The Vampire Huntress Series: Fact, Myth, or Myth in the Making
The Historical Roots of the Vampire Huntress Series according to L.A. Banks

• The planetary alignment that occurred in Minion and The Awakening with the unusual stellar triad of Mars, Venus, and Saturn was indeed an actual event the year the first book was written/released.
  
  
• The planetary orbit of Mars coming within close proximity to earth--first in 60,000 years, was/is fact. The Hunted
  
  
• When I called the University of Pennsylvania Museum and spoke to a renowned professor there, he gave me the word “power” in ancient Babylonian, "Dananu," which I've used as the foundation for the vamp language, which then adds every other language upon it in a palimpsest as new master vamps are made [according to my lore]. But I used Babylonian as the foundation (the whole idea of Sodom & Gomorrah where Babylon is historically linked to decadence, etc.) The Hunted and The Bitten. NOTE: The professor was thanked in the dedication of The Hunted.
  
  
• All major eclipses mentioned happened, especially the one that occurs in The Forbidden, on Nov 5th, the hero's birthday, lasting 3 hrs, 33min. is accurate. The same holds true of The National Institute for Discovery Science’s reports on “Black triangles” in the sky.
  
  
• The concept of "power centers" -- Philadelphia is mentioned in Revelations (the Bible) as the only area that the angels didn't have a problem with, (see The Forbidden references), and the Masons building a main temple here during the founding father days of this country because vortexes, etc., and basing the structure on ancient Egyptian architectural marvels, the same way they laid out the grid of Washington, DC to Feng Shui specs that mirrored the great empires (ref. Egypt of the Potomac by Anthony Browder)
  
  
• They just uncovered the fabled cursed tomb of Tutenkamen again. In a lecture by famed Egyptologist, Dr. Hawass...”upon digging, it rained in the desert for the first time in recorded history, delaying the excavation. [Note--when this happened, a lot of the locals abandoned the project due to concerns about the curse.] Then, after a grueling ordeal to get the mummy out of the tomb, the CAT scan equipment had unusual, inexplicable electromagnetic interference issues that stopped the mummy scan for over an hour, baffling top scientists on the scene. Finally, once they were able to scan the body, they found that King Tut was not murdered as previously believed, but did have a leg fracture that could have caused his death by infection...as well as unusually large teeth.” This is similar to several old kings that they've excavated, showing some sort of unique dental pattern that they are looking into now. (Look for hints of this in future books—I’m doing a lot of Egyptian research).
  
  
• In the renewed excavation of the Pyramids at Giza, using NASA robotic technology never used before on such a search, as well as other modern scanning techniques, they found vast tunnels leading to rooms within and under the structures, doors that could not be opened, and new areas that remain a mystery--some areas so small within darkened spaces that 'one would practically have to be vapor to get through them'... and they still have yet to find Khufu's tomb... however, they did find a new golden Valley of the Queens. They even found some chambers under water at deeper levels, some tunnels subterranean to 300 feet or more linking to other structures in a veritable underground labyrinth within that pyramid complex. (Look for more use of this information as the series progresses).

Please note that research is an ongoing process, and I draw from actual local and world news events, religious texts, as well as from the “hard sciences,” and the esoteric sciences—like numerology (but also use the “holy” numbers in religious texts), astrology, astronomy, plus utilize world history, and cultural belief systems. Whenever I take the saga characters to another country, trust that that country has been researched, and their history, languages, culture and locations mentioned in each novel are valid. The above is by no means a comprehensive list of my “fact weaving,” but it gives a sample of how facts have been incorporated into building the legend. While fiction and fantasy are fun, it’s more believable and resonates more strongly when there is a solid underpinning of fact beneath it. I have not included the ongoing research that I’m undertaking (as we speak) for future books, because to tell that would give away critical plot lines and possibly ruin the ride for readers. Suffice to say that I spend a LOT of time in the library stacks, on-line, and rooting through obscure sources and literature to give you the best read I possibly can. Enjoy!