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Interview of Jalmari ta Korento from Dark Heirloom by J.D. Brown.
Thank you, Jalmari, for this interview with you tonight. I won’t stay long since you—er—are very busy. *Palms sweaty* I’m here in a vampire’s castle for crying out loud!
Jalmari grins just enough to flash his fangs as he leans against the leather armchair behind a solid mahogany desk polished to shine even in the dim lighting. He ponders her choice of perfume for a moment and decides she's very brave for choosing to be in his presence. "The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Mueller."
I understand that you are ruler over a Scandinavian clan of vampires and it’s your duty to keep peace between your kind as well as human. How do you keep the peace between other clans, yours, and the humans altogether?
"We have branches of government just as your kind does. We use a sort of Democratic Monarchy broken up into 'councils'. Each clan has a council led by a king or queen, or in my case, a prince. We also have the High Blood Council, which you can think of as like the United Nations for vampires. Of course, no body of politics is ever completely at peace. As for the humans, the clans that matter have all agreed our kind should be as non-existent as possible from their knowledge. It was bloody chaos when we all used to hunt each other and we grew tired of it. But of course, two intelligent species inhabiting the same earth will eventually bump heads, so I, along with King Erik XIV of Sweden, created a secret fraternity of humans who were delegated to help keep us a secret. The fraternity failed the first few times. Humans die too easily and vampires live far too long. Each new king had to be re-convinced of the necessity of the fraternity. Eventually, the idea was perfected and took root. Today, the fraternity undertakes many tasks such as keeping us connected to blood banks and finding third-shift jobs for the locals."
Your history shows that your heritage is part human, and part nephilim. According to unwritten history, the nephilim were a nocturnal, carnivorous cousin to man. The nephilim’s aggression led to their extinction. Do you bemoan their fate to any extent? What would it mean to vampirekind if the nephilim were suddenly brought back into existence through DNA discoveries?
Jalmari scoffs. "Bringing back the nephilim would be like bringing back a tyrannosaurus rex. Should it happen, we would hunt the creature and would have no qualms in doing so."
Subtract yourself from this question, but what does it mean to be Romani? Don’t worry, I’ll address your concern for them next.
He grins, sits straighter, and steeples his fingers. The silver rings clink gently against each other. "You have done your homework, Mrs. Mueller, but not all of it. 'Romani' is a human term. It's the politically correct term for a gypsy. Sometimes it is spelled as Romany with a Y, and other times they are called Roma. But what you also don't know is that gypsies carry a small trace of nephilim DNA. Not enough to be vampires, but enough that we consider it a threat."
So there is no love between yourself and the Romani race. Could you explain why?
"The old laws dictate that we exterminate them; keep the human blood pure. Can you imagine giving birth to a vampire, Mrs. Mueller?" he winces. "It's something we try to avoid. As for 'love', I have learned to distance myself from that which I must hunt. It's nothing personal."
What is a typical night like for you?
"Work," he grins. "My job is never finished."
When were you born? How have the human’s attitudes changed over the centuries toward your kind? Do they try to get along with you as well?
"Let's just say I am old enough to have met Jesus Christ. Humans were fully aware of us back then, though their attitudes differed a little depending on were you lived and if you've had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting my father during his reign. The Sumerians, Egyptians, and Greeks thought we were gods and sacrificed their cattle and virgins to us. Most humans feared us and were easy prey until shortly after the Dark Ages when they started fighting back. Now the majority of them think we do not exist."
What is the most memorable moment of your life? The worst?
Jalmari glances at the floor and nibbles on his lower lip. "The most memorable moment of my life, without a doubt, was the first time I laid eyes on my mate, Leena. She was still a human," he grins and wets his lips. "I was sort of spying on the females in a bathing house in Athens. She was so beautiful..." His brow tightens at the center as he frowns. "The worst moment was her death."
If you found out you were nothing more than a character within the fabulous imagination of an author, what would you do? *ducking*
"I am very well aware that I live in J.D.'s imagination," he laughs. "She will tell you how I keep her up at all hours of the night. I chose her specifically to write my biography."
One more question, if you please! What inspiring words would you like to share with your readers?
Jalmari glances at his hands, his voice low. "Take pride in what you do and who you are. Fight for it."
*Trembling as I curtsy* Thank you for your time, Prince Jalmari. You gave me a lot to ponder. I shall leave you to your musings now. *Rushes out of the castle, glad to still be alive*
Dark Heirloom releases March 2012 from Muse It Up Publishing Inc.
She is currently writing book 2, Dark Liaison, and would love to hear from readers and vampire fans! Authors of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, please check out my new website/blog, Urban Stars, where she highlight authors and their works each week.
http://haUrbanStars.com
Thursday: They Walk Trilogy by Amy Lunderman, Maggie Cooper's Interview.
