#twhitd

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Allow me to introduce you to the vampires of Those Who Hunger (In The Dark). Jason (he/him), the antisocial goth. Sam (they/them), the mischievous punk. Allison (she/her), the cottagecore engineer.

I love these guys so much, if they interest you be sure to look at my book (WHICH IS FREE ON KINDLE). Special thanks to @luoniiel the amazing artist who brought them out of the pages.

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When Dr. Nahum's patient turns out to be a vampire, very little changes. After all, being undead is not something many therapists can assist with. The anxieties and trauma from becoming something not quite human however, now that's a job for them. Join these characters on the perilous journey of strengthening your mental health. Featuring:

> Dr Ariel Nahum (Any pronouns) > Allison Gobena (She/Her) > Sam Reading (They/Them) > Jason Aakster (He/Him)

So tag along as Ariel finds out what happens to those who die in the dark and the lengths their hunters go to.

My book is published! I'm so excited! If you want a different take on vampires, queer people falling in love, and wholesome moments of healing. This is something you might enjoy!

To think, this all started from a TTRPG with my friends! I'm so happy to share this!

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My favourite ship dynamic!

Is queer couples over forty!

Where one breaks the rules with a grin, and the other breaks them with a grimace.

If Ariel and Sam from (Those Who Hunger In The Dark) aren't cut from that clothe I'll eat my hat. I wish I had art of them to put here, I just hope someday someone will have the same brainrot for them.

If you like these kinds of couples, please check out Those Who Hunger In The Dark

Free to read on kindle, £2.35 to buy on it, £4.20 for paperback!

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Werewolves, Weirdos, and Welsh People oh my!

So a little over 6 months ago I wrote a book called Those Who Hunger In The Dark (on sale until Feb 14th 2024). Now I'm getting ready to publish the sequel, Pulling Their Skin Until It Splits, which is set to come out this Summer! The series takes a look at the older folklore of different monsters, offering alternatives to your usual vampire and in this case werewolf portrayal.

These monsters don't make other monsters with their bites instead being produced by a complex series of broken taboos which curse them. In the case of vampires, they are cast out by their community who do not help them and ignore their deaths. This sequel explores how werewolves come to be, their powers, and their struggles. Featuring Ariel Nahum, a therapist previously introduced to the supernatural through vampires, now working to protect others from a dangerous group of hunters.

The art is by @luoniiel and I'm happy to announce they should be returning for the sequel. If you're curious about the series and want a taste of what's coming then you're in luck! Today I'm sharing a link to an excerpt from my upcoming story. Though like I said THOSE WHO HUNGER IN THE DARK, is one SALE right now! It's a short but fun read so go check it out then come back here if you'd rather read that first! Anyway here's the link, I've waffled enough!

Be sure to let me know how y'all like it! If you were a fan of the first one be sure to share around that we're having a Sale! I'll be doing a promotional post on here soon though!

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Those Who Hunger In The Dark

I'm so excited y'all, I'm going to be able to show art of the vampires from my book soon! Also someone reading it told me they're enjoying it lots. Absolutely pumped! Also, the sequel is coming along very well! If you want to read it check this out!

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The Soul in Modern Media

Something I find particularly interesting in a lot of media where demons, magic, vampires etc. exist is this concept of a soul. Lots of media have people trading their soul for power. Vampires and other forms of undead are described as soulless. You see this A LOT in western media especially. Supernatural has a whole arc where Sam lacks his soul and so many people trade their souls for things.

Most vampire stories will push forward this idea that a vampire lacks the human soul, although it can be ambiguous as in VTM. These sorts of shows or books often link their vampires to figures like Lilith or Cain claiming these to be the first vampires.

Something I find interesting though, is that for a very long time the soul wasn't something you could lose. It wasn't even something you could trade away. That just wasn't how the soul functioned within the theology of early Christianity. From my research, it definitely doesn't function this way in Judaism which means that their view on vampires would be very different. While Christians would view vampires with horror and revulsion, a Jewish person might instead view them with sympathy rather and consider them a person still. The view of many figures such as Satan, Cain, or even Lilith (whose position within scripture is by my understanding iffy) is definitely worth looking at more! I think it's particularly troubling given how connected queerness and vampirism have become due to Interview With A Vampire, True Blood, American Horror Story, Being Human, Castlevania, Preacher and many many many many others including Dracula and Carmilla.

Definitely check out this article on how Jewish people understand Satan and the concept of trading or selling your soul!

Part of why I enjoyed writing Those Who Hunger (In The Dark) so much was a chance to explore how a Jewish person might react to vampires. Which was very fun, getting into that head space for Ariel. If you're interested in a take on vampires that isn't centered in that Christian framework we're all used to, I recommend picking up my book. It's free to read on kindle, costs about £2.35 to buy, and £4.20 (blaze it) for paperback I think. I put a lot of love into this story about healing, and I'm putting just as much into the sequel!

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This is the amazing cover for my book Those Who Hunger In The Dark. A series of journal entries from therapist Ariel Nahum, a genderqueer and Jewish therapist. It's a fun gothic story about a vampire in therapy that discusses the idea of marginalisation. Please put it on you tbr! The art is by @luoniiel! They are amazing and did such a good job!

Check out the link above to read my book!

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Things I go feral for in vampire novels

courting as opposed to flirting, the giving of flowers, poetic language, something to get the noble ladies gossiping ya know;

anachronistic fashion, like a punk vampire wearing a red beret even though it's connection to the French Revolution is lost on us;

vampires who contradict every stereotype ever, having dark skin, a cheerful personality, chubbiness, fatness, cottagecore aesthetics;

agoraphobic vampires who became experts in random stuff, being self taught locksmiths, bakers, coding etc after years alone;

the aspect of a found family, especially if those vampires are openly queer and even better if they're warm rather than mean;

scenes where they question the state of their soul or outright declare themselves to lack one, give me those discussions of the essence of humanity but please give me them well done!

If y'all like these too, defo get started on my book free to read, 2.99 to buy on kindle, and 4.20 for a physical copy!

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Me (tears in my eyes from writing my own stories): hey guys :p gotta a fun little story for y'all, it's so nice, good times, happy little monsters having queer romances and therapy, such silly

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Those Who Hunger In The Dark

Three figures standing in a darkened space.

On the right, a young, chubby black woman with short hair in ringlets. She wears a pretty white dress and denim jacket with various pins. Her attention is to the right, hand raised waving at some passers by with a face illuminated in the light.

In the center is a thin, white androgynous person with long blond hair. They wear a red beret, frilly white dress shirt, leather jacket, and pants with black and white checkering. They hold the hands of those either side in a parental fashion. Their gaze is turned upwards with them being illuminated by an iridescent wind only they seem to notice. They also have long pointed ears and fangs unlike the others.

To the left, a young, slender white boy with dark brown hair in a Lugosi Dracula style. He wears a black hoodie and black trousers. His free hand is attempting to pull up the hood while averting his eyes from those the girl is waving too. He has dark black eye makeup and lipstick, as well as his face being caught in shadow.

The dark space around them is various shades of blue, which is illuminated by yellowish lights and the iridescent wind which the middle figure seems transfixed by.

These are Allison, Sam, and Jason. The main characters from my new book Those Who Hunger In The Dark. Absolutely free to reed on kindle so please go check it out! If you like wwdits, good omens, or other stories centered on queer people and the supernatural please give it a look!

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I think one of the things I struggled with most writing my book was the romance. In a lot of stories they can feel tacked on and unnecessary, which isn't always bad. Sometimes, love happens in the background of our lives unrelated the challenges we might be facing. I think Good Omens is a solid example of this. Crowley and Aziraphale love one another, it isn't necessary for the plot though. At least for the book and season one. They only need to love humanity and the world for that.

In the same way, when writing how Ariel and Sam interact it's clear they're interested in one another. Sam perceives them getting coffee as a date and brings tulips, meanwhile Ariel privately writes about how they enjoy being "courted". However, the two only interact initially due to Allison who is Sam's ward and Ariel's patient. Naturally, they agree it wouldn't be right to date while Allison is in therapy.

Still it was a delight to write this steadily built yearning in Ariel. Good Omens was a bit of an inspiration in that. After all it might be one of the slowest burning romances ever. If you want to read more about these older, genderqueer people falling hopelessly in love then look for the pinned post on my blog.

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Vampires drink blood. This can be surprisingly tricky to handle when writing stories with them. What that vampire looks like and who they feed on can make numerous statements within a text. Dracula is a great example of this!

Now, the good news is that your vampires can look however you want them too and feed on as many types of people as really exist. However, whatever common thread does exist between them will become a part of how this story is received. It's best to make it very explicit what your vampires represent, why they feed, how feeding effects them.

For instance in my story (Those Who Hunger), vampires are inherently tragic. They come into existence when certain conditions are met. A large part of what causes them is negligence, prejudice, and malice. They make people feel uneasy, because they are an embodiment of what that results in. So people get reminded of how they ignore, misjudge, or mistreat others when near a vampire. In drinking blood, vampires reclaim something that has been taken meaning it's not especially parasitic. Particularly with those the narrative centers on. This only comes across because Those Who Hunger has spent time emphasizing what was taken from those who became vampires.

I hope y'all enjoyed this little discussion on vampires, and the challenges that can arise when writing them! If y'all have any examples of cool stuff relating to this please reblog I'd love to hear about it. And if you want to read my novella about a vampire in therapy, then please check out my pinned post!

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Gotta say, coming up with rhymes and meter for a spell is tricky. But it's also just so fun! Especially writing for this character. I wanna know do any of you have favorite spells in media? One of my favorites is actually from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, where she calls on spiders against her principle. That was so creepy and sinister, absolutely loved it!

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Immortals and Romance

I often find myself cringing at the shows my mother and I have watched where there's a romances with ridiculous age gaps. Particularly in regard to vampires. I don't think however, that the age gap is necessarily an issue to me. It's the fact that one member of that romance is usually a high-school student. > Twilight > Vampire Diaries > Morganville > Skulduggery Pleasant The above are examples of this kind of stuff. However, in stories where characters are more mature this doesn't irk me quite so much. It's why I low-key love WWDITS. If you enjoy that kind of silly romancing of an older person, you're probably going to enjoy my book Those Who Hunger (In The Dark). Which should come out by tomorrow on kindle.

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A link to a review of Those Who Hunger In The Dark and the tiktok of the reviewer!

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A little link to my tiktok if people want it! Mostly post there so if you're interested in books about monsters and found family then follow me there. If you haven't heard we have a sale on until Feb 14th. Check out the book at https://a.co/d/j1DcHH3