If a scene is longer than three pages, it better be for a good reason.
Vampires are total sexual metaphors; there's just no way around that.
There is a fetishization of victimization in our culture. And I just am not interested in victimhood.
Happy relationships are boring. We all want them in our own life. But I don't want to watch them on TV.
I will say that the environment I grew up in was not the most progressive.
Ultimately, physical resemblance isn't as important as whether this person can bring this character to life in a way that's compelling and makes me care about what happens to them.