Happy Friday Readers,
Today is the last day of our series by published author, H.G. Ferguson. It has been a fast week. I hope you have enjoyed his posts as much as I have.
Since I signed, the journey
continues.
Why a vampire? And
why a Christian vampire? Isn’t
that a contradiction in terms?
If I were dealing with the supernatural in this mythos,
yes, it would be. But Rebecca is not
supernatural. The only thing
supernatural about her is the power of her Lord Jesus Christ in her life. Rebecca is a human being, albeit a very unique one. A mutant, if you will. She is driven to drink human blood because
she has to. It’s her physiology. It is her affliction. It is her “infirmity,” as she calls it. How can a Christian live with this? Read the book.
Today’s vampire lit and movies present vampirism as
something cool. Being a vampire is
cool. Being a vampire makes you
powerful. Don’t you want to be a vampire too and embrace the darkness? In my mythos, there’s nothing exciting about
being a vampire. Rebecca does use her
“powers” to help others, but she always pays a price, for when the Blood
calls, the Vampire must answer. Being
a vampire is an affliction she must live with every single day of her
life. There’s nothing cool about
it. And it isn’t something she can pass
on to another person unless she bears a child and that child is born like her. In fact, she never wants to bear a
child. She wants this THING to die with
her. She will not get that wish,
however… Nor would she ever desire to
make ANYONE what she is, even if she could.
I’ve taken the traditional vampire mythos and turned it on
its ear. Rebecca doesn’t fear the cross
– she loves the cross, and wears one over her heart, because upon it her
Savior died. For her. I have returned God to His rightful place
in all this mythology, i.e., that in ALL things HE may have the
pre-eminence. But, like the
“traditional” vampire, her senses are
enhanced, along with her strength. Sunlight
will destroy her because she is extremely PORPHYRIC, that rare allergy to
sunlight that can be life-threatening to those suffering from it. She does regenerate injuries because of her
metabolism, but she can drown, be strangled or smothered. She is not “undead.” She is not “unholy.” Her affliction is the source of all vampire
folklore in the world.
As far as influences go, there are five movies and one
book. The movies are the 1992 Last of
the Mohicans, The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, the 1974 forgotten gem Swashbuckler,
Franco Zeffirelli’s masterful 1972 Brother Sun, Sister Moon (the story
of St. Francis of Assisi -- because Rebecca is Franciscan in her Christian
expression), and the most original
vampire film ever made, Near Dark .
Rebecca is far closer to the vampires in that movie than any other. The only book that fed into Rebecca’s tale is
The Autobiography of Mary Jemison, the 15-year-old farm girl who was
taken by the Seneca during the French and Indian War, adopted into the tribe, and
lived to be 93 years old as a clan mother revered by both whites and the Seneca
alike.
Even Rebecca’s Christian heritage and spiritual makeup is
as out of the box as possible. I wanted
her to have a connection not so much with the Roman Catholic church
as with the Ancient church. Her faith
is what we would call the Protestant, Biblical faith, but her expressions are
Ancient and yes, some of those are more Roman Catholic. But the Gospel is presented twice in the
story. It’s the Gospel of Grace. Period.
I stand in awe of what God has done, is doing, and will
do. My desire and prayer is to be a
servant and a channel through and of His Grace.
I am working on the second story now. More on that later.
And as Rebecca would chant:
“Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat! Soli Deo gloria
in excelsis!”
Here are
the links for H.G.'s information.
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