Tuesday Flashback: Valerio vs. Danaus

For the third installment of my Tuesday flashback, I thought we'd spend one more week with Valerio.  Two weeks ago, we looked at Valerio's overall character and last week we took at peek at his hot relationship with Mira.  This week, let's take a peek at Valerio's one true nemesis, the nightwalker hunter, Danaus.

After Valerio, there were other men in Mira's life, though all were humans.  She remained with humans because of their frailty and short lifespans.  In her mind, all those relationships had an expiration date stamped on them and she could maintain an emotional distance.

Danaus was the first to break that rule.

The hunter was centuries older than Mira; centuries older than Valerio.  He wasn't frail like other humans.  He could survive a beating and would never fall to the touch of Father Time. 

At first, Mira found him incredibly sexy, but she didn't like him or what he believed in.  However, and this was her first weakness, she did respect Danaus.  The hunter steadily wormed his way into her heart, tearing down barriers that she was sure no man would ever get beyond.

One of the greatest differences between Valerio and Danaus was that Mira was able to completely trust Danaus.  She never felt that trust for Valerio because Valerio always looked out for himself first, or so she thought.

Of course, Valerio took an instant disliking for Danaus.  First, because he was a vampire hunter and second because Valerio quickly realized that the hunter was growing in Mira's affections.  Though Valerio rarely ever showed it, I think he would have cheerfully ripped the man's head off. With the series written almost entirely from Mira's point of view, there weren't many chances to see Valerio and Danaus alone together. 

However, Valerio did pay Danaus a visit at the Dark Room to give the hunter a quick word of advice when it comes to Mira.  I posted the quick scene on my website under the Extras section a couple years ago.  If you'd like to read about their little heart-to-heart talk, please click this link.

You can find more of Valerio in:
Bound to Me
Dayhunter
Wait for Dusk
Burn the Night

Be sure to come back next week when we take a stroll through Gage's world from The Asylum Tales.

Tuesday Flashback: A Love Affair with Valerio

I'm continuing with my flashback series that I started last week by digging into Valerio's relationship with Mira.  In my blog post last week, I posted some links to background details on Valerio and spoke generally about Valerio's character and why I liked working with him so much.

A big part of Valerio was his relationship with Mira.  Valerio was important to Mira for two important reasons in the series.  One was that Valerio taught Mira the heart and soul of what it meant to be a vampire.

Let's have a short history lesson for Mira to bring you up to speed.

Mira was kidnapped by Sadira and was later changed into a vampire (nightwalker).
After several long decades living under Sadira's thumb, Mira was kidnapped by the naturi.
Jabari rescues Mira and take her to Egypt to live with him for 100 years.  During that time, Jabari teaches Mira the history of vampires as well as gives her the skills to survive on her own.  With Jabari, Mira gets a respect for her people and their history.

After leaving Jabari, Mira spends the next few centuries traveling Europe with Valerio.  It is during these centuries that Valerio helps Mira appreciate her abilities and what it means to be a vampire in terms of power, torture, and fun.

With Sadira, Mira learned fear.
With Jabari, Mira learned respect.
With Valerio, Mira learned to live.

And it was more than just living where it was fun and games every night in a wash of blood and sex and screams.  Valerio taught Mira to accept herself and the life that she now had.

The swath of violence and mayhem they cut through Europe was part of the basis of the love affair that grew between them, which was the other reason Valerio was so important to Mira. Valerio made Mira realize that she could feel affection for another creature again.

There was a similarity of personalities that drew them together.  There was an odd trust that grew when they shouldn't have trusted each other.  There was also an unspoken need that neither wanted to look to closely at for fear of becoming vulnerable.

For the time they were together, Mira and Valerio burned hotter than the sun.

If you'd like to read more about Valerio's relationship with Mira, check out Bound to Me.

The e-book novella is available for only $1.  You don't need an e-reader to get the book.  If you have the Kindle app, you can read the book from your computer.  I think you may also be able to do that with the Google e-book as well.

Here are some quick links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google e-books
iBookstore
Kobo

You can find more of Valerio in:

Dayhunter

Wait for Dusk

Burn the Night

An Evening with Valerio

Since I'm currently in a quiet period (more writing and less big news), I thought I would start a new blog series that would appear on Tuesdays.  Looking over my website, I realized that I've accumulated a large quantity of free material for both the Dark Days series and the Asylum Tales.  I thought every Tuesday, I would focus on one piece with the hope of reaching out to readers who might not have known about it or to potentially remind readers of an old favorite.

Valerio

This week, I thought we'd spend a little time with the lovely Valerio.  If you've haven't read the Dark Days series or if you don't happen to remember Valerio, here is a link to a brief essay giving some background details on the very old vampire.

I've never tried to match characters that I've created with images of real people.  It's so hard to match up what you have in your head with people.  For me, I have such a clear image of their soul and personality that trying to pin down a smile, eyes, the shape of the jaw just seems to muddy the waters.  However, flipping through images, I think model Domenique Melchior is pretty damn close to Valerio and I find it ironic that he was born in Vienna, which is Valerio current stomping grounds.

Valerio is so smooth.  He is the epitome of the romantic Hollywood vampire.  Valerio is always calm and collected.  He always gives you the feeling that even when chaos is exploding around him, he still has the situation completely under his control.  Valerio is a seducer and a manipulator.  Valerio loves being a vampire and above all, he loves himself.  The only person in his long existence to ever make him hesitate, to make him put his own life in unnecessary danger ... is Mira.

While Mr. Melchior has ample provocative pictures, I think I prefer those in a suit when it comes to Valerio.  While the vampire is very sexy, I always see Valerio wearing a suit.  He is always dressed in the height of fashion, no matter the season or the circumstance.  It helps to add to his controlled exterior.

Valerio was a favorite character to work with because he was always a bit of a smartass whenever he chose to open his mouth.  There was also this feeling of a long, deep history between Mira and Valerio that you only got glimpses of through the series, but we'll get more into his history with Mira next week.

This week, I want to point you in the direction an interview that Valerio gave where he dodged some pointed questions about Mira and his own past.  To read the interview, please click here. 

You can find more of Valerio in:
Bound to Me
Dayhunter
Wait for Dusk
Burn the Night

Less Than a Month Until Valerio

It’s getting closer.

Each day gets us one step closer.

Just over a year ago, fans asked for a peek at Mira’s relationship with Valerio.  I listened.  My publisher listened.  And now, you have less than a month to wait until you can get your hands on Bound to Me, An Original Dark Days Story. 

The story will only be available as an e-book.  If you don’t have an e-reader, I am pretty sure that you can still download it and read it on your computer.  The story is fewer than 100 pages long and costs only $0.99. 

For only $1, you can travel back 200 hundred years and enjoy an adventure with Mira and Valerio through London, Venice, and Spain.  For only $1, you can visit many characters who appear throughout the series, with a surprise guest or two.

For more of my thoughts on Valerio, check out my recent Supernatural Underground blog entry.

If you’d like to pre-order the book, which comes out on April 10, here are some links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iBookstore