After forty-three months of research and writing, and a lifelong fascination with the esoteric, I am happy to announce that DRACULA IN LOVE, my fifth novel, will be published by Doubleday in August 2010.
There is blood on the pages, faithful readers, but it is not only from the vampire’s bite. I would like to share with you just a little of the bizarre process of writing this most rebellious of books. It was as if a supernatural being had taken possession of my research and my typing fingers for its own purposes.
In the early stages, the protagonist refused to appear on the page as I had imagined her and came forth with a personality and agenda of her own, speaking to me in a voice I did not recognize. For months, I wasn’t sure that I even liked her! She and the rest of the characters defied my painstakingly constructed one hundred twenty-page outline and forged their own paths, which they would only reveal to me in stingy little increments. I burned a thousand candles and listened to sacred music in my London flat hoping to persuade the writing gods to give me back my book, but ultimately, I had to capitulate and allow them to do as they wished, though I had no idea where they were taking me. In the end, it is a far richer, more surprising, and more thrilling novel for the characters having taken stern control of their destinies.
If you too would like a role in the book’s fate, please preorder a copy below or at your independent bookstore. Pre-orders are often discounted and play a HUGE role in determining the future of this or any book.
Or just explore this DRACULA IN LOVE link:
Dracula In Love
I will be sending more news of the events, parties, performances, and giveaways starting in August and continuing through the rest of the year. Meanwhile, I thank each and every one of you for supporting my books and wish you a lovely spring.
Ever yours—
Karen
“Dark, gothic, and utterly sensual, Dracula in Love is the novel for Twilight’s grownup fans. “
—Michelle Moran, bestselling author of Nefertiti: A Novel
“Dracula in Love is a sensual fantasy feast, a flight of the imagination, a darkly rich pleasure. Like The French Lieutenant’s Woman, the novel explores and exposes the stifling confines of Victorian society, especially upon women. But the means of deliverance is altogether different.
—Margaret George, New York Times bestselling author of Memoirs of Cleopatra and Helen of Troy
“Karen Essex turns the legendary tale of immortal love into a seductive, blood-tingling celebration of the senses. If you read only one more vampire novel, let it be this one!”
—C.W. Gortner, author of The Last Queen & The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
