So I got it into my head to try my hand at Urban Fantasy, and the most prominent piece of advice I've heard is, "Don't use vampires. They're played out."
So, being a naturally cheeky writer, I wrote a teaser intro featuring a vampire getting its ass handed to it by the hero, who then quips, "God, I'm sick of vampires."
But as I continued on, I found the vampires more useful than I anticipated, and they kept cropping up. They're not the focal point of the book -- instead, they're involved in a vicious gang war going on in the background with a sorceress and her legion of goblins, who are the focus. I just use the fanged freaks as a plot device to create conflict when needed.
My question is, will having vampires in the background still hurt my chances of getting an agent and getting published? Or am I OK if they're just one of a cavalcade of creatures? I don't plan on mentioning them much in my query, but I'm still worried one will see the word 'vampire' in my sample pages and instantly chuck it, even though I'm really having a laugh about the glut of vampires.
So, being a naturally cheeky writer, I wrote a teaser intro featuring a vampire getting its ass handed to it by the hero, who then quips, "God, I'm sick of vampires."
But as I continued on, I found the vampires more useful than I anticipated, and they kept cropping up. They're not the focal point of the book -- instead, they're involved in a vicious gang war going on in the background with a sorceress and her legion of goblins, who are the focus. I just use the fanged freaks as a plot device to create conflict when needed.
My question is, will having vampires in the background still hurt my chances of getting an agent and getting published? Or am I OK if they're just one of a cavalcade of creatures? I don't plan on mentioning them much in my query, but I'm still worried one will see the word 'vampire' in my sample pages and instantly chuck it, even though I'm really having a laugh about the glut of vampires.
