My latest novel Demon’s Life is due to be released on 4th November and today I would like to talk a little about the novel.
It continues two months from where Demon’s Blood left off with Thane searching for Taku’s sire whom he believes can tell him how to save Taku from the demon Kurai’s possession.
Demon’s Life is predominately set in Japan, with parts in Tokyo and parts in Kōfu and Nagasaki. There are also some chapters set in Hong Kong. I really enjoyed writing the changing settings, especially the ones in Japan as I have been to Tokyo so I incorporated locations that I visited into my novel.
The main focus of the novel is on Thane’s search for answers and much of Demon’s Life is written from his point of view. Thane is devastated by what has happened to Taku and also the knowledge that it is, in part, his fault. His determination to find Koji and the belief that Koji can save Taku is all that is holding him together. However his pain causes him to make mistakes and put his trust in the wrong vampire again.
Thane also learns about Taku’s past, which is explored in more detail. In Demon’s Blood, Taku only made vague references to his life before he became a vampire and also his former deceased lover Minoru due to the pain that the memories cause him. In Demon’s Life he is forced to confront his past and the pain that he’s been keeping buried for over a century. Thane also learns more about Taku’s relationship with Koji and why Koji left him.
When writing Demon’s Life, my main emphasis was on Taku and Thane’s relationship. Their commitment and love for each other spans across more than a century. For Thane, Taku is his first and only love. After Minoru died, for a long time Taku was too afraid to let anyone close to him again. Meeting Thane saved him from a much darker path. Yet more so than their love, it is Thane’s unshakable belief in it that shapes the entire novel. Even when he witnesses the terrible acts that Taku, as Kurai, is now capable of, Thane refuses to give up on him. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but my favourite scene from Demon’s Life shows the strength of Thane’s belief in Taku and their relationship.
So that’s what you can expect from Demon’s Life. I will be posting some excerpts from it very soon which I hope you will check out. It is also now available to pre-order on Amazon!
Thane’s arms curved around his back and he felt the younger vampire trembling as he rested his head on Taku’s shoulder. So easily broken, Taku often forgot what it had been like in the beginning. For him things had been different, he reminded himself. He had already known what it felt like to take a life.
Never Change is a short story that I originally wrote in December 2014. Set in the Demon’s Blood universe it can be read either as a stand-alone or as part of the Demon’s Blood story as a whole. It takes place in Nagasaki in winter 1889 which is Taku and Thane’s first winter together. As a newly turned vampire Thane is still struggling with aspects of his new life; mainly having to kill humans for their blood. He is also disturbed by Taku’s pragmatic approach to this. The entire story is written from Taku’s perspective, showing how he is torn between his desire to protect Thane from the harsh realities of their existence and his responsibility as Thane’s sire to teach him how to survive.
Shari Sakurai 