Reading Dracula at the age of twelve ignited Margaret L. Carter's interest [email Margaret] in a wide range of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Vampires, however, have always remained close to her heart, beginning with her first book, Curse of the Undead, an anthology of vampire fiction. Her dissertation for the University of California (Irvine) contained a chapter on Dracula, and its publication in book form was shortly followed by Dracula: The Vampire and the Critics and The Vampire in Literature: A Critical Biography. Her fiction includes stories in small press magazines and in anthologies such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover and "Sword and Sorceress" volumes; a werewolf novel, Shadow of the Beast; a vampire novel, Dark Changeling, which won an Eppie Award (presented by EPIC, an e-published authors' organization) in 2000 in the horror category; Child of Twilight, its sequel, an Eppie finalist in horror in 2004; and other horror and paranormal romance novels. Her first mass market novel, a vampire romance entitled Embracing Darkness was published in March 2005 by Silhouette Intimate Moments. Her monograph Different Blood: The Vampire as Alien was a 2005 Eppie finalist in nonfiction. Her latest books include Maiden Flights, From the Dark Places, and Besieged Adept (with Leslie Roy Carter). She also publishes a monthly author newsletter, "News from the Crypt," containing announcements, fiction excerpts, and guest author interviews.