born into. Follow nature…it usually knows best.

16)Q: If you, Rose Noire, are so against the confusion between living vampires and undead vampires and how many mortals mistake the one for the other, then why does your website focus on fictional, undead vampires?
A: The original concept and goal of this website was to make it a valuable resource for those seeking information on the fictional and roleplaying side of vampirism. I consider myself fairly knowledgable in all areas of the vampire genre, and just thought it would be a nice idea to have a website where all sides of that genre were represented. I also feel that exploring our dark side, the side that enjoys reading vampire fiction and vampiric roleplaying, is very important if we as a whole are to ever find the answers to the mysteries of life. For how can there ever be good without evil? And if we are to improve ourselves personally, would it not be crucial to understand what makes us evil in order to better appreciate good and learn how to attain it? For no sole human being, or creature of any kind really, can determine what is moral or imoral, good or bad, but if we all search together and educate ourselves, then perhaps we can find a common bond uniting us all and use it to achieve a greater goal.

17)Q: Interest in Vampires seems to be increasing in popularity. How would you explain this?
A: Well, I believe that many people are searching for their identity…and for a meaning to the chaos called life. This would mean that we no longer dread what we have been taught to fear by instinct, but embrace it to perhaps find an answer within. Traditionally, ‘undead’ vampires offer release…they are free to do what they please, having inexorable control over their victims (who wouldn’t be a least a little tempted by that kind of power?). They posses amazing abilities and can arouse sexual desire unlike any mere mortal, and yet they are cursed to never experience the joys of the flesh albeit by drinking blood from their human brothers. The gift/curse of (undead) vampirism gives a person the chance to start a new life…in effect,with a clean slate. Life is no dress rehearsal, but at least as an undead vampire, you can kill the audience if they dislike your performance….

17)Q: Is vampirism and/or witchcraft satanic/evil in nature?
A: No. Living vampires have nothing to do with satan or God or anything of the like…in fact, many tend to be very nice, normal people living ordinary lives who are tolerant of a lot of different religions. Some are even devout christians, while others worship different Gods/Goddesses/etc. Still, indeed, some might be worshippers of satan but this is a matter of their personal spiritual choice and has nothing to do with their vampiric nature. Along these same lines, people who practise witchcraft are not necessarily evil or satanic in nature either. Wicca (modern day witchcraft, stemming from pagan roots) is a positive, earth based religion whose followers generally tend to worship Gods/Goddesses and the earth/nature itself. Nothing at all to do with Satan. And in the end, who can really say what is good and what is evil, anyway? Now, I’m not saying there aren’t people who are vampires or witches, who don’t take things to dark and “evil” places…the kind who practise black magick or intentionally try to harm people in other ways. But this is the exception and not the rule, and these people do not define the aspects of a vampirism or wiccan. So of course, you’ll get some witches or vampires or satanists who might do bad things to others…but then, even some Christians also do bad things to other people. People in general do bad things to other people. But we don’t automatically assume that the whole human race is evil and satanic just because there are psycho killers out there. And we don’t automatically assume that just because one religious person might take a fit into their head that their mission from God is to convert/or destroy all those who do not believe, that all people of that respective faith are evil. And likewise, it is unfair, biased and wrong to assume that the whole nature of vampirism/witchcraft is evil just because one person claiming to be a vampire/witch does some heinous crime. I could go on, but I’m trying to make this short…so I think I’ve made my point for now.

posted by kimmie under Celebrity Lifestyles Spirituality & Mysticism Twilight & Vampirism 0 comments