It was 2021 when I began writing this story. The Red Line’s original idea morphed out of a dream I had in the mid 2010s about a woman who lived in Sarina, Qld, and had a penchant for taking care of sticky situations that the legal system couldn’t manage.

It thoroughly transformed after that, though. If you’ve read it, you’ll know that the setting moved north, and the town, Sarina, became the vampire, Sarina, instead.

In writing this first installment of The North Queensland Vampire Mysteries, I asked myself questions.

What would happen if….?

What would happen if vamps came out in Australia in the mid-90s?

What would society look like?

How would humans react to it?

Would humans be safe?

How would vamps behave?

How would they get along with humans in that context?

After all, the undead had previously lived in the shadows, a secret and parallel society, rather than one that needed or wanted to integrate.

And what if it all happened in a tropical North Queensland setting?

As a low fantasy tale (or urban fantasy if we stretch the word ‘urban’ a little), the setting and story departs from reality by introducing vampires. That lovely balance of real and fantasy is my all-time favourite as a reader.

It’s super-fun for me to imagine our world, as it is…except, hold on, what’s this? A supernatural element? #noice

Themes

Regarding themes, as the reader you are free to identify and identify with any themes you see in the story. As I do when I read other author’s novels. Your takes are important in that they are yours but, when I wrote it I wasn’t trying to impart political themes or ideologies.

My preference with themes is to go broad. Justice, inner conflict, family conflict, violence against women, etc. These are things most humans can relate to.

Charlaine Harris

I take a lot of inspiration from Charlaine Harris and her work. I never tire of her Sookie Stackhouse novel series—and the TV show (based on the books), True Blood.

Sookie and Sarina are nothing like each other, mind you, but my intention was never to write a copy of those stories, of course! That’s not how this writing gig is supposed to work.

Rather, I took the inspiration and built upon ideas. But mainly, I created something new.

I’m very drawn to small town settings and characters, sultry climates, the idea of vampires being “out” and among humans — all elements that Harris does well.

But my intention from my first novel, The Strange Brew, to the town of Standfort in The Red Line, was to set stories here in Australia. Particularly in my state, Queensland, which is without a doubt the very best state in Australia. No arguments. Case closed. 🖐️😉😂

We do have low & urban fantasy authors in Australia and novels set here (and I plan to make a list of them to publish here). But there just aren’t that many. I needed more. So I started writing them.

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” (Toni Morrison)

A final fan-girl point on Harris is her delightful way of combining the fantasy and mystery genres with just a dash of cosy feel. She has previously described that non-genre — that I firmly believe should be a genre! — as ‘cosies with teeth’.

For me, that delightful little melding is true #magic

Jeff Lindsay - Dexter

The other author I took inspiration from when writing The Red Line’s subplot is Jeff Lindsay. He wrote a series beginning with Darkly Dreaming Dexter and, just like the Sookie Stackhouse Series, it was adapted to a TV series: Dexter.

I remember someone in my family in the early 2010s telling me, ‘You should watch it. You’ll love it.’ And I scoffed. ‘A show where a serial killer is the main character, and I’m supposed to “get behind him”? I don’t think so.’

I’m one of those people who doesn’t even agree with capital punishment, let alone vigilantism. But lo and behold, I eventually watched Dexter, and it became a favourite.

Like Dexter, The Red Line is just a story. One where you can live vicariously for a while, and (I hope) enjoy its vigilante justice subplot. It was really fun to write. I think it taps into that deep sense most of us carry, of wishing life was more fair and just, and the cathartic feeling we have to see someone take charge and fix things, even when (fortunately) it’s make believe.

Imagination

The final, and main, inspiration for The Red Line is the wonderful thing we all possess to some degree: imagination. And how fun it was using my creative muscle!

If you’ve read The Red Line, thank you! I hope you enjoyed it.

If you haven’t and you’d like to, you can:

Read about it here,
Buy a paperback here,
Grab the ebook on your local Amazon store, or
Request it from your library.

Thanks for reading, Lovelies.

Morgan x 🫶

Some background on ‘The Red Line’