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Antoinette Avalon had long been disappointed by many of the books and movies that came out about vampires. “What I saw most of the time was a lot of people going over the same old thing or the other extreme of turning vampirism into some kind of sexual perversion theme. I wanted to see more books like Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Count Ragoczy Saint-Germain series, Fred Saberhagen’s Dracula series or Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. I wanted to see more vampires in the media like the White Wolf role playing game inspired television series “Kindred: The Embraced” or Joss Whedon’s masterpiece television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”. Give me vampires with some passion and humanity!”
Antoinette’s book Immortal Temptation definitely has passion and humanity in spades. She set out to write a book that was completely different from anything else out there that would appeal to just about everybody. She succeeded. “I wanted my work to be of the caliber of the artists I love who share my craft and at the same time I wanted it to be my work . . . not a weak imitation of their work. It’s all the weak imitations out there that inspired me to write my novel in the first place!”
Her book deviates from other big names in the genre in another significant way. “The thrust of Immortal Temptation really isn’t about vampirism at all. It’s about immortality and what it would take to survive the overwhelming reality of forever. Forever is a long time and not necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. Most people wouldn’t survive. It would take a certain type of fortitude most people lack. These things are explored within the book and will continue to be the theme in the sequels.”
Antoinette learned quickly that it takes a lot more than just a good story to get a novel published. “I received my copyright and immediately started trying to learn everything I could about the publishing industry. Since I knew nobody in the business, this process turned into a three-year project. In that time, I learned not only how to hone my craft and get my name out there, I learned just how many places my talents could be put to work.”
Antoinette hooked up with various entertainment industry professionals, primarily through the Internet. What started out with writing reviews for Amazon.com blossomed into her talents being noticed by both musicians and professionals that worked with them. She ended up being contacted to work with different artists and promoters.
Antoinette also does all written content on kane-roberts.com and plenty of other projects on the side. She has received endorsements from folks as diverse as Martin Popoff (the man who literally wrote the book on rock music reviews), various artists she has done written content for and the co-owner of Now and Then Records and “Fireworks” magazine, Bruce Mee.
Were there other things that inspired Immortal Temptation? “Absolutely, let’s not forget one of the originals, “Dark Shadows”. How many low budget shows do you know of that have fans holding annual conventions twenty-five years later? The characters were sympathetic and fired people’s imagination. I also really loved the “Forever Knight” television show. It’s about a vampire that is a solid member of society who wants to be human again. It’s poetic. I also think people who are fans of “The Highlander” could really relate to my work.”
But Immortal Temptation goes far beyond any of these cult classics. It asks the reader the ultimate question. “Do you want to live forever? Are you certain? Immortality has a price . . . ”
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