Schiefelbein, Michael 1958(?)–

(Michael E. Schiefelbein)

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1958, in Kansas. Education: Catholic University, B.A., M.A.; University of Maryland, M.A., Ph.D. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Memphis, TN. Office—Department of Languages and Literature, Christian Brothers University, 650 East Parkway S, Memphis, TN 38104.

CAREER:

Educator, novelist, and writer. Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN, assistant professor, then professor of writing and literature.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Lambda Literary Award nomination, 2001, for Vampire Vow.

WRITINGS:

The Lure of Babylon: Seven Protestant Novelists and Britain's Roman Catholic Revival, Mercer University Press (Macon, GA), 2001.

Vampire Vow, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2001.

Blood Brothers, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2002.

Vampire Thrall, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2003.

Vampire Transgression, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Body and Blood, St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Dickens Quarterly, Victorian Newsletter, Religion and Literature, and Christianity and Literature.

SIDELIGHTS:

Michael Schiefelbein is a professor of English and an author whose second published book "almost cost him his job," according to Advocate contributor Adam B. Vary. The reason: Schiefelbein mixes together history, vampirism, a gay love story, and horror, and then adds a dash of religion in the form of a young Jesus Christ, casting this venerable figure as the love interest of a sadistic homosexual Roman officer in the novel Vampire Vow. When Vampire Vow appeared in 2001, so did angry crowds, protesting Schiefelbein's novel at book signings and sending the professor hate mail. However, Schiefelbein has weathered the initial storm, and his book proved so popular that he used the novel as the springboard to a series. As he told Vary, "it was really so obviously a matter of homophobia, that I would have the nerve to have Jesus associate with a gay character, let alone maybe be gay."

In Vampire Vow, Roman officer Victor Decimus serves under Pontius Pilate, and when he meets a young Jew from Nazareth named Jesus he falls in love with him. Although Victor's love is returned, Jesus is destined by God for higher things than earthly love, and the Roman finds himself rejected. Angered, he takes out his frustrations in the traditional centurion pastimes—deception, seduction, rape, and pillaging—until a witch gives him an alternative: power over humans and eternal life, if Victor agrees to bind his soul to a dark power and become a vampire. For centuries after the death of his beloved Jesus, Victor secretes himself in rural monasteries, disguised as a monk, and creeps around at night to do what vampires do, albeit with a sexual element added. With the vampire life growing tiresome, Victor's only option is to earn a place in the Dark Kingdom, an organization overseeing all vampires. His search to find someone to share eternity with ends in Appalachia, when he meets Brother Michael. While a Kirkus Reviews contributor dubbed Vampire Vow "largely vacuous," Lambda Book Report contributor Thomas L. Long found Schiefelbein's book an "intelligent" work of fiction that is well plotted, "conversant with Christian history and theology without being pedantic, [and] erotic without being pornographic."

Victor's story continues in Vampire Thrall, as artist Paul Lewis arrives in Rome to help illustrate a handwritten gospel. Missing his former lover, he attempts to seduce Victor, not realizing that the handsome Roman is a vampire. While Victor at first rejects Paul, he begins to have feelings for him and eventually transforms the American artist into a thrall—not living but not yet altogether undead. Noting that "sex is not the main impetus" for the action in Vampire Thrall, N.A. Hayes explained in a review for PopMatters.com that Schiefelbein's use of the vampire mythos "is a convenient and marketable delivery device for the philosophical questions the book raises." In addition to drawing parallels between Catholic ritual and sadomasochism, the author also weaves within his plot questions about morality, the role of an earthbound deity such as Jesus, and the proper balance between spiritual matters and human needs and desires.

Victor's story continues in Vampire Transgression, in which he and the newly dead Paul are lovers living in Washington, DC, and operating a sex club. However, they find themselves at odds with the vampire organization known as the Dark Kingdom, which forbids vampires from fraternizing with one another. The novel features the author's continued ruminations on sex and religion, with some critics noting that the book is once again likely to offend some readers. Nevertheless, commented Patricia Altner in the Library Journal, Vampire Transgression is "well written and replete with fully realized characters."

Schiefelbein leaves the vampire world behind for his 2002 novel titled Blood Brothers. Told in the first person in alternating chapters by the characters of Juan Ramon Fuertes and Bernardo Estaban, the story revolves around the murder of Ramon's parents, which he witnessed when he was just seven years old. As Ramon grows up, he becomes obsessed with revenge against his father's business partner, Martin Esteban, who hired the thugs who murdered his parents. Readers follow Juan through abuse in a Spanish orphanage, where he keeps tabs on Esteban's doings through news reports. Later, Juan Ramon learns that Esteban's son, Bernardo, is training to become a monk, leading Juan Ramon to hatch a plan of revenge against the father via his son. Juan Ramon begins monastic training himself, eventually meets Bernardo, and then seduces him so he can get to Esteban. In the meantime, Juan Ramon plans the murder of both Esteban and the thugs who committed the actual murder. However, he does not plan on the feelings of true love that he is developing for Bernardo.

"In Blood Brothers, Bernardo's tortured conflict as he attempts to reconcile his sexual nature with his desire to be a man of God is heartbreaking," wrote Brad Benedict for Ambush Mag, adding: "Juan Ramon's manipulation of this is both fascinating and despicable and illustrates clearly how religion is used to control." Jeremy Winnick wrote for Capital Gay Men: "Curiously, Bernardo gets the last word in an ending that is superb."

Schiefelbein's next book, Body and Blood, was called a "quietly moving novel" by Booklist contributor Whitney Scott. Father Chris Sieb, who manages St. John's Diocesan Center in Kansas City, discovers that Father Jack Cranston is returning to Kansas city after two decades. Chris had a crush on Jack when they were young, and the two soon discover that their feelings for each other remain strong, leading Jack to reconsider his faith and vow of celibacy. Chris's inner turmoil increases when another priest with homosexual longings commits suicide following the archbishop's witch hunt for homosexuals in the priesthood. "The novel offers glimpses why gays are attracted to the priesthood and notes the Church's unrealistic fumblings with sexuality in general," wrote Drewey Wayne Gunn in Lambda Book Report. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "presents the dilemma of gay priests with sensitivity."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advocate, June 10, 2003, Adam B. Vary, "Still out for Blood," review of Vampire Vow, p. 50.

Booklist, August 1, 2007, Whitney Scott, review of Body and Blood, p. 41.

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, January, 2003, Edward Norman, review of The Lure of Babylon: Seven Protestant Novelists and Britain's Roman Catholic Revival, p. 183.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2003, review of Vampire Thrall, p. 565; March 1, 2006, review of Vampire Transgression, p. 204; July 1, 2007, review of Body and Blood.

Lambda Book Report, October, 2001, Thomas L. Long, review of Vampire Vow, p. 19; fall, 2007, Drewey Wayne Gunn, review of Body and Blood, p. 27.

Library Journal, March 15, 2006, Patricia Altner, review of Vampire Transgression, p. 64.

Publishers Weekly, July 16, 2007, review of Body and Blood, p. 148.

ONLINE

Alyson Books Web site,http://www.alyson.com/ (April, 2001), interview with Schiefelbein.

Ambush Mag,http://www.ambushmag.com/ (June 6, 2008), Brad Benedict, review of Blood Brothers.

Capital Gay Men,http://www.cgmnh.com/ (June 6, 2008), Jeremy Winnick, review of Blood Brothers.

Memphis Flyer,http://www.memphisflyer.com/ (May 26, 2005), Leonard Gill, "Rejected by Jesus," interview with author.

Midwest Book Review,http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (June 6, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of Body and Blood.

PopMatters.com,http://www.popmatters.com/ (December 8, 2003), Cindy Speer, review of Vampire Vow; N.A. Hayes, review of Vampire Thrall.

Reviewing the Evidence,http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/ (June 6, 2008), A.L. Katz, review of Body and Blood.