ABOUT THE BOOK

Everyone says vampires aren’t real. Tommy Lucas isn’t so sure.

Nine-year-old Tommy Lucas needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. But Tommy believes his disease is a curse on his bloodline; that he’s a vampire. Despite having an oncologist for a mother, Tommy’s convinced only magic can cure him—or the same synthetic blood substitute developed for urban legend Viscount Claudius Fallon. 

He’s stoked when he discovers a five-part series about Fallon in an online pulp fiction magazine called Philly’s Argosy. Descended from a ruling class of vampires in Cardiff, legend has it that Fallon traveled to Eureka Springs, Arkansas seeking a cure for his own leukemia during WWII. 

Tommy’s quest leads him to befriend local artist and gallery owner Callan Masters, who struggles with his growing affection for Tommy’s mom, June—for he is Fallon, cured in 1939 at Norman G. Baker’s Cure-for-Cancer Hospital. 

Dedicated to living off-grid and as a human, Callan must decide whether he will take the risk involved in helping Tommy or falling in love with June. His bite is no longer capable of turning anyone—or so he thinks.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julie Rogers is the author of seven books, including Seven Shorts; Letters: Sidereal Insight for a 21st Century Mystic; Hootie; and Simeon: A Greater Reality. 

Her muse for Falling Stars began in childhood, followed by harsh realities of terminal illness and the discovery of a magical place called Eureka Springs. 

Julie’s articles and award-winning stories are featured in self-help, inspirational and fiction publications like Coping with Cancer, Daily Meditation, and the annual anthology Writes of Passage: Every Woman has a Story! 

The 1999 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition Grand Prize winner for her horror short story, “House Call,” Julie also freelances as a ghostwriter and an editor. 

She lives in Georgetown, Texas (a suburb of Austin) but is relocating to Eureka Springs, Arkansas soon—”the city that water built.” 

TALKING POINTS

• The real-life muse behind this fiction, a young boy who in the 1960s was live action role-playing (LARPing) Barnabas Collins—the 175-year-old vampire character from the classic daytime television serial Dark Shadows.
• The story-within-a-story device: a five-part series from an online pulp fiction magazine called Philly’s Argosy is contained within the novel and is influential to its narrative. 
• Elements of vampire and 20th century history that contribute to this tale.
• Viscount Claudius Fallon’s use of mesmerism and spellwork to maintain his anonymity.
• The true story of charlatan and quack Norman G. Baker’s cure-for-cancer era in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and Muscatine, Iowa.
• The unique history of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, “the city that water built.” 
• Julie can discuss her writing journey from GHOSTwriter to VAMPIRE novelist.