I am very happy to announce that as of 10:50 p.m. PT on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, principal writing for The Dark Terror, Book Three – The Dark Passage Series, is complete. Current word count is 60,713 but I am sure that will change before I send it off to my publisher, Trifecta Publishing House, for editing and formatting.
“I am Elizabeth Danae Rubis and I am the Queen of the Fucking Night!”
This truly has been a labor of love. These three books – The Dark Truth, The Dark Descent, and The Dark Terror – mark my first true and honest foray into fiction writing. I have put so much of myself into these books, more than I realized. The writing has been therapeutic, cathartic, nerve racking, goosebump inducing, and stress relieving – never boring, never tedious (even plowing through the scenes that had to be written just to advance the plot), always fun, always exciting.
I started with a premise and character. Elizabeth Danae Rubis. I called on my knowledge of vampire lore and the vampire in pop culture to weave a three-volume tale set in modern-day San Francisco that will, to borrow a phrase, “thrill you, chill you and fulfill you.” It is decadent and depraved. There is plenty of murder and mayhem, twists and turns, heartbreak and betrayal and blood, lots and lots of blood.
The first book, The Dark Truth, was named after a beer. And that dark truth is a stark realization of a new existence and coming to grips with that new reality. The second reflects that descent into the deeper darkness, the evolution of the character and self awareness. The Dark Terror is just that – just when you think the story couldn’t go any deeper, any darker, it does.
I was over the moon when I found out The Dark Truth was a finalist for the International Vampire Films and Arts Festival’s Golden Stake Award for vampire fiction.
People have asked me why a vampire story, where did I get the idea, why a female vampire, how did I get into vampires? I always thought that if I was going to write a book, it would be a vampire story. I have been into vampires since I was very young. I love Gothic horror. I have always been enthralled with the idea of a strong female lead vampire character. So many in the genre have been men.
Vampires are eternal, sexy, seductive, and powerful. There are so many traits that draw us to these creatures, the undead. Who wouldn’t want to live forever? Command the children of the night? Terrorize our enemies with impunity and no consequence? Possess unlimited strength?
Yet the vampire has weaknesses and determined enemies. It is the struggle between good and evil, between the light and the dark, that draws us to these stories.
Bram Stoker created the ultimate villain and defined a genre with his seminal Dracula. It is my privilege to add to that canon. I hope you find my three tales of neo-Gothic horror worthy.
Thank you for your support, everyone. Stay tuned for cover art reveals and a release date.
I’d like to take a moment to thank the folks at The Avid Reader in Davis, Calif., for hosting me for my latest book signing/reading event. It’s a great store near the University of California – Davis campus with a friendly staff. If you are ever in Davis, be sure to stop in.
I’ll be signing copies of my first two novels, The Dark Truth and The Dark Descent at 
Jerry Knaak.com 