The Process of Writing About A Vampire Chef (And More) By Three Time Book Author Laura Enright

Vampire Review

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The Process of Writing About A Vampire Chef (And More) By Three Time Book Author Laura Enright Posted: 30 Mar 2014 02:40 PM PDT Vampire Review is proud to welcome Chicago Author Laura Enright. Here she guest posts about her new book: "In To Touch The Sun." This article is exclusive to Vampire Review! Auhor Laura L. Enright by Laura L. Enright My vampire novel, In To Touch the Sun, is set in Chicago. The character of Dom Amato admits that if anyone had told him that one day he’d be asking about the feeding schedule of a vampire, he would have laughed in his face. I probably would have had done the same if someone had told me that one day I’d write a vampire novel.  As Dom might say, “Life has a funny way about it.” I’ve enjoyed reading vampire novels but never had a desire, never had an idea for a plot or character that drove me, to write one. Sometimes, however, you have to zigzag a little to achieve a goal.  In 2004, unable to get my novels published, I expressed frustration to a friend who suggested that I write a book for his publisher’s nonfiction signature series. That’s how my first published book Chicago’s Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters and Windy City Oddities (Potomac Publishers 2005) came to be. Hoping to get my foot in the door, along the way I discovered a love of research and writing nonfiction. A few years after that, I’d been in cordial correspondence with an agent who felt strong enough about my writing potential that he encouraged me to keep sending him material even after rejecting some. I decided to examine some of the books his agency represented and noticed that they represented a vampire series. So, I decided to try my hand at it. Unlike other novels I’d written in which I had a clear understanding of characters and plot from the start, this one I had only a two word idea: Vampire Chef. From there it was a matter of building. What I ended up with differed greatly from what I started out with; plot character and narrative evolving over time. It was actually quite exciting to see it take shape and soon I’d fallen in love with the characters. The agent also seemed enthusiastic suggested I send him a proposal when I was finished with the book. Well, timing truly is everything. By the time I was able to send him a proposal, he’d left the business completely (and quite mysteriously) and his former partners were not interested in the project. So, on went my search to find an agent or publisher for this novel that I’d never expected to write but was at this point completely obsessed with getting it published (more so than any other book I’ve written). In the next few years I went on to write three more novels in what became a series and a spin off novel featuring two paranormal investigators that appear in the third novel. With no prior desire to write a vampire novel, I now couldn’t stop writing them. Which I think is one reason this novel is so important to me. Because it’s creation was so unexpected. While hunting for a publisher, I wrote a second book for Potomac, Vampires’ Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Bloodthirsty Biters, Stake-wielding Slayers and Other Undead Oddities (2010) which I hoped would help me interest an agent or publisher while I was shopping around To Touch the Sun. Eventually I was able to find Dagda Publishing out of Nottingham, England. The novel was at last published Feb. 25.  So, my zigzagging has garnered me three published books and some wonderful moments in the marketing of them (the most recent being a segment on a radio show in Chicago which was a lot of fun).  Life certainly does have a funny way about it. To Touch the Sun is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats at  Hear the author reading the prologue!