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Friday 17 June 2011

(F3) Vampire Story with a Twist



L.M. Stull is as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster. Even though you can see her writing everywhere, nobody knows how she manages to run (and co-run) 3 sites (L.M. StullDeepwood, Inc., and Between the Lines), work on 3 books (including Memoirs of a Monkey, which will be out this summer, courtesy of Black Kettle Publishing), and blog-hop like a crazed rabbit on a deadline.

Some say she can multiply herself at will. She confirms this by mentioning her small army of clones. Others speculate that she uses little pink mice to do her chores, which tells us that she probably has a serious Disney affliction. (Who doesn’t?) If you ask her, she’d say you can find her chained to a desk in a law firm. Ha! Yet another ploy to deflect those hunters. There aren’t many sightings of this creature, but I have a sneak peek for you guys, which she specifically gave me after a lot of arm-twisting on my side. In addition, you can stalk her on: Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.


Today, L.M. talks about one of her books: Running from Myself, or as I like to call it ‘Vampire Story with a Twist’. When I read yet another interview of L.M., my attention immediately wandered off to this book in particular. You’ll see why. Personally, I needed something like this to revive my fascination with vampires. Not to mention the fact that it's going to be one of them sexy books! If you ask me, it's going to be a major success.

See for yourself.



The Story Behind The Story ~ Running from Myself
by L.M. Stull


For those of you not familiar with my upcoming novella, here is the premise . . .

Imagine being turned into the eternal creature you always wanted to become – a vampire.  From the moment she discovered they existed, Rose had wanted to be one.  Unfortunately, this existence came with severe consequences.  From the onset of this new life, Rose is plagued with horrific memory loss and finds herself in a state of constant confusion.  Running from Myself follows the storyline of Rose and her other, rather evil, personality – Scarlet.  It is a fictional and intimate portrayal of what it might be like to not only take on a new life form, but to struggle with the instabilities of a mental illness.

So, where did the idea begin?

Anyone who knows me, knows I have an unfettered passion for the mind, and specifically, mental illnesses.  I hold a B.S. in Psychology and knew it would only be a matter of time before my love for crafting stories and my love for the mind came together, producing a dark and twisted tale. 

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) has always intrigued me.  To be honest, as a writer, sometimes I almost feel like I have another personality.  The one that takes over when I write.  Have you ever wondered what in fact it would be like to have a whole other part of you?  A part you aren't even aware exists?  Well, I have and this is where my idea began.

So many vampire novels make this “lifestyle” out to be a blissful experience.  One where beauty, sex and anything you can imagine is a reality.  I, being the somewhat demented person that I am, thought what if that saying “the grass isn't always greener on the other side” applied to this.  That you hope to escape the insecurities, the stress, and all the idiosyncrasies of human life to live forever in happiness, only to discover you can never run away from who you really are.  What if all the problems of your life embed themselves deep within you, refusing to let go?  Refusing to let you move on? 

Writing fiction, of course, allows you to bend the rules and play with science.  And, naturally, I did just that.  I created a world where vampires do exist.  A world where vampires are not exempt from anything that may have afflicted their once human body, including the torments of mental illnesses.  

Some DID sufferers live their entire life, never meeting their “counterparts,” while others do come face-to-face (so to say) with them.  I can tell you that Rose and Scarlet meet, but what one discovers about the other, well, you'll just have to read and see.

My hope with Running from Myself is to depict the struggles Rose has when coming to terms with the fact that another “her” exists, as well as show that this other personality may be more than just a mere byproduct of a psychosis.

I am currently in the revision/rewrite stage and hope to have the book published around Halloween this year.  So, sadly, you will have to wait until then to find out whether Rose was successful in Running from Herself.      

12 comments:

Eden Baylee said...

I learned some new stuff about you, Lisa. We have something in common - undergrad in Psych! It's the program where all the wacky (demented) people hung out!

Thrilled to learn more about your book and can't wait for ALL of them to come out!

eden

Unknown said...

(butts in) Psych Undergrads Unite! It is fabulous, no? I can't wait to read it myself as I just love DID. Though you wouldn't believe the things I've read! *shudders* Thanks for visiting, Eden! (butts out)

Glynis Peters said...

So much energy! Glad I got here in time to read the post before you whizzed off again, Lisa.

Lyn, thanks for sharing Lisa with us.

L.M. Stull said...

Eden and Glynis! Thank you for kind comments and for stopping by!

Lyn, thank you AGAIN for having me here, you are the bestest :)

Unknown said...

This looks like a fantastic twist on the vampire genre, Lisa. I have huge gaps of memory loss, where I don't even remember things I've done with my mother just a year ago. I couldn't imagine losing everything. Memories are such a precious thing, one might say they represent our humanity. Kudos to you for using this in a story. Can't wait to finish this book and read it.

Draven Ames

Leslie S. Rose said...

The question of immortality and it's consequences brings forth a different answer from whoever you ask. We discuss that very thing in my class when we read TUCK EVERLASTING, and when the choice of immortality is to be a vampire it gives the question a tasty (sorry bad choice of words) new spin. There can't be enough permutations of the story for me. They are intriguing.

Anonymous said...

Draven, thank you so much for stopping by today and for your kind comments, as always.

Leslie, I couldn't agree with you more. The possibilities when pondering the consequences of the unknown are infinite and quite intriguing - so many stories to be explored.

Donna K. Weaver said...

Wow. Fascinating premise. Could really mess with your head. I like it.

Ruchira Mandal said...

You have pink mice? And clone army? :D
I'm not a psychology student, but being a literature student, the human mind interests me quite a lot. Your novel sounds intriguing.

Unknown said...

@Lisa Pleasure is all mine! ^_^

@Draven Very well said, and it's a very important topic for me because I forget a lot, lol. And I'm just 24!

@Leslie You know, Tuck Everlasting is one of my all-time favorite movies. I get chills when I think of it for that reason: What would I choose?

And everyone who commented so far: Thank you so much for stopping by and giving Lisa your support. She deserves it. ^_^

Anonymous said...

Donna and Ruchiraa, thanks for your kind words and for stopping by! :) It was most certainly a fun tale to write.

Anonymous said...

The voices in my head want to know how much your pink mice charge to clone them into their own existances? They all also want a copy of this intriguing story and are bummed out they have to wait to all hallows eve