Q & A with Melanie Nowak

1) Tell us about your book
 
Hi and thanks for having me! I’m Melanie Nowak, and I write the venomous vampire series ALMOST HUMAN. The series is available as either 2 trilogies of 6 novels, OR as a series of 21 episodic novellas (in KU) - same story, two formats - pick your poison!
 
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Shy Felicity never expected to attract the attention of a handsome young man... or a vampire, but if she can keep them both from killing each other she’ll need all the help she can get to navigate perils of addiction, desire, morality, zombies, and...college.
 
Cain is an elder vampire who displays quiet confidence even as he struggles to overcome sins of his past. Surprisingly, he found that in losing his life he gained his faith and a purpose. His mission: find the hostile vampires that inhabit this small college town, and educate them to live in peace with humans. Their leader, Sindy, is a wicked temptress who has set her sights on Felicity's new friend Ben. She will be difficult to control, but after meeting Felicity, Cain's most difficult task lies in controlling himself.
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NerdGirlVamp Melanie Newton of NerdGirlOfficial.com called it “My official must read vampire series of the year! This series has continued to be consistently excellent and I have to say I am seriously impressed that the level has remained so outstanding. The fact that I am so far in and craving a new installment the way a vampire craves blood is INCREDIBLE!!! If you aren’t reading this series, you should be!”
 

2) What makes your vampires unique?
 
My vampires are unique in many ways, while still exploring the classic vampire traits and mythos. The most defining unique characteristic of my vamps, is that they have an addictive narcotic venom that they inject with their bite!
Real vampire bats have a anticoagulant in their saliva called “draculin” (named after Count Dracula!) that keeps blood from clotting. I had the idea that such a thing would be useful for vampires as well - and what if they had something to keep the victim calm, like a drug?
 
I always wondered about a vampire’s ability to put victims in thrall. In old movies, vampires are always able to hypnotize people, and it’s never really explained. People are just ‘under their power’. I always wondered – how does it work? I put that question together with the anticoagulant/drug idea, and took it further. What if vampires could inject their victims with venom, like a snake? Only the venom would not be deadly poison, but a narcotic combination of drugs that kept blood from clotting, kept the victim calm and even willing, and also could mark territory for the vampire – leaving a psychic-aura mark that other vampires could see. The vampire could then use the existence of this ‘drug’ in their victim’s system, to put them in thrall, as well as causing other feelings... 
 
I’ve done a lot of research in discovering different powers vampires have in various legends around the world. Using these ideas, my second trilogy goes further to introduce different breeds of vampires with different abilities, such as turning into mist, shape shifting into bats and wolves, flying, using thought control, and even manipulating the weather. All of this is woven into a larger plot in which our beloved characters find themselves trying to stop the plan of an evil coven master trying to take over vampire-kind, even as one of their own finds themselves thrust into a role destined by prophecy - divine leader of vampires the world over - The United One.
 

3) If you could have a vampire ability what would it be and why?
 
That is a really tough question...there are so many! If I really had to choose, I think I would most enjoy being able to change shape into a bat or a wolf. I love animals! I would love to fly as a bat, run the woods as a wolf, and it would be useful for hiding or eavesdropping on unsuspecting humans as well, LOL.
 

4) Is your book standalone or part or a series?
 
ALMOST HUMAN is a long running series that definitely needs to be read in order! You could read the second trilogy without having read the first, but there would of course be spoilers, as it is one continuous story - and why would you want to miss out on all of the juicy background stuff?
I hope you will check it out - my venomous vampires love new blood!

Novel #1 is FATAL INFATUATION
www.amzn.com/B001C3ZTXC/ref=nosim/ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=menoauofthvev-20
 
Or, if you’d like your story in bite sized episodes available in KU, Novella #1 is CAPTIVATING VAMPIRES
www.amzn.com/B01AVMDPRQ/ref=nosim/ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=menoauofthvev-20
 
Feed the addiction!