Join us at the Internationalist in welcoming gay vampire novelist Damian Serbu!

Damian Serbu lives in the Chicago area with his partner of seventeen years and two dogs. After earning a Ph.D. in history (2001), he now teaches at the collegiate level. His love for vampires – and all things horrific – fused together with his academic training to inspire his first novel, The Vampire’s Angel. A childhood nightmare led to his second novel, Secrets in the Attic, forthcoming summer 2010.

Set during the French Revolution, The Vampire's Angel traces the lives of three characters: Xavier, a Parisian priest, Catherine, his noble sister, and Thomas, a vampire from America. The priest and vampire fall in love but hardship ensues as they struggle with separate demons. Thomas resists his impatience and temper, while hiding his undead nature from the man he loves. Xavier combats a devotion to the church and societal obligation, both of which speak against following his heart. As France crumbles around them, Catherine fights to maintain the family's fortune, even as she falls prey to the schemes of a witchdoctor who casts a spell upon her. Will the death, danger, and catastrophes of a revolution doom these three, or will they find solace from one another and ultimate harmony?

In Secrets in the Attic, Jaret Bachmann travels with his family to his beloved grandfather’s funeral with a heavy heart and, more troubling, premonitions of something evil lurking at the Bachmann ancestral home. But no one believes that he sees ghosts, and no one else saw his grandfather’s ghost warning him to stay home except his dog, Darth. Grappling with his sexuality, a ghost that wants him out of the way, and the loss of his grandfather, Jaret must protect his family and come to terms with powers hidden deep within himself.

Find out more at http://www.damianserbu.com/.