Polidori: author of the original Vampire legend, now inside the Meta

“I saw your mother,” Dad said. “She’s waiting for me. In the Metro or whatever it’s called.”

Vampires have been around in popular legends for hundreds of years and in popular fiction, courtesy of Polidori and then Stoker, for more than a century. Working with such a popular archetype has its pluses — immediately resonating with readers — and minuses: tiredly expected attributes, like fangs and shrinking, hissing, from crucifixes, can feel tired. That’s why every author hopes to come up with some new take that’s still grounded in the classics.

When we began work on The Cowboy and the Vampire Thriller Series, we were intrigued by several aspects of the vampire myth: how it plugged into religion, the politics of the two castes of vampires and how could an advanced, sentient being die repeatedly — literally; we’re talking full biologic shutdown — only to be resurrected each sundown with all their memories and their personality intact. It’s that last topic that we explore more deeply in Blood and Whiskey.

Because our vampires die, fully, every dawn they have a classic near death experience every single morning. When they die, their consciousness zips off into “the Meta,” a giant energy field and external shared consciousness that contains and sustains all life. At sundown, all of those strands of energy untangle and the vampires return to their bodies once again and arise none the worse for wear. And hungry.

It’s not just for vampires though. Humans go to the Meta as well when they have a near death experience. Think of the classic NDE with the tunnel of light, meeting familiar relatives and experiencing a sense of bliss and meaning. Of course, that only happens to a very small number of people, and to some advanced mental travelers who are able to enter the Meta by meditating.

Vampires, however, enter the Meta every single day.

The concept of the Meta, and what it means for human spirituality, is resonating. In their review of Blood and Whiskey, Kirkus Reviews says:

“While a number of existentialist underpinnings give the series some depth, the book is first and foremost a thriller, upping the ante in every chapter as bullets fly and relationships strain under the weight of old loyalties and new revelations. In a way, it’s a shame more time isn’t spent exploring the existence of this meta world where consciousnesses wait out the daylight hours and immortality has all sorts of ramifications for human spirituality. But with strong writing, funny characters (no irony is lost on one vampiress who takes to sporting a “Future Farmers of America” jacket) and plenty of action, it’s hard to fault the authors for keeping the focus on a story this riveting.”

We agree, and are definitely spending more time in the Meta in book three (we are hard at work on it), but Blood and Whiskey has a huge focus on this new take on the afterlife (and the before and during life as well) based on morphic fields.

Here are a few quotes and sections from Blood and Whiskey that deal with the Meta:

Page 46
After all they shared it was hard to believe Julius was really dead. Lizzie still refused to discuss the details of what happened that night, saying only that she had taken care of the situation. Elita knew he was dead though. She felt his force wither away and bleed into the Meta, smelled and saw his blood on Lizzie’s breath and felt it coursing within her.

Page 65
Lizzie struggled to climb out of what felt like an endless, undifferentiated and always terrifying, darkness. Elita promised her it would get easier, being reborn anew every night, and that soon she’d find her place in the darkness — the Meta — and sense others there too. Not their bodies or their voices, not like in the ghost stories of humans, but their essence, able to feel the part of them that existed after death, the part that existed underneath life. For now, it was all a jumble and still disconcerting.

Page 231
There was a flash of ruby incandescence that erupted from where their blood mingled, growing in power and then consuming her and catapulting her thoughts out of her body. She swirled up into the arch of the sky and beyond, slamming into Virote’s soul on the way. They intertwined, joining together as one, their consciousness and experience of sensations now singular and shared, gloriously rushing along a tunnel of light, spiritual adrenaline flowing, radiant and free.

Page 280
As the sun dropped below the horizon, life flooded back into Lizzie and she sat up with a gasp. Her once dead lungs labored anew as her heart began to beat and formless, racing thoughts reorganized into ‘Lizzie,’ a unique body separate from the Meta. But tonight, as death retreated again into the night, a raw and unexpected power coursed through her dusty veins.

Page 280
A Vampire was present; several, actually, but one was particularly strong. She could feel them all re-inhabiting their bodies as well, their energies so recently intertwined in the Meta now separating back into distinct individuals. Humans too, evil humans; she could taste their corpuscles circulating underneath their skin as they walked around encased in evil and she hungered for them.

Page 284
She closed her eyes again, centering herself and letting energy from the Meta flow through her. Where had it been these last few days? She could feel them approaching, could feel the surge in adrenaline and testosterone, could even feel the blood engorging the penises of her assailants.

Page 319
Lizzie looked at him incredulously. “You seriously never, ever listen to me Tucker,” she said. “I’ve told you about this a hundred times; what it’s like, where our thoughts go, our consciousness, our sense of self, when we die.”

Page 323
“I saw your mother,” Dad said. “She’s waiting for me. In the Metro or whatever it’s called.”

If these have you wondering more about the Meta, check out The Cowboy and the Vampire and Blood and Whiskey for insights into a new and decidedly undead take on spirituality.seo анализ сайта оптимизация