Frankie Sutton (she/her), born within a Motown/Detroit community, was raised on creativity—starting with music. Her love of reading and writing developed during her school years.
However, at the beginning of her high school years, she entered into the world of fan fiction and role-playing games—experimenting with many styles of writing, including poems and scriptwriting. When not writing, she loves bonding with her miniature schnauzer.
Frankie embraces her life as a Motown Michigander, ready to share her large imagination with the world.
Author Links:
website: creatorfrankie.com
X/Twitter: @MotownCountry
Instagram: @motowncountry
BlueSky: @frankiesutton.bsky.social
Let’s talk about Vampiric Crush, your urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel. Who are your main inspirations for vampire fiction, and where did the fascination with vampires come from for you?
I’ve always been fascinated with vampires.
My main inspirations are Selene (Underworld franchise), Saya (Blood+, anime), Michelle (Subspecies franchise), and from books such as The Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike, the Blood Ties series by Jennifer Armintrout, and The Vampire Legacy series by Karen E. Taylor. And can’t forget about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Can you tell us a bit about the worldbuilding for Vampiric Crush?
While creating the prophecy in the story, researching real world connections helped me figure out where the story took place. Los Angeles is referred to as Jupiter. And Gerard is a self-proclaimed king for that city. Another vampire is in charge of nearby Oakland.
What is the most interesting thing about vampires as a paranormal love interest for you to write about? What is it that makes them so alluring to your protagonist and readers?
Vampires are separate from society. They choose to follow the rules or break them. Their immortality allows them to have experienced historical events first-hand and be around in modern society to tell about it. I believe what makes them truly alluring is their ability to have the freedom to travel and obtain mass amounts of money. Although, they might not really need the money if they have the ability to charm their way through existence. LOL
How do you handle the themes of duty vs desire and self-discovery in the book, and why do you think these themes are important?
A part of Shae’s group is tasked with being slayers, keeping the vampire population under control and hidden from most humans. But for her, she’s been raised to put an end to Gerard.
She’s become disconnected from her emotions, and she only exists to stop Gerard—or so she thought.
Her path is learning how to properly balance duty and desire, aka, business and pleasure.
What is/are your favourite reader response(s) so far?
One Beta reader gushed about how I write just like Anne Rice. (If only I could have boasted about that when querying.) And an editor from the company that published Vampiric Crush claimed: “You showed her dark side, confusion, wanting to go back to her “normal” self but had no control, very well.”
Do you have any future publication plans, anything we can look out for?
Some of my poetry will be published soon in an online lit mag. Details of that will soon be shared in my newsletter. Just visit my website, creatorfrankie.com, and sign up at Team Frankie!
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