Author Piper Maitland joins SciFiChick.com today on the latest stop for her blog tour for a Q&A talking about vampires and her latest release, Hunting Daylight! Follow Piper on Twitter at: @PiperMaitland, and keep reading for a chance to win a copy of Hunting Daylight!
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Can you tell us a bit about Hunting Daylight in your own words?
It’s a love story, blended with adventure and the science of vampirism. The action opens a few years after Acquainted With the Night ends. A vampire cabal has chased Jude and Caro Barrett around the globe, but that’s the least of their problems. Jude is having trouble adjusting to vampirism, Caro is plagued by nightmares, and their three-year-old daughter, Vivi, might be at the center of a disturbing 8th century prophecy. When Jude disappears on a scientific expedition, Caro’s life flips upside-down.
Describe your vampires. (Are they of the traditional Bram Stoker variety?)
I honored the core myths but reinforced them with science. I have a B.S. in nursing, so it seemed logical that my vampires would have a human-like physiology. A unique type of stem cells are responsible for longevity, rapid healing, athleticism, and hyper-immune systems. The thirst for human blood is driven by the need to replenish stem cells, which are found in the bone marrow and vascular system. And it takes more than three bites for a human to turn into a vampire. Transformation is possible but requires large amounts of stem cells, usually through intravenous infusions.
When vampires perspire, a fragrant terpene, similar to cat nip, is emitted. As humans inhale the “bat-nip,” they relax, allowing the predator to move in for the bite. A mild neurotoxin is also excreted in a vampire’s saliva, and this further subdues the victim.
A vampire’s brain is super-developed, with heightened senses of smell, hearing, touch, taste, and vision. Some immortals are telepathic and/or possess psi talents; others lack these skills. They can by killed by a catastrophic injury or certain blood-borne diseases.
Psychologically, vampires can be neurotic, prone to obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, phobias, and psychoses. When a human becomes a vampire, his personality quirks are magnified—a slightly suspicious human would become a paranoid vampire.
Vampires are photosensitive due to an inborn error of metabolism and an overproduction of a compound called IgE, which causes an extreme exothermic reaction, resulting in blisters, second and third degree burns, and death.
How many books are planned for this series?