Legal Writing and Vampire Judas Iscariot {+Giveaway}

*Note: The winner of this giveaway is Luanne S. Congratulations to Luanne and all that entered. (Sorry, Rafflecopter not working at the moment to announce the winner.)

It’s a pleasure to be participating in author David Vermont’s Pump Up Your Book Virtual Blog Tour for his release, THE LAST CONFESSION OF THE VAMPIRE JUDAS ISCARIOT.

David will be joining us today to talk about how legal writing became training for fiction writing for him. In addition, David is giving away one copy of THE LAST CONFESSION OF THE VAMPIRE JUDAS ISCARIOT (open international). Please see the end of the post for details.

Here is a brief synopsis of his book:

      Of all the people who ever lived, surely Judas Iscariot, history’s most notorious betrayer, must be in hell. Or maybe not.
      After watching the crucifixion of Jesus, Judas despairs over what he has done and fumes that the Messiah he put his trust in has turned out to be just another pretender like all the rest. The toxic mix of emotions is too much for him to bear and Judas commits suicide by hanging himself.
      He is restored to life by the Devil and made into a vampire apostle. The Devil teaches Judas to manipulate men and history. He becomes a king, a general, a teacher and a blacksmith, whatever is needed to effect the outcome of history and move it towards the goal of his new master.
      Each time he is ready to move on to his next incarnation he must drink the blood of an innocent victim to be restored to his youthful vigor. But despite his many powers and abilities Judas knows there is one thing he desires and cannot have. Finally Judas meets a laicized priest, Raymond Breviary, and tries to steal from him what he was denied two thousand years before.

You can also read Chapter One.

Please join me in welcoming David to Thoughts in Progress as he talks about legal writing helping with fiction writing.

What does legal writing have to do with a book on vampires? Legal writing got me started in fiction writing and research. 

I started writing creatively (some would say that all legal writing is creative in how it stretches and bends the truth) about four years ago. The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot is the first time I have written fiction.

I’ve been doing legal writing for over fifteen years. It’s taught me a lot about tone, structure, organization and the judicious use of words. If I had never written a 150 page appellate brief I would never have been able to write a novel. 

The Last Confession of The Vampire Judas Iscariot is a novel that follows Judas the betrayer of Jesus. After Judas commits suicide he is raised from the dead by the devil. However, since the devil cannot do true miracles Judas is not truly alive but he’s not dead either, he is undead – a vampire. Judas becomes the devils apostle and works for him down through history. He leads many lives to help bring the devil’s plans to fruition. You see Judas in ancient Rome, medieval Europe and Nazi Germany. The man part of the novel takes place in modern day New York City when Judas meets and confronts a former Catholic priest.

A lot of the research was things that I had just done over the years due to my natural interests. For example, I had read a book on one character, Father Vianney, and knew the basic outline of his story. I had read books and documentaries on the true story of Vlad the Impaler, history’s Dracula. He was truly ruthless individual and I did a lot of additional research on his early life and backstory.

David, thanks for joining us today. Research does play a key role in a lot of writing.

For those not familiar with David, here’s a bit of background on him.
Born and raised in New York City, David B. Vermont now lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife and four kids.

An attorney and accomplished litigator at one of Washington D.C.’s top law firms, he began writing about religion when he was asked to author a series of articles explaining the Catholic faith on the popular blog 52 Prayers. He now writes regularly about his faith as the leader of an online Bible study group.

The Last Confession of The Vampire Judas Iscariot is his first foray into fiction.

For more on David and his writing, visit his website and connect with him on Facebook, and Twitter.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one copy of THE LAST CONFESSION OF THE VAMPIRE JUDAS ISCARIOT. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only for a print or kindle version of the book and international for the kindle format only. The giveaway ends Friday, June 20.

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress David Vermont’s Tour’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder). The winner will receive their book within one to two weeks after the winner is announced.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I do so appreciate it. Do you think research plays a key role in stories?

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