I, currently, have not one but three separate books waiting for me to write them. They are all complicated and interesting and I can't wait for other people to read them, so they will understand why I would spend so much of my time working on them with no promise of them being published at the end.

I am however, a bit annoyed with the circumstances of one, the oldest and only one I am actively working on. I still think it is awesome and totally worth the effort, but unfortunately the main character is a vampire, and when I had been working on it for eighteen months or more (I have a full time job so progress is slow) "Twilight" hit the big time.

I have always liked vampires, there's just something about them. So it seemed natural that the first book I should write would be about them. I was worried though, that if I read any other vampire books while I was writing it that I would find something that was better than what I was working on and become disheartened, or some of the other books elements would accidentally leak into my own work. So, I was very careful not to even read the back cover of any book that appeared to be about vampires, not even the ones with interesting titles like"The last vampire" (oh that inspired questions/interest as I calmly moved right past it).

Because of my care, I didn't even hear about "Twilight" until the movie was due to be released. I immediately resolved not to see it, nor read the books, and continue as planned. Then a friend gave me a copy of the book for my birthday, and I had to read it, and became momentarily addicted, reading the entire series in a week, and going to see the movie with the afore mentioned friend a few weeks later.

Luckily, my book is so completely different that there was no way for the "Twilight" books to have an affect on it; it is quite simply a case of vampire apples vs vampire oranges.

Unluckily, there is still a but, and the but is, the sheer popularity of "Twilight". You say vampire, people say "Twilight" and ask you if you're on team Jacob, or team Edward.

Those with good memories, or even just a particular liking of vampire tales, will be aware that vampires are cool, but like the Beatles, their popularity, or prominence is pop culture, ebbs and flows. Yes they are cool right now, but given time (in this case it'll take until the final book has made it onto the silver screen), they will fade form the minds of most people. And, once again, those who like vampires will be considered a little weird, until another book or movie bursts onto the scene and reminds everyone that vampires are in fact cool.

Last I checked, vampire titles by half a dozen different authors graced the shelves of my local book store. And to me, this spells competition. I don't want my novel to make its debut in the shadow of "Twilight". I want it to be spacial , and for its vampireness to be independently cool, not just borrowing from the popularity of other works. So, I have to wait.

It could be that there will be room for another vampire tale in the market place by the time I actually finish (given that I am studying as well as working these days). But, it also makes me think I should perhaps be focusing my energy one one of the other stories I have, none of which have vampires in them.

I'm still not entirely sure what I should do. I have come to a place of great difficulty in my vampire-related manuscript, and am concerned that if I put it down, I won't pick it back up.

Huh. Maybe, after however many hundred words, I just answered my own question. Back to forming the first vampire council I go.