Once Upon a Time...

There was a book.  It was an ordinary book, with a simple cover and simple words.  But I was intrigued.  I bought that book, and I read it in maybe a day.  Like I said, the words were simple.  It was a quick read, propelled by action, not bogged down by a lot of unnecessary language, and lifted up by interesting characters.  The book was called Vampire Academy. 

I didn't know it then, but that book would be life changing.

You may recognize that name from the movie that came out on Valentine's Day this past year.  You know, the one by the director of Mean Girls. 

Yeah, the movie kinda sucked.  Not in the good way that a vampire film should suck, in the "Well, honestly what were you expecting?  It's a book-to-film adaptation!" way.  But, honestly, the first book kinda sucked.  And I say that with a grain of salt, because it is one of my favorite series.  I have forced these books upon my mother, sister, grandmother, two of my best friends (though one still refuses to read it-Tara, I'm looking at you, kid), and my boyfriend. 

Honestly, the prose in the first book was not Richelle Mead's best.  But I liked the book.  Heck, I REALLY liked the book, for reasons I still don't understand because I find myself drawn to a different writing style than what Vampire Academy first presented.  So, because of my inexplicable love for the first book, I bought the second.  And it was great!  The series, the characters, the plot, and the writing style all developed a bit, and I was hooked.  So it was on to the third...and the trend continued.  The plot thickened and darkened.  All of a sudden, the series was not a silly account of vampires in high school, but a true blue saving-the-world-one-strigoi-at-a-time love story. 

I said Vampire Academy changed my life.  It's a common expression people say, not always seriously, usually to describe an episode of their favorite TV show, or the sushi at some new Hibachi restaurant.  I say this, not lightly, and not in jest.  I read Vampire Academy voraciously, book to book, and was distraught when I had to wait for the last installment- Last Sacrifice.  I needed something to fill the void while I waited for that book.

I'd had dalliances before into the world of FanFiction, specifically with the Harry Potter series.  But that was a series I'd grown up with, my love for it growing with each book, film, character, and tragedy.  But I fell in love with Vampire Academy all at once, and for that reason, I felt compelled to write Vampire Academy fan fiction.  I didn't ever expect the generous outpouring of support I got when I started writing that fan fiction.  I didn't expect that I would wake up daily to emails on my phone with exclamations of praise, virtual squeals of excitement, and people begging for my updates.  To date that fan fiction has elicited 724 reviews, 171 favorites, and 148 followers.  That was life-changing.  The feeling of reaching so many people, of having them rely on me, of being somebody's drug...  It is the most incredible high I can think of.

So, I would recommend you read Vampire Academy, because it spurred me on the adventure you're now witnessing.  And because I am sharing with you a snippet of my fanfiction, written prior to the release of Richelle Mead's Last Sacrifice. 

"I thought I was going to die once, back in Russia.  Dimitri had been so fast and so strong, so intent on changing me...or killing me...that my death was imminent.  That was not really Dimitri in Russia, for he was Strigoi, and that was what had made the situation, and my fear, all the more real.  Even when I'd been captured by Strigoi with Eddie, Mason, Christian, and Mia, our deaths were obviously close.  Mason may have been the only one of us to die, but we had all come precariously close to death. And yet I had never felt as doomed as I did now."

If you're in the mood for more, I'd recommend the first five VA books so you know what's going on, but if you're feeling froggy like me, here ya go.  But don't forget to leave the love because I love the love. 

XO, BelleCeline

Last Sacrifice-Blood Lust by BelleCeline