Dracula, Werewolves, and Frankenstein - OH MY!

Welcome Historical Hussie followers!! 

By a raise of hands (or 'like' clicks) how many of you out there enjoy reading paranormal? Well, I'm not usually a paranormal fan, but just the other day I had an idea for an awesome story! My tough contemporary heroine will kick some historical monsters' butt!

In order do write this story (which I've already outlined and written a proposal for), I had to do some research. I thought I'd share with you what I have found.

Count Dracula...

The story of Dracula was actually written about a man in Romanian in 1448. Between 1448 and the time of his death, he was on the warpath... literally. From my research, he was considered a prince, but as most rulers back in those days, he wanted to conquer other lands. He captured his enemies and tortured them. The reason Vlad the Impaler was rumored to be a vampire was because he took the blood of his victims and kept it in bottles. YUCK!! From what I've read, Vlad was one sick puppy!

Werewolf...

Surprisingly enough, rumors - or folklore - about werewolves started clear back in 1150. Back then, people believed that werewolves were witches... that cursed wolves attached people (scratching or biting them) which turned them in beasts at night. These people even formed groups (witch hunters) to search for these witches who shifted when the moon was full. In 1589 there was a significant interest in the werewolf and people began to hunt wolves and kill them for fear that they were the beasts. But by the end of the 'witch trials', the werewolf became more Gothic and writers couldn't wait to add this creature into their stories.

Frankenstein...

In 1831, Mary Shelley wrote a story about a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who studied the decaying of living beings, and had an idea to experiment with his own creation by making a living being with the parts of dead people. And as we all know (if we've seen the movies or read the books) that electricity is what brings this monster to life. The hideous monster who is known simply as "Frankenstein" is appalled at his appearance and knows that nobody will love him. He begs the scientist to create him a bride, which Victor does, but when Victor destroys her, the monster is raged and kills Victor's assistant before fleeing the lab. The monster swears revenge on the man who created him.


My new story idea has been titled "Love Me Yesterday". It'll be full of action and suspense, paranormal and time-travel... and one kick-butt heroine who fights these monsters and more!!  It's not released yet, but I'm still searching for someone (a publisher) who might love this idea and want me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marie Higgins is an award-winning, best-selling, multi-published author of sweet romance novels; from refined bad-boy heroes who make your heart melt to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults. She's published over 50 heartwarming, on-the-edge-of-your-seat stories and broadened her readership by writing mystery/suspense, humor, time-travel, paranormal, along with her love for historical romances. Her readers have dubbed her "Queen of Tease", because of all her twists and turns and unexpected endings.

Visit her website to discover more about her – https://authormariehiggins.wixsite.com/romance

Find her on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/marie.higgins.7543

And Twitter – https://twitter.com/mariehigginsXOX

1816: The Year Without A Summer, Part II

An unusual confluence of geological and astronomical factors precipitated the Year Without A Summer. The inciting event was the earth-shaking eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia from April 5-15, 1815. This explosion was immense, the largest volcanic eruption in the world since the Hatepe eruption in c.180 AD in New Zealand. People in Sumatra, 1200 miles away, heard the blast, and heavy volcanic ash falls were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands.

The enormous amount of dust the volcano spewed into the atmosphere blocked the sun’s rays and lowered global temperature. But Tambora's eruption alone may not have caused 1816's disastrous weather. Other volcanic eruptions in the immediately preceding years (1812--La Soufrière on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean, and Awu on Sangihe Islands, Indonesia: 1813--Suwanosejima on Ryukyu Islands, Japan: 1814--Mayon in the Philippines) had set the stage by already darkening the skies and depressing temperatures around the world. In addition, all these eruptions took place during a Dalton Minimum, a period of unusually low solar activity.

Although most of the effects of The Year Without A Summer were disastrous (see my previous post), some were positive.

The large amounts of dust in the air produced spectacular sunsets worldwide, and most likely inspired J.M.W. Turner's paintings (Chichester Canal pictured).

The weather also inspired Lord Byron’s 1816 poem, Darkness:

The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air

In Switzerland, the atrocious weather forced Mary Shelley and John William Polidori, on holiday with their friends, to stay indoors. Mary Shelley used the time to write Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, and John William Polidori penned The Vampyre, two novels which influence us to this day.

And Pumpkinnapper, my Regency Halloween comedy, is set in the English countryside in the autumn of 1816.

Thank you all,
Linda