All of us at I Love Vampire Novels adore our Aussie Authors. And we are especially delighted to get to know Belinda Topan, author of Living With Vampires.
ILVN: Hi Belinda, thank you for taking time to share with us.
BT: Hello Hello! I’m Belinda Topan, and I am from Queensland, Australia. I mainly write about vampires aiming for found family theme, YA and horror genre. When writing my stories, I aim to write about locations of my home country, Australia. 😊
ILVN: How long have you been writing or when did you start?
BT: I have been writing since I was fifteen and its been over ten years since I have been practicing. I’m so old hahaha. At the start It took me a few stories to write out and discover the direction I wanted to go before finally finding my groove.
ILVN: Why paranormal/urban fantasy? What drew you to the genre?
BT: I love the genre because it’s different form everyday life but its also fun to mix modern day with the supernatural as you can make the modern century more mysterious and fun with magic and supernatural creatures.
ILVN: What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?
BT: It depends on the story. For Living with Vampires it was definitely the idea and then the characters. Basic plot of a human girl, ends up living with three vampires. But I needed to know who my characters are for the story. For my other novels it was my characters first. Who did I want to write about, how do they fit into the story, what is the story they want to tell. I have more writing about characters as I always like to see what happens if you put certain people in the same room when they meet for the first time. How would they react, will they get along or would they tear each other apart.
ILVN: Seems obvious, but what are your favorite paranormal creatures?
BT: Oh that’s easy. Vampires. Hahaha. I have been obsessed with vampires since I was little and the obsession hasn’t died haha. I love writing about vampires who love to embrace their nature and not have a care for human life but care only about their own species. Its like give me more of Damon/Spike and less of Stephen/Angel. Haha.
ILVN: Tell us about your heroine/hero in Living With Vampires. What inspired her/his quirks and struggles?
BT: Valeria is the main character for Living with Vampires. She’s a piece of me back in 2019, someone who was more optimistic about the world but is still a little cynical. She’s witty and my love for humor is something I really enjoyed writing into her character. She loves dancing in the kitchen, and hiding away in her room for days on end. She is patient whilst dealing with the chaos that is living with vampires. Her struggles are trying to find a place that truly feels like home, while also facing a bit of her past in the interim.
ILVN: Would you and your main character get along?
BT: I would think Valeria and I would get along for our love of all things nerdy. Geeking over anime and video games whilst also talking about the struggles of writing and listen to our favourite bands.
ILVN: Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?
BT: I relate to one of my other characters who is briefly mentioned in LWV (Living with Vampires) Ceres. She’s someone who is trying to find their place in the world, questioning where does she fit in the grand scheme of things and goes on this adventure of self discovery.
Valeria is a bit the same but she knows who she is and is just trying to find a place to call home while also facing her past.
ILVN: What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft?
BT: Compared to now and 2019, I can say I have improved a lot. While the plot remains the same, I can say the book is cleaner and flows better. Learning to cut bits out that don’t relate or add value to the plot/characters and add pieces in to tie into characters more and the world building. The bones are good but the smaller stuff needed to be fixed.
ILVN: Where can our readers find you?
BT: They can find me at Belinda Topan for FB, and Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/belindatopan
https://www.instagram.com/belindatopan/
Tik Tok – Reaper of Vampires
@reaperofvampires
My website
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