Volaria by M.D. Neu (A Hopeful Dystopian Story)

Thank you to the Author’s Lounge and Chloe Lopez for inviting me to be here today to chat about my newest novel; Volaria. As with all my works of fiction, I set the novel in my home of Silicon Valley (San Jose, California), if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the home of technology, then you’ll love my books as I spot light this highly under represented part of the United States. Volaria came about because I have always loved vampires, witches, and werewolves. I’ve also had a passion for science fiction and I was curious what would happen if you mashed the two genres together. Plus, I wanted to push myself and write a story that is darker and may not have the kind of ending that people expect or even want. With this novel I wanted to show that life doesn’t always work out the way we hope, even in works of fiction.

Typically, my stories always have a satisfying, “traditional” Hollywood ending, but with Volaria I wanted to write something different, something wickeder. However, I absolutely wanted the conclusion of the novel to work and be something readers would appreciate and find believable, or as believable as possible for a ‘vampires in space story’. Volaria also allowed me to incorporate mental illness into the characters and the narrative. Tobin, my human character, lives with depression and anxiety, while Malifo, my vampire character, struggles with a form of post-traumatic stress injury. Writing for these two characters gave me a way to spotlight mental health in a positive way, as both characters are able to live productive and healthful lives. Within the pages of the story, we get to witness both characters grapple and work on becoming better versions of themselves; more so for Tobin than Malifo, but they each have their moments.

Let me share what Volaria is about:

Humans are no longer alone; they have been joined by Arcanes, Lycans, and Vampires. It’s been over a hundred years since the Earth went through The Shift. Where once almost eight billion humans lived, the population now holds at four billion. But that wasn’t the only change. No one anticipated the branching of human DNA to produce new species of humans. Arcanes, Lycans, and Vampires are hidden throughout the genome, awaiting puberty before they manifest distinctly unhuman abilities. Finally, the new species of man were welcomed. No longer studied or treated as outcasts by most. People accepted these new humans and they integrated into society, albeit not easily. This allowed the UN Government to focus on colonizing space, in order to secure a future for all.

Risks remain however, permitting a vampire to feed from you can cause shared memories. Tobin Corsian took such a risk. He resides in a newly reopened district of San Jose, California, where his family’s old home stood. He lives there with his friend Mikel, a Lycan, and his dog Begger. Instead of making his mandatory monthly blood donation at the government blood bank for the vampire community, Tobin decides, with the help of his therapist, to visit Biter, a vampire spa. The spa allows vampires to feed from humans directly while providing spa and sexual services, granting the donor a three-month reprieve from their required donations. Tobin’s encounter at Biter opens a window to his past and an experience he had as a child on the moon. Questions abound as he tries to unravel his past and make sense of his life.

Since I placed Volaria in the future, I had greater opportunity to play with a world that could potentially come to be. I’ve heard the story described as hopeful dystopia, which I like. Yes, there was an event in the story that brought humankind to the brink, but humans were able to come back and build a better, more hopeful future. For readers, I hope they enjoy the tale, but more importantly, I want them to take away from the story and these wonderful characters that mental health is important and is something we should not be afraid to talk about.

As I mentioned, Volaria is something different for me, and I enjoyed writing the book and exploring this new universe. I may have to revisit the universe of Volaria again, but for now I’m pleased with the ending and where the characters landed. Currently, I’m finishing up my next novel, a hopeful urban fantasy tale, about a lost city in the Pacific Ocean. And I’ve begun working on the fourth book in my Sci-Fi series, A New World, which is a hopeful set of books about how humans deal with the arrival of an alien race called the Nentraee.

Thank you again to Chloe Lopez and the Author’s Lounge for having me. If you would like to keep up with my writing you can find me at www.mdneu.com also you can find Volaria and all my works here: