Bio

Vital Stats~
     Let's see... Anthony Wayne Downen, born in Corpus Christi, TX in 1980 (Yes I'm a young'n). Born to a photographer mother and a father with many skills who has as recent years struck gold with construction of electrical and hydrogen sites. Parents divorced when I was 14 and still living in C.C. (Although I had lived in 3 states, 4 cities, and 12 addresses by this time) and attending Tuloso-Midway High School as my sister and parents did. Off to San Antonio I went to attend Winston Churchill High where I studied English and music. Graduated in 1998, took two semesters at San Antonio College (SAC) where I was to major in Creative Writing/ Film. December 17th, 1999, married my beautiful Olivia with whom we recently suffered a loss with our son Ian, who was still-born two days pass his due date due to a wrapped cord on Oct 1st, 2004.

Why Vampires~
     Why the hell not! I'm a firm believer that I could have written this novel and gotten the same point across using mutant hamsters with the ability to read english if I wanted to. I just don't think there's a market for that. If you find one, I let me know.
     Growing up, at the ripe old age of four, I was introduced to horror movies via the classic, Nightmare on Elm St., (Which I maintain is the best slasher ever to cross the silver screen, to hell with Jason.) And from there came Lost Boys. Somewhere between Lost Boys and watching Frank Langella as Dracula, I fell in love with vampires and have been a student ever since. I also liked movies such as The Dark Crystal, Legend, and Willow. Then of course came the film that broke the mold for modern day vampires, Interview with a Vampire. I'm sure that some will find a similarity between Aramis and Louis, and if they weren't going to... let the hate mongers feed on that one.
      But I made it appoint when writing this book to not read any novel that was vampire related to insure that I didn't knowingly take from any other writer. I wanted to present true vampires and vampire lore that comes from true folk lore rather than an updated version of Hollywood's catch all. So with the tons of research that I have done over the years, with a bit of refreshing my self, I set out to write a vampire story that mirrored (oddly enough it had a reflection) my struggle to come to grips to what I feel is is right for me in the eyes of God.

What's with the Bible~
     When I was 14, I set out in search of God in the absence of my father. My family called themselves Baptists,(non-practicing), so I thought that was a good place to start. Off to the book store I went to get a copy of the Bible. I was told to get the King James Version, which I didn't understand at first. But when I got to the store, I knew. I think I saw twenty different versions of the bible, besides the other books of Christianity. This blew my mind. I didn't comprehend that the "word of God" was up for interpretation. So I bought a copy and read it cover to cover. But as I did, I still had the idea of interpretation in my head. When I came to Revelations, while probably watching a vampire movie of some sort, I kept making strange comparisons to the blue-print of what it was to be a vampire.
     I won't search for the quote now, but it is my book, that those who survive the Apocolypse, will drink blood for they are worthy and the sun shall burn their flesh. In that one line, I found the premise of what became The Forgotten Scribes. Somewhere along the way I read that Christ was "staked" to the cross... and off my imagination went. There are many more verses from the bible used that bring the intentional misinterpretation to life, but in no way do I slander the bible nor step on anyone's beliefs. If anything, I give people yet another way to look at it... in which you would have to be insain to believe. But more importantly, it was a way to express how I feel in religious intolerance.
     I'm a very white male with a hispanic wife who has Islamic/Jordanian family members(Step father and syblings). My wife is Methodist, my family is Baptist, and I am just a person who has faith in God. Not an atheist as those who may come to dislike my book would like to believe.

Stop being serious and tell us what you like~
     I used to be very active in open-mic poetry events in San Antonio, and even ran one in Temecula California where I lived until recently, that was short lived due to time. Every chapter of my book starts with a poem writen in the voice of the main character's journal. I'm a huge wrestling fan and movie buff. Wide variety of music tastes. And I used to draw quite often, but writing has become a bigger influence, obviously. To give you better look at me, let me show you my fav's, and not so fav's.

Fav Movies~ Interview with a Vampire, Braveheart, Dogma, Lord of the Rings(all), Shawshank                        Redemption, Lost Boys, Nightmare on Elm St.(1st, 3rd, 5th are the best), Last                            Temptation of Christ, Slingblade, Fried Green Tomatoes.... yeah I said it!
Not So Fav Movies~ Magnolia & One Hour Photo come to mind
Fav Bands~ (this is going to be all over the place) Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Trapt, Evanesence,                        Poison, Travis Tritt, Def Leopard, Good Charlotte, Ill Nino, Garth Brooks, Korn,                         Bloodhound Gang, Gravity Kills, Coldplay, Randy Travis, Limp Bizket, Snoop
Not So Fav Bands~ Recent Country, 95% of Rap, The Darkness!!!! What the hell is that!
Fav Books~ Hamlet, Dantes Inferno, Mick Foley's Have a Nice Day, Fear and Loathing in Las                     Vegas, Great Expectations.
Not So Fav Books~ --Fill in the Blank-- For Dummies. (update... I now own 2 in my pursuit of research.. Crusades for Dummies and Screenwriting for Dummies.. both were gifts)

Personal Quotes~ "Thanks for the invite, but finish the book before you send me to hell..."
                          "When you look back on the world you left behind, will you see your mark?"

So... I hope this helps those of you out that wanted to know more about me, and those who didn't but found your way to the end of this page anyway. Now get back to the guestbook and praise me or slam me. I openly take hate mail that relates to the book, assuming that you can prove that you've read it... how do you ask.. send me your email and I will send you a question about the book with a page number to reference and ask for a line from the book.. if you have the book in your hand, you will have no problem with this. I won't take any posts on a religious debate to be added to the guest book. But email me those too if you like. See ya in the funny pages.

Author's Bio and Background on
The Forgotten Scribes