In honour of the recent re-release of Twisted Bloodlines (the revamped and extended second edition is now available for free at Smashwords, for 99p on Kindle and £9.99 as a paperback) I thought I would go back… back to a time on the cusp of the pandemic, when I was in college and had the idea to write up the very first draft of Twisted Bloodlines.
The Background
I’ve always been into vampires. From a young (probably too young) age, I was devouring my mum’s Twilight books and at some point during the transition between high school and college, I took on the challenge of reading Dracula – it was a huge task, but I found myself absolutely loving the epistolary form and its combination with the gothic and supernatural, leading me to have a fascination with both. I’ve been trialling a few different epistolary forms for some projects, so definitely look out for something like that in the future from me!
The Beginning
For Twisted Bloodlines, I did a lot of borrowing from real life – not for the vampires, obviously (!), but many of the characters, especially in the first edition, were named after my friends, and in some cases friends of friends. The most prominent character is Kassidy, the main character, who is named after one of my best college friends (we shared our Media Studies class), and as a fun sort of Easter egg, she’s also who the entire Cats Collection is dedicated to! With the second edition, I cut out some of the more minor characters, but people like Skye and Charlie have still kept their names inspired by real-life people.
The Writing
For both the first and second editions of Twisted Bloodlines, I wrote their first drafts during NaNoWriMo – the first edition of Twisted Bloodlines was written during the main NaNoWriMo event of 2019, and the second edition was written during Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2021. Obviously, there was a lot of editing and revision to be done for both of them, but I found with the second edition that working from the original framework of the first edition and then tweaking and extending it to create an overall chapter plan worked really well. Ending up with an 80k manuscript compared to the first edition’s 50k was a little overwhelming, but I couldn’t be prouder of how it turned out.
The Synopsis
Wrenched from the world of the living, Kassidy is transformed into a vampire by crazed second-generation Sai—and polite sixteenth-generation Teddy. Struggling with the reality of becoming a monster and enduring her uniquely split bloodline, will she be able to survive in a modern world plagued by the undead?
An Excerpt
Concrete slapped my back. Air rushed from my lungs, erupting in a cloud I would’ve called ‘dragon’s breath’ years and years ago. Her hands—claws, they felt like claws carved from ice—latched onto my arms. Nails gripped my flesh.
She was a maniac. I was a maniac for ever following her. This was where kindness got you. Flat on your back, winded, with your skin getting shredded to bits by some lunatic.
Mad. Insane. She had to be. This wasn’t normal.
Thoughts flashed through my mind quicker than I could recognise them. My chest convulsed, stabbing pains ricocheting across my ribs. Her fists flashed in front of my vision, accompanied by dancing specks of red which could have been her nail polish or my blood, the blows becoming blurs. What had I ever done to deserve this?
My gaze was already vague and hazy, maybe from my head smacking the ground or the rapidly growing nausea expanding like a cancer in my stomach, but her ceaseless assault was just dragging me closer to the brink of unconsciousness. I tried to flail around and defend myself. Pulling my shoulders to the side, I fought to recover control over my arms.
I failed.
And Now… Your Role?
The original, first edition of Twisted Bloodlines sold just 23 print copies, and wasn’t available as an ebook. The second edition hasn’t sold any print copies at all as of yet, although 25 free ebook copies and 1 Kindle edition have been downloaded. The first edition has just one review on Amazon (from my mum) – the second edition, as of now, has none. Even if you don’t want to splash out 99p or £9.99 for the paid editions, I would love nothing more than for you to experience Twisted Bloodlines through the free ebook and leave a quick review of your honest thoughts and opinions. It would mean the world to me – and it won’t cost you a thing.
So if you’re willing to take a chance on a modern vampire narrative, then consider giving Twisted Bloodlines a look over. Thank you so much for your support!
Oskar Leonard 