May 26th is Dracula Day, and seeing how I love anything with vampires, this is the perfect excuse for me to look up thirteen facts about bloodsuckers to share with you. (source and source)

1. The word “vampire” did not appear in English until 1734, when it was used in an Anglo-Saxon poem titled “The Vampyre of the Fens”.
2. A rare disease called porphyria (also called the "vampire" or "Dracula" disease) causes vampire-like symptoms, such as an extreme sensitivity to sunlight and sometimes hairiness.
3. Documented medical disorders that people accused of being a vampire may have suffered from include haematodipsia, which is a sexual thirst for blood, and hemeralopia or day blindness.
   
4. Anemia (“bloodlessness”) was often mistaken for a symptom of a vampire attack.
5. One of the most famous “true vampires” was Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) who was accused of biting the flesh of girls while torturing them and bathing in their blood to retain her youthful beauty.
6. The first full work of fiction about a vampire in English was John Polidori’s influential The Vampyre, which was published incorrectly under Lord Byron’s name.
7. Female vampires were also often blamed for spreading the bubonic plague throughout Europe.
8. According to several legends, if someone was bitten by a suspected vampire, he or she should drink the ashes of a burned vampire.
9. By the end of the twentieth century, over 300 motion pictures were made about vampires, and over 100 of them featured Dracula. Over 1,000 vampire novels were published, most within the past 25 years.
10. Folklore vampires can become vampires not only through a bite, but also if they were once a werewolf, practiced sorcery, were an illegitimate child of parents who were illegitimate, died before baptism, anyone who has eaten the flesh of a sheep killed by a wolf, was the child of a pregnant woman who was looked upon by a vampire, was a nun who stepped over an unburied body, had teeth when they were born, or had a cat jump on their corpse before being buried (England and Japan), a baby born with teeth; a stillborn; a bat flying over a corpse (Romania); being excommunicated by the Orthodox Church (Greece); being the seventh son of the seventh son; a dead body that has been reflected in a mirror; red heads (Greece); people who die by suicide or sudden, violent deaths; people who were improperly buried; renouncing the Eastern Orthodox religion.
11. In folklore, the vampire’s first victim would often be his wife. This is why, in some cultures, when a husband died, the wife would change her appearance, i.e. she would cut her hair and would wear black for the entire period of mourning.
12. To destroy a vampire: burn it; bury the corpse facedown; drive a wooden stake through its heart; pile stones on the grave; put poppy seeds or wild roses on the grave; boil the head in vinegar; place a coin in the mouth and decapitate with an axe; put a lemon in the mouth; bury at a crossroads; remove the heart and cut it in two; put garlic in the mouth and drive a nail through the temple; cut off the toes and drive a nail through the neck; pour boiling oil on the body and drive a nail through the navel.
13. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) remains an enduring influence on vampire mythology and has never gone out of print. 

I hope you enjoyed these facts and are now more prepared to ward off vampires and ensure loved ones don't turn after they have passed. 😉

PS: I made a video to go with this post if you want to check that out.

​I'm stealing these questions from fellow author, K.T. Daxon because they are fun. She was given the questions by Aila Stephens to answer when she finished her book, Broken Tomorrows. Plus, it's a good way to cultivate interest in upcoming books.

1. What was your favorite line of dialogue? "Seriously?" That's Quinn's favorite reaction to outrageous things and it often got her and Keane bickering which was fun to write.
2. What was your favorite scene setting? When Quinn and her friends are in the private room at the strip club. It was fun writing their reactions to such a posh room. 
3. What was your favorite cliffhanger? When Quinn sees what Keane is. It gave me an evil laugh. >8D
4. Who is your favorite secondary character? I love Quinn's BFF, Abby. She's carefree, sweet, and, a great friend. She always knows when to push Quinn and when to listen.
5. ​What was your favorite change? There really isn't one that was big enough to think it made the story so much better. There were lots of little changes, but nothing big like with Leaves of Fall. 

I hope you enjoyed my 5 favorites from Tempting Friendship. Feel free to steal this idea from here. Just make sure to give props to K.T. and Aila for coming up with them.

​At first, Quinn isn't impressed by Keane. He's cocky and has sex on the brain. The polar opposite of her. Despite their differences, friendship blossoms between the two. 

Never one to take things seriously, Keane is an incubus coasting through life without a care. When he meets Quinn, her lack of reaction to him piques his interest. No human has ever been able to resist him. 

As Keane and Quinn struggle to understand what is going on between them, something sinister rocks their world. Young incubi are vanishing, and Keane's friends go missing. Someone is after his kind. When Quinn is kidnapped, Keane must uncover who is behind the abductions and reach her before it's too late.

Today is release day for A Quick Bite...And I forgot to schedule a post here about it. As well as send out a newsletter. Or schedule some social media posts. I remembered all this last night after I went to bed, and I was too tired to get up and do something about it.

I know what I'm doing 100% of the time!

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts: Feather Stone, Beverly Stowe McClure, Mary Aalgaard, Kim Lajevardi, and Chemist Ken!

May 6 question - Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share? 
I'm skipping the question because the answer is simple: no. Instead, I'm sharing a post I wrote on my Patreon that I think pin points why I'm personally struggling to do much of anything right now.

There's a constant feeling of fatigue hanging just under the surface. Which isn't surprising. I've read that a lot of people are feeling sapped and worn by the pandemic. Our lives have all been disrupted in one way or another and it's like we're suffering from collective whiplash.

One thing I've realized that's been draining me is a fear I have. My 9 year old nephew has a compromised immune system. Before this blew up, I was worried about him. I honestly kept expecting a call saying he got Covid-19. When schools were closed for two weeks I was so relieved. That closure has extended, but I still find myself afraid for him. I realized why earlier this week:

I'm terrified of having to attend his funeral. It wasn't long ago that my brother died of cancer. The image of my dad fighting to remain composed enough to accept the flag from a Navy officer is etched in my memory. I can't stand the thought of it being my little nephew. I don't want to see that same expression on my family's faces again. (Just had to stop and walk away before I started bawling.)

So, yeah, it's hard to write with that hanging over my head. News stories about people breaking quarantine in my state to protest not being able to go boat do not help.

I hope wherever you are, you are safe and healthy, and your family is as well. My fingers are crossed that a vaccine will be found and this will be over sooner than later. We can go outside and enjoy interacting with each other again. And most importantly, everyone is safe.

The challenge is over, so now it's time to reflect on how it went.

Last year, I struggled with having energy to visit other blogs, so this year, I wanted to make sure I was consistent in visiting. I put on my daily to-do list to visit three new blogs each day (minus Sunday. I gave myself that day off.) That worked really well and I visited a total of 88 blogs. It's not mind blowing, but I'm happy with it.

I got a decent amount of comments. The first week was good and each week it went down, but that's not surprising. It happens every year. The challenge starts with a bang then fizzles as time goes on. Blogging every day and visiting is draining. This year, I didn't visit back everyone. Mostly because I forgot. Out of the blogs I did visit, I had two favorites. Natasha's Vampire-themed drabbles and Tyrean's Sci-Fi story, Crash. 

My own theme was very popular. People loved meeting the monsters and musing about if they would pick them or not as a romantic partner. I got quite a few new subscribers this year, too. I think it helped that the posts were short and sweet, too.

I'm glad I joined again this year. Last year, when I thought I'd have to give it up, made me very sad. I enjoy this challenge and always meet new people. It's left me hopeful I can do it again next year.