Vampires and Corsets: An Interview with Colleen Gleason, Author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles

Walk in to any bookstore and you can find a vampire novel. Vampire romance, vampire horror, vampire fiction and more. It’s all out there and it’s all been done. In a market that is saturated with vampires at the moment you wouldn’t expect anything new to show up, but it has.

Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampire Chronicles are unlike any other vampire fiction I have read. The first book in the series is set in Regency-era England and the vampires are definitely the bad guys, not the heroes or love interests of the story.

The Rest Falls Away was published in January 2007. We are introduced to Victoria Gardella Grantworth, a strong woman who knows her own heart and mind. At the beginning of the book Victoria has come into her family legacy, becoming the next Venator, or Vampire Hunter. The Rest Falls Away is wonderful, fast-paced and full of excitement as well as romance. It was hard to put down.

The series continues on June 5, 2007 with book two, Rises The Night. Like a lot of fans out there I am impatiently waiting for it. If you are just finding out about Colleen Gleason you have enough time to read the first book and wait impatiently with the rest of us. You can also find updates at her website as well as keep up-to-date with her on her blog. But until then she kindly agreed to do an interview and leaves some tantalizing hints about what the future holds for Victoria.

Why did you choose vampires for the supernatural element in your stories?

Frankly, because I knew that vampire books were a hot commodity and that the publishers were acquiring books with that element. After writing eight books that didn’t sell, I’d learned that in order to be successful as an author (screenwriter, musician, whatever), one has to create with an eye to the market.

That doesn’t necessarily mean to try and follow the market - because if you do that, by the time you get there, it’s too late. But it means to write (or create) something you want to - but something that “fits” somehow with the market… with a unique twist.†

In a market that is full of vampires that are sexy, erotic, and heroic what made you want to write anti-vampire novels?

The simple answer is: because I don’t find vampires sexy, erotic, or heroic. Which is why, when I realized that the market was hot for vampire novels, I immediately dismissed the idea of writing one. I just couldn’t imagine writing about a sympathetic vampire.

But then I got hooked on Buffy, and that gave me another perspective: the option of writing about vampires, but with them being the villains of the piece. And since that worked for me and my creative muse, we ran with it.

I wanted to write the kind of vampire book that I would read - and that my mother, and some of my other friends who don’t read vampire novels as a rule, would enjoy. Plus there was the added benefit of people who do like vampire books usually also like the concept of Buffy and Van Helsing, and thus would hopefully be attracted to my stories as well.

Article Author: Katie Trattner

Ms. Trattner works for a non-profit agency where she is thankful for any internet time she can squeeze into her day. In her free time she reads one of the thousands of books stacked in her tiny apartment.

Visit Katie Trattner's author page — Katie Trattner's Blog