Living the Fictional Dream

Check it out! I’ve got a new story out today in Afterburn SF. It’s called “Not Your Kind of Heathen,” and it’s a vampire story with a Christian twist.

This is the first story I wrote about Rachel the vampire hunter. It took me a while to get the back story right, but in the end, I really like this version. I’ve written another story or two about Rachel and her cursed family, but nothing that’s publishable yet.

The inspiration for this story came from a conversation my mother and I had about the TV show Supernatural. She really liked the show, but bothered her that they never addressed the God side of the equation. For example, if one of the Winchesters was a Christian, then he couldn’t be possessed because if Jesus lives in your heart then no demon can take up residence. (Obviously, we had this conversation before the current season of the show started airing, which actually does start to address God and angels.)

Well, the conversation got my mind ticking, and I was inspired to write a story that was gritty and supernatural, but that also upheld my Christian believes. And the first version of “Not Your Kind of Heathen” was born (then with the lame title of “The Call”).

This story also has the mark of being the one that marked my serious pursuit of marketing short stories. After I finished it and had it critted by my writing group, I submitted it to two different anthologies. I was really hopeful for one of the two, which the story seemed perfect. It was an anthology that wanted Christian genre fiction, but it’s focus was on gritty, hard-boiled fiction that didn’t pull punches just because it was Christian. Sadly, that version of the story got rejected. Though, the editor did say that with a rewrite he would be willing to consider it if they ever did another anthology.

I reworked the story, clarifying Rachel’s background and why she was so pissed at God, as well as fine-tuning the action sequences and trimming down the plot, and started submitting it on a wider scale, and it found a home at Afterburn SF. They actually bought this story nearly a year ago. I think this now surpasses “Zero to Clean in Ten Minutes or Less” as the story I have waited the longest for between acceptance and publication.

If you enjoy the story, leave me a comment and let me know. I’ve considered trying to write more Rachel the vampire hunter stories, if the right idea struck me. There is also a link here where you can discuss the story on ASF’s Facebook site, though there is not an official thread for my story yet.

Have a great (and vampire free) weekend!