to write, though. It just felt like the right thing to do, regardless of my emotional state, and it was very therapeutic. Academic writing, however, is a different story.

Vampire and fantasy novels hadn’t appealed to me until I began reading The Witcher. Kapowski has a keen eye for dialogue, particularly in a medieval, stylised vernacular. His descriptions of the supernatural creatures are so wonderful, I’d recommend the series to anyone who enjoys the subject.

I found myself sampling vampire lore and exploring all the perceptively gory details within the supernatural, such as: incestuous relationships from Vampire Knight, super-human abilities from Twilight, the stake-through-the-heart cliché birthed by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and various species inter-breeding, to create hybrids, from The Vampire Diaries. This marriage of various media into a single book is what, I think, sets it apart from the rest. I’ve made my vampires a pastiche of old and new, along with my own interpretation of vampire’s origins.      

I was in school when I began writing EitC and SotW and had taken to writing fanfiction; but it was quite unfulfilling. Writing a full-length novel was something I had been thinking about for a while, so it felt like the right time to start. Completing it, though, was the most difficult part. I had three years of writer’s block! Between 2016 and now, I’ve attempted to publish another novel, which was accepted at three separate publishing houses. The publishing deal fell through, but now the priority is in seeing this volume through to the end.

SotW was originally going to be a completely unrelated storyline to that of Matthew and Ada, EitC’s main protagonists. Its working title was Vampires in Suburbia. It wouldn’t have even been in the same universe as the rest, but when I realised that I didn’t want to leave Ada’s fate to chance, I developed the plot for SotW. It also allowed me to explore the problems we’re facing in the current decade, without stirring up political discord or commenting on things which I don’t understand. I hate to have an opinion and be woefully ill-informed.

Keeping on top of the plot lines and character details across two stories was necessary to ensure consistency and that the stories follow distinct story arcs, and while professors, tutors and editors alike would faint at the notion, the key bind CTRL+F has gotten me out of many scrapes. Be that as it may, a key bind is no match for a fresh set of eyes or an outsider’s opinion, particularly if a friend or family member enjoys your writing style. EitC had been re-written so many times, that SotW only needed a handful of notes.

Most of my consistency edits were about what colour people’s hair and eyes were, rather than their character. Anything related to plot and character arcs stayed stored in my brain, where I could change and develop it. Rather than typing and setting them in stone. That’s when I resigned myself to flattening out wrinkles in the plot, through my own basic editing.

Sexuality plays a big part in both halves of the plot, while race is a focus of the story far later: this is because I knew I needed to understand people’s plight on both ends of the scale. While being a person of colour (POC) and LGBTQ+ make both groups’ minorities, their struggles are far different.

Like vampires, people of colour have been put to work by white colonisers, represented by human oppressors. They were separated and treated like second-class, or the lowest class of humanity, regardless of the fictional or real contexts. In creative writing, you can explore these themes, without fear of repercussion. Simply because it isn’t real.

The LGBTQ+ treatment, however, is also very real. Bigotry, torture and mutilation, as ways to control the unnatural urges of unorthodox sexuality or gender identity, are methods which have been used throughout history. As a demisexual-bisexual myself, these themes were suddenly very topical for me, and for the rest of the LGBTQ+ community. There’s a lot of debate among traditional and progressive Christians regarding our lifestyles, as well as political figures who believe that we are inherently archaic. My novels had to show us that bigotry, not our sexuality or gender identity, is the thing that corrupts a person’s life. As I grew comfortable with myself, so did my LGBTQ+ characters and their respective partners, which is probably why I relate so much to SotW.

Echo in the Crypt was meant to be a stand-alone novel, but after deciding to cover more personal and topical issues, I realised I couldn’t separate the siblings. Or their stories. This is one of the first works which people will see of mine, and I felt like a small book would not do my characters justice: the time I spent on them should be reflected in the volume I amassed. At almost 99,000 words, I’d like to think I made a fitting monument for them.

Currently, I’m not planning any more stories for Ada and Matthew. They were the duo who started this strange, rambling story about love, loss, and hopefulness, but I needed their story to end. I don’t want to cover an entire eternity of life and span genre after genre, simply to continue their story or that of their children. It feels like a monopoly, rather than a story, and I don’t see a need for a third, fourth, fifth instalment etc. I made these characters, and I couldn’t put them through any more heartache than I already have.

Alongside editing EitC and SotW, I have several options which I’m exploring, including more supernatural themes and drama, but the project which I am looking forward to putting out is a crime novel based on the relationship between myself and my girlfriend, called Private Guys.

Rather than being feminine figures (and to protect our identities), I have reimagined us as two men, thrust together when Balthazar Collins’ neighbours are murdered in a house fire, which he has been framed for. The local police know that Balthazar is innocent, and PI John Little plans to prove it; or lose all credibility trying. Though he is initially unsure of the younger man, John decides that the reclusive artist is not the monster people believe him to be.

I debating over using a pen name, and the main reason for this was to allow myself time to get used to people wanting to talk to me about my work and react to criticism without taking it personally. My nervous disposition in a face-to-face situation makes public relations quite scary, but a barrier between my personal and private life affords me some safety. It also means I can make the reveal myself; when I’m comfortable having the two merge. 

As for writing as myself, without barriers, I feel I’d have to write about my life as if it were one, big joke. Not to be crude, but because I love to poke fun at myself, like any fun-loving Aussie does! It’s in our nature to turn bad things on their head and show people that bad words aren’t bad, unless you give them that meaning. I changed my name, not just to protect myself, but because it can hurt me, too.

When I first entered the BA in Creative Writing course, I had hoped to develop my skills, hone the craft, and discover new genres to explore: around this time EitC had been completed. Since then, I’ve learnt to be subtle with innuendo, or outright, and it shows in SotW. Of course, the main goal of the Bachelor’s degree is to demonstrate that I can work in a professional capacity.

Academia wasn’t what I expected, but my advice to fellow university students, old or young, is to be sure that you’re enjoying what you do. Without enjoyment, you will quickly become overridden by big essays and long presentations. Take it from someone who was a struggling student in their first year, and is now a flourishing academic by the third. The hubris needs a little work, though.’