VAMPIRES, AMERICAN SLAVERY COMBINE IN LOCAL WOMAN'S VERY ORIGINAL NOVELS

A love of history, a fondness for vampire stories, and a degree in English literature combined to inspire one of my clients to write not just one, but two books about a young slave girl's adventures through time, starting in the American South of the 1850s, on to New York of the 1960s, and finally to 1990's Los Angeles.

Bridget Morrow's "Master," published in 2004, and the sequel "Alex," published in 2006, are gripping stories written in a clean, cliché-free style. Morrow's interesting mix of vampirism and American history provide a venue for some great storytelling.

"I've found that these stories appeal to so many people on so many different levels because they're about family, overcoming obstacles, and they're about love," said Morrow.

Yet they're also thrill-like page-turners in the sense that it's hard to resist wanting to know what happens next.

"I have never had a person read either book that didn't tell me, 'I can see this as a movie,'" said Morrow.

The books are available at Amazon.com, but you can get a free peek at the first chapters on Morrow's website, BridgetMorrow.com.

Morrow said she's going to start writing a third addition to the sequel as soon as she finishes her current book, "Her," a story which has - not surprisingly! - a "supernatural bent to it," Morrow admits with a chuckle.