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| photo by Peter van der Sluijs |
Multi-published author
Margo Bond Collins teaches college-level
English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys
reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of
her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and
other monsters. Learn more about Margo and her books at her website and blog.
Running for Your Life
A few years ago, I started running as part of my exercise
routine. I don’t really like it, exactly. I’m not especially good at it. I tend
to be better at the stretchier kinds of exercise—yoga and such. But I’ve
discovered that running is kind of addictive. I like the meditative state I can
reach when I finally hit my stride, and the way that running gives me time to
let my body do its thing while I spend some quality time up in my head. Many of
my plot problems get worked out when I’m running. So it’s perhaps not
surprising that Elle, the heroine of my latest release, Legally Undead, would also take up running. In her case, though, she is literally
running for her life:
Graduate courses in history don’t prepare one for running away from a
vampire. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to the gym. “Out of shape”
was an understatement. He caught up with me easily, just as I reached the
corner of the nearest building. I felt his hand brush the back of my neck, felt
his fingernails--claws? something sharp--dig into the top of my back.
With a final burst of speed I didn’t know I had in me, I rounded the corner into a pool of light. And ran smack into a man walking out the door.
I think “bowled him over” might be an accurate description. He’d been
carrying a stack of books, and they went flying everywhere as he and I went
down. I think I skidded across him and rolled to a stop--I know I ended up flat
on my back on the concrete apron in front of the door, staring up at the sky,
just in time to see Greg do some complicated flip over me.
And like many of us who come to running out of a desire to
live a longer, healthier life, she overdoes it a bit at first, and has to come
to terms with the fact that becoming a real runner takes time—especially for
people who begin life as exercise-phobes:
I turned over, ready to spring out of bed, and instead rolled up into a
groaning ball. I hurt all over. Every single muscle. My arms felt like they’d
been pulled halfway out of their sockets. My neck was stiff, my calves felt
like they were contracting up into my stomach somewhere. The sheets scraped
against my battered knees like sandpaper.
From now on, I vowed, I was going to hit the gym every single day. If I
was really going to continue to live, I needed to be able to get away from
vampires that attacked me, and that meant being able to move. Quickly. And
reliably. If I couldn’t trust my body not to go into the fetal position when I
tried to move it, I wouldn’t survive long.
Although she doesn’t keep her vow to go to the gym every
single day, she does manage to survive—even if she has to keep running longer
than she ever anticipated!
So what do other exercise-phobes do to overcome a reluctance
to hit the gym (or the track)?
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Legally Undead
A
reluctant vampire hunter, stalking New York City as only a scorned bride can.
Elle Dupree has her life all figured out: first
a wedding, then her Ph.D., then swank faculty parties where she’ll serve wine
and cheese and introduce people to her husband the lawyer.
But those plans disintegrate when she walks in
on a vampire draining the blood from her fiancé Greg. Horrified, she screams
and runs--not away from the vampire, but toward it, brandishing a wooden letter
opener.
As she slams the improvised stake into the
vampire’s heart, a team of black-clad men bursts into the apartment. Turning
around to face them, Elle discovers that Greg’s body is gone—and her perfect
life falls apart.
