Morality and myth: a sit down with “Skipping Church for Vampires”

Sit down with a friend, a coworker or a stranger at a cafe, and with a little bit of a nudge they’ll usually have a story for you; made-up, exaggerated or taken from another friend, it tends to revolve around a search—an exploration for something better they found by going outside of their normal routine, of having an inkling to skip something foundational to their past self. Rarely do the things that shape us or counter our previous beliefs come easily to us.

And though Anja Wuolu’s characters in “Skipping Church for Vampires” follow that exploratory search for something, Wuolu didn’t skip anything to find the vampires she was looking for—they came to her.

It was a Sunday, and though Wuolu was no longer a practicing Catholic, the day still engendered a remembrance of Sunday Mass. Nevertheless, she was at a comic convention when the idea—the vampires—came to her.

“I think I was buying a romance novel about vampires, and it was like I had this thought of how we as a group of nerds at this comic convention are, instead of going to Church, we’re gathering in a different way and we’re exploring vampires and other myths,” Wuolu said.

Wuolu, a graduate of Saint John’s Prep and CSB ‘20, recently self-published “Skipping Church for Vampires” this year through Row7 Publishing, a site she co-shares with her partner Brandon John. Though this is Wuolu’s first novel, she has two other self-published poetry collections: “Laws: Poet Advocacy for the Vulnerable” and “Space Between Chapters.”

Even though Wuolu had these publications under her belt, “Skipping Church for Vampires” changed forms (much like a vampire does) throughout the creative process.

“Originally it was all going to be poetry. And so, “Skipping Church for Vampires” was one poem of a book called Meant to be Happy and Meant to be Dead…but after I started working on that poem I was like, ‘no, I want it to be a novel actually,’” Wuolu said.

Wuolu’s ability to change her novel’s format over time, to craft a piece of literature which exists outside of mass market and “trending” topics and ultimately create individual conversations between readers and her novel is a few of the many reasons she enjoys self-publishing her work. Wuolu has the ability to be inspired by the world around her while not chasing a deadline—she creates art as art should be, carefully crafted and allowing time with her subject matter.

And this time dedicated to craft is highlighted in “Skipping Church for Vampires.” Summarized on Wuolu’s website as “the denizens of Palim struggle to follow their church’s impossible and hypocritical rules. A vampire offers an alternative way of life,” this simple description offers both a serious discussion on parts of the novel—such as gender and sexuality, abortion and freedom—while exaggerating, or making “campy” (as Wuolu described) the novel in a way that invites readers in but doesn’t submit fully to tropes to appease readers.

This usage of a traditional—and now “campy”—myth blends with an unknowing but nevertheless search for something better, a belief that things and ideologies in their current form do not add up. Both the main character Christine (among many side characters) and the vampire Maggie offer two ends of a moral spectrum. Christine, while a faithful person, is persecuted in various ways to submit to a traditional role—something which, while the priest of the Church heavily influences, the actual teachings of the Church don’t seem to align with. Maggie as a vampire in mythology is seen as “sin,” as a parasite or plague of one’s mind, but instead in this novel showcases morality and care more than the Church.

“Skipping Church for Vampires” offers more than a collection of characters put in a fictional situation, it asks a question about society today: what do we get by submitting to a label placed on us by someone with more power? What if we can dream of something better for ourselves and each other?

What happens if we genuinely like what we see when we look at ourselves in the mirror?

For more information on Anja Wuolu and where to buy “Skipping Church for Vampires,” visit Row7 Publishing online.