Bloodbound: Reverberations follows vampire-investigator as he races against time, monsters, and his own demons to save his partner in a world split between harsh realities and the haunting beauty of the Other Realm. What inspired the dynamic between Hunter, Kai, and Gibson?

Hunter and Kai are based on the relationship I share with my husband, Tyler. I would say there are aspects of our personalities, history, and experiences woven into their dynamic, just in different proportions than mine and Tyler’s. Gibson, on the other hand, has no real basis on anyone I’ve known personally. I feel he has no filter – like Sophia Petrillo of The Golden Girls – but for many centuries he lacked a moral barometer which allowed him to get away with literal murder in the past.

The Order feels both mythic and bureaucratically terrifying. Was it based on any real-world systems or structures?

I see most bureaucracies as a hellscape – too many cooks not only spoiling the broth but offering their own opinions as to how it got that way. The chain of communication and command always breaks down and never fails to cause chaos. No better way to demonstrate that, I felt, than at an underground organization whose sole mission is to prevent chaos!

How did you develop the concept of a “siphonic” vampire, and what does that metaphor mean to you?

I based the idea on the concept of an ‘energy vampire,’ which traditionally just means someone who wishes to be the center of attention. From that, I developed a demon that feeds off what you’d call “palpable energy,” or the moods created in tense and emotionally-charged situations. Add in the traditional concept of a vampire feeding off a life force, and voila – a demon (or demon-vampire hybrid) that can sustain itself on other people’s anger, fear, and other negative emotions.

If Bloodbound were adapted into a movie, who would you cast as Hunter, Kai, and Gibson?

I’d love Joe Alwyn as Hunter—he already has the sandy hair and that quiet intensity. Darren Barnet would nail Kai’s self-assured warmth, and Ludi Lin brings the long black hair and enigmatic edge Gibson needs.

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