What was the
inspiration for the series? Is there a band that served as inspiration for
Immortal Dilemma?
I always knew I wanted to write a story about a musician.
The more I thought about putting this thing down on paper, the more I realized
that rock stars had an awful lot in common with vampires. Dangerous, sensual
beings with no rules that live just outside of the everyday realm. Originally,
I wanted to set my story in Los Angeles, but as I started world building, Las
Vegas obviously had all the same qualities as rock stars and vampires, it was
clear that Because the Night couldn’t
happen anywhere but Sin City.
How do I take my rock stars?
Dirty and dysfunctional. I want guyliner, leather pants, trashed hotel
rooms, bad decisions, and the good townsfolk debating if they should let such
debauchery enter their town, even for one night. A guy on stage in an argyle
sweater does absolutely zero for this girl. If I was in to that sort of thing,
I’d head to an accountant convention instead of a rock concert.
No other band served as better inspiration for Immortal
Dilemma than Motley Crue. I could paraphrase, but I’m not sure I could come
close to doing the band justice. Instead, I’ll give you the first couple of
sentences of the inside flap of their autobiography, The Dirt:
Whiskey and porn stars, hot rods
and car crashes, black leather and high heels, overdoes and death. This is the
life of Motley Crue, the heaviest drinking, hardest fighting, most oversexed
and arrogant band in the world. Their unbelievable exploits are the stuff of
rock n roll legend. They nailed the hottest chicks, started the bloodiest
fights, partied with the biggest drug dealers and got to know the inside of
every jail cell from California to Japan. They have dedicated an entire career
to living life to its extreme, from the greatest fantasies to the darkest
tragedies.
YES. This.
(Okay. Disclaimer. I in no way think this is a life goal for
mere mortals. But as an inspiration for my fictional vampire rock band? So much
this.)
More specifically, I based my character Tristan on Nikki
Sixx. Nikki wrote a book called The
Heroin Diaries, chronicling 1987, the year when he actually died of a
heroin overdose and was brought back to life. It’s a raw and harrowing read of
what Nikki gave up for his addiction and how he still functioned as famous rock
god during that time. I love rock star biographies anyway, but this hit such a
chord with me. The dark side. Someone who’d done so much wrong but had talent,
charisma, and heart. This is what I wanted to try to capture with Tristan. And
anyone who’s died twice and lived to tell about it deserves to have a fictional
character created in his likeness.
Three songs Motley Crue songs really stand out to me when
thinking about Because the Night:
·
Wild Side: In The Heroin Diaries, Nikki recounts a fling
he was having with a daughter of an unnamed famous actor. She’d come and visit
him on her lunch breaks from Catholic School. One day, Nikki asked her about
the Lord’s Prayer, and then wrote the lyrics to Wild Side.
·
You’re All I Need: Nikki had a
girlfriend who he thought was cheating on him with Jack Wagner. You may or may
not remember that Jack Wagner had a song called “All I Need.” Touche.
·
On With The Show: This is about a
musician who overdoes, and the girlfriend who stands by him. Even though this
song was so chilling, there was something hopeful about it to me. In Because
the Night, Callie sees the good in Tristan, when everyone else writes him off.
She stands by him when because she knows he can do better.
And that principal really drives Because the Night. Callie knows the Tristan she’d shared her first
kiss with a couple of summers before was still in there, even if his troubles
lead him to immortality. Once she steps into his world, it changes hers
forever.
Sometimes, life imitates art. I went to Las Vegas this
winter for you know, research purposes, and was quite pleased to discover that
Vince Neil of Motley Crue now owns 4 or 5 rock bars in the city. One of them is
actually called Vamp’d. It’s vampire
themed. This is my new favorite place in Las Vegas. No sign of The Sin City
Vampire Club. Yet.
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