Rice's Vampires Reign
Her novels have sold millions of copies around the world. Now she brings one of her favorite characters back to life. CBS This Morning's Co-Anchor Mark McEwen interviews author Anne Rice about the seventh and latest book in the Vampire Chronicles, The Vampire Armand.
Rice says this latest installment will delve deeper into the character of Armand: "He has been mentioned over and over again. He has played even a major role over and over again, but I never got into his point of view. So finally in The Vampire Armand, I began to delve into the other things I said in the other novelsÂ… to talk about the time he was born, and talk about the things he has done."
What it is about vampires that attracts Rice? She says she doesn't know, except "Whenever I slip into the vampire mode, I get real intensity.. I was proud of my other novels but they weren't vampire novels. As a consequence I didn't see the intensity in the final product that I see in the vampire novels."
Why do her vampires tend to be gay? "From the very first time I wrote, really sat down and got something written, I discovered I was talking about people who could transcend gender. They're not gay, they're actually bisexual. Everybody matters to them. They don't care about gender. I guess I see that as a form of power, to be able to love unstintingly a person of your own sex and the other."
Does she believe in vampires? "No, I don't, I have to confess." And, she adds: "For all the vampire lovers out there, I'm ashamed, but I don't believe in them."
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However, Rice says she does believe in ghosts: "There's so much convincing evidence that they are out there. I used to run from the idea, but now I don't. Although I haven't met a ghost yet."
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