A short story of mine, “On Call To The Vampire”, has appeared in the November 2015 issue of Bloodbond , a publication devoted to vampiric literature.
I wrote the original story in 2010 – responding to a call for submissions for the Ticonderoga anthology Dead Red Heart. Obviously it has been revised in various ways since (most notably in this case removing a large chunk of pseudo-theological dialogue and perhaps a too-underplayed ending. As with much of my fiction, on re-reading it I find that reasonably interesting characterisation, setting and underlying ideas are undermined by a tendency to rush the climax and for perhaps rather sudden action which seems unjustified by the story so far – indeed I am not sure how coherent the ending is now. I do wonder if, in trying to be subtle and hint at things, the conclusion can seem overly dramatic. I also wonder if a certain suspicion of some of the too-neat ways “narrative” can smooth out the messy business of how things really happen undermines my stories as stories.
As it is on sale via Alban Lake at the link above I will hold off on posting anything from it for the time being anyhow.
Séamus Sweeney 