Character Guest Post: Phyllis (A House Afire)

Today I would like to introduce you all to Phyllis, the main character in Emma Kinna's debut novel, A House Afire, through her guest post.

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A Guest Post
by Phyllis
What Is It About A Vampire?

Hi, my name is Phyllis Sorin. I'm not too familiar with book blogs. I don't really read or write much, not recreationally. I tend to associate those things with school, my least favorite place. But there's a book out about my family and me, so I'm doing the author a favor and posting on a book blog. I guess my house is the sort of thing someone might want to write about. My Aunts rent out rooms to anyone in need, so we get some...interesting people, to say the least. At least the writer came in with clear intentions, because some of them don't.
I was okay with the book. I figured we'd get a writer in the house eventually, and there's a lot to find out about us. There's still stuff I'm trying to find out about us. I'm not even sure where or how tenants hear about my Aunts half the time. You'd think it'd be a mistake to let someone in and write all our secrets, but luckily for us, everybody's going to think it's fiction!

As for me, I'm not very familiar with the difference between fact and fiction. Like I said, I'm not a big reader. I mean, my Aunts read to me when I was little, and there are plenty of magazines around the house, but I prefer to read music. I do know that book people seem to like vampire stories. My friend Taylor says those books "just get eaten right up." In fact, she gave me the idea for this post.
I haven't read any vampire books, but I met a vampire once. Well, technically I met him a few times. He wasn't exactly the disarmingly beautiful type that vampire-lovers might expect— he was more of the creepy variety, the type that, well, lurks. But from what I understand, just like humans, vampires are all very different. Especially in the literary world.

Taylor and I went to the mall not long ago, and were wandering through the bookstore. Taylor's been my best friend for the past two years, and she's one of those people who reads anything and everything. Books are her sanctuary. One entire wall of her bedroom is a bookshelf.
Utter insanity, I tell you.
But of course, the girl's a genius. And, as you can imagine, she has a lot to say about books.
"Phyllis," she told me, "I cannot even begin to...why? Why are there so many vampire books? They just keep coming! Vampire romance, vampire horror, vampire sci-fi, vampire schools, and vampire clubs. It's spin after spin, Phyllis." She shrugged. "I guess we can't all be Bill O'Reilly."
I rolled my eyes. "Tay, you still read them."
She nodded vigorously. "Yeah, and I like them, but still. Can't anyone think of anything else?!"
I shrugged. "You're asking the wrong person."
Taylor sighed. Then she gave me a look. "Maybe that's Sid's secret."
I raised an eyebrow. "What?" Sid's one of our tenants, as well as the person I'm in love with, and I had long since discovered what his secret was. But it wasn't the type of thing I could share. Not even with Taylor. So Taylor, thinking we still didn't know, still brought it up once in a while.
"It would make so much sense! He's gorgeous, kinda dark...you invited him into your house..." She looked at me significantly.
"Sid doesn't strike me as a blood-drinker," I said carefully.
Taylor shrugged. "Eh, I could see it. And I could see you letting him drink yours."
I giggled. She had a point, which made me glad that Sid wasn't a vampire.
When we got back to my house, Taylor was still talking about it. I was sort of nodded compliantly at that point.
Happily for me, Sid was in the living room, along with Amos, who moved in a few months ago for "business reasons." Sid was reading a newspaper. Amos was staring into nothing. Amos doesn't sleep much.
You all read a lot, so I know you can appreciate a good man of mystery. That's what Sid's been for me. Sid's been completely alluring to me since I first met him. Not just because he's good-looking; everyone is attracted to Sid because of that. But he hid something from me, and trying to find out what it was only drew me closer. Yeah, I know, my Aunts have told me that "it's rude to nose about." But it's only fair! The guy knows my secret, so I didn't see why he couldn't just tell me his.
Sid's utterly frustrating to me in every possible way, and there's nothing I can do about it. We've become sort of pals, which is the best I'm going to get for a while because I'm seventeen and he's...well, let's go with 26 for now.
Back to my story. We walked into the house and Taylor was basically ranting about vampires.
Amos turned. "What about vampires?" For him, the subject was rather close to home.
"How do you think you'd really protect yourself against a vampire?" Taylor said.
"With my goddam fire axe," said Amos matter-of-factly. Amos seems to be incapable of forming sentences that don't involve expletives.
"Couldn't you just not invite him in?" Taylor questioned. "And what constitutes as 'inviting'? What if you just hold the door open? Or say, 'Go ahead'?"
Sid snorted and folded his paper. "It really doesn't matter. If a vampire wants to come in, he's gonna come in."
Amos laughed. "Really."
"You just better hope he's polite enough to ask," said Sid.
I had the terrible feeling that Sid had seen a vampire in action. I'll have to ask him about that later...
Taylor found the whole exchange amusing, and it got us thinking. Regardless of the true nature of vampires, what do you think the best fictional take on them is? Do you prefer your vampires sparkly, or menacing? Are they just monsters, or do they operate under the guise of beautiful, cultured ladies and gentlemen? Or are they just like us, with a little something extra?
And lastly, should we kill them, or fall in love with them?

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What a terrific character guest post, eh? Personally I would love to hear ya'lls answers to Phyllis's questions so please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. And as always, thanks for dropping by. :D