I believe it was Clay McLeod Chapman that recently said to me that if you’re going to do vampires in your story, you have to find an original way to do it. Which admittedly in this day and age is a challenge. There are scant possibilities that have yet to be picked clean in books, film, etc.
In The Instruction Manual to Being a Vampire, Craig took care to get it right, and do it his way. In this interview, he explains his process for arriving at including vampires in his story, and how to make them in a way that services the plot. Craig’s take is very grounded and interesting. I think he made Clay proud.
It’s a great book, and we talk about it at great length in this chonky interview. I know it’s a long one, but me and Craig go back 15 years, so there’s going to be some nostalgia, yeah?
That nostalgia took shape as a reflection on an anthology that Craig was in called Warmed and Bound, and also the anthology I published - The Booked. Anthology. We look at the powerhouse lineup that Warmed and Bound had, and ruminate on the good old days.
For those of you who are new to Craig Wallwork, he has a fantastic trilogy of dark detective novels that I loved and you should check those out as well. I’ve gathered a list of books by Craig you can buy on my Bookshop page.
For the folks who prefer YouTube:
