In SUNDOWNERS, one of the first few lines are, “Brielle, is he out?”
“Like a light, we’ve got a good forty-five minutes, Laurent.”
“Then we’d better not waste them. We are speaking to the people from Authors Lounge and some introductions are in order. I’m Agate’ d’Estange, I’m a professor of Art and Art History, and the reason for Jeff’s story.”
“I’m Laurent Fortesque, director of Aljazeera America, and the protagonist of Jeff’s story.”
“I’m Zephrin Ivano, Agate’s’ grandson and protagonist, Laurent is the antagonist. The three of us are vampires. My mom sends me to America to find Agate’ because she’s missed few phone calls and might have the Fangs of Death.”
“Like lover-boy Zephrin hasn’t ever ignored a phone call from mom before.”
“Laurent behave or I’ll do more than box your ears,” said Agate’.
“Like to see you try.”
“That can be arrange but it’s not why we’re here. Brielle, please continue.”
“I’m Brielle Chalmers, a tenured professor of Art and Agate’s protégé. I’m not a vampire.”
Then, SUNDOWNERS gets a bit meta, saying, “For you who are reading, imagine that a book, any book is like one of those online RPG’s. When you enter a dungeon and when another enters the same dungeon, you don’t see each other. That’s when the quest begins for each of you and when our life begins, when we encounter you. When we experience your desires and dreams for us and the book. Now, first question. Who wants it?”
“I will baba,” said Zephrin.
“Good, Zephrin, what is the book all about?”
“It’s about our history and the myth we created to hide behind, to make humans fear us. Unfortunately, a lie repeated over and over begins to take on life and truth. We live among you now, but we need to preserve that secret, so we took an ugly truth about us and created the myth you know.”
“Zephrin, you mean you aren’t killed by sunlight or a stake through the heart,” Brielle asked.
“Sunlight can irritate us but a good sunscreen and we’re fine. A stake through the heart would kill any living creature.”
“Next question is for you, Brielle. What inspired Jeff to write the book?”
“Good question, he likes science-fiction and fantasy, but history is his passion. He took the question of why couldn’t vampires exist, and looked at it from, if they did exist, how and why? He stumbled upon your secret. Vampires are a mutation, no connection to the devil, magic pacts, or such. Heck you can’t turn into bats or wolves. That’s the myth you created about yourselves. I will add that as a mutation, you are human.”
“Laurent, this is for you. What is the target audience for his book?”
“Oh, all who like vampires and mysteries. I’ve no idea what this means but we don’t sparkle. Age 18+ but that’s subjective. There’s mystery, a goth vampire associate of mine, a what’s going on and murders. Agate’ if I may say you get into it when you kill somebody. For an old lady, you can be a bit gruesome. I still don’t believe what you did to Mike.”
“That was a mistake, Laurent, calling her an old lady,” said Zephrin. Even Brielle’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Laurent.
“Don’t old lady me young man. Now children, let’s get back to the task at hand. I’ll take the next one. What does Jeffrey hope that readers will get from his book?”
Agate’ paused as she thought on the question.
“Come on Agate’ is your mind slipping, answer the question,” challenged Laurent.
“He’d want them to have an enjoyable time and that they don’t make judgments about people based on what they look like. That they would find something to relate to and hopefully bring them a smile.”
“That’s a good answer,” said Brielle.
“What’s next, Baba.”
“Zephy, what are his future plans and goals for the book?”
“He’s working on an outline for the next book now, won’t say the title but we’ll need visas. As for goals, he wants the second book to be better than the first, and to grow as a writer.”
“Really, he doesn’t want to make money,” Laurent said in mock shock.
“He’d love to make money off of it but that wasn’t his goal or the books purpose.”
There was a stirring from Jeff in the chair.
“Oh well, our time is up, back we go, now the three of you first. I’ll make sure we didn’t do anything stupid.”
Jeffrey woke up and grabbed his mug and took a swallow.
“Uh, terrible, cold coffee. I must have dozed off. What’s this on the screen? Did I write this? Must have and not that bad. It’s different. I’ll add some bio stuff and links.
Jeffrey, author of SUNDOWNERS was born in Corning, New York and now braves the winters of the Rochester, NY area. Jeffrey is married with three children and a Pomeranian that was there one night when he got home. He spent a few years teaching History and later earned an MS in Operations Management that helps him with his current managerial job.
Jeff has had several stories published. Unexpected Opportunity (February 2015, Aphelion), Dandelion Dreams (Flash Fiction Press 11-23-2015), Umbrae Calling (Flash Fiction Press 1-25-2016) Their Very First Battle (Flash Fiction Press 1-31-2017), The poem: To Meet Others (The Question of the Day: The Andre Polk Memorial Anthology, Clayborn Press, 9-2017)
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