The Bloodlines Saga: How It Began, Where It's At Today, and What's Coming in the Future

Q: What is Bloodlines?

William B. Taylor: Bloodlines is a series of mysteries, some physical and others mixing in paranormal mysteries, that revolve around an “average” Canadian, Alex Tinsdill, and an American businesswoman, Maggie Crosby. Alex and Maggie are brought together through their individual relationships with a Gilded Age mansion called Cove Point Manor. Alex discovers that he is the sole heir to the mansion after taking a DNA test and discovering that he is the sole heir to his previously unknown great-great-grandparent's estate. Maggie's family have looked after Cove Point Manor for generations, and she has known the estate since childhood. Maggie took over the family property management company and looked after the uninhabited mansion for years for the trust fund that owned it until Alex was found. That connection between Alex, Maggie, and Cove Point Manor provides the foundation for the Bloodlines stories, but each story develops its own mystery and direction.

Q: Let's start with Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor. What are the mysteries at the heart of the first book?

William B. Taylor: Cove Point Manor is the first book in the series, and there are two main mysteries running through the story. The first is Alex's connection to the estate. He works to uncover how his great-grandfather was related to this wealthy family and why that relationship remained a family secret for almost 100 years. Then there is the main paranormal mystery of a trapped spirit inhabiting the mansion. Who is the spirit, and why are they there? There are also other mysteries that arise throughout the story.

Q: How does Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood expand the story?

William B. Taylor: Of Noble Blood take place after Alex settles into his newfound wealth, and he establishes a scientific research firm in order to further the science of DNA as part of his own interest in better understanding DNA. He hopes the research will help unlock more answers of the mysteries of people's pasts. One of the things the company does is offer DNA research assistance. Through that work, a client is discovered to be related to a British noble family. Like Alex, the client had no idea that he was related to this well-known family. Alex and Maggie decide to travel to England to speak with the head of the noble family and meet with their client. During their investigation, they uncover a 100-year-old murder and work to solve that mystery. There are paranormal incidents along the way, but they occur in a different manner from those in Cove Point Manor.

Q: And then came Bloodlines: Brenda's Revenge. How is that story different?

William B. Taylor: Brenda's Revenge is almost 100 percent a paranormal mystery involving a deceased person who had previously been close to Alex and his family, and who now seeks revenge against him for what she feels was a betrayal. The story involves two other main characters from the first novel, although in dramatically different ways. It also fills the reader in on background details about several characters who first appeared in Cove Point Manor and builds on their individual characters.

Q: Do the Bloodlines books need to be read in order?

William B. Taylor: I have purposely written the novels so that they can be read, understood, and enjoyed individually. Each book has enough background within the story so that readers can understand the characters and their motivations without needing to know everything that happened in earlier books. However, I do think that reading the books in sequence can help the reader understand more fully the background and continuity of the characters and their stories. But again, it isn't necessary. You can enjoy each book as a standalone story and still fully enjoy the individual story.

Q: Where does The Legacy of Annie Cooper fit into the Bloodlines universe?

William B. Taylor: Annie Cooper was a minor character in Book One and played a more significant role in Brenda's Revenge. The story of Annie Cooper actually started with Alex when he was a teenager. She's also the original owner of the Cadillac—Maybelline—who is another essential character in Books One and Three and has been a part of Alex's life for over 20 years at the start of the series. As Annie's character developed more in Brenda's Revenge, I realized that she had a lot more to tell readers. The Legacy of Annie Cooper is not only a chance to fill in the backstory of how Alex came to own her Cadillac. It's also an opportunity to introduce readers to a very strong, smart, and determined woman who had led an interesting and worthwhile life well before Cove Point Manor or Brenda's Revenge came along.

Q: Bloodlines has now moved beyond the novels and onto the stage. Why adapt Cove Point Manor for theatre?

William B. Taylor: The theatrical version is a different medium for telling the same basic story. In the book, I go into detail about certain things, such as details about the mansion, settings, Alex's car, and so on. I don't go into minute details, of course. The reader can and should use their own imagination to fill in the blanks and create their own vision of the story. The same thing applies with a theatrical production. The key story is there, but it is the actors who bring the characters to life. They show what each character is thinking or doing through their actions and expressions. The stage set will have fewer details than the book, naturally, but enough to inspire the audience to imagine their own version of how the mansion looks and how the story's world appears. The medium changes, but the essential story remains.

Q: The theatrical adaptation is now complete. Where does it stand today, and what would you like to see happen next?

William B. Taylor: Right now, it has been submitted to the Playwrights Guild of Canada for inclusion in its online database for potential distribution to interested production companies in Canada as well as globally. At the time of this interview, I haven't had confirmation that the script will be included in the database, but I should know within the next week. What I would like to see next is the level of actual interest in the play. I hope that at least one production company licenses the rights to produce the play so we can see how audiences react. If all goes well, I hope Cove Point Manor will go on to be produced by many different production companies at all levels of the theatrical world. Then we wait and see what happens next. It's an exciting experiment to see how the world will react to the Bloodlines universe leaving the world of written words and transforming into the physical world on stage.

Q: What's coming next for Bloodlines?

William B. Taylor: Once the fourth book, which will not be a full-fledged novel, is completed, I have a fifth book—a novel—already in the works. The fifth book greatly expands the existing Bloodlines universe. While it maintains several key characters from the other books in the series, it introduces new main characters alongside them and introduces new personal and family changes, both in the “real” world and in the supernatural one. The storyline is also developing in a way that allows both legacy characters and new characters to continue into many more adventures and mysteries in the future, exploring both the physical world and the spirit realm. If the theatrical Cove Point Manor goes well, there are several potential opportunities to adapt some of the other Bloodlines books into theatrical scripts as well. Like the Cove Point Manor adaptation, those scripts would be written so that the essential story remains intact while allowing audiences to enjoy the productions as standalone plays.

Q: Looking further ahead, where do you see the Bloodlines universe ultimately going?

William B. Taylor: I think there is enough material, and the characters have been developing so well, that the Bloodlines universe can continue to expand for many years to come. The only limit to that happening at the moment is my imagination—and how many of the current and future fans of the Bloodlines Saga insist on continuing the story.

William B. Taylor

Oct 8

6 min read

Updated: Oct 9

An interview with William B. Taylor

The Bloodlines Saga has grown from a mystery surrounding an old Gilded Age mansion into an expanding fictional universe of family secrets, DNA discoveries, historical mysteries, paranormal encounters, and the relationships between the people caught up in them.

With three novels already published, a fourth Bloodlines story nearing completion, a fifth novel already in development, and a completed theatrical adaptation of Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor, we asked William B. Taylor to take us back to the beginning, explain where Bloodlines stands today, and share what may lie ahead.

What is Bloodlines?

William B. Taylor: Bloodlines is a series of mysteries, some physical and others mixing in paranormal mysteries, that revolve around an “average” Canadian, Alex Tinsdill, and an American businesswoman, Maggie Crosby.

Alex and Maggie are brought together through their individual relationships with a Gilded Age mansion called Cove Point Manor.

Alex discovers that he is the sole heir to the mansion after taking a DNA test and discovering that he is the sole heir to his previously unknown great-great-grandparent's estate. Maggie's family have looked after Cove Point Manor for generations, and she has known the estate since childhood. Maggie took over the family property management company and looked after the uninhabited mansion for years for the trust fund that owned it until Alex was found.

That connection between Alex, Maggie, and Cove Point Manor provides the foundation for the Bloodlines stories, but each story develops its own mystery and direction.

Let's start with ***Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor*. What are the mysteries at the heart of the first book?**

William B. Taylor: Cove Point Manor is the first book in the series, and there are two main mysteries running through the story.

The first is Alex's connection to the estate. He works to uncover how his great-grandfather was related to this wealthy family and why that relationship remained a family secret for almost 100 years.

Then there is the main paranormal mystery of a trapped spirit inhabiting the mansion. Who is the spirit, and why are they there?

There are also other mysteries that arise throughout the story.

How does Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood expand the story?

William B. Taylor: Of Noble Blood take place after Alex settles into his newfound wealth, and he establishes a scientific research firm in order to further the science of DNA as part of his own interest in better understanding DNA. He hopes the research will help unlock more answers of the mysteries of people's pasts.

One of the things the company does is offer DNA research assistance. Through that work, a client is discovered to be related to a British noble family. Like Alex, the client had no idea that he was related to this well-known family.

Alex and Maggie decide to travel to England to speak with the head of the noble family and meet with their client. During their investigation, they uncover a 100-year-old murder and work to solve that mystery.

There are paranormal incidents along the way, but they occur in a different manner from those in Cove Point Manor.

And then came ***Bloodlines: Brenda's Revenge*. How is that story different?**

William B. Taylor: Brenda's Revenge is almost 100 percent a paranormal mystery involving a deceased person who had previously been close to Alex and his family, and who now seeks revenge against him for what she feels was a betrayal.

The story involves two other main characters from the first novel, although in dramatically different ways. It also fills the reader in on background details about several characters who first appeared in Cove Point Manor and builds on their individual characters.

Do the Bloodlines books need to be read in order?

William B. Taylor: I have purposely written the novels so that they can be read, understood, and enjoyed individually.

Each book has enough background within the story so that readers can understand the characters and their motivations without needing to know everything that happened in earlier books.

However, I do think that reading the books in sequence can help the reader understand more fully the background and continuity of the characters and their stories. But again, it isn't necessary. You can enjoy each book as a standalone story and still fully enjoy the individual story.

Where does The Legacy of Annie Cooper fit into the Bloodlines universe?

William B. Taylor: Annie Cooper was a minor character in Book One and played a more significant role in Brenda's Revenge.

The story of Annie Cooper actually started with Alex when he was a teenager. She's also the original owner of the Cadillac—Maybelline—who is another essential character in Books One and Three and has been a part of Alex's life for over 20 years at the start of the series.

As Annie's character developed more in Brenda's Revenge, I realized that she had a lot more to tell readers.

The Legacy of Annie Cooper is not only a chance to fill in the backstory of how Alex came to own her Cadillac. It's also an opportunity to introduce readers to a very strong, smart, and determined woman who had led an interesting and worthwhile life well before Cove Point Manor or Brenda's Revenge came along.

Bloodlines has now moved beyond the novels and onto the stage. Why adapt Cove Point Manor for theatre?

William B. Taylor: The theatrical version is a different medium for telling the same basic story.

In the book, I go into detail about certain things, such as details about the mansion, settings, Alex's car, and so on. I don't go into minute details, of course. The reader can and should use their own imagination to fill in the blanks and create their own vision of the story.

The same thing applies with a theatrical production. The key story is there, but it is the actors who bring the characters to life. They show what each character is thinking or doing through their actions and expressions.

The stage set will have fewer details than the book, naturally, but enough to inspire the audience to imagine their own version of how the mansion looks and how the story's world appears.

The medium changes, but the essential story remains.

The theatrical adaptation is now complete. Where does it stand today, and what would you like to see happen next?

William B. Taylor: Right now, it has been submitted to the Playwrights Guild of Canada for inclusion in its online database for potential distribution to interested production companies in Canada as well as globally.

At the time of this interview, I haven't had confirmation that the script will be included in the database, but I should know within the next week.

What I would like to see next is the level of actual interest in the play. I hope that at least one production company licenses the rights to produce the play so we can see how audiences react.

If all goes well, I hope Cove Point Manor will go on to be produced by many different production companies at all levels of the theatrical world.

Then we wait and see what happens next.

It's an exciting experiment to see how the world will react to the Bloodlines universe leaving the world of written words and transforming into the physical world on stage.

What's coming next for Bloodlines?

William B. Taylor: Once the fourth book, which will not be a full-fledged novel, is completed, I have a fifth book—a novel—already in the works.

The fifth book greatly expands the existing Bloodlines universe. While it maintains several key characters from the other books in the series, it introduces new main characters alongside them and introduces new personal and family changes, both in the “real” world and in the supernatural one.

The storyline is also developing in a way that allows both legacy characters and new characters to continue into many more adventures and mysteries in the future, exploring both the physical world and the spirit realm.

If the theatrical Cove Point Manor goes well, there are several potential opportunities to adapt some of the other Bloodlines books into theatrical scripts as well.

Like the Cove Point Manor adaptation, those scripts would be written so that the essential story remains intact while allowing audiences to enjoy the productions as standalone plays.

Looking further ahead, where do you see the Bloodlines universe ultimately going?

William B. Taylor: I think there is enough material, and the characters have been developing so well, that the Bloodlines universe can continue to expand for many years to come.

The only limit to that happening at the moment is my imagination—and how many of the current and future fans of the Bloodlines Saga insist on continuing the story.

WILLIAM B. TAYLOR