Sex, Blood, and High Stakes: An Interview with Travis Luedke

Hello hello!

To continue with the terrifying theme for February, I have one of the best--perhaps the best--vampire erotica author out there today, the rising star Travis Luedke. Travis' books surprised me. Until I ran into those, I was still thoroughly disgusted by Twilight and even Anne Rice's works; too much porn and not enough blood. With the Nightlife series, I discovered that there were authors who could combine bloodthirsty monsters of the night, hardboiled crime, and kinky sex in ways that didn't make me homicidal.

Be warned, though--Travis tends to write very hot stuff, and if you pick these up, expect plenty of adult content.

So, with your seatbelts on and condoms at the ready, please welcome the one and only Travis Luedke!

*****

Q: Describe yourself in 20 words or less.

Obnoxious, talkative, flirtatious, sarcastic, helpful, intuitive, clever, total sci-fi/horror/fantasy/paranormal/vampire/erotica nerd, irreverent and occasionally irrelevant.

Q: Tell us about your novels.

I write sexy, dangerous misadventures involving vampires and an interesting assortment of wickedly corrupt men and women of the night.  Gangs, pimps, prostitutes, cartel, mafia, drug dealers, addicts, alcoholics, all those wonderfully colorful people you find rubbing elbows in the back alleys, night clubs, and strip joints.

Here’s the tag line:  The Nightlife Series is sexy, violent, and occasionally violently sexy.

Q: Vampires have been very hot since Twilight came out. How is your approach different than, say, the usual romantic vampire book?

Well these creatures are indulgent.  They live in a world of constant blood, sex, and arousal.  The act of feeding is highly erotic, causing the victim to experience multiple orgasms.  A vampire’s bite is the most powerful drug imaginable, exstasy, euphoria, and a near instant addiction if we’re not careful.

They are also lethally violent predators, designed to cut through flesh like a hot knife through butter.  They slip through the nightlife quietly, unobtrusively, until cornered.  Then it gets ugly, people die.

Provided by the author. You can tell he's about to get up to no good. 

Q: Are vampires pure fun to help people escape, or do they have significance in our culture right now in other ways?

There are numerous movements today involving one or more beliefs in real-life vampirism.  There are those who believe they consume the life-energy of other people, and there may be some truth to that.  I have had a few ex-girlfriends who sucked the life right out of me and my pocketbook.  Call me a believer.

There are also men and women today who drink blood on a regular basis and consider it a normal part of their diet, very literal vampires.  Dentally implanted fangs and sharpened claw-like fingernails are only a few of the interesting modifications you find among those who consider themselves true vampires.

Q: You write pretty gritty, sexy stories. In addition to vampires, all three of your books feature involvement with gang and mafia violence. What got you interested in this (excellent) combo?

I actually lived on both sides of the Mexico border for four years.  I had occasion to witness and experience things you might expect from a Quentin Tarantino film.  I have known a number of interesting individuals who made their living in a decidedly illegal trade.  I learned that Tequila has an amazing ability to loosen the tongue.

Many of the interesting characters you meet in my novels have been inspired by people and events I touched on in real life.

Q: You tend to write about unconventional couples, including bisexual women and polyamorous situations. How do you write bisexual women that are more than man-candy?

I’m going to steal one of my favorite lines, “I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability.” ~ Jack Nicholson ~ As Good As It Gets

On a serious note, I don’t find it difficult to imagine all the things I would do to a girl, if I was I girl.  I live very vicariously through my writing. J

And truthfully, I actually had a very close lesbian friend at one point.  We hit the bars together, both hunting for the same thing.  At the end of the night we compared notes to see how many phone numbers we each collected.  I usually won the competition.

Lookie! His newest release has a poll! You can vote on it just below this. Aren't they pretty/?

Q: You're also going to be releasing some young adult novels. What was it like transitioning from your very extreme, balls-out style in the adult novels to the young adult audience?

It’s strange for sure.  It’s like cutting out a piece of my soul to remove the excess sensuality and eroticism from my writing.  But I think I found a balance.  To be sure, my YA is not your goody-two shoes stuff, its gritty, true-life, troubled teens who face difficult challenges as they grow to become adults.  I am sticking with what I know and love, paranormal thrillers, but it’s toned down on the sex and violence for a YA readership.

Q: What do you plan to write or publish next?

I am currently in heavy edits/rewrites of the next novel in the Nightlife Series, The Nightlife Paris.  After that I will begin preparing to publish my first YA novel, The Shepherd.  From there I will move on to The Nightlife London, and then jump back over to another YA novel.  I should have no less than four novels published this year, if not more.

Q: Which foods do you absolutely hate?

Black licorice, mustard, and guacamole.  I couldn’t even imagine eating them individually, a mixture of the three would surely be slop fed to inmates at the seventh circle of hell.

Q: Werewolves: love, hate, or meh?

Though it seems a little overdone in today’s ebook market, I am okay with werewolves.  I have a love for all things supernatural, and I collect books and film of such.  Vampires are my first love.  Werewolves would have to be the second runner up.  I will try my hand at werewolves soon enough.  Your favorite two vampires, Aaron and Michelle will butt heads with werewolves eventually.  Who knows what kinds of things you find in the back alleys of the Nightlife.

That's all we have from Travis for right now, but as you can see, you will need to go shopping after this interview. Even newbies or vamp-haters will love these, and people who already enjoy the genre are falling all over themselves for the Nightlife series. You know I don't gush often--these are really quite good.

The Nightlife: New York

The Nightlife: Las Vegas

The Nightlife: Blood Slave

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Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the good kind of crazy. Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr. A review of The Hobbit is coming, as well as more info about The Loved, The Lost, The Dreaming in paperback, and there is even another interview still coming for horror month. Keep checking back to see those surprise posts, too. This is your darling SciFiMagpie, over and out!