How I use roller derby in action scenes in The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters series

I. Love. Roller. Derby.

And I love writing too!

And I love putting my characters into danger and having them fight their way out of it.

So, when I first started writing The Eversfield Academy Vampire Hunters series, I drew upon that roller derby experience.

Sinking into a low stance or a mini-squat so my hunters are ready to absorb their enemy's charge?

Absolutely.

Shoulder hit to the stomach to pop that enemy up and get away?

You got it.

Teamwork to hunt and destroy a jammer, no, wait, I mean, a vampire?

Yupper!

Of course, all's fair when you're fighting vampires and not so much when you're playing roller derby.

(We can't use our arms starting at our elbows and below, and we can't skate in the opposite direction to initiate a hit, as a couple of examples. And believe me, there are more.)

To show what I mean, I pulled the following excerpt from Chain of Magic (Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins #3) and bolded the most relevant parts. Enjoy!

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From Chain of Magic (Eversfield Academy: Vampire Origins #3) by Betsy Flak

Her fingers tight around her weapons, she dropped into a defensive crouch. Keeping the fallen log between her and the beast, she drifted through the half-grown saplings, the untamed bushes, the moss-covered tree trunks. 

The monster mirrored her movements, its head cocked like she was a rare curiosity.

Whatever doubts she’d had faded away. It was always like this. The Indestructible forgot about everyone but those right in front of them. This one was no different from the rest, even if it was the first one to climb a tree for protection, at least that she’d heard of. The same as countless others, it would fall into their trap. 

Stepping in a gradual half-circle, she guided the brute so its back was to the supposed safety of the crowded trees. 

The crowded trees into which Nic had disappeared, as silent as any predator.

Nic poked his head out around the edge of a trunk and gauged the angle of his assault.

The creature whirled around. It dropped to all fours.

It surged toward Nic.

Like they practiced, he held his position and waited, and she followed in the beast’s footsteps, ready to back him up. When it leapt at Nic with bared fangs, his counter was textbook, a sidestep paired with an upward swipe of his sword.

His blade cut into the creature.

“Rrrrra-aaargh!” the monster screamed as it smashed into the ground. It clutched its torso. Its nails tore at the brand-new gash decorating its chest. Thick, viscous blood oozed out of that wound.

That’s odd. Usually, their blood doesn’t look any different from ours.

The beast stumbled to its feet and away from the Warriors. Magical Fire would stream through its veins right about now, thanks to the spells layered over their weapons of steel. 

Based on its stunned reaction, this must have been the first time a bespelled blade had pierced its skin. 

It’ll be the last.

She charged at the creature, faked a leap, then ducked down. Her shoulder rammed up and into its solar plexus. While these things didn’t need to breathe, the turn couldn’t get rid of all their old human weaknesses. 

The creature staggered backward and crumpled over. It cradled its injuries. 

She knocked it to the ground and climbed on top of it. With her knees digging into its thighs and one arm slashing across its chest, she pinned it down. The syrupy liquid of its blood seeped between them. As usual for a member of the Indestructible, the reek of death and decay tainted the blood’s clean, metallic scent, though there might have been less of the former than in the past.

Get this over with. Now! an instinct bellowed in her mind.

She grabbed a wooden stake out of a calf holster and raised it high. With a sharp inhale, she plunged it down, straight at the monster’s heart.

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So, there you have it.

Our main character (I can't say who because spoilers!) squats like a roller derby player would, and she rams her shoulder into the vamp's stomach, also like a roller derby player would.

And the two vampire hunters are working together like, you guessed it, roller derby players!

Happy reading as always,

Betsy