By Cole Thompson, Staff Writer
Newman University English professor Bryan Dietrich has recently published a new book called “The Demeter Diaries.”
The book, which is Dietrich’s eighth, is a novelette in prose and poetry about Dracula’s journey from Transylvania to Mina in Whitby, England.
The inspiration for the book came from Dietrich’s childhood, he said.
“I have always been fascinated with Dracula’s journey from Transylvania,” he said.
But to write this book, Dietrich said, he decided he needed the help of another author.
Dietrich said he was at the International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando when he ran into Marge Simon, another poet in the science fiction/horror genre. Dietrich and Simon then talked back and forth before they finally “decided to do a book over Dracula’s journey on the Demeter ship to England,” Dietrich said.
To create the novelette, Dietrich would write a poem as Vlad Dracula, then Simon would reply to it through the character of Mina. This back and forth pattern continued until the completion of the book.
“Things that happened in Mina’s life while Vlad was en route came so naturally for me to convey,” Simon said.
This was unlike any other novel either author has done in the past, and Dietrich said he enjoyed it.
“This new process for me was revivifying,” Dietrich said.
Simon said she really enjoyed the partnership also.
“If you believe in magic, it was sort of like that,” she said.
“The Demeter Diaries” is different from any other Dracula story from the past, Dietrich said. He does not want to spoil the ending says that readers won’t be expecting it.
“It ends differently than the novel or any of the movies,” he said.
“The Demeter Diaries” was released last week and is available on Amazon.com.
Dietrich said he hopes to sell a few thousand copies, though he wasn’t thinking about that during the writing process.
“The purpose was not to sell copies,” he said. “It was to tell a story and find hope in writing again.”
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo. independentlegions.com
