Author Interview – Jacob Van Helsing – The Van Helsing Heritage

On The Table Read Magazine, “the best entertainment eBook magazine UK“, Jacob Van Helsing talks about his new book, The Van Helsing Heritage which takes readers to the early 1900s, following Abraham Van Helsing’s son, young Jacob, as he leaves his life in Whitby for university in Germany, where he uncovers a centuries-old web of intrigue and the shocking truth of his own vampiric nature.

Written by JJ Barnes

www.jjbarnes.co.uk

I interviewed Jacob Van Helsing about his life and career, what inspired him to write his new book, The Van Helsing Heritage, and his creative writing process.

Tell me a bit about who you are.

My name is Alan Beresford, writing under the pseudonym of Jacob Van Helsing.

I’m a retired scientist, with a doctorate in pharmacology, who spent his career in medical research, most of that in cardiovascular medicine. I was lucky enough to discover an important and globally prescribed drug for the treatment of high blood pressure and angina, which was approved for clinical use in the 1990s and which remains on the WHO’s List of Essential Medicines.

Despite that scientific background, I have always been a lover of fantasy literature, from Sword and Sorcery novels to Gothic Horror; from Michael Moorcock’s, Prince Corum to Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula.

Born and raised in the Derbyshire Peak District, where my ancestors have lived since the 13th Century, I now live in rural Essex with my wife, Sara, and our cute but willful feline, Molly. Inspired by my reading, I now create ‘gothic’ curiosities in fiberglass and acrylic (mainly life-size heads and skulls), which I think of as my “Objets d’ark”.

When did you first WANT to write a book?

I first wanted to write a book some 40 years ago and started my own Sword and Sorcery story set in some of the darker and more mysterious places of my Peak District homeland. I also created a number of ink and acrylic paintings to illustrate the story. Sadly, I lost the manuscript at some point in pre-cloud days thanks to a computer virus, and I gave away my paintings.

When did you take a step to start writing?

Having lost my initial impetus for writing, my career and home-life took over and filled all the available space, until I retired from full-time science. At that point I opened a small gallery/shop to display my Objets d’ark creations, and, whilst sitting amongst them, realized that it was an ideal time and place to return to my story writing.

How long did it take you to complete your first book from the first idea to release?

From coming up with the first idea for my story to the publication of my book took about 3 years.

What made you want to write The Van Helsing Heritage?

During my career I published quite a number of scientific papers and contributed articles and chapters to scientific publications. Having retired from that serious and structured world, I wrote a fictional biography of myself for on-line use; basing it in a fantasy world of my own imagination. That biography developed into a complete story, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, combined my background in biological science with my love of gothic horror.

What were your biggest challenges with writing The Van Helsing Heritage?

My biggest challenge was with sentence and paragraph construction. My diet of scientific publications, combined with reading Victorian gothic novels, led me naturally to lengthy and convoluted syntax. The story is set in the early 1920s, with excursions into earlier history, so I wanted to keep a ‘period’ feel to the text. But it’s then difficult to keep the pace going for regular readers of more modern novels.

I also found that I kept unintentionally repeating some things at different stages of the story, probably when I thought they were a great idea and the reader needed to understand that!

Who or what inspired you when creating your Protagonist?

As mentioned above, the story began as a fictional biography and some of the events and journeys undertaken by the Protagonist are autobiographical. It’s up to the reader decide which! – but that was the reason for writing under the nom de plume of Jacob Van Helsing. Clearly from that name, and the title of the book, The Van Helsing Heritage, the story is vampire-based, and I wanted to explore the possibilities for scientifically viable vampires living in the real world – as opposed to the modern cinematic creations which defy all the laws of physics and Nature.

Who or what inspired you when creating your Antagonist?

There are good guys and bad guys in the story, but the Antagonist of the tale is also the Protagonist. He’s a character who fails to see, misinterprets or deliberately ignores all the evidence which would tell him exactly who and what he was and allow him to perhaps alter his destiny.

What is the inciting incident of The Van Helsing Heritage?

The inciting incident in the story is when the Protagonist, Jacob, discovers from a collection of family letters, that what he believed to be his family history was a complete fabrication.

What is the main conflict of The Van Helsing Heritage?

The main conflict in the book is of that between two realities; the ordered, safe and comfy reality in which rational people prefer to live their lives, and the dark, dangerous, sensual reality that co-exists for those who seek it.

Did you plot The Van Helsing Heritage in advance, or fly by the seat of your pants and write freely?

My book wasn’t plotted in advance. It started as a biographical description of the Protagonist and simply grew into the story of his life. I have to admit to being something of a web-hopper when looking to confirm historical events, people, places and dates for my story. Indirectly, as well as broadening my horizons, this uncovered some interesting links to endorse the background.

Did you get support with editing, and how much editing did The Van Helsing Heritage need?

I had some editing support from my proof readers with regard to some of my more complicated sentence construction and very helpful comments regarding my original ending. I also had some advice from a friend who was not only a life-long devotee of vampire fiction, but also a graduate in history, so could validate my historical references.

What is the first piece of writing advice you would give to anyone inspired to write a story?

The plot of your book may wander during its creation, but my first piece of writing advice would be to know what the ending is going to be from the outset, and to be happy with it as the climax.

Can you give me a hint about any further books you’re planning to write?

The Van Helsing Heritage was intended to be a one-off. But, after its publication, I realized that my ending provided for, if not called out for a follow-up novel built around some of the principal characters from “Heritage”. Based around true historical events, my second story will move from the era of the First World War to the Second, and reveal the involvement of female vampires in the glamorous, but treacherous, and even for them, potentially deadly world of espionage.

And, finally, are your proud of your accomplishment? Was it worth the effort?

I’m extremely proud of my accomplishment in writing the novel and releasing it into the world. Mine is a vampire world based around gothic novels, films and folklore, but NOT the vampires which have become increasingly detached from reality with their unfeasible powers and ridiculous shape-shifting abilities; so, it’s been worth the work and the research to create a novel which brings the species back to earth.

Pop all your book, website and social media links here so the readers can find you:

Kindle: https://amzn.to/4i0tZTV

Paperback: https://amzn.to/3CNlWem

https://www.thetablereadmagazine.co.uk/the-van-helsing-heritage-by-jacob-van-helsing-is-a-dark-and-sensual-tale-of-vampires-and-science/

https://www.instagram.com/jacob.van.helsing.author/

https://www.instagram.com/lagalleriegothique/

https://olympiapublishers.com/authors/jacob-van-helsing

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