Faivre d'Arcier's attempts to follow up
La Ceinture were unsuccessful and she failed to get her novels published. She became a
headhunter for the cosmetics and luxury goods industry and stopped writing. Later, she met a publisher, who would become both her companion and literary advisor. On his suggestion, she started to read thrillers by English-language authors, such as
Stephen King,
Peter Straub, and
Graham Masterton, which inspired her to begin writing again. In 1993, she published a new novel: ''Rouge flamenco, biographie d'une vampire
(Rouge flamenco, portrait of a vampire flamenco dancer) about a dancer who was transformed into a vampire in a brothel in Algiers. This became the first of a trilogy of novels on vampires, being followed by La Déesse écarlate
(The Scarlet Goddess) in 1997, which was set in India, and Le Dernier Vampire'' (The Last Vampire) published in 2012, which takes place during the
French Revolution. The trilogy is often compared to the work of the American
Gothic fiction writer,
Anne Rice. Faivre d'Arcier has travelled widely in the
Middle East,
India and
Southeast Asia, which are areas that have inspired her writing. Her stories have a recurring theme of sexual transgression.
Habiba Messika, la brûlure du péché (
Habiba Messika: The Burning of Sin), published in 1997, is a fictionalized biography of a Jewish singer and actress from Tunis burned alive by a lover she had rejected. In 2003 Faivre d'Arcier wrote a novel about
Genghis Khan entitled
Gengis Khan et le loup bleu. Faivre d'Arcier has also written
noir fiction, including ''L'ange blanc s'habille en noir
(The White Angel wears black) in 2001, Les Yeux de cendre
(The eyes of ashes) in 2006, and Les Passagers du roi de Rome'' (The passengers of the King of Rome) in 2009. In 2008, she retired from her work as a headhunter, and devoted herself to writing. She lives in Paris and in
Cap Ferret, close to
Bordeaux in the
Gironde region of France. Recent novels and stories have been inspired by the
Pigalle district of Paris and
Arcachon Bay, of which Cap Ferret is a part. Faivre d'Arcier's novels for children between 9 and 12 also often draw inspiration from the Cap Ferret area. They include
Tempête au Cap Ferret (Storm at Cap Ferret) and ''Nuit d'Angoisse à l'île aux Oiseaux
(Night of Anguish at the Île aux Oiseaux). The stories are particularly popular with children from the area. Novels for teenagers, such as Le vampire de Bacalan'', are also set in the Bordeaux area. Faivre d'Arcier has also published numerous short stories that appear in various collections. She is a member of the
Société des gens de lettres de France, the writers' association founded in 1838 by
Honoré de Balzac,
Victor Hugo,
Alexandre Dumas, and
George Sand. She is also a member of ''l'Association des amis de
Chester Himes à Bordeaux et sur le basin
(ACHAAB), an association of authors of thrillers who come from the south-west of France. Every September the association organizes the thriller festival, Polar en Cabanes'', in
Gujan Mestras in the Gironde. ==Awards==