Inspiration

Every book I write is a different experience. Sometimes I just sit down at the computer and see what happens. Sometimes I have a scene or a character in my head before I begin and I take it from there. But with Mr Darcy, Vampyre, I had the whole book in my head before I started.

I think there were three real seeds which finally resulted in Mr Darcy, Vampyre.

The first seed was sown when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on TV in the UK. I always hoped they would do a Pride and Prejudice episode. I could see it all: Buffy and Willow eating ice cream in front of the TV, talking about their boyfriend problems with Angel and Oz whilst watching Pride and Prejudice.

Buffy says, If only life could be like Pride and Prejudice – and hey, presto! Some lurking fairy sends them back into Regency England as Lizzy and Jane. Then all the rest of the cast turn up: Angel as Darcy, Oz as Bingley, Xander as Mr Collins, Giles as Mr Bennet, Buffy’s mum as Mrs Bennet, Drusilla as Caroline Bingley and Spike as Wickham.

Sadly for me they never made the episode, but the idea of Darcy / Angel lingered, encouraged by my great friend Amanda Ashby, brilliant author of You Had Me at Halo and Zombie Queen of Newbury High. I think it’s fair to say that Amanda has a slight fixation with David Boreanaz :) We spent a happy hour chatting about it on her blog when she interviewed me on the release of Mr Darcy’s Diary. (And if you’re wondering how an interview about Mr Darcy’s Diary turned into a chat abut David Boreanaz, all I can say is that most chats with Amanda end up turning into a chat about DB!).

The second seed was the wealth of Austen related books coming out, which made me wonder what Jane would make of it all. In a quirky moment I asked myself what was next - Mr Darcy, Vampyre? As soon as I thought of the title, I loved it.

The third seed sprang up at about the same time. I was reading a lot of the classic Gothic novels again in preparation for writing Henry Tilney’s Diary and the idea of a very different kind of Austen sequel occurred to me. Luckily I did warn people that I have an untidy mind so I don't think they will be too surprised that my imagination suddenly carried me off in a different direction.

Then the three seeds sort of merged inside my imagination like tea, milk and sugar combining in a cup of tea, all mixing together so that one minute they were three separate entities and the next they were one complete and delicious whole.

You’ll be able to see if you agree with me about the delicious bit on August 11, because that’s when Mr Darcy, Vampyre hits the US shops!