Journals of the Undead

Author: Kristīne Čeirāne

  • What Would I Do Differently…

    What Would I Do Differently…

    …if I were writing Journals of the Undead today? I’ve thought about it every now and then, especially as I was preparing the Latvian edition for publishing. In short, quite a few things but here are the main ones…

    Firstly, I would not cover four centuries and the stories would be in a chronological order. With JotU, I left them in the order in which they were written. I came to know my characters, their background and the events that shaped them gradually and this is reflected in the pace of the novel.

    Secondly, since I’d cover a much shorter period of time, there would be less characters. Four protagonists is fine but there’s a considerable amount of supporting characters in JotU who only appeared briefly and that’s a shame as some of them deserved more time in the spotlight.

    Thirdly, there would be at least one Latvian character.

    And, in general, the stories would be more light-hearted. My characters would still deal with the worldly winds and the pros and cons of eternal life but there would be more humour.

    I could have added all this to the manuscript but I chose not to. I have edited JotU several times over the years but those have been minor edits. The biggest change I made was re-writing a dialogue between two characters in the 5th story, The Encounter, where they discuss whether vampires have a soul. My thoughts on the subject have changed so I replaced the original dialogue with a new one. Apart from that, I’ve left the stories as they were, concerned that any cardinal changes would weaken and worsen the novel instead of improving it.

  • The Black Vampyre & Carmilla

    The Black Vampyre & Carmilla

    I never run out of books to read. In fact, I have 50+ unread books at the moment on my shelves, but that doesn’t stop me from buying some more. The latest additions are two 19th century vampire stories: Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla and Uriah Derick D’Arcy’s The Black Vampyre.

    I chose them because I’m working on my next vampire novels that are set in the 19th century and reading books from that historical period helps me get into the mood. I also pay close attention to the language, to how people addressed each other and how they described the world around them. Whilst I don’t want to sound like a 19th century author, I don’t want to sound too modern either.

    I haven’t started reading Carmilla so I cannot provide any feedback at the moment. I chose it because this 1870s novel inspired Dracula and the vampire is female.

    The Black Vampyre (1819) I have read. It sounded very promising: the first black vampire story and the first comedic vampire story that also had a revolution going on in the background. The main character is a slave who transforms into a vampire after being killed by his captor and seeks revenge. So far, very promising. Yet I was left with mixed feelings. The plot summary was better written than the story, in my opinion. If I were reading this in the 1820s then I would have been excited for this was an entirely new genre and I love a good revenge story. However, I was reading this as a modern reader (that is difficult to surprise). The author (whose true identity remains unclear) wrote the Black Vampyre as a response to John William Polidori’s The Vampyre. Polidori’s story became a sensation and what usually happens when something becomes a sensation? Many others try to create something similar. Personally, I found the language in The Black Vampyre difficult to follow but maybe that’s because it’s written in English as it was spoken in the United States 200 years ago. Overall, it was an interesting reading experience.

    I’m also planning to read The Pale Lady by Alexandre Dumas père. I had no idea that the author of The Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo had also written a vampire story!

  • Vampires & Religion

    Vampires & Religion

    I recently finished reading The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice. Whilst I really enjoyed 2/3 of the book which focused on Armand’s different lives through the centuries, I started losing interest when his story returned to the 1990s. I simply couldn’t understand his obsession with Christian relics and Christianity in general. To me, vampires and religion do not mix. My own vampires turn their back to any religion after their transformation. They do believe in a higher power but they understand that their existence goes against the eternal cycle of life and death: everything that is born passes away some time later. They’ve cheated death and therefore there is no God available to them, they’re completely on their own.

    To each their own, obviously. Vampire literature would be boring if all writers had the same beliefs and there would be a strict canon.

    And yet I struggled. The thing is, I was born in an atheist country where religion was banned and grew up in a secular state. We did have some Bible lessons at school but I quickly realised Christianity was not for me. Therefore, to this day, I know very little about it. When Armand was in ruptures about Veronica’s Veil I had to Google it because I had no idea what it is and why it’s significant.

    So, when Pandora (who was born in Ancient Rome) didn’t share his excitement and Armand asked why, I shouted out loud when she said that Christ was never her Lord. Same thing, Pandora, same thing!

    But, as I wrote earlier, everyone’s different. And I did enjoy most of the book…

  • Lucretia’s Birthday

    Lucretia’s Birthday

    It’s January 29 again so this post will be about the birthday girl, Lucretia.

    Do you believe in astrology? What do vampires and astrology have in common, you might think. Well, I do believe in star signs – a little bit.

    Lucretia is one of the four main characters in Journals of the Undead and the only female protagonist in my novel. Originally her birthday was on June 29 , making her star sign Cancer. Her back story is that Lucretia turned into a vampire being betrayed by her first love. Lucretia was so badly hurt she died from sorrow.

    I thought about it and realised I’ve never met a Cancer who’d react to a messy break up like that. Yes, Cancers are sensitive souls and can be hurt badly and suffer terribly but they bounce back. They get drunk, complain to their friends and then, about a week later, Cancers emerge triumphantly and move on. They’ve either gotten over their ex or plotted a nasty vendetta.

    Lucretia’s sensitive nature and dying for love sounded more like an Aquarius so I moved her birthday to January.

  • 2023 Summary

    2023 Summary

    Christmas and the end of the year are fast approaching so I decided to do a summary of my 2023 post.

    In short, it’s been a roller coaster year. I was been thinking about publishing the Latvian version of Journals of the Undead, “Šķautnes”, for quite a while. I had found a company that could take care of printing and distribution and had an illustrator, too. My plan was to edit the stories first and then set the thing in motion.

    However, back in January, I realised I could spend another few years without getting anything done. Instead of “someday” I needed a deadline, that’s how I work. Given that my novel is about vampires, October/November seemed the best time to launch the book. I emailed the Latvian publishing house Sava grāmata, we discussed deadlines and got the ball rolling.

    Or so I thought. I made a grave error (pun intended) of underestimating how much time editing would take. I only did minor edits as I feared that any major editing, no matter how well intended, could potentially weaken or dilute the original story. I wrote the novel when I was in my 20s, I’m in my 30s now, I’m a stronger and better storyteller now but… Journals of the Undead were written and belong to a particular time in my life and should remain there. By removing some of its weaknesses I would risk damaging its strengths. There will be sequels and an alternative version of the same events where I’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate my current skills.

    In short, I couldn’t stick to my own deadlines. This was due to various reasons, including my day job and other commitments. I reached a really low point in August and even considered postponing the project for a year. Feeling lost, I emailed Sava grāmata, who – bless them! – displayed angelic levels of understanding. They assured me we can still manage to launch the book this autumn. “Who knows what’s going to happen in a year’s time? It’s now or never,” I thought. And so the manuscript, written mostly in Riga but also in Hamburg and Copenhagen, was finally finished at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. “Šķautnes” was officially released on September 19 and hit the shelves in selected Latvian bookstores shortly afterwards.

  • Music & Editing

    Music & Editing

    I usually listen to music whilst editing as it helps me: a) get in the mood; b) stay focused. When I find a song I really like I can listen to it for hours on repeat – I’m not exaggerating! One of such songs is Burn by The Cure. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve listened to it, one of my all time favourites! The Crow (1994), one of my favourite movies by the way, had a great soundtrack but I like Burn the most.

    And then there is the opposite… I realised early on that Type O Negative and editing don’t go together. I love the band but find Peter Steele’s voice to be too distracting. Instead of doing what I was supposed to be doing I ended up watching the band’s music videos instead.

    The trouble with editing is that I need to be super focused and, because I have a day job and other commitments, the time I can set aside for this task is limited and needs to be used as efficiently as possible. Writing is different: I let my mind wander and I write down everything without thinking about it much plus writing can be done anytime as I nearly always carry pen and paper with me and, if I don’t, then I record a voice message on my phone.

    Editing is when I assemble, filter and arrange text so my mind needs to be completely present. Also, as much as I like to burn the midnight oil, I cannot edit at night. Write yes, edit no – I’ve tried it and lost hours the next day dealing with typos and silly mistakes from the previous night’s editing session. So no editing past 9 pm for me.

  • Why I Didn’t Have a Launch Party

    Why I Didn’t Have a Launch Party

    In short, because I felt too drained for that. I had spent months editing, communicating with the publishing house and my book illustrator, working in my day job, doing my radio show, and planning how to promote the novel. By the time the Latvian version of Journals of the Undead, “Šķautnes”, was printed I just wanted to have a break and not do anything book related for a while. So, instead of a big launch my book illustrator, Santagora, suggested an event at a library. I thought it was a nice compromise so that’s what we did. We chose Lielvārde, a picturesque town about an hour away from Riga, and it was a small event in collaboration with a local school.

  • “Šķautnes”

    “Šķautnes”

    I don’t like to talk about projects until they’re finished so I didn’t… But now I can. The Latvian version of Journals of the Undead, titled “Šķautnes”, which means ‘facets’ in Latvian, is out now! I feel happy and tired at the same time so this will be a very short post. I would like to thank “Sava grāmata”, the publishing company, and Santagora Torma, the illustrator. “Šķautnes” will be available in selected Latvian online and bricks and mortar book stores soon.

  • Journals of the Undead vs Parallel World

    Journals of the Undead vs Parallel World

    I have another vampire story, Parallel World, written in short chapters and available on Wattpad. Parallel World originated from some left over material that didn’t quite fit into Journals of the Undead. Also, JotU deals with tough stuff: loss, betrayal, loneliness and depression a lot, which was starting to have an impact on me. There is a bit of humour in my novel but not much so I wanted to write something more light hearted to keep things in balance. And that’s how Parallel World was born. Of course, as it often happens, the characters started to evolve and have their own ways therefore altering my initial idea.

    The main differences are…

    Number 1: less lead characters. Unlike JotU, Parallel World has only two protagonists, Elisa and Jack, and all but one of the chapters are told by Elisa. 

    Number2: Less jumping between centuries. All episodes take place in 2009/2010 apart from the occasional flashbacks.

    Number 3: Whilst writing my book, I discovered how I enjoy using historical facts (the more bonkers the better) and mixing them with fiction. I’m very interested in European history, especially Hungarian, and you’ll notice that when you read Parallel World.

    Number 4: the vampires in Parallel World are less homogenous. When I was writing Journals of the Undead, I was still working out what my vampires would be like. As a result, they all had roughly the same abilities and limitations, and no special powers. By the time I was working on the next story, I started to find it rather boring and mixed things up. Therefore the vampires in Parallel World are a very diverse bunch, including one who can turn into an owl. And I’ve thrown in a vampire hunter to make things even more interesting.

    Number 5: the supporting characters are a truly motley crew. Unlike Journals of the Undead, where the vampires are essentially good guys and girls who only do bad things if the situation requires it, some of the vampires in Parallel World are rotten to the core and no-one can do anything about it. The good vampires tolerate the bad ones and vice versa but they’re all stuck together in this parallel reality.

    Number 6: Latvians! Journals of the Undead had none and it is one of my regrets about the novel. I rectified this in Parallel World, which features three Latvians, all very different, and one of the chapters is set in Latvia.

    The stories were originally written in Latvian and there are 35 chapters in total. So far, I’ve managed to translate 25.

  • Behind the Scenes: Arifay

    Out of all my characters, Arifay is the one I know the least about. How could this be if I created him and wrote the stories? Well, it’s more a case of writing them down. The characters all came to me and revealed as much or as little as they wanted.

    Arifay’s date of birth, surname and home town are never revealed in Journals of the Undead. He’s in his mid 20s and, like Yuri, was born in the 18th century. Romantic yet cynical, more of a thinker than a man of action, calm yet determined, often smiling but with a dry sense of humour, Arifay avoids the spotlight but leaves a big and lasting impression on the humans and vampires he meets. A natural born teacher, he loves sharing knowledge and has remarkable levels of patience. Arifay normally keeps himself to himself but, once he becomes close to someone, he is a loyal friend.

    People have asked me about the origins of his unusual name. The answer is: I don’t know. It just came to me.