Teagan's Books

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Hi, everyone.  On Sunday I asked everyone to “come out to play” by writing a character profile of a very quirky vampire (or a vampire minion if you’d rather).  There were great responses, and most were even quirky. I wanted to feature them here today.  I asked questions that would help you make your vampire as delightfully unique as possible.  Vamp Building Questions here.

Some of the Quirky Vampires

Following are some of the vampire character profiles readers created.  I won’t use them exactly, but I’ll make versions of them as close as I can to fit some short stories or at least some vignettes.  After you’ve browsed them, leave a comment with your suggestion for the name of the town where my stories will take place.

Brian (aka Bushboy) kicked things off with Captain Moonlight, a frightening vampire rooted in Australian legend.

The myth of Captain Moonlight

Dan Antion created Thomas “Lucky” Lord, a vamp who misses bowling. Read about Thomas in the comment section of my previous post.

Jim L. Wright (aka Ol’ Big Jim) offered a vampire he had on hand by the name of Vladislav, who already has a wonderfully quirky town.

Peach Cobbler and Pallor

John W. Howell introduced Terrence De Camp, a billionaire vamp who was “turned” during one of those celebrity space jaunts.  Read about Terrence in the comment section of my previous post.

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Noelle Granger introduced Henry Eighth, a wedding planner vamp with his own fashion sense.  Read about Henry in the comment section of my previous post.

Robbie and Michael Cheadle collaborated to create the most unique character, the Paper Vampire.

Robbie’s Inspiration – Tanka Tuesday, Imagine Something Quirky, W3, and The Flower Hour

Marian Allen introduced Elspeth Turner, who was turned in colonial America.  Eventually, being a vampire helped her strike it rich during the Yukon Gold Rush.  Read about Elspeth in the comment section of my previous post.

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I guess I should play my own game… even though I’m very “off my game.” (Circumstances continue to collaborate contrary to me getting a good night’s sleep, and I’m really feeling the effects, but that’s no big deal. It’s just an obstacle to writing and focusing.) So here’s my quirky vampire’s character profile.

Tessalina Tuttle was a talented animal trainer.  Her pet tarantula, Tater Tot, is proof of that. 

One night in 1986, she and Tater Tot were out in the desert, looking to catch a friend for the tarantula.  Tessalina didn’t know that it was the night of the return of Halley’s Comet.  She also didn’t know that she had stumbled upon a long-forgotten mystical site, where astronomical and magical forces were drawn together.

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As she stood gazing up at the stars, the ground vibrated gently.  Tater Tot picked his many legs up and down in a mincing walk around her, also feeling the trembling of the earth.  Abruptly, the little tarantula scampered onto her leg and up to her shoulder.  Looking at something behind her, Tater Tot raised onto his back legs trying to throw the barbed hairs of his belly fur, as tarantulas do when attacked.  Tessalina twisted around and saw a tarantula as big as a gym teacher.  Suitably, it transformed into just that.  Well, not exactly, because the erstwhile teacher was a vampire. 

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Tater Tot’s barbed belly hairs did nothing to harass the vampire, but he and Tessalina put up a terrific fight.  She punched, kicked, and scratched.  Unexpectedly, despite the vamp’s strength, she drew blood from the treacherous teacher — some of which trickled onto Tater Tot.  Though their travail was to no avail. And that’s when she was turned…

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Having been splattered with the vampire’s blood, Tater Tot took on tremendous proportions.  Tessalina couldn’t bear to part with her treasured, well-trained tarantula, so she gave up her animal training business.  She missed all the dogs, but after she became a vampire, they started looking tasty.  It was too tempting…   

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So, Tessalina and her now supernatural minion, Tater Tot moved to a large southwest city, where glimpses of the big tarantula were brushed off as being either a vagrant, or just another fake chupacabra.  Finding a niche market among the city’s night shift, she started a new career operating a food truck. In jagged red letters, she painted the truck with the name “Taco Truck Terror.”  Her customers thought the name was hilarious — except for those who tried to skip paying — those understood the “terror” part too well.   

However, rumors didn’t hurt business.  The food was delicious.  The chef was really short.  All the customers ever saw was the top of his toque hat — and the odd very hairy arms that sometimes reached up into sight putting an order on the counter.

After being turned, Tessalina found that she had terrific agility and grace.  She took up the tango as a hobby and was quite a temptress.  They began calling her Tessalina the Tango Twirl, because she was so dizzyingly delightful that her dance partners were left light-headed… particularly after she had sneaked a little sip.

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Friendly comments are welcome.  Wishing you an easy coast down this midweek hump.  Hugs.

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Of course, here’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.  The seemingly quiet town of Atonement, TN does not have any vampires.  However, the residents secretly include all sorts of other supernaturals.

Atonement, Tennessee

Universal Purchase Links:

Atonement, Tennessee

Kindle:  relinks.me/B00HGWKRA8

Paperback:  relinks.me/1481826948

The full series: Atonement, a Quirky Magical Town 

Full series of e-books with one click:  relinks.me/B087JV25JT

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This work is entirely human-authored.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

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No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

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