Guest Post by Author and Astronomer David Lee Summers

I'm very excited for this guest post. David Lee Summers has quickly become one of my top favorite authors writing fantasy/sci fi/steam punk.

I met David at Wordpress and I was impressed with his blog posts so I did more research on him. Right off, I was attracted to his 'The Pirates of Suffiro.' I read all three books and loved every one of them. Then I discovered that he wrote vampire novels too and I had to read them. Now, I'm about to embark on a journey I never thought I would take - reading a steampunk novel. I'm giving his Clockwork Legion Series Book One Owl Dance a try. I've never been disappointed with his writing, so I suspect I'll become a fan of this series too.

The vampire series starring my favorite vampire character, Desmond Draco:

David is highly intelligent, creative, and a hard worker. He's also extremely interesting and a very kind man. And one of the best authors to come along in a long time. His books are well priced and well worth the cost.

So, let's have a read of his guest post:

Going Back to Horror's Roots

David Lee Summers

A good case can be made that science fiction and horror were born together during a retreat two hundred years ago in the summer of 1816.  Two of Britain's great poets were there for the occasion.  The poets were Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.  Lord Byron's doctor, John William Polidori, and Mary Godwin, who later married Percy Shelley, accompanied them.  During the course of the retreat, a challenge was issued to create the scariest story possible.  Mary Godwin's story was Frankenstein, which many see as the first science fiction novel, but can also be seen as horror.  Another story that came out of that retreat was The Vampyre by John Polidori.  Though it's not as famous as Frankenstein, The Vampyre did influence Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula.

My own writing owes a lot to that retreat in 1816.  I've been a fan of vampires since I first read Dracula when I was ten years old.  My interest grew in the 90s, when I first worked at Kitt Peak National Observatory.  Several of us who operated telescopes called ourselves the "vampires of the mountain" because we were only seen at night.  I discovered such writers as Anne Rice and Suzy McKee Charnas around that time.  A few years later, a friend of mine, Janni Lee Simner, was visiting me at my home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  Las Cruces literally means the city of the crosses and Janni pondered what a vampire would do in a town where there were crosses absolutely everywhere.  She wasn't interested in writing a vampire story at the time, but said if I came up with a story to go with the idea, I was welcome to it.  A few weeks later, I wrote the story "Vampire in the City of Crosses", which sold soon after to Margaret Carter's magazine, The Vampire's Crypt.  

In Mary Shelley's novel, the central problem is that Dr. Frankenstein has created new life without fully understanding the consequences.  As my vampire stories evolved, I began exploring that same idea and ultimately, the novel Vampires of the Scarlet Order was born.  In the novel, a group of vampire mercenaries go up against scientists who are trying to create a new breed of vampires that can be used as super soldiers.  You can learn more about the novel and find out where copies are available by visiting: http://www.davidleesummers.com/VSO.html

I followed that novel with Dragon’s Fall: Rise of the Scarlet Order, where I tell the origin of the Scarlet Order vampires. A Greek slave who found freedom through vampirism meets two vampires who are contemporaries of King Arthur.  They find a way to serve human interests and satisfy their needs during Europe’s dark ages.  I have more information and a sample chapter at http://www.davidleesummers.com/dragons_fall.html

Just as Mary Shelley benefited from the company of Lord Byron and her husband, Percy Shelley, I have benefited from working with other writers.  One in particular, is Lee Clark Zumpe, who shares my passion for vampires.  Over the years, Lee and I admired each other's works in magazines such as The Vampire's Crypt, Night to Dawn, and Blood Samples.  Lee and I pulled several of our vampire flash fiction pieces together into a collection called Blood Sampler and the book is now available from Alban Lake Publishing.  More information is available at http://www.davidleesummers.com/Blood-Sampler.html

In this year where we celebrate the bicentennial of both science fiction and horror, I’m wrapping up work on a new novel that has elements of both called The Astronomer’s Crypt.  Inspired by my “day” job operating telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory, this novel imagines what happens when astronomers, ghosts, a drug cartel, and a monster from the beginning of time collide at a remote mountaintop observatory on a dark and stormy night. I don’t have a formal publication date yet, but edits are nearing completion and I have my fingers crossed it’ll be available in time for Halloween. To get updates, follow my blog at http://davidleesummers.wordpress.com or visit my homepage http://www.davidleesummers.com and subscribe to my newsletter by entering your email address in the field at the bottom of the page.

Isn't he interesting? Be sure to follow him on his wordpress blog and his official page. Also, David and his books can be found on  Amazon and Facebook.

Try one of his books. You'll get hooked on his works too.

Love, honor, and respect to all.