In her latest book Between Keys, '83 College alumna Suze DiPietro spiced up her rock and roll past with an unusual twist of blood-sucking intrigue.
At the Penn Bookstore last night, DiPietro described her personal inspiration for the novel and her transition from Penn grad to rock and roll band member to vampire murder mystery novelist.
Penning Between Keys as an homage to her own experiences in rock and roll, DiPietro added the vampire perspective as a fun and unexpected theme.
DiPietro expanded on the mixing of genres and her love for rock opera by including a CD of songs supposedly performed by members of the novel's fictional rock band French Kiss. DiPietro herself wrote and recorded each individual song to add another layer to her multi-themed work.
A rock and roll maven, DiPietro played as part of a Philadelphia based all-girl heavy metal band after college. She even opened for Bon Jovi in his early performance days.
"I tried to weave in all the true things from my misspent rock and roll youth," she explained. "They were too good not to share - you couldn't even make these things up."
Her personal experiences included in the book ranged from a studded jock strap-wearing man to allusions of her Penn experiences. However, DiPietro asserted that it was her vampire theme that characterized the inspiration for the story.
But despite the typical horror story motif, DiPietro stressed her desire to humanize the characters in order to keep the narrative light and humorous.
"The whole vampire thing just puts a different level on it and makes it fun," she said. "It really emphasizes that although these people are flawed, they are just trying to make their way."
Many of the audience members were intrigued by the unusual vampire perspective for a rock-and-roll-themed mystery novel. "I've definitely noticed that vampires are big right now, especially among the college crowd," a local attendee noted.
Other current popular vampire stories include the Twilight series, the first of which will be released as a motion-picture next week, and HBO's True Blood.
In accordance with her vampire theme, DiPietro explained that she hopes to have the American Red Cross sponsor blood drives at future Between Keys book signings.
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