David Vermont, a workers compensation lawyer in Alexandria, never liked writing when he was younger. As a lawyer, writing 10 to 30 page briefs and proposals can be tedious. Now Vermont is also an author, with “The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot” released in March and another book in the works.
In grade school Vermont was good at working with computers, but when he went to college at Binghamton University in N.Y., he decided to study history. When he realized that he liked to argue, he went on to law school, and a great deal of writing came with it. Vermont was known for adding flourish to his work and, on more than one occasion, was asked to make his writing more concise and to the point. Eventually Vermont found an outlet for his expansive writing in a blog called “52 Prayers,” while still having the opportunity to argue.
“I would just post stuff and comment back and forth,” said Vermont. With help from his Bible study group, in which one of the members was the brother of the “52 Prayers” blogger, Vermont learned more about Bible stories and was able to argue, point out the facts and show how the stories connect to one another.
“Everyone told me they loved my writing,” said Vermont. He never planned on becoming an author, but when people started saying “you should write a book,” he decided to try it.
Originally Vermont was working on a book about a terrorist bringing a bomb into the U.S., but “The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot” kept taking over his thoughts. He did not have a clear ending for the book he had been working on, so reluctantly, he put it down and started working on the story of Judas, the man who betrayed Jesus. When Vermont started having to defend stories in the Bible and make connections, it became clear to him that the Bible is true and a unified way of looking at the world. It is, in part, that message, along with wanting to write about the mystery surrounding Judas, that he wants to get out to people.
Vermont knew from the beginning that Judas was going to be a Roman soldier at some point, which would represent Judas officially going to the other side. Vermont also knew that Judas would have to be a Nazi, because what minion of the Devil doesn’t turn into a Nazi? Having studied history in college, Vermont used the story of Father Valentine to fit in with Judas being a Roman soldier and the story of Father Kolbe to fit in with Judas being a Nazi. The story of Vlad the Impaler becoming Dracula fit in perfectly with the story line. Judas coming to live in the present came naturally when Vermont decided what Judas was aiming for.
Because Vermont had a day job, he had to find a way to balance writing and being an attorney. “It wasn’t as hard for me as it might be for other people,” said Vermont. While at the hockey rink, watching his sons practice, he made the choice to write during that time instead of talking with other parents. Vermont had a goal of writing a page a day, and he always made that goal, if not more.
After almost a year Vermont finished “The Last Confession of the Vampire Judas Iscariot” and sent it out to 30 to 40 different publishing house. When he received rejection letter after rejection letter, someone finally recommended that he get an editor to tighten up the story and fix any errors. The editor loved the book and offered to send it to a friend in the publishing industry. The publisher loved it and decided to publish it. From there it was all about marketing the book, which is one of the hardest things Vermont has done. He said, “We hired three marketing people,” because doing it on one’s own is impossible.
This book has a number of religious themes. It’s a vampire book, it’s a fantasy and it’s historical, “but none of those things overwhelm it,” said Vermont along with multiple people who reviewed the book.
To other authors looking to publish for the first time, “the key is to stay with it,” he said. “You are going to get turned down. Get an editor to clean it up and tighten it up so what you present is good and clean. Try to write on the side. Look for ways to write about a subject you find most interesting. Eventually you will find outlets for your writing. Look for different ways to get out there.”
To learn more about Vermont and his book, visit www.davidvermont.com.