MADNESS OF THE ELDER VAMPIRE
All Elder vampires go mad. All, save for one.Having lived alone on the streets of Los Angeles, Adrian Rowe learned to trust no one. Not until he stumbled upon the Elder, Garrick, and entered the dark and violent world of vampires. Unlike the aristocratic creatures of myth, Adrian finds himself not in regal parties, but bloody gang wars, dark alleys, and under the fangs of his Elder—and lover.After picking a fight with the wrong vampire causes him, Garrick, and the vampire-witch Val to flee to San Francisco, Adrian is given one command: lie low, and don’t make trouble. But between a quest for revenge, a hunter searching for her sister, and a group of young vampires with powers beyond their age, Adrian must decide between inaction, or losing the most important person in his life.Assuming the madness hasn’t already taken him.
Coming Winter 2025
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Early Reviews for Madness of the Elder Vampire
"Oh thank God it's actually good and Darby doesn't need to move into our basement."- Darby's Dad
"How DARE you do that ending to ME!"
- Darby's Sister
"I think you should kill Thea. It would really spice things up."- Darby's Grandma, halfway through the book
"If you kill Thea I'm going to cry."
- Brentyn, also halfway through the book
FAQ
Is this a Romance novel?
No. While the characters’ romantic life is a large part of the plot, Madness of the Elder Vampire does not follow Romance genre conventions. Madness is a dark, adult Urban Fantasy with pacing between that of a Drama and a Thriller.Is this a series? Will you be able to finish it?
The Elder Madness series is currently planned on being a trilogy. I’m pretty sure it will actually be a trilogy, but officially I’m marketing it as a series so I don’t accidentally write a five book trilogy, if I decide it needs more books.Unfortunately for my friends and family, I really really like writing. I write on weekends. I write after work. I write on vacations. I go to parties and think about how much I want to go home and write. So even if this book totally tanks and no one reads it other than my friends and family, I’m going to finish it.Is this self published? What’s Star Strix?
Star Strix is my personal LLC made for law and tax purposes. It also makes me look professional and I can stick a logo of an owl on my book’s spine.I decided to pursue self publishing for several reasons. First, given the current political climate in my home country (USA), I really want to keep distribution rights should anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment continue to rise. I also have a large savings built up from my time as a software engineer and can afford to hire all the best talent to make my book as professional as if it were picked up by a traditional publishing company. I already have a Reedsy-accredited developmental editor hired, and plan to hire a professional copy editor and proofreader.Are you LGBTQIA+?
Perhaps.I will say that I’ve been in LGBTQIA+ spaces for over ten years and count many of my best friends as members of the community across the spectrum. I’m well aware that many in the Pride community are hesitant to pick up a book that features LGBTQIA+ characters by non-Pride authors due to the history of cis, straight, and allo authors misrepresenting these identities, even when well intentioned. My hope is that you give me a chance while respecting my choice to keep my personal life private.For a more specific look at the content in the Elder Madness series, I made an early choice that the characters are never seen as strange or othered for their sexuality or gender (with one exception in a supplemental short story. More on that later.) However, this is not a light and cozy story. Characters of all identities will do immoral or unethical things. This is a drama, and my characters are very dramatic. But it is my goal to never connect these unethical actions to a character’s gender or sexuality, or have my characters fall into little more than a stereotype.Does your book have any content warnings or sexually explicit material?
Swearing and violence are both prevalent in the book. Some scenes describe gory actions, but my writing style doesn’t linger in a lot of description. (Feel free to read my free chapter on the “Read” tab to get an idea of the content you can expect.)There is no on-page, explicit sex. There is a lot of innuendo. I don’t have any current plans to make other books in the series more explicit, but I’m leaving the door open in case I feel it’s a good fit. That supplemental short story I mentioned in the LGBTQIA+ section does get close to being explicit.Do you have any writing advice?
Yes! I have plans to write it up in the future. Follow me on Bluesky or sign up for my mailing list on Substack to get all writing advice and updates.When will Madness of the Elder Vampire be published?
I’m currently aiming for Winter 2025. My hope is October, since this is a story about vampires.Where can I follow you for more updates?
The best place to follow me is on Bluesky, or sign up for my mailing list on Substack.
Read the First Chapter of Madness of the Elder Vampire
Twenty Years AgoThere was no magic preventing Adrian from entering the home of Linh Thi Nguyen, only a simple padlock, several security cameras, polite manners, and severe consequences. Padlocks could be picked, a skill Adrian obtained out of boredom but put to use more often than once. The security cameras were laughable, something meant for mortals more so than vampires. Politeness was something Adrian didn’t afford often. He could always knock and ask to be let in, but he doubted Linh’s guards would even open the door for him. And finally the severe consequences. Those didn’t concern Adrian in the slightest.“I thought you said you’ve done this before?” The woman behind Adrian whispered impatiently.“Think you can do better?” Megan was one of Joseph’s vampires, three of whom Joseph insisted on coming along. Adrian despised Joseph and the vampires who worked for him, and he was pretty sure Joseph despised him. If it wasn’t for Garrick in the middle, Adrian would have probably gotten himself killed mouthing off to the top ranked vampire.The lock gave way and opened into an unlit entryway. Adrian stepped into the foyer, looking around for any sign of where Linh might be occupying. He waved the other vampires through. Five of the eight vampires that joined Adrian on his incursion belonged to Garrick, making them Adrian’s “family.” Adrian preferred to think of them more as his coworkers, though vampire families frequently copied the structure of mobs. “Gang” may have been a better word.There was something uncanny about the inside of Linh’s mansion, but Adrian couldn’t put his finger on what. It was oddly dark, though vampires didn’t need light to see. The others entered the building just as cautiously as he did.Adrian darted to the left wall just as a long, curved sword cut the air where he previously stood, and clanged onto the stone floor. Linh probably had guards stationed at the door, and they may have noticed their break-in but waited for them to enter. The owner of a house could do anything she wanted with a trespassing vampire. Adrian heard the other guards make their ambush against the intruders. He didn’t have time to wait and see if they were successful, as his attention remained on his most immediate threat.The guard who attacked him raised his sword once more and ran towards Adrian. The problem with swords was that they were long, sharp weapons perfect for lobbing heads off. The problem with the guard was that he likely never held a Vietnamese-style sword in his life, prior to working for Linh. To be fair, Adrian didn’t have much experience fighting against swords either. But he did know how much punishment his body could take before things became trouble.Adrian pulled out a knife and lunged forward—to the surprise of the guard—and buried it into his gut. A devastating blow to mortals, a minor inconvenience to vampires. But the guard froze after the attack. This was likely the first time he had ever been stabbed. Before he had time to realize how little it mattered, Adrian took hold of the guard’s arm and twisted it around onto his shoulder, then snapped it. The guard collapsed to the floor and cried out in pain, clutching his broken elbow.Adrian quickly glanced around to see who needed help, but a gunshot snapped his attention over to Megan. A guard lay at her feet.“Really?” Adrian growled. “We’re trying to keep this clean. I thought we agreed no guns?”“Then report me to Joseph,” Megan shrugged.Adrian scowled, but didn’t bother to protest any further. He volunteered to lead this mission, but in practice, leading just meant he was the person who got to confront Linh. Apparently it didn’t come with any real authority.The rest of the team took care of the guards just as easily as Adrian had. Was this the best Linh had to offer?The nine vampires on Adrian’s strike team split into three groups of three to search the mansion. Everett and Jan, two who worked under Garrick like Adrian, joined him in staking deeper into the main floor. Adrian twisted the shadows once again to not only hide them from the sight of any future guards, but to muffle the sound of their footsteps as well. A trick Garrick taught him a few years ago, now that his body aged enough to use such magical powers. Maybe it was because of their silence, but they didn’t run into any more guards despite entering three different rooms. Adrian didn’t know what rich people did with such giant houses, rich vampires even more so.A feminine voice cut through the house’s still silence. “In here,” it said, annoyed. “In the dining room.”Dining room? Linh had a use for a dining room?He and the others followed the voice into a long room, warmly lit by a variety of colorful lamps. The ceiling stretched two and a half stories high, with a balcony on the second level to overlook the long, ornate table. A woman sat at the end of the table, sipping a bright red broth. As Adrian took a few steps into the dining room, the woman flicked her wrist, and the shadows hiding them dissipated. Two more guards also ran into the room from a door on the opposite end, but Linh held up a finger in signal to wait.“You do know what entering a home uninvited means, right?” Linh asked. She blotted a white cloth against her mouth, and Adrian couldn’t tell if the red residue left behind was her soup or lipstick.“Well, you never answered your phone,” Adrian replied.“Oh, you’re one of Garrick’s, aren’t you? Is he here?”“This job was beneath Garrick’s level. If you’d like to relay a message you’ll have to go through me.”Linh glared at him. She was an Elder, a status gained after two hundred years of age. Adrian was twenty years turned. She was a queen compared to him, and he made a point to show how little he cared.“I’m guessing you’re here because some vampires went missing and you think I did it?”“We know you did it,” Adrian threatened. “Don’t play dumb.”Weeks ago, vampires under Joseph’s organization started disappearing. Joseph was oddly sluggish in addressing the issue. He finally forced Garrick to handle it, plus three direct reports. Garrick kept his family small, comparatively, but it kept them strong. They specialized in these sorts of delicate operations, like infiltrating the homes of rival Elder vampires. At times, it felt like Joseph feared their accomplishments. That pleased Adrian.“So what’s your plan? Here to assassinate me?” Linh asked.“That depends. Are your kidnapping victims alive?”Linh grunted and rolled her eyes. She beckoned one of the two guards over to her. “You, go down to the cellar and fetch, oh what was his name? Stewart. He should still be there.”The guard nodded and jogged across the dining room and out the back exit. Linh didn’t say anything else, and returned to sipping her soup from a white, curved spoon. Adrian stared at the broth, figuring he knew what it was.“It’s blood soup,” Linh said, confirming his suspicions. “More popular on the other side of the world. Been here one hundred years and never met an American who wanted to try it. I think it’s a shame more vampires don’t take culinary arts seriously. When you’re as old as I am, drinking the same blood day in and day out gets dull. I get it, our systems can’t handle much of the same foods we used to enjoy. But trust me, just add a little salt sometimes. You’ll have a hard time going back.”Adrian didn’t reply. He was here for negotiations, not to swap cooking tips. Linh shrugged at her failed attempt to make small talk and continued her meal. A few minutes later, the sound of the guard returning reverberated across the room. Or more accurately, the sound of the guard dragging a heavy lump behind him. When the guard made his way back into the dining room, he threw the body of Stewart onto the floor. Adrian jumped back, despite his attempts to not react to the headless corpse that now occupied the room.“The head too,” Linh said. “We have to prove it’s the right one.”Adrian gritted his teeth, unable to take his eyes off the body. The neck stump wasn’t bleeding. Neither were any of the few mysterious holes and cuts around his body. He’d been drained. Adrian’s eyes darted back over to the blood soup.The guard turned to leave once again, and Adrian wanted to tell him to not bother. But he couldn’t muster the ability to speak words.“So, now with that out of the way, are you here to assassinate me?”Adrian’s orders were to ensure Linh wouldn’t attempt to kidnap more vampires. That was a very open ended request. Assassination was the easiest way to ensure that, but killing an Elder vampire was a difficult order. Killing her guards and cutting her support was a good second best, but he planned better than second best.The nearest guard was only a few yards away. Adrian grabbed his knife again and closed the distance as fast as he could. The guard did have enough time to react and hold his sword up defensively, but it didn’t do much to stop the attack. Adrian tried to stab the guard in the gut like he did the first one, but the angle kept the slice shallow. The sword caught between the two, pointing skyward with its sharp edge in Adrian’s face. Another stab below the ribcage landed and the guard loosened his grip on the sword. Just what Adrian was waiting for. He ripped the sword out of the guard’s hands, took a second to get the angle right, then swung it like a baseball bat at neck height. The cut sliced most of the way through. Enough to kill at least.The fighting started again. More guards attacked the various vampires in the room. Adrian spun around to see Linh furious. During his assault she rose out of her chair and crossed half the room. But she stopped when the second guard returned, holding Stewart’s head. Linh held out her hand.“Sword,” she instructed.Adrian felt a cool liquid run down his face. Blood, from a cut when he shoved his face into the sword during the scuffle. It didn’t bother him. Adrian focused instead on Linh and her movements. Unlike these guards, she held her sword with a sword master’s grace.Linh calmly strode toward him, though her face was anything but. Linh wasn’t a tall or intimidating woman physically, but her scowl could menace even the strongest steel-hearted men. She’d likely try to slice his head off, or thrust for his heart. Any other strike would be a waste of time. Adrian angled his right shoulder forward and ducked his head down. His goal wasn’t to kill Linh. He just needed to survive long enough for the real threat to make his move. Assassinating an Elder vampire was an impossible mission, unless you had one of your own.Linh stopped suddenly. She tilted her head towards the ceiling, then looked over to Adrian quizzically.“You came here with eight other vampires. Five are in the room with you. Do you know where the others are?”Adrian froze in confusion at the question. Was this a trick to get him to drop his guard? He thought at first Linh might have learned that Garrick hid in the shadows of the room with them, but Linh had said only nine vampires entered the mansion. Linh lowered her sword as a sign of goodwill, and only then did Adrian take his eyes off her to search around the room.Everett, Jan, Quinn, David, and Emma. Those were the five members that comprised Garrick’s family with Adrian. The other three hadn’t followed them into the dining room.“How big is Garrick’s family again? It’s small, less than nine. Would it be six, perhaps? The six of you in this room right now?”Adrian didn’t answer her, but he imagined the look of quiet panic must have been answer enough. She was right, but what did it matter? What dots did Linh connect that he was missing?Linh dropped the sword by her side and sighed loudly. She returned to her soup, still sitting at the edge of the table.“I’m afraid we’ve both been played, boy.”She tilted the bowl back and drank the rest of the blood greedily. If Garrick had been in the room, now would have been the perfect time to strike. But the room was quiet. Just as Linh finished, another guard ran into the room.“Fire!” she shouted. “Fire, spreading quickly!”Adrian’s panic intensified. Was that what caught Linh’s attention moments ago?“A waste of good food, if you ask me,” Linh said. “I’ll give your regards to Joseph and Garrick, next time I see them.”With that, Linh’s form began to change shape. Her head morphed into a monster’s, and she sprouted hair all around her body. Skin grew out of her arms and sides to create a membrane connecting them to her lower body. Less than a breath later, a giant bat stood in her place. With its expansive wings, the bat took flight to the upper levels of the dining hall. It grabbed the ceiling, and with a massive claw, broke a singular skylight window, raining glass shards down below. Adrian ducked under the table to defend himself, and once the hailstorm of glass subsided, he looked back up just in time to see the bat crawl out the hole in the top of the building.By now the brawl between his family and the guards had given way to disorganized chaos. As smoke began to pour into the dining room, those who were trying to kill one another moments before ran together for the nearest exit. Adrian was about to follow them, but a shout stopped him cold.“It’s barred! They barred the doors!”This is what Linh meant. Joseph had decided to take out two rival families at once. He feared Garrick’s family, and Adrian should have feared that fact.“Garrick?”No one answered. He was not in the dining room with them. Adrian wondered if he was even in the building at all.Adrian looked around for a window, and then it clicked. The uncanny feeling about the mansion’s interior. There were no windows. He was sure he had seen windows on the exterior, but in normal vampire fashion they were covered by heavy drapes. Had she completely walled over the windows?Adrian then grabbed a chair. Drywall was easily breakable. He slammed the chair against the wall, only for it to splinter and bounce away.Thinking he got unlucky and hit a stud, Adrian grabbed another and hit the wall a hand’s width away from the first strike. The chair splintered again, leaving little more than a scuff on the wall. Disbelieving, Adrian walked over to inspect the scuff. Chipping away at the broken drywall, Adrian found brick.In her paranoia, Linh had created an impenetrable fortress. And a tomb.Now, the panic truly gripped Adrian. He couldn’t escape through the doors. He couldn’t escape through the windows. He couldn’t escape through the walls. The skylight was far too high, and Adrian was at least a century too early for the kind of shapeshifting magic that saved Linh. At this point, his only option was to hope Linh, for some crazed, madness-fueled reason, created hidden tunnels. Or, to find some way to survive a burning building until the flames smoldered out.Adrian dropped to the floor. Smoke wouldn’t kill him, as his body no longer required the need to breathe, but smoke still stung his eyes and the room was filling up fast. What could he do to survive? A bathtub, perhaps? Adrian crawled on the floor out of the dining room, but the next room over had flames dancing up the interior walls. Those were not reinforced by brick. Adrian had to find some kind of cover, but he was crawling around blind in an unfamiliar house. He had no idea where a master bathroom would be located. Or hell, even if this house had a bathtub he could flip over on top of himself.He heard the screams of the others, and a loud crash. The house’s foundations were starting to crumble and collapse. Adrian didn’t have time for doubts. He either got lucky and found something fireproof to hide in, or died.Adrian continued to crouch along the floor and moved across the burning room. He didn’t have much of a choice of his direction. One end of the room was on fire, the other a little less on fire. He made his way into what seemed like a bedroom. No bathroom attached to it, however. He tried another room, this one appearing to be some kind of office featuring a very burnable wooden desk.
He made his way back towards the shouts of the others, hoping they found something. But as he got closer and could hear more clearly, he realized the shouts were just as despairing as he felt. He couldn’t give up. Giving up was death.Another loud crack reverberated through the house, and before Adrian could look to see where it came from, a large, charred piece of wood slammed into his head. Upon waking seconds—at least he hoped it was seconds—later, Adrian realized his entire body was pinned beneath rubble. He tried placing his hands beneath him and pushing through, but his pounding head sapped him of all strength. He could barely get air beneath his chest before crashing back down to the floor.So this was it? He’d been played, a pawn in Elder vampire grudges, burning not in the sun but in a trap of fire. Alone.He nearly gave up. He lay on his stomach, waiting for the flames to reach him, listening to the screams of the others. But their screams changed into a new chorus, one that filled Adrian with dreaded new hope.
“Garrick!” Someone shouted. Perhaps they were simply cursing the man who put them here, but another voice joined in.“Garrick! Garrick!”He was here, and Adrian admonished the brief moments when he thought he’d been betrayed.“Gar…” Adrian tried to call out as well, but he realized just how weak he’d become. The beam pinning him to the floor didn’t allow for much air to pass into his throat to shout.Then the screams took on a different tone. Adrian listened as the cries to Garrick’s name took on a fearful pitch. And then despair. Anger. Now, they cursed him.Adrian craned his head to the doorway, and he saw a man walk in, calm as if the world around him wasn’t burning to the ground. He didn’t crawl along the floor like Adrian, but stood tall despite the smoke. Two hellish red eyes pierced through the black haze, and fell directly on him. Adrian froze. What betrayal had the others faced?
Garrick walked beside Adrian’s body, and with a loud grunt lifted the wooden beam off of him. He scooped up his body and held Adrian to his chest, then turned and walked back the way he came. Adrian gripped the man’s shirt tightly and closed his eyes to avoid the sting of the smoke. He heard the other voices, louder now, as they called Garrick’s name in desperation. It had no effect on the man, and he continued walking as if he were deaf to them.Then, without warning, they were flying. A cold breeze whipped over Adrian’s body, suddenly replacing the broiling temperature of the burning house. The shock must have knocked Adrian out cold, as the last thing he remembered seeing was a pair of great demon wings pulling him out from Hell.When he came to, they were on the ground once more in a lonely grass field, far away from the city proper. He was still in Garrick’s arms, his back leaned against a raised knee and head cradled against his chest. With his ear pressed against him, he could hear Garrick’s slow, soft heartbeat, and the vestigial spasms of a man weeping.And that’s when Adrian knew he truly loved him.