Fun Facts

These are just little facts regarding the story as a whole or certain parts. I also clarify a few things that might have been confusing or not fully grasped, as well as answer your questions! :)

Plots:

I had soooooo many different ideas for this book, every plot was complete different and I'm pretty sure I ended up choosing the most boring one (but I really liked it....so).

I had a few alternative endings, one included Iris being wounded in the final battle to the point where he basically dies, but the small percentage of vampire blood in him (which came as a surprise because Arlo didn't think he had any) ended up saving him.

Another included Iris fully stepping down from being a royal so he and Kai could live together while traveling around. Sage, Lilly(Lily), and Zoe would've maybe been with them. I liked this ending but I felt bad for Arlo because they were basically going to leave him, so it was scrapped.

I liked all the ideas I had but I could never fully write a complete story around them. I managed to do so with the plot I choose.

Interesting (random) facts:

- I originally planned for Annesa and Kai to be siblings instead of Annesa and Zoe.

- Amilea was supposed to be the good parent.

- I almost made Iris basically adopt the Vamp he saved from that old dude in the beginning of the book, build a strong relationship with her, get separated, and make her death hit him harder than it originally did. But I was like nahh he's only 18!

- Iris was supposed to have some sort of physical gift, like super strength or fast healing, but I wanted to switch it up and give him something uncommon but useful.

- Iris was supposed to be brutally betrayed at some point in his life, which fucked up his judgment and gave him trust issues (which is where his current gift would've came in handy).

- Branching off a different plot I had, I was going to have a sequel which introduced werewolves, and there was supposed to be an intense love triangle. The title would've been Wolf Knights.

- In human years, Sage is 28. Lilly is around 25.

- Iris's favorite food is chocolate or anything that has chocolate in it. (He'd straight-up bitch-slap you if you told him chocolate isn't a food).

- The worst typo I ever made was spelling Iris's name as idk. Like wha-HOW?

- Sunday is actually my friend's OC. She wanted me to add one of her characters in this book and we decided on him.

- There are approximately 20 scenes I left out regarding interaction between Iris and Kai.

- I wrote a tiny 🤏 bit of smut but decided to leave it out last second.

- Arlo was supposed to have a bodyguard of his own that later was going to betray the family (I imagine he took the Vamps' side).

Clarifications:

- Kai didn't have anything do to with Annesa's attack. She attacked on her own but "favored" Kai because of her personal grudge. She was simply sweet talking him during their nightly conversations.

- Arlo didn't know Zoe was a Vamp. He arranged the marriage because Zoe did the same thing to him that she did to the king of the kingdom she captured, basically threatened him. He knew there would be an attack in Vridora but he didn't know what kind. Eventually he put two-and-two together and figured everything out but allowed Iris to take control. So, basically he knew everything before the attack, but there wasn't much he could do, so let Iris do his thing.

Things I wanted to add but never did:

- Sunday's backstory.

- A full, detailed story of Iris's mother.

- More of Iris's childhood + interaction with Allison (his nurse).

- More of Sage and Lilly's relationship.

Who knows? These might make good bonus chapters.

Questions:

Who's your favorite character?

This is such a hard question 😅 I love them all equally! Buuut....my favorite character is probably Iris (don't tell the others!) This is because I just love how much he's grown as a person and I relate a lot to his personality.

Who did you enjoy writing the most?

I had a lot of fun with Kai. I think he has the most playful dialogue and I enjoyed writing out his thought process. He was just a fun character to write about along side with Sage.

What came first, the plot or the characters?

The characters actually came first. I'm a sucker of the forbidden love trope and I've always wanted to write about a royal family. The idea first came with the thought "what if a prince fell in love with his bodyguard, but the bodyguard was a vampire (or something supernatural)." Then I started playing out random scenarios between the two (Iris and Kai) before I actually came up with a plot.

How was this story inspired?

I believe I read a story about a royal family not long before I thought of Iris and Kai. I guess it strengthened my urge to write about one myself. As I answered in the question above, the thought did just kind of come randomly, and I built off of it from there. Before the royal family and forbidden love came, I had already planned on writing a book about vampires. I just put the two together and voilà!

However, I don't remember how I got the idea to make a "new generation" of vampires.

Why did you choose that title?

To be honest, there's no real significance to the title. It was the least cliché I came up with, so I stuck with it.

Other titles I thought of were:

Iris and his vampire guard.

The Prince's bodyguard.

The Vampire bodyguard.

They were all pretty similar. I liked how simple Vamp Guards sounded, and after finalizing that the plot included the "new generation" (AKA Vamps) I thought it was a good title.

If you could place Iris and Kai in any other book (or anime) world which would it be?

One recommendation for this was the Harry Potter houses but I never read/watched HP so I'm not qualified to place them in anything 😞. If you want to place them in a house, let me know which one they'd go in!

I really like Shadowhunters, so if they were placed in that world Iris would definitely be a shadowhunter and Kai would be a vampire (duh). Surprisingly, I think Kai and Alec would get along because they're always so worried about the rules.

I can't think of any good anime worlds to place them in, but I'll say Owari no Seraph just to see Kai in those thigh-high boots ;)

What is your favorite book and TV series? + Anime series.

In wattpad, my favorite series is the Golden Prodigies by SianaghGallagher. I highly recommend her books! Outside of wattpad I think my favorite book series is The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black.

My favorite TV show is Supernatural, and as for anime, my all time favorite is Bleach but right now it's Given :)

Did you intentionally have Iris's last words be his first?

The first thing Iris says in the book is "It's Iris" when correcting Kai. His last words were the same.

No, I didn't originally plan for this to happen, but after rewriting the ending so many times trying to make it all meaningful and whatnot, I decided to keep it simple. I guess you could say it was a last minute decision but I did put a lot of consideration into it.

What is Iris's favorite thing about Kai? And vise versa.

Personality wise, Iris's favorite thing about Kai is his confidence, but he loves it when he shows his dorky side. His favorite physical trait is his eyes.

For Kai, he loves Iris's optimism. Even though he's grumpy most the time, he sees positivity in things most wouldn't, and Kai likes that because he's a little negative himself. His favorite physical trait is his t̶h̶i̶g̶h̶s̶  smile :)

Will Kai turn Iris into a vampire in the future?

He definitely will. It's not done in the main storyline because it wasn't part of the conflict, and I also picture them waiting until Iris is a little older–maybe mid twenties. (Edit: I imagine both of them becoming the new gen.)

What's your favorite supernatural/mythical creature?

It's a tie between mermaids and vampires. I find this kind of funny considering I like writing about werewolves the most 😂

Sneak peak to your next "big" book?

Shapeshifters, witches, angst. Something sweet but also a little thorny. Coming soon to a wattpad near you....

How did Sage and Lilly meet?

They met the second year Sage started working in the mansion.

Lilly is a maid that usually works on the third floor. She's naturally clumsy and tends to occasionally break things, spill things, etc.. One day she ends up dropping a vase and Sage happened to be there. Being the kind (yes, kind) person she is, Sage helped her instead of bicker like she does to the rest of the maids and servants. They locked eyes (so romantic) and I guess you could say it was love at first sight. For Sage, anyway.

Extra fun fact, Sage has a thing for blondes and she's also bi.

Lilly started to gain a crush when Sage repeatedly went to go see her and help out. Surprisingly, Lilly made the first move, and just after three weeks :D

Well that wraps up the Fun Facts, I hope you enjoyed it! Again, thank you for reading Vamp Guards, and don't forget to check out Love Scars!!