“When a vampire‘s home is not their castle”

Hi all,

Though my first novel takes place in the late 1800s (and my second will be a continuation of the first), I have drawn up a timeline whereby I bring the characters of my Phantom-Dracula universe in the present day. As a writer, I think about where my vampire characters would be living in this, the 21st Century. Though the immortals in my universe are fairly rich (start out with some money and interest can really grow in a couple of hundred years), many live in one of the most famous cities in the world, New York City.

If you’ve ever visited New York, you know that the city is not homogenized, in that each neighborhood is different. For example, one can be wealthy but live on the monied, trendy Upper East Side or for the quieter, more suburban well off, the Upper West Side is always a good choice. Further down the island of Manhattan, one has Chelsea, SOHO and even, the Bowery. Each neighborhood may have similar living options (coops, town homes, brownstones, etc), yet, the surroundings make each one unique. The West Village is thought to be hip and trendy, yet the buildings are low and there are many families living there as well.

As I think about my characters, I try to decide where I see each of them living. For example, I think Dracula and Mina would definitely live on the Upper East Side. Not only is there glamour and exclusivity but the houses, mansions, are very much like castles. And though there is that glitz, there is the feel of being very private with high cast iron gates and such. So, a vampire as infamous as Dracula can live the high life and have his security too.

Extending this idea beyond vampire characters and even beyond New York, I do think it is important for writers to think about where their characters might reside. A house or a condo? A studio or a large house with many bedrooms? Urban or Suburban? Do they drive a car? What kind? How many? Does the character live with a lover, wife, husband, children, extended family, pets? If you decide that your character has a house or an apartment in a particular area, such as Manhattan, what does it look like? What color are the walls, the kitchen, even? Hey, even though Dracula and Mina are vampires, they do entertain humans every now and then and it is nice to have a grand dining room.

If these questions get you thinking, which they should, you might want to consider some others. Is the characters’ home neat? Messy? Do they collect many books? What kinds? Does your character have hobbies? And if so, which rooms reflect them? In other words, if one has a character that enjoys gardening for example, he/she may own a home that has a nice garden. Again, these are just some of the questions one as a writer must consider when deciding to create a home (or if they’re rich and undead, maybe two or three or four or more homes) for them.

I have some real estate friends in my life and they say that a home is reflective of a person’s personality. Walk through a home and you can get a sense of who the people are, what they like to do. For example, I enjoy reading and writing so my home is filled with shelves and shelves of books. Mostly fiction but there are nonfiction sections as well.

If you’re an author then and writing about your characters, one day, take a virtual mental tour of your characters’ house, even if only in your mind, not necessarily writing about it on paper. Make some notes in your writing notebook as you go. What do you see? What are the things that are most noticeable about the house? What catches your ’eye’? Are they in agreement with the character’s outer personality or are there things perhaps, that they have that not everyone knows about. For example, I am a longtime Springsteen fan and have several shelves as well as some posters of the rock superstar. Because I spend my time reading, writing and talking about vampires and romance, people are not always aware of that I also like rock music too.

You’ll have to excuse me now while I leave to take my mental tour of what I think Dracula and Mina’s New York City mansion would be like. I will be taking my time and looking where I step. Because there’ll always be a few wolves. The New York city inspectors think they’re dogs. Ah, yes, it would be fun to be a vampire in the City:)

Take care all,
Chris